Transcript Document

Beginner Tour:
Sheldon
History
Who oversees the Sheldon
Programs?
Director
Jan Driesbach
Curator of Education
Karen Janovy
Curator
Dr. Dan Siedell
Security & Facilities Supervisor
Lynn Doser
The Director,
Janice Driesbach.
Jan thinks it’s great
to walk into the
museum each day.
Hi! I’m Karen!
My job at the Sheldon is Curator
Of Education.
The best part of my job is
watching the faces of visitors as
they see how much fun they can
have ‘Looking’
at the art at Sheldon!
The Building
The Sheldon is
among the top
university museums
for 20th-Century
American Art
collections
particularly in the areas of Realism,
American Impressionism, Cubism,
Modernism, Pop, Minimalism, Geometric
Abstraction, and Abstract Expressionism.
The Sheldon’s Mission:
The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture
Garden at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with
its growing collections of American art, is
committed to exploring ideas and cultural values
through innovative exhibitions, engaging
educational programs, active research and
significant acquisitions. The Sheldon fosters a
sense of discovery and an enhanced
understanding of art and the creative process,
serving Nebraska communities as well as national
and international audiences.
The Sheldon is open to the public!
Everyone is Welcome!
The Basics!
Hours
Tuesday through Saturday from
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Friday evening until 8:00 p.m.
and Sunday from
12:00 to 5:00 p.m.
The outdoor Sculpture garden is open 24 hours
a day 7 days a week.
Admission is free!
Donations are encouraged.
The Basics!
How is Sheldon supported?
Sheldon receives support from UNL for staff, supplies and
services; endowments at the University Foundation, and
also from the Nebraska Art Association, our dedicated
support group.
The Sheldon building and all of the artwork in its collections
are the result of the generosity of private donors.
So, how do they get art?
The Nebraska Art Association and people like you help
buy the art. Many folks care about sharing their love
of art with the community, in fact that is how our
museum got here, with the help of what we call our
‘patrons.’
What the Sheldon staff does
with the art we can’t see!
Storage Areas:
Picture of
storage
here!
Picture of
storage
here!
The Sculpture Garden!
The Sheldon sculpture garden,
dedicated in 1970, contains 30
major examples of 20th-Century
sculpture.
The garden is about a five-block
area on the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln campus and
extends itself and the impact of
its contemporary sculpture into
the downtown Lincoln area.
The Ethel S. Abbott
Auditorium
The Ethel S. Abbott
Auditorium is used for public
talks, concerts and slide shows,
and other activities.
It seats 299 people.
And look around it—it’s an artwork itself!
Do you know
that
your group can
rent the
auditorium?
How cool would
that be!
How the Building came to be!
The building is a work of art. So don’t
forget to just look around at it!
If this building were your house, where
would your room be?
Notice that the
graceful arches, and
the symmetry of the
overall plan are
reminiscent of the
classic temples of
ancient Greece.
http://www.crystalinks.com
/greekarchitecture.html
The building is concrete covered in the same Italian
travertine that Johnson used inside of the Great Hall.
The travertine, limestone rather than marble, was cut so
precisely that each piece is held by metal clips. It was
quarried and cut near Rome, flown to Lincoln and put
together like a big puzzle. An Italian foreman, who spoke
no English, oversaw the placing of the travertine here in
Lincoln.
Large disks around the lights in the ceiling of the Great
Hall are covered with gold leaf to reinforce the elegance
of the space, and provide textural contrast to the porous
surface of the travertine.
At the time of construction, the Sheldon was considered to
be the most expensive public building per square foot
West of the Mississippi.
When the gallery opened in 1963, more than $3 million
had been spent, and there was still money to add a
sculpture garden and four large pieces of sculpture for it.
The Sheldons
The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery was the gift
of Mary Frances Sheldon and her brother
Adams Bromley Sheldon to the University of
Nebraska for
“the purpose of constructing and equipping a
gallery.”
The Sheldon family’s bequests (1950 and
1957) stated that the museum be designed by
a famous architect known around the world. A
university committee reviewed entries from
several leading architects and chose noted
New York architect Philip Johnson.
Mary Frances Sheldon (1892 -1950)
After attending Lincoln Public Schools, Abbott Academy, a girls school in
Massachusetts, and the University of Nebraska, Frances became
interested in art and art collecting.
