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Country Landscapes

DIA exhibit unveils artists' personal and abstract visions from
the tumultuous first half of the 20th century — with many
artworks donated by members of Detroit's Jewish community.

Suzanne Chessler

I Contributing Writer

M

arianne and Alan E. Schwartz,
longtime supporters of the
Detroit Institute of Arts, have
added to the impact of "Let Me Show You
What I Saw: American Views on City and
Country, 1912-1963:' an exhibit running
through June 29. By lending eight prints
to a display of some 70 works, they are let-
ting museum visitors experience not only
what they saw artistically but also what
they liked enough to make their own.
The exhibit, mostly drawn from the
DIA collection, features works by artists
who used time of day, weather, lighting
and shadows to suggest moods, tones and
atmospheres infused with feelings and
forces.
While some of the artists have Jewish
heritage, so do some providers of the art-
works.
"We bought the prints because they
depict American life, and we have had
them for many years:' says Marianne
Schwartz, who made her selections for the
exhibit with curator Nancy Sojka. "They
capture factories growing and skyscrapers
being built.
"There are city scenes and industrial
points of view, all of which fit into the
parameters of the show.
"The exhibit theme intrigued me
because it is imaginative and creative.
Visitors of a certain age will reconnect
with the past and have fond memories
revived. Younger generations, not having
lived through an age when skyscrapers
were a novelty, will get some sense of won-
der:"
Among the pieces from the Schwartz
collection are New York Night, a 1930
lithograph by Adolf Dehn; Second Avenue
El, a 1934 lithograph by Mark Freeman;
Manhattan Canyon, a 1934 drypoint by
Armin Landeck; and Visionary City, a
1930 lithograph by William Schwartz.
"This exhibit is mostly about American
art between the two world wars:' explains
Sojka, department head of Prints,
Drawings and Photographs.
"It's such a fascinating, fruitful and bur-
geoning time for creativity in American

art because of all the historical factors
that impacted the artists — the boom-
ing 1920s, the depressed 1930s and then
World War II.
"American art was going out of realism
and into abstraction, and we have a good,
representative collection at the DIA of this
time in art."
The exhibit, heavy in watercolor,
showcases the works of dozens of artists
although emphasizing pieces by Charles
Burchfield, John Marin and Martin Lewis.
The first work of art seen when enter-
ing the show is a Burchfield donated in
1958 by the late Lawrence Fleischman and
Barbara Fleishman. It is a watercolor of a
deserted house.
Burchfield's Starlit Woods is a bequest
from the Shirley Mopper Trust in memory
of her husband, Dr. Coleman Mopper.
Burchfield's Study for Flame of Spring and
Marin's Fifth Avenue, New York were given
to the museum by Evelyn Plotnick.
More than 20 objects were acquired
either with funds from Robert and Lisa
Katzman or, as in the case of most of the
Lewis prints, from them in memory and
honor of Sidney and Betty Katzman and
their children.
After the recent death of Dr. Irving
Burton, the Katzmans funded the acqui-
sition of the Samuel Margolies print
Incalculable Forces in memory of Dr.
Burton, his uncle.
Sojka explains that the show has been
built around recent Burchfield gifts.
"Our Burchfield collection has become
wonderfully strong:' Sojka says. "This time
in art was particularly good for simply
thinking about Burchfield and the fact that
he was a very visionary artist who primar-
ily concentrated on country scenes.
"Burchfield has been given a lot of
recent attention. His work has been in
some big shows, including one at the
Whitney in New York. That show also
went out to Los Angeles.
"Burchfield is one of those artists who
should be a household name. At one point
in the 1930s, Life magazine named him
one of America's 10 greatest artists.
"Burchfield had this unusual habit of
returning to works decades after he had
completed them, and he reworked them.

People are attracted to his artistry because
it is colorful and beautiful."
Among the many other artists rep-
resented in the show are Jewish artists
Milton Avery, Saul Steinberg, Abraham
Walkowitz, Lyonel Feininger and Kyra
Markham.
Gray Sea, an Avery lithograph, was
given in 1980 by Carol Coskey Wechsler
and her late husband, Dr. Ralph Coskey.
"I'm very fond of Milton Avery's work:'
Wechsler says. "Gray Sea is a soft picture
that looks like a gray sea. Without faces, it
becomes more mellow and pleasant, and
the style of his brush strokes is easy to like.
"I believe in the museum and thought
people would enjoy having this. I'm glad
it's part of a show that will let others trea-
sure it."
That image is joined by additional
shoreline images by Avery.
"Visitors should not miss the pieces by
Walkowitz," Sojka says. "There are two
wonderful watercolors in the city section
of the show. They are from the 1920s and
also are very colorful.
"They're kind of cubist and fractured in
a way that suggests the rhythm of the city.
They're very positive and energetic.
"The show ends with five wonderful
pen-and-inks that were made by Steinberg
in 1949 for a show then at the DIA. These
were working illustrations for the exhibit
called Tor Modern Living.
"They tell a story of people living in the
city, finding the city going still for them
and then moving to the country in that
classic kind of comical but very revealing
way. They haven't been seen in 30 years."
Pieces in this exhibit are not shown reg-
ularly because they are on paper. Fragility
issues and possible damage caused by
overexposure put them on minimal rota-
tion of two to five years.
Sojka says that this show helps bring
home the point that the DIA is a very
important institution internationally.
Marianne Schwartz agrees, particularly at
this time when DIA holdings have seemed
vulnerable because of the economic woes
of the city.
"Any work of art in the DIA purchased
by private funds is not subject to any of
the speculation:' Schwartz says. "We very

Works by Jewish artists include, top to

bottom: Gray Sea by Milton Avery, 1963,

lithograph; New York City Abstraction
by Abraham Walkowitz, 20th century,

watercolor; and Untitled by Saul

Steinberg, 1949, pen and ink over

graphite pencil.

firmly support the DIA, and there seems to
be some light at the end of the tunnel on
this whole messy situation.
"This major cultural institution attracts
visitors from far and wide and is an asset
to our city. It is a joy for us to have some of
our things included in the exhibition:'

❑

"Let Me Show You What I Saw:
American Views on City and Country,
1912-1963" runs through June 29
at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays,
Wednesdays and Thursdays; 9 a.m.-
10 p.m. Fridays; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturdays-Sundays. The exhibit is
free with museum admission and
for residents of Wayne, Oakland and
Macomb counties. (313) 833-7900;
dia.org .

JN

January 30 • 2014

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