impressions - McNay Art Museum

May August 2016
IMPRESSIONS
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Tom Frost
Chairman
Sarah E. Harte
President
Connie McCombs McNab
Vice President
Lucille Oppenheimer Travis
Secretary
Barbie O’Connor
Treasurer
Toby Calvert
John W. Feik
Don Frost
Walton Vandiver Gregory
Joan Buzzini Hurd
Harmon W. Kelley, MD
John C. Kerr
Shon J. Manasco
J. David Oppenheimer
Brad Parman
Carolyn Jeffers Paterson
Harriett Romo, PhD
Kirk Saffell
George F. Schroeder
Amy Stieren Smiley
Inspiration Everywhere
This summer the McNay offers an array of exhibitions that demonstrate how artists can be
inspired by the most varied sources. The season’s feature show, Coney Island: Visions of an American
Dreamland, 1861–2008, is a great example of how a particular place—a mecca of popular culture—
can be the origin of an incredible variety of artistic expressions. Painters, sculptors, printmakers,
photographers, filmmakers, and architects respond to this pleasure destination each in their own
way, but always observing the people who seek a world different from their everyday lives.
Popular culture is also a point of departure for the works of Shepard Fairey, a street artist whose
bold posters and large-scale prints find inspiration in commercial design and feature public figures
from politics to sports. Drawn entirely from the museum’s collection, they are recent gifts of
Harriett and Ricardo Romo.
By contrast, the ornament prints from the Blanton Museum of Art have their origin in the fertile
imaginations and virtuoso abilities of the artists who created them centuries ago. They are art for
art’s sake but are clearly linked to the world of the decorative arts and architectural embellishment
of their era.
Leigh Ann Lester’s installation, A Variety of Forms Recovering from Transubstantiated Clarity, the fifth
in the museum’s series of wall works for the AT&T Lobby, is an assemblage inspired by the worlds of
botany and genetic modification. This assemblage is a prime example of science’s influence on art.
Ruloff Kip’s Toy Theatre recalls the theatrical attractions so prominent at Coney Island. A fully
functioning toy theatre with moving parts and electric lights, it was made for a child to enjoy. Not
surprisingly it is a gift to the museum of Robert L. B. Tobin, joining the models for The Nightmare
Before Christmas he gave in order to introduce youth to the world of theatre arts.
Opposite page:
Little Fugitive (detail), production
still, 1953, A Morris Engel
Production. Image credit: Joseph
Burstyn/Photofest; © Joseph
Burstyn, Inc.; © Morris Engel
Shepard Fairey, Tested
Performance (detail), 2014.
Screenprint. Gift of Harriett and
Ricardo Romo.
Ruloff Kip, Toy Theatre (detail),
1919. Painted paper and board,
with found objects. Gift of
Robert L. B. Tobin.
Agostino dei Musi, called
Veneziano, Panel of Ornament
with Acanthus and a Swan
(detail), ca. 1535. Engraving.
Collection of the Blanton
Museum of Art, Archer M.
Huntington Museum Fund,
by exchange.
McNay Art Museum
6000 North New Braunfels
San Antonio, Texas 78209
210.824.5368 phone
mcnayart.org
Our array of summer exhibitions provides fertile ground for the museum’s burgeoning educational
programs, catering to all ages and areas of interest since the opening of the Jane & Arthur Stieren
Center for Exhibitions in 2008. Participation by the public grew some 25 percent last year alone,
serving more than 80,000 visitors.
Programs serving youth are a major part of this growth. These include family activities, docent-led
school tours that encompass partnerships with Communities in Schools and Child Advocates of
San Antonio for at-risk youth, our ArtStrolls and Toddler Art Play programs for the youngest
museum-goers and their caregivers, as well as services for teachers that extend the museum’s reach
to many more young visitors.
This year, in addition to our Teen Art Guide Program, the museum now offers free admission to teens
funded by a Santikos Passion Grant through the San Antonio Area Foundation. This is an important
step in order to build an audience for the next generation.
Regardless of your age or area
of interest, the McNay offers
an exceptional variety of art
experiences this summer. I look
forward to seeing you here.
William J. Chiego
Director
William J. Chiego and Sarah E. Harte,
President of the Board of Trustees
EMERITUS TRUSTEES
Coney Island
Visions of an American
Dreamland, 1861–2008...................................................... 4
Shepard Fairey at the McNay....................................... 7
Curt Anastasio
Laura Bertetti Baucum
Steve Blank
J. Bruce Bugg Jr.
Jonathan C. Calvert
Francisco G. Cigarroa, MD
Barbara Seale Condos
E. H. Corrigan
Raye B. Foster
Jane Stieren Lacy
Peggy Pitman Mays
Bill McCartney
Charline McCombs
Allan G. Paterson Jr.
Ethel Thomson Runion
Thomas R. Semmes
Alice C. Simkins
Gaines Voigt
Joe Westheimer
HONORARY TRUSTEE
Mrs. Nancy B. Negley
HOURS
Parlour Games
Ruloff Kip’s Toy Theatre. . ..................................................... 8
Su
Noon–5 pm
MClosed
Tu
10 am–4 pm
W
10 am–4 pm
Th
10 am–9 pm
F
10 am–4 pm
Sa
10 am–5 pm
Closed New Year’s Day, July 4,
Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
During Daylight Saving Time,
grounds are open 7 am–7 pm.
During Standard Time,
grounds are open 7 am–6 pm.