Frances loved art and antiques. She and her sister-in-law, Olga
Sheldon, came to the Spring Exhibitions of the Nebraska Art Association
at Morrill Hall. Frances thought it was a “miserable place” to show
artwork. She wanted a gallery where the art belonging to the Nebraska
Art Association could be properly exhibited.
Frances was a shy person and lived in the family home at 2525 N Street
in Lincoln where she helped her father with his investments and banking work, managing the
business after his death in 1936.
Frances never married. When she died in 1950, it was learned that she had left her entire
collection, and funds, for an art museum to adequately exhibit the growing collections.
Her brother Bromley was the trustee of her estate. Frances had left the sum of $921,660.00,
and all of the art in her home as a future gift to the Sheldon.
Bromley decided to add half of his estate ($675,000) to Frances’ trust. He died in 1957, and
plans for the gallery began. Together, their gifts totaled around $1.5 million.
Taken from:
Kop Ramsey article, Omaha, Nebraska
Nebraskaland’s Weekly Magazine, Focus, January 18,
1970.
Lincoln Journal and Star, Lincoln, Nebraska
Karen Janovy, [email protected], email to Jonathan
Busky,
November, 30, 2001
Gladys Thompson article, December 1999
Olga Nielsen Sheldon (1897-1990)
At age 17, Olga Nielsen graduated from Lexington High
School, and the next year taught in a one-room country
school near Elwood, Nebraska.
Olga was petite, soft spoken, quick to smile, and had a
distinctive twinkle in her blue-gray eyes. She loved giving
gifts that she brought home from trips. She was very
active in the community, and was a very creative person.
She cooked and sewed, and was also a great reader and
entertainer
Olga’s father, Hans, managed a feed store and grain
elevator in Lexington and also served as mayor and
postmaster. It was Hans who introduced Olga to Adams
Bromley Sheldon.
Adams Bromley Sheldon (1887-1957)
Bromley and his sister Frances were born in
Vermont, then later moved to Lincoln where their
father, George Sheldon, invested in stocks and real
estate. George also owned a bank in Weeping Water,
and had lumberyards in Cozad and Lexington.
Bromley attended Lincoln High School, and attended
the University of Nebraska for a short time after that.
Bromley then moved to Lexington to manage the
Sheldon farms and lumberyard, and to make his
fortune.
Bromley was tall and quite thin. He had deep-set
eyes, prominent cheek bones, and a devilish grin.
He usually dressed in tweeds and a sweater.
Olga and Bromley had no children. However, Olga
helped many of her nieces and nephews with their
education.. Together Olga and Bromley loved to play
bridge, enjoyed the theater and traveling to New York
City, Maine and Vermont.
In 1957, after a long illness, Bromley died. Olga was
60 years old.
Olga served on the committee to choose the architect, Philip
Johnson, for the construction of Sheldon. She had a great hand in
the planning and dedication of the building, and traveled to Italy to
help in the selection of the travertine.
Olga, and then director of the Sheldon, Norman Geske, frequently
visited art galleries in New York City together to look at possible
acquisitions for the Gallery. Olga enjoyed a wide variety of art and
was receptive to the work of artists of all kinds. Her most important
purchase, as a memorial to her husband, was Princess X by
Constantin Brancusi.
Not only did Olga Sheldon buy art for the museum, but she also
made many important contributions to other activities of the Gallery.
She paid for travel grants, training courses for staff members, and
an annual award of a gallery assistantship to a graduate student in
the University’s Department of Art. She was always a great
believer in and supporter of education.
Olga received many awards, including the Distinguished
Nebraskan Award. She was a life trustee of the Nebraska Art
Association, and a director of the Nebraska Arts Council.
Olga set up the Olga Sheldon Acquisition Trust Fund. She died in
1990.
George Neubert, past Sheldon Gallery Director says, “Mrs.
Sheldon’s understanding of the intrinsic value of art in society, and
her uncommon generosity provided the foundation for the Sheldon
Gallery’s commitment to excellence.”
Philip Johnson the
amazing Architect who
Designed the Sheldon.
Philip Johnson
An Architect is a person who
designs and builds buildings.
