Art Gallery Goes“ Coastal” and Highlights Baumann Prints
~ by Lyn Letsinger-Miller and Doug Runyan
Bohm painting“ Just Waiting.”
A celebration of early Indiana Art this summer will coincide with the Gallery’ s 90 th Anniversary and the State Bicentennial. One exhibit takes you on a summer vacation to the ocean and the second into the world of Gustave Baumann.
Opening with a reception on July 9,“ Brown County Artists Go Coastal”, explores our early artists leaving Peaceful Valley and its hills, woods, and meadows for coastal regions of the United States.
L. O. Griffith and Anthony Buchta traveled to New Orleans with its busy streets and harbors.
Adolph Shulz, considered the founder of the Brown County Art Colony, spent time in Florida along with his second wife Alberta. They found the surroundings that featured orange groves, beaches, palms trees, and the Gulf waters to be great subjects. They also met a young Fred Rigley who eventually followed the Shulzs to Nashville, but not before a detour to the East Coast. Rigley exhibited in Cape Ann in the late 1930s and served as President of the prestigious North Shore Art Association.
Other visitors to Cape Ann included C. Curry Bohm, and Gianni Cilfone. In return, East Coast artists Ken Gore and Marian Williams Steele, made their way to Nashville at the invitation of Rigley.
Glen Cooper Henshaw, whose permanent collection resides in the Brown County Art Gallery, spent many years painting up and down the East Coast.
The exhibit will feature 50 paintings that give Indiana art lovers a look into the“ traveling” lives of our early artists. The exhibit closes on July 30.
Next up is“ Gustave Baumann and the Brown County Printmakers,” which opens with a reception on August 6 and will premiere a major acquisition by the
Gallery from the Baumann Estate. Currently,“ Gustave Baumann: the Indiana Collection” has its home in the new Dr. Robert Sexton Gallery. It is home to a major collection of Indiana works by Baumann, who began his artistic career in Brown County in the early 1900s. He went on to International fame in New Mexico but never forgot his Indiana roots. He was also joined by a corps of Indiana printmakers including L. O. Griffith, Adolph Shulz, Will Vawter, and Arthur Humpal. Visitors will see the major Baumann exhibit along with the work of his colleagues. The opening reception will feature author Marty Krause and woodcut printmaker Mark Burkett, who will demonstrate the process in the Art Education Studio. The exhibit remains open until September 10.
New works have been added to the Collection including the gift from the Baumann estate which is called a Progression. It includes the original tempra which Baumann would paint in the field, and then use as a guide for carving his wood blocks used in the printmaking. The progression includes the tempra, 7 woodblocks, and 12 prints which culminated into his famous Indiana piece called,“ The Road of a Morning.” The gift is valued at $ 150,000.
There is a $ 25 admission charge to both opening receptions which feature food, wine, and music along with the special programs and a souvenir brochure. Then the exhibits open to the public free of charge. For more information and to make reception reservations, visit the Gallery website < www. browncountyartgallery. org > or follow us on Facebook,“ The historic Brown County Art Gallery.” You can also call the Gallery at( 812) 988-4609. •
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July / August 2016 • Our Brown County 47