Art for the Sake of Art
Ornament Prints from the
Blanton Museum of Art...................................................... 8
Video Installation: Greg Smith: Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
AT&T Lobby Installation: Leigh Anne Lester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Museum News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
New Acquisitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Special Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
One-on-One with William J. Chiego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
McNay Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Gifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
New Acquisitions
page 12
2016 Spring Party
Coney Island
at the McNay
Interview with
William J. Chiego
page 13
page 14
ADMISSION
During Coney Island: Visions of an
American Dreamland, 1861–2008,
May 11–September 11, 2016:
McNay members
FREE
Children 12 and under FREE
NEW TeensFREE
Adults$20
Students with I.D.
$15
Seniors (65+)
$15
Active Military*
FREE
Admission price includes
entrance to Main Collection
Galleries and to Coney Island.
On H-E-B Thursday Nights
(4−9 pm) and First Sundays of
the Month, entrance to Main
Collection Galleries is FREE.
FREE FIRST SUNDAYS is made
possible by generous support
from Dickson-Allen Foundation.
FREE admission for teens 19
and under provided by the
John L. Santikos Charitable
Foundation Fund of the San
Antonio Area Foundation.
* The McNay is a Blue Star
Museum, offering FREE general
admission to all active-duty
military personnel and up to
5 family members this summer.
3
May 11 | September 11, 2016
Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008
4
Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008 celebrates the most iconic,
uniquely American amusement park in the United States. Also called, “The People’s
Playground,” Coney Island is a national cultural symbol that has inspired artists,
musicians, novelists, poets, and filmmakers. From Coney Island’s beginning as a watering
hole for the wealthy, through its transformation into an entertainment mecca for the
masses, to the closing of Astroland Amusement Park following decades of urban decline,
the exhibition explores 150 years of the lure of Coney Island. The modern American
mass-culture industry was born at Coney Island, and the constant novelty of the resort
made it a seductively liberating subject for artists. Taken together, these tableaux of
wonder and menace, hope and despair, dreams and nightmares, become metaphors for
the collective soul of a nation.
Coney Island is organized by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford,
Connecticut, and the McNay is the exhibition’s only Southwest venue. The exhibition
features more than 140 objects—paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, documentary
and popular film clips, posters, side show banners, architectural artifacts, memorabilia,
and carousel animals. From early depictions of Coney Island by Impressionists William
Merritt Chase and John Henry Twachtman to modern and contemporary images by Diane
Arbus, Walker Evans, Red Grooms, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Reginald Marsh, Joseph Stella, and
George Tooker, Coney Island investigates this iconic and uniquely American amusement
park as a place and an idea. A fully illustrated 304-page catalogue accompanies the
exhibition as well.
This exhibition was organized by the Wadsworth
Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut.
Coney Island: Visions of an American Dreamland,
1861–2008 has been generously funded by the National
Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of
Excellence, the Henry Luce Foundation, and The Mr. and
Mrs. Raymond J. Horowitz Foundation for the Arts, Inc.
Lead funding at the McNay is most generously given
by the Dan and Gloria Oppenheimer and the John L.
Santikos Charitable Foundation Funds of the San Antonio
Area Foundation and an anonymous benefactor.
Additional support is provided by the Elizabeth Huth
Coates Exhibition Endowment, the Arthur and Jane
Stieren Fund for Exhibitions, the G.A.C. Halff Foundation,
the Joan and Herb Kelleher Charitable Foundation,
Barbara and Stanley Spigel, the Director’s Circle, and the
Host Committee.
Above: Charles Carmel, Carousel Horse with Raised Head,
Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, c. 1914, paint on wood,
jewels, glass eyes, horsehair tail, Collection American Folk
Art Museum, New York, Gift of Laura Harding, 1978.18.2
Opposite page: Joseph Stella, Battle of Lights, Coney
Island, Mardi Gras, 1913–14, oil on canvas, Yale University
Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, Gift of Collection
Société Anonyme, 1941.689
5
Visions of an American Dreamland, 1861–2008
Clockwise from top left:
Morris Engel, Coney Island Embrace, New York City, 1938, gelatin silver print, Orkin/Engel
Film and Photo Archive. © Morris Engel
Frederick Brosen, Fortune Teller, Jones Walk, Coney Island (detail), 2008, watercolor over
graphite on paper, Courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York. Photograph by Joshua
Nefsky; Image courtesy of Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York; © 2016 Frederick Brosen/
Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Reginald Marsh, Wooden Horses, 1936, tempera on board, Wadsworth Atheneum
Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, The Dorothy Clark Archibald and Thomas L.
Archibald Fund, The Krieble Family Fund for American Art, The American Paintings
Purchase Fund, and The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund,
2013.1.1. © 2016 Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York
Frank Stella, Coney Island, 1958, oil on canvas, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven,
Connecticut, Gift of Larom B. Munson, B.A., 1951, 1971.38. © 2016 Frank Stella/Artists
Rights Society (ARS), New York
6
April 27 | September 11, 2016
Shepard Fairey at the McNay
Shepard Fairey is one of the country’s most famous and influential
street artists. He rose to national prominence in 2008 when he
designed the famous Hope poster for Barack Obama’s presidential
campaign. Most of Fairey’s prints were produced in collaboration
with the late Richard Duardo at Modern Multiples in Los Angeles,
CA a print shop that has been a favorite of San Antonio collectors
Harriett and Ricardo Romo. With Duardo’s encouragement, the
Romos collected Fairey’s art for a number of years. While Fairey is
not a Latino artist, his work often has a social or political message
like the Chicano art the Romos are known for collecting.