Ground was broken on
January 12, 1961 and
the Sheldon was
dedicated on May 16,
1963. It stands as a
memorial to Mary
Frances Sheldon and
Adams Bromley
Sheldon.
Before designing his first building at the age of 36, Philip Johnson had
been client, critic, author, historian, museum director, but not an architect.
In 1949, after a number of years as the Museum of Modern Art's first
director of the Architecture Department, Johnson designed a residence for
himself in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later his famous Glass House
in New Canaan, Connecticut. Philip Johnson was the first recipient of the
prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize when it was established in 1979.
To read more go to:
http://www.arcspace.com/camera/moran/glass_house/pages/20.htm
He built himself a house made from glass.
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Johnson_House.html
Mr. Johnson was known for
“breaking the rules” and thinking
Outside the box! He used his imagination!
As an art collector himself, Johnson understood the necessity of
providing a neutral background enabling each work of art to be seen at
its best advantage, yet at the same time creating a graceful and elegant
building that, itself, exists as a work of art.
Johnson’s design for the museum is based in the geometric simplicity of the
International Style of architecture.
http://www.davis-art.com/artimages/slidesets/slideset.asp?setnumber=416
THE COLLECTIONS…
…began in 1888, in a single room in what is now Architecture Hall. The collection grew so
big, that it had to be moved to Morrill Hall in 1927.
The galleries exhibit art from the Sheldon’s permanent collection and special traveling
exhibitions that come from other museums or art collections.
The Sheldon Gallery’s has 14 exhibitions each year and focuses on American 20th-Century
art in all media, including video and installation art.
Exhibitions are taken from the permanent collection and also are borrowed from other
museums.
The curatorial staff organizes exhibitions, many of which have been shared with other
museums throughout the United States.
With more than 12,000 works of art, only a small portion of the Sheldon’s collection, is on
view at any one time.
http://www.sheldonartgallery.org/collection/index.html
These are some
Images from the permanent
Collection.
What do you see
in the picture?
O’Keeffe
Do you see a…
robot
cityscape
flower
O’Keeffe painted this view of the Beverly Hotel in
New York City when she was living on the 30th floor
of the Shelton Hotel nearby. She lived here with her
husband, Alfred Stieglitz, a famous photographer and
patron of modernist artists. Both hotels are on
Lexington Avenue.
She once said: “Lexington Avenue looked in the night,
like a very tall bottle with colored things going up and
down inside it.”
Does this seem to you like an O’Keeffe painting? It is
very unusual as one of fewer than 20 night scenes
she painted in New York before she moved to New
Mexico to paint cow skulls, but after her very, very
large flower paintings for which she is best known.
New York, Night
Georgia O’Keeffe
Brancusi
Do you see an…
animal
apple
abstraction
Princess X
Artist: Constantin Brancusi
Mrs. Sheldon wanted to
honor her husband with a piece of
art. She went to a New York gallery
with former director, Mr. Geske,
where they saw Princess X in a
back room, beautifully lighted
against a black curtain. Buying it for
Sheldon Gallery was a major
accomplishment.
The artist, Constantin
Brancusi worked on the marble for
many years, chiseling it down from
an earlier sculpture now known only
in a photograph called Woman
Looking Into a Mirror. The story
goes that it began as a portrait of
Princess Maria Murat-Bonaparte,
who was very vain, always looking
at herself in a mirror that she held in
her hand—even while she was
eating! You can see marks on the
side of her neck that Brancusi might
have abstracted from the earlier
version.
Princess X also exists in
a bronze version.
Hopper
Do you see a…
window ledge
tree stump
totem pole
Room in New York
Hopper
Hopper is best
known for paintings about
silence, or people not talking
with each other as in Room in
New York. The man is reading
the paper, and the woman is
plunking away on the piano
trying to get his attention. Do
you think she’ll succeed?
He liked to use his
wife, Jo, as a model for many
of his paintings. Why do you
think they are dressed as they
are?
Hopper was born in
1882 in Nyack, New York, and
is recognized as the most
important realist painter of
20th-century America.
Hopper was a
student of Robert Henri, who
lived as a youth in Cozad,
Nebraska!
How a piece of art gets to the Sheldon
How does the Sheldon get the art?