Fairey’s work has created a unique visual and graphic language,
a style that is immediately recognizable and legible as his own.
He does this with a limited color palette of black, white, tan, and
red, as well as bold, repeating patterns and motifs. One of his
most famous motifs is the highly stylized face of the professional
wrestler André the Giant emblazoned with the word “OBEY.”
Based on a street installation the artist did while a student at
the Rhode Island School of Design called André the Giant Has a
Posse, the image has become Fairey’s trademark and it makes an
appearance in a couple of the Romo prints.
All but one of the prints in the exhibition are recent gifts from
the Romos to the museum. This is the first time these recent
acquisitions have been on public view at the McNay.
This exhibition is organized by the McNay Art Museum.
The Elizabeth Huth Coates Exhibition Endowment and the Arthur and Jane Stieren Fund
for Exhibitions are generously funding this exhibition.
Shepard Fairey, Operation Oil Freedom, 2007. Screenprint. Gift of Harriett and Ricardo Romo.
Left: Shepard Fairey, Tested Performance, 2014. Screenprint. Gift of Harriett and Ricardo Romo.
7
July 5, 2016 | February 5, 2017
Parlour Games
Ruloff Kip’s Toy Theatre
This presentation focuses on an intricate toy theatre
created in the winter of 1919 by elite New Yorker Ruloff
Kip. The toy was conceived and assembled by Kip for
his young daughter, Elizabeth, while vacationing at the
family’s Long Island country home. The large, elaborate
theatre features moving mechanisms, several working
lighting schemes, and an array of set drops and cut-out
characters, all based on Kip’s house and family members.
This exceptionally crafted toy was originally attributed
to Everett Shinn until last year when it was discovered to be the
work of Kip. Research on this unique object—recently returned
from conservation—revealed interesting new perspectives on
the theatre itself, as well as the fascinating background of its true
creator and family.
The exhibition’s accompanying video shows visitors the inner
workings and various settings of the theatre, which undoubtedly
captured Robert L. B. Tobin’s imagination when he gifted it to the
McNay in 1993.
Ruloff Kip, Toy Theatre, 1919. Painted paper and board, with found objects.
Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin.
April 27 | August, 7, 2016
Art for the Sake of Art
Ornament Prints from the Blanton Museum of Art
The McNay’s collection
is noted for its emphasis
on the graphic arts of the
modern era. Just up the
road in Austin, however,
the Blanton Museum of
Art has one of the finest encyclopedic collections in the region
with prints tracing the entire history of the graphic arts in
Western Europe. Drawn entirely from the Blanton’s outstanding
old master collection, this exhibition focuses on jewel-like
ornament prints from the sixteenth century. While this art may
seem out of place at the modern McNay, there is something
about the specific phenomenon of ornament prints that presages
much of what was to come later in the world of printmaking.
Ornament prints, with their emphasis on pure form—sinuous
lines and entrancing patterns and textures—allowed artists to
8
experiment and freed them from the constraints that come with
biblical or historical narratives or with portrait commissions.
Looking at these incredibly complex images, one can imagine the
artist getting lost in the process, completely absorbed by the very
act of artistic creation.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is a beautiful, silvery
impression of Agostino dei Musi’s Panel of Ornament with
Acanthus and a Swan of the mid-1530s. This is considered to be
the single finest ornament print of the High Renaissance.
Agostino dei Musi, called Veneziano, Panel of Ornament with Acanthus and a Swan,
ca. 1535. Engraving. Collection of the Blanton Museum of Art, Archer M. Huntington
Museum Fund, by exchange
This exhibition is organized by the McNay Art Museum from the collection of the Blanton
Museum of Art.
The Elizabeth Huth Coates Exhibition Endowment and the Arthur and Jane Stieren Fund
for Exhibitions are generously funding this exhibition.
April 26 | August 28, 2016
VIDEO INSTALLATION
Greg Smith
Loop
Greg Smith’s Loop is an exploration of invention, risk,
and repetition. This video takes the viewer through the
artist’s process of sewing together multicolored textiles
and constructing absurdist contraptions that he both
hangs from an elevated highway and mounts to a car.
Attempting to combine all of his artistic practices into
one performance, Smith sews more material together
while he drives through the streets of New York City, his
windshield partially blocked by a rolling canvas banner
shrouding the car. Staying true to the video’s title, the
sequence is repeated, and the viewer is taken along for
another ride.
Born in DeKalb, Illinois, in 1970, Greg Smith earned
a Master of Fine Arts from Hunter College, New York
City, after earning a Doctorate in Physics from Harvard
University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is the
recipient of a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship. For the
past decade, Smith has participated in solo and group
exhibitions throughout the country. He lives and works
in New York City.
This exhibition is organized by the McNay Art Museum.
The Elizabeth Huth Coates Exhibition Endowment and the Arthur and Jane
Stieren Fund for Exhibitions are generously funding this exhibition.
Image courtesy of the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery, New York City.
AT&T LOBBY INSTALLATION
Leigh Anne Lester
A Variety of Forms Recovering
from Transubstantiated Clarity
San Antonio-based Leigh Anne Lester is the fifth artist
to present work on the expansive entry wall in the
McNay’s AT&T Lobby. For her year-long installation,
Lester premieres a monumental new assemblage that
incorporates ideas and images with which she has
worked for some time, developed here on a grand scale.
Elements of the installation are prefabricated in the
artist’s studio before she works on-site for nearly a week
with the museum’s installation team. While the artist’s
interests span drawing, sculpture, and design, they
also encompass the world of science, and in particular
botany and genetic modification.
Leigh Anne Lester received her Bachelor of Fine Arts
from The University of Texas at San Antonio. She
exhibited her work at the McNay on two previous
occasions: in 2006 she participated in the Artists
Looking at Art series, and in 2015 was one of six artists
to present work in the 60th anniversary weekend
pop-up exhibition. In 2013 Lester filled the windows
at Artpace with her sprawling installation, Cultivated
Divergence, and recently exhibited in a two-person
presentation at Muriel Guepin Gallery in New York City.
Leigh Anne Lester, Cultivated Divergence 1.3 (detail), 2014. Hand-cut drafting
film, paint colors for GMO corporations, shadow, and magnets.
9
Museum News
On Loan
Joan Mitchell, Hudson River Day Line
A fine example of gestural abstract painting is part of a four-venue
tour of the exhibition Women of Abstract Expressionism. This
groundbreaking presentation, organized by the Denver Art
Museum and curated by Gwen Chanzit, celebrates often-unknown
female artists of mid-twentieth century Abstract Expressionism.
The year-long tour begins at the Denver Art Museum,
(June 12–September 26, 2016) and goes on to the Mint Museum,
Charlotte (October 22, 2016–January 22, 2017); Palm Springs
Art Museum, CA (February 18–May 14, 2017); and Whitechapel
Gallery, London (June 7–September 3, 2017).
Hudson River Day Line was purchased for the museum in 1994
with funds from the Tobin Foundation, becoming an important
work in the museum’s postwar collection.
Joan Mitchell, Hudson River Day Line, 1955. Oil on Canvas. Museum purchase with funds
from the Tobin Foundation. © The Joan Mitchell Foundation
Free Admission to Military Families
May 30 | September 5, 2016
60th Anniversary Wins Texas Star Award
Julie McGarraugh, Special Events Manager, was recently
awarded a Texas Star Award in the category “Best Event
for a Non-Profit Organization over $150,000” for the 60th
Anniversary Celebration at the McNay. The Texas Star Awards
were held February 28, 2016, in Houston, and Julie was up
against two other organizations. She plans to submit for an
Espirit Award, which is an international competition through
the International Special Events Society.
10
For the seventh summer,
the McNay participates
in the Blue Star Museums
initiative, offering free general
admission to all active-duty
military personnel and their families from Memorial Day, May 30,
through Labor Day, September 5. In appreciation of the sacrifices
that military families make, the McNay, along with more than
2,000 museums across America, encourages the U.S. military
community to take advantage of the rich cultural heritage they
defend and protect. Free admission is available with presentation
of military I.D. for up to five immediate family members.
The Blue Star initiative involves a partnership with the National
Endowment for the Arts and Blue Star Families, along with the
American Alliance of Museums, the Association of Art Museum
Directors, the Association of Children’s Museums, and the American
Association of State and Local History. MetLife Foundation has
provided leadership support through Blue Star Families.
McNay Welcomes New Trustees
Amy Stieren Smiley
Amy Stieren Smiley served as a Trustee
of the McNay in 2006 and was also a
member of the Art Committee. In order
to focus more on her young family, she
served in Emeritus status from 20102015. The McNay is pleased to have
Ms. Stieren Smiley return to our board.
Currently, she also serves on the board
of the Elizabeth Huth Coates Charitable Foundation of 1992. Amy
is the President of Sonrisa Management, L.L.C., a corporation
which manages several properties, including The Stieren Ranch,
a working cattle operation in Gillett, TX. She and her husband,
Chase Smiley, are also the co-owners of Naked Coconut Eats, a
local Paleo food company. They were married in 2005 and have
three sons.
J. David Oppenheimer
J. David Oppenheimer is an attorney
with Strasburger & Price, LLP. He has
a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia,
PA (1971) and a J.D. Degree from The
University of Texas School of Law, Austin,
TX (1974).
Mr. Oppenheimer is a committed
community member serving on various
boards and councils, currently serving on TMI—the Episcopal
School of Texas as Governor; and as a member of the President's
Development Council at The University of Texas Health Science
Center San Antonio.
He holds several professional accolades including being named
among The Best Banking and Finance Law and Corporate Lawyers
in America's Best Lawyers (2001–2016); Recipient of the San
Antonio Business Journal’s Outstanding Lawyer Award (2014);
named among San Antonio’s Best Corporate and Securities
Attorneys by San Antonio Scene Magazine (2005–2012, 2014);
and named among Texas Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters
(2003–2009).
Betty Franklin, Visitor Services Manager, Retires
Since the opening of the Stieren Center in 2008, Betty Franklin,
pictured above on right, has managed the Visitor Services staff
and volunteer greeters. Betty’s hard work and dedication to
the museum has kept admissions and programming running
smoothly. The McNay’s greeter program is one of Betty’s passions,
and she will be greatly missed by her staff, co-workers, and
greeters. Her next adventure is an extended visit to France with
her husband where they plan to enjoy the countryside, friends,
food, and wine. The McNay would like to thank Betty for her years
of service and loyalty.
Danielle Ferguson, New Visitor Services Manager
Upon Betty Franklin’s retirement, Danielle Ferguson steps into the
role of Visitor Services Manager. Danielle started her employment
with the McNay as a security officer. Last year, she joined the
Visitor Services staff full-time, and became an immediate asset
to the team. Her organization, customer service, institutional
knowledge, and administration skills make Danielle the ideal
candidate for this role. Danielle has a Bachelor of Applied Science
degree from Wayland Baptist University, San Antonio, TX. She is
currently working toward her MBA from Wayland Baptist, and
graduates in 2017. Please join us in congratulating Danielle on
her new role with the McNay.