•Purchase
•Gift
•Bequest ($ given to museum to purchase)
•Exchange
The Director and/or Curator, the Donors & the Museum Staff meet to decide which
artwork to purchase. They consider:
•Artist
•Community
•Collection
•Cost
The Director and/or Curator then travel to the city or an art center where the
artwork is, and purchases it from a Dealer or another museum or the artist.
The work is packaged and shipped to Lincoln.
Upon arrival the Associate Registrar or Collections Department oversees the
unpacking of the artwork.
•Documenting
•Storage
Finally one day the artwork is exhibited at the Sheldon. The Curator of Education
sets up a schedule for kids from all over the city of Lincoln get to come to the
Sheldon to visit
Questions Kids want to have answered!
What is a Docent?
A docent is a person who is your
tour guide to help you see some
great art and explore the building.
The Sheldon has
over 12,000 pieces
of art and at least 15
folks to take care of
all that art—some
are volunteers.
How does the curatorial staff take care
of the paintings?
It’s different for all kinds of art, but the basics are
that they need to be kept in a certain air
temperature (68-72 degrees) and at a certain level
of humidity (50%). Humidity refers to the amount
of moisture, or water, in the air. This helps prevent
works of art from drying out, cracking, or
becoming damp.
There are people known as art conservators,
whose job is to take care of these objects of art.
Is it possible
to spend the
night in the
Sheldon?
Sorry, the Museum is
closed at night. No
visitors are allowed to
remain in the building.
There are a few guards
who keep an eye on
the museum during the
night shift!
Things to look for
In a work of art!
Spend time looking first
at the elements of art, line,
shape, color, texture, and the
principles of art
repetition,
balance, rhythm.
Then you will begin to see
just how those components
compare among individual
artists throughout the course
of history.
Feel free to ask
questions
• Sit on the floor
• Listen
• Look
• Relax
• Study
• Enjoy
• Learn
Can you explore the Sheldon and check off at least 10 of the questions?
Security Station and Cameras - The security team keeps an eye on all galleries to be sure the
art stays safe. The team uses cameras to observe all galleries.
Philip Johnson - There is a picture of Mr. Johnson (he is the architect who designed the
museum,) somewhere in the Sheldon. It might not be a painting, but it’s there! He is known for
his big black round glasses!
Travertine, inside and out. It’s really limestone though, and it’s from Italy. How does it feel?
Smooth or rough? Why did Philip Johnson choose this material for the Sheldon?
Portrait - Before cameras were invented, artists painted portraits of people to record how they
look. Artists today paint portraits to explore a person’s personality. Name one portrait you
see_____________________
Lights - Look for them in the Great Hall surrounded by gold leaf. And look to see how they are
used to make the artwork pop.
Symmetry - When you approach Sheldon before you walk up the stairs, do you see that the
building is the same on both sides? Is it like that all the way around? How about when you
peek inside? Windows? Stairs? Doorways?
Still Life - A still life is art that consists of non-moving objects such as fruit, books, flowers,
furniture. Name one still life and tell a friend what objects are in the art and what shapes they
are. ______________
Permanent Galleries- What is different about the permanent galleries and the other gallery
spaces? Museums may buy art, or sometimes pieces are given or lent to the museum. These
spaces help the curator decide where to put different pieces of art.
Princess X– A sculpture by Constantin Brancusi that is made of marble. It
greets you when you visit. How does it look different than the travertine on
the walls?
Realism can often be found in art objects. This style tries to show real and
existing things as they appear. As you look at objects at Sheldon, see how many
you think are ‘realistic.’
Auditorium - Inside of the Sheldon there is an auditorium. Can you find it? Why would there
be an auditorium in an art gallery? Can an auditorium be a work of art?
Landscape - A painting of natural subjects such as mountains, trees, sky, fields…(you could
have a cityscape or seascape also) Name a landscape you see. _______________________
Abstraction - Artists change or simplify the subject matter to show how they feel about the
subject. Look to find lines, colors, shapes, value, and textures. Can you write the name of a
piece of art that is abstracted? ______________________________
Staff - Who else do you see working at the Sheldon? Look for
Karen Janovy, she is the Curator of Education, or Jan Driesbach,
she is the Director. Who else do you see at the Sheldon?
Hurry Back! Name one thing that you enjoyed about the Sheldon. It’s a free museum
that has many new and exciting things to explore. What did you like best? Who could
you bring back next time?____________________