11
New Acquisitions
Helen Torr, White Feather and Grasses
Though she is not as well-known as her husband Arthur Dove,
Helen Torr created paintings and drawings, primarily abstractions
inspired by the natural world, that rank among the finest created
by any American modernist. These two works, acquired by
Alice C. Simkins and Tom Wright at the McNay’s Collectors
Gallery in 1975, are the first works by the artist to enter the
collection. Both drawings are from the early 1930s, arguably
Torr’s most productive period, when she and Dove lived on a
sailboat anchored off the coast of Long Island. In White Feather,
Torr works with objects that were easily found on the shore near
where her boat, called Mona, was moored—a rock, a shell, and
a white feather possibly from a sea bird. The drawing is tightly
composed and resolved
with repeated lines at
the edges suggesting a
pulsating rhythm that
seems to hold and press
the composition together.
Grasses, though much more
representational, could also
be read as a formal exercise
in carefully drawn, elegant
lines, and subtly modulated
tonalities.
The McNay has a
particularly fine group
of works by artists
championed by the New
York art dealer Alfred
Stieglitz, including Georgia
O’Keeffe (who included Torr
in a show she organized in
1927), John Marin, Charles
Demuth, Marsden Hartley,
and of course, Arthur Dove.
These two drawings are
beautiful and important
additions to this group.
Helen Torr, White Feather, 1930. Gouache on paper. Gift of Alice C. Simkins.
Helen Torr, Grasses, ca. 1930. Charcoal on paper. Gift of C. Thomas Wright in honor of Alice
C. Simkins
12
Charles Biederman, Untitled, Paris, April 10, 1937
For Charles Biederman, one of the most gifted American abstract
artists of the early 20th century, 1936 and 1937 were pivotal
years. Coming to Paris from New York, he was influenced by
European modernism, including the late Cubism of Fernand
Léger. The paintings of this time represent a breakthrough, using
color and form to create objects in space of sculptural weight
and solidity, far more muscular than his previous works. By the
following year, Biederman made the leap from painting to relief
sculpture, which he pursued for the rest of his long career.
Untitled, Paris, April 10, 1937 is an important addition to the
museum’s growing collection of early American abstraction. It
joins works by John Storrs, Charles Green Shaw, Burgoyne Diller
and Helen Miller Pierce, acquired by the museum in recent years.
Charles Biederman, Untitled, Paris, April 10, 1937, 1937. Oil on Canvas. Museum purchase
with the Helen and Everett H. Jones Purchase Fund.
at the McNay
FAV3
8th Annual Spring Party
Cocktail Party & Silent Auction
Friday, June 3, 7:00 pm–midnight
$100 per person
FASHION | ART | VIEW & VOTE
Join us for the 8th Annual Spring Party as we head to Coney Island! Don your boardwalk
best attire as you stroll the McNay’s grounds partaking in games, fabulous sideshow
acts, and amazing musical entertainment. All your favorite Coney Island delicacies and
cocktails will be served. Our fabulous silent auction is also back, with items from the
city’s best restaurants, boutiques, sports, and entertainment businesses.
TO PURCHASE TICKETS, VISIT MCNAYART.ORG/CONEYISLAND OR CALL 210.805.1772.
Emma and Rene Farret, Chairs
Suhail Arastu
Sarah Blankenship
Marie Brown
Ruth Chiego & Scott Nisson
Ana Lety Cibrian
Ty Edwards
Jennie Embrey
Pam Embrey
Tonya & Dane Embrey
Trey Evans
Karina Flores
SAVE
THESE
DATES!
Kelly & Ryan Moody
Ruth Morris
Rebecca Oppenheimer Nathan
Traci Nix
Mayra Farret Peralta
Laura Poye
Sandra Ryan
Chesley Seals
Catharine & Jeff Vexler
Jaime Waltman
Adam Wetherell
Alejandra Zertuche
Steeplechase Funny Face, n.d., painted metal, Collection of Ken Harck
MEET OUR CHAIRS
Our spring party chairs Rene and Emma Farret
recently moved to San Antonio from El Paso,
TX. Rene holds an MBA from The University
of Texas at Austin and a B.S. and a B.B.A. with
a concentration in finance from Texas A&M
University, College Station, TX; while Emma
holds a B.A. degree from St. Mary's University,
San Antonio, TX. Rene has been in the
financial services industry with Merrill Lynch
for more than 15 years and is now Senior
Vice President-Senior Resident DirectorInternational Wealth Management Advisor at
the Merrill Lynch office at La Cantera. Emma
keeps her schedule busy with Sebastian, a
9-year-old boy; Emma and Andrea, 4-year-old
twins, and Choco their Labrador.
This year the McNay Contemporary
Collectors Forum (MCCF) is hosting
a series of events in conjunction
with its mission—to support
the acquisition of contemporary
art for the McNay Art Museum
and to enhance the public’s
understanding and appreciation of
contemporary art.
■Julian Gold Fashion Show
Wednesday, August 17
This brand new event features a
runway fashion show styled by
Julian Gold, a cocktail reception,
and private viewing of Coney
Island: Visions of an American
Dreamland, 1861–2008.
■Art to the Power of Ten
Friday, September 16
Now in its sixth year, this unique
one-night art fair features ten
galleries, dealers, and artists,
as well as creative food and
cocktails in a festive atmosphere.
■View & Vote
Tuesday, October 18
The culmination of MCCF’s
fundraising year is View & Vote. At
this annual fall event exclusive to
MCCF members, guests vote on
a work of art to purchase for the
McNay’s permanent collection.
For more information
on joining MCCF, call
210.805.1722 or email
jaqueline.edwards@
mcnayart.org.
13
One-on-One with William J. Chiego
FREE COMMUNITY DAY: William J. Chiego Chalks Up 25 Years
Sunday, June 5, noon–4:00 pm
Celebrate Dr. Chiego’s 25 years of leadership at McNay with a fun-filled, Coney Island escape. Free Community Day includes:
Live musical performance
■ Ice-cream social
■
■
Chalkboard tribute & photo op
14
■
Poetry performance: Coney Island LIVE!
■
Art activities including screenprinting
As we prepare to pay tribute to our director
of nearly 25 years, Kate Carey, Director of
Education, visits with William J. Chiego about his
tenure at the museum.
KATE: Now that you look back to your childhood, was there
anything prophetic about becoming a curator?
DR. CHIEGO: Yes, an obsession with my mother’s button box. I
found out my very first boss, the former Director of the Toledo
Museum of Art, had the same obsession. When he was a boy
he would like to take his mother’s button box and spread the
buttons out and compare and decide which were the most
beautiful or the best made, and I would do the same thing. I don’t
know what happened to my mother’s button box, which drives
me crazy because I can still remember some of those buttons.
It’s that kind of comparison and way of looking at things, how
they’re made, and how they’re designed that was probably an
early signal of why I would become a curator.
KATE: What were your first impressions of the McNay Art
Museum when you initially visited?
DR. CHIEGO: I had only been to San Antonio passing through
on my way to Mexico for the summer as a graduate student.
However, I knew about the collection from publications and from
colleagues in the field, so I had an interest in the museum. When
I first came here to visit, I was alone, then my wife Liz and I came
here together, and my impression was a beautiful place with a
fine collection. As Liz will probably tell you, I took one look at the
house and its condition in 1991, and said, “If I take the position it
would probably make me very old.” And it has! I knew there was a
great deal of work that needed to be done to improve the physical
plant, but I loved the people that I met and was convinced by the
quality of the collection and the beauty and charm of the site.
Eventually, we would solve some of those problems.
KATE: Which was harder—a restoration or a ground-up addition?
DR. CHIEGO: Well, in some ways the restoration was a little bit
scarier. I will never forget the day that I walked into the house,
after it was gutted inside. I got that awful feeling in the pit of my
stomach that it would never be the same again. I know that a
lot of people in the community were nervous about it too. There
was a certain amount of apprehension about making it all come
back together and feel like the old McNay. In that sense it was
different, whereas in building the Jane & Arthur Stieren Center for
Exhibitions, we knew what we were going to create. It was just a
long project that took so much more time, effort, and money.
KATE: Essentially the Stieren Center is a part of your legacy here,
and the building is a great addition.
DR. CHIEGO: Of course, our growing collection was the
motivation. Our space for both the collections and exhibitions
was getting tighter and tighter. Achieving the Stieren Center,
beginning with Arthur Stieren’s bequest, was something I never
dreamed we could do so beautifully. We were lucky to get such a
great architect and to receive the support we got for the project
to make it happen. It has transformed the museum. It took much
longer than I expected, but projects like this always do. The shift
to the Stieren Center took a few years to develop in terms of the
programing because we essentially doubled in space.
KATE: In terms of curating such a large space, how do you create
conversations between the objects?
DR. CHIEGO: It evolves over time. I frequently walk through a
gallery to see if there is something I am missing—a connection
we could be making. I think I used to be more rigid in terms of
installing in a chronological way when I was a younger curator,
but as you work with art longer and longer you become more
sensitive to the formal connections.
KATE: What is a style or period of art that you love?
DR. CHIEGO: That is so hard for me to answer. I am so eclectic in
my taste, but there are so many periods of art that I love.
KATE: Here’s an equally impossible question to answer—what is
a style or period of art that you don’t care if you ever see again?
DR. CHIEGO: I don’t know, there’s hardly a period in art where I
don’t find something interesting.
KATE: What's a profession, other than your own, that you would
attempt? And one that you could not see yourself doing?
DR. CHIEGO: Probably I would be a musician, but never a
politician.
KATE: Can you share any hopes you have for the future of the
McNay?
DR. CHIEGO: Well as you may know, we have been working on a
master plan for the museum grounds and the buildings projected
for the next 20-25 years. There is a lot of hope that we will be
making major improvements so that the McNay will be more
accessible for pedestrians, more open to viewing from outside,
and will have more extensive space for sculpture. We want to
make all that come together and reorient some of what we’ve
already done. In terms of the building, our space for post-war
art is limited, so part of the plans have to do with creating much
larger gallery space for contemporary art. It has been great fun
working on these plans. I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of
it happen in the next several years. I’m also looking forward to
seeing how the McNay continues to evolve and grow because
it has changed so much in the last 25 years, and it is going to
continue to change. Growth and change will have to happen for
the museum to continue to be important.
15
McNay Scene
6
1
5
2
4
3
16
1
2
5
This page, clockwise from top:
4
1 Best time winners proudly display their awards, created by artist Sarah Fox. Founder’s Day: 5k Run/Walk &
Family Fun. February 28, 2016.
2 Liz and Bill Chiego with Jane and Bill Lacy. Meet the Future Celebration. January 22, 2016.
3 Visitors display their newly acquired print. 2016 McNay Print Fair. March 5 & 6, 2016.
4 The family that runs together, stays together. Founder’s Day: 5k Run/Walk & Family Fun. February 28, 2016.
5 Liz and Bill Chiego, 5k race/walk best time winners in their respective categories. Founder’s Day: 5k Run/
Walk & Family Fun. February 28, 2016.
Page 16, clockwise from top:
1 Don and Mera Rubell, members-only preview for Made in Germany: Contemporary Art from the Rubell
Family Collection. February 8, 2016.
2 Co-chairs Caroline and William Carrington & Emma and Toby Calvert with Liz and Bill Chiego, Meet the
Future Celebration. January 22, 2016.
3 Dress-up fun. Spring Break Free Family Days: We are Royals! March 15–17, 2016.
4 Emma and Toby Calvert. Meet the Future after-party McNay After Dark. January 22, 2016.
5 Caroline and William Carrington. Meet the Future after-party McNay After Dark. January 22, 2016.
3
6 A toddler enjoys a fun Friday morning. Toddler Art Play: Surreal Stories. October 9, 2015.
17
Gifts
Director's Circle
as of February 29, 2016
$25,000 & above
Mr. & Mrs. Tobin R. Calvert
Mr. & Mrs. Tom C. Frost Jr.
Betty Murray Halff
Marie Halff
Mr. & Mrs. Houston H. Harte
Sarah E. Harte & John S. Gutzler
Mr. & Mrs. J.R. Hurd
Mr. & Mrs. John C. Kerr
Jane & Bill Lacy
Peggy & Lowry Mays
Mr. & Mrs. B.J. McCombs
Mr. & Mrs. Sandy McNab
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas I. O'Connor III
Mrs. Frederic J. Oppenheimer
Carolyn & Allan Paterson
Mr. & Mrs. William Scanlan Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. George Schroeder
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas R. Semmes
Alice C. Simkins
The Tobin Endowment
The Tobin Theatre Arts Fund
Mrs. Terence W. Touhey
Leadership Members
as of February 29, 2016
Philanthropist $10,000
Charles Butt
Mr. & Mrs. J.R. Hurd
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas I. O'Connor III
Mrs. Jesse Oppenheimer
Benefactor $5,000
Mr. & Mrs. James R. Adams
Ann Griffith Ash
Mrs. Lawrence Bertetti
Mrs. Walter F. Brown
Mr. & Mrs. Tobin R. Calvert
Mr. & Mrs. Jim Dicke II
Donald J. Douglass
Mr. & Mrs. John Feik
H. Rugeley Ferguson
Noelle & Shon Manasco
18
Peggy & Lowry Mays
Mr. & Mrs. Sandy McNab
Mr. & Mrs. Alex H. Oliver
Claire O. O'Malley
Carolyn & Allan Paterson
Roxana McAllister Richardson
& Bruce Richardson
Laura & Jack Richmond
Mr. & Mrs. George Schroeder
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas R. Semmes
Alice C. Simkins
Amy Stieren Smiley & Chase Smiley
Lucille & Jim Travis
Sponsor $2,500
Mr. & Mrs. Rowan Altgelt
Mr. & Mrs. William D. Balthrope
Mr. & Mrs. Charles E. Cheever Jr.
Flora C. Crichton
Mr. & Mrs. John Paul Gould
Mr. & Mrs. Fred Hamilton
Mr. & Mrs. John L. Hendry III
Karen & Tim Hixon
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Humphreys
Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Leatherman
Donna C. Martel
Mr. & Mrs. David Meriwether
Bradley J. Parman & Tim Seeliger
Mr. & Mrs. Kirk Saffell
Erika Ivanyi & Matthias Schubnell
Mrs. Louis H. Stumberg
Courtney J. Walker
Mr. & Mrs. Joe M. Westheimer Jr.
Associate $1,500
Mr. & Mrs. Richard N. Azar II
Mrs. Sam Barshop
Drs. Maryan & Otis Baskin
Mr. & Mrs. Steve Blank
Mr. & Mrs. Guy Bodine
Alison & Taylor Boone
Mr. & Mrs. Walter F. Brown Jr.
James S. Calvert
Mr. & Mrs. Richard W. Calvert
Barbara Carrizales
Edward E. Collins, lll
Barbara Seale Condos
Mr. & Mrs. William E. Dreyer
Dr. & Mrs. Charles Du Val
Thomas H. Edson
Susan Toomey Frost
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen J. Goebel
Mr. & Mrs. Curtis C. Gunn Jr.
Dr. P. Allen Hartsell
Mr. & Mrs. Reagan Houston IV
Mr. & Mrs. H. Glenn Huddleston
John S. Jockusch
Dianne Kamolsri
Mr. & Mrs. Darrell J. Kirksey
Kim Lewis
Mr. & Mrs. Clark R. Mandigo
Mr. & Mrs. Peter Margolis
Dr. & Mrs. James McMullan
Dr. & Mrs. Alfred A. Miller
Mr. & Mrs. Stuart D. Moiles
Judé Clarke Mueller
Rebecca & Scott Nathan
Mr. & Mrs. Lawrence B. Nicholas
Jane Cheever Powell &
Thomas L. Powell Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Stanley D. Rosenberg
Ethel T. Runion
Mr. & Mrs. William Scanlan Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Curtis T. Vaughan III
Mr. & Mrs. Gaines Voigt
Mr. & Mrs. Mark E. Watson Jr.
Mrs. Leon Wulfe Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Phrixos O. Xenakis
Corporate Partners
as of February 29, 2016
Philanthropist $10,000 & above
Bank of America
Broadway Bank
Argo Group, Inc.
AT&T Inc.
The Capital Group Companies
Charitable Foundation
Frost Bank
Gunn Automotive LLC
HEB Grocery Company
Luther King Capital Management
Mejia Engineering Company
Rackspace
Valero Energy Foundation
Benefactor $5,000 & above
JP Morgan Chase Securities
Lucifer Lighting Company
Paratus Group II, Inc.
Prism Technologies Group
South Texas Money Management
Educational $5,000 & above
Alamo Community College District
Trinity University
The University of Texas at San Antonio
University of the Incarnate Word
Sponsor $2,500 & above
BDO USA, LLP
Catto & Catto LLP
Schroeder Interests LLC
Associate $1,500 & above
Argent Court Assisted Living
Bolner's Fiesta Products, Inc.
Christie's—New York & Houston
Data Projections, Inc.
Ford, Powell & Carson,
Architects & Planners, Inc.
Hanor Law Firm PC
North American Development Bank
Phyllis Browning Company
Salient Partners LP
Soleil Advertising, Inc.
Business Partners $1,000
Anne Zanikos Art Conservation
Crossvault Capital Management, LLC
Mission Pharmacal
Porter Loring Mortuaries
Business Partners $500
Giles-Parscale
Hamlin Capital Management, LLC
Hot Joy
Honoraria
November 1–February 29, 2016
Mr. & Mrs. Tobin R. Calvert
Jane Cheever Powell &
Thomas L. Powell Jr.
Kate Carey & the Education Department
Dr. Sandra L. Ragan
Mr. & Mrs. William Claiborne Carrington
Mr. & Mrs. Philip Locke
Dr. William J. Chiego
Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan C. Calvert
Mr. & Mrs. John V. McLaughlin
Cynthia McMurray
Jane Cheever Powell &
Thomas L. Powell Jr.
Lisa & Wally Cox
Jane & Bill Lacy
Kelly & Jim Daniell
Jane & Bill Lacy
Madeline Donnelly
Mr. Joe Donnelly
Sarah Harte & John Gutzler
C. Thomas Wright
Dr. & Mrs. Alfred A. Miller
Mr. & Mrs. William Knobler
Timothy Retzloff
Mrs. Susan Evers & Mr. Allen Pierce
Ethel Shipton
Nate Cassie
Amy Stieren Smiley & Chase Smiley
Jane & Bill Lacy
Mr. & Mrs. George Stieren
Jane & Bill Lacy
Lucille & Jim Travis
Mr. & Mrs. Tom Guggolz
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas A. Wirth
Jane & Bill Lacy
Memorials
November 1–February 29, 2016
Lucille Albright
McNay Docent Council
Joanna Barilleaux
Joan C. Childress
Dr. & Mrs. Harvey M. Goldstein
Terri & Glenn Huddleston
Dr. & Mrs. Alfred A. Miller
Leroy Denman Jr.
Suzanne S. Hagino
Suzy Finesilver
Mrs. Jane Wood
Grace Fornay
Suzanne S. Hagino
Jose (Pepe) Lucerio & Linda Winston
San Antonio Area Foundation
Anne Hill McMahan
McNay Docent Council
Martin M. Polanco
Bradley J. Parman & Tim Seeliger
Weldon Seeliger
Sarah E. Harte & John S. Gutzler
Lisa Halff
Bradley J. Parman & Tim Seeliger
Library & Archives
As of February 29, 2016
Susan Toomey Frost
Rose M. Glennon
Peg Ziperman
In honor of Lyle Williams
Alice C. Simkins
In honor of Margaret L. Ziperman
Dr. Don B. Ziperman In memory of Mrs. Renate M. Beebe
Robert W. Beebe
In memory of John Patrick Doran
Rose M. Glennon
In memory of Jennifer A. Lopez
Dr. Rafael & Mrs. Noris Lopez
With thanks to Sally & George Muellich
Rose M. Glennon
Special Thanks
Central Market
HEB Grocery Company
Santikos Entertainment—
Bijou at Crossroads
Whole Food Markets
19
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PA I D
San Antonio, Texas
Permit No. 2978
6000 North New Braunfels | PO Box 6069
San Antonio, Texas 78209-0069
mcnayart.org
Address service requested
Cover:
Gambling Wheel, 1900–20, wood, glass,
metal, Collection of The New-York Historical
Society, Purchase, 1995.2
Red Grooms, Weegee 1940 (detail), 1998–99,
acrylic on paper, Private Collection. Image
Courtesy Marlborough Gallery, New York;
© 2016 Red Grooms/Artists Rights Society
(ARS), New York
IMPRESSIONS
a members magazine
2015
NEW YORK
CITY BOOK
AWARD
WINNER
STEP RIGHT UP
to the Museum Store
this summer for all things
Coney Island.
A beautifully illustrated book accompanies
this exhibition for $50 (member price $45).
This handsome pedestal
light printed with a poster
in the exhibition is $90
(member price $81).
Whimsical, retro, collectible tin toys harken back to the fun on
the boardwalk. The Rocket Ride retails for $30 (member price $27),
the Ferris Wheel is $13 (member price $11.70), and the miniature
pinball games are $2.95 each (member price $2.66).