Juxtaposition: A New way to Look at the Permanent Collection
FAYETTE, Mo. – Central Methodist University’s Ashby-Hodge Gallery of
American Art opened a new exhibition in August titled “Juxtaposition: A
New Way of Looking at the Permanent Collection.” Being featured are two
original and highly valued paintings by celebrated folk artist
Clementine Hunter, which were recently donated to the gallery, said
Curator Joe Geist.
The paintings, titled “The Melrose Auction” (1979) and “Baptising on
Cane River” (1976), are oil on canvas works, each measuring 24- by
18-inches. They are a gift from the family of Dr. Paul and Lisa
Schoephoerster of Fayette. The paintings are part of a larger collection
of Clementine Hunter art works that had been owned by Dr.
Schoephoerster’s father, Hugh D. Schoephoerster of Anoka, Minn., who
passed away in 2000. Schoephoerster is a family practice physician with
the University of Missouri Health Care Clinic in Fayette.
“It was his desire to give those paintings to Central Methodist
University,” Dr. Schoephoerster said. “He absolutely fell in love with
this area – he fell in love with Central Methodist.”
Geist said the idea behind the “Juxtaposition” theme of the exhibition
was to present art works similar in subject matter but painted by
different artists – a show offering viewers the opportunity to see
differing perspectives of the artists.
“It’s a matter of looking at our permanent collection in a new way and
showing it in a new way,” Geist added. The show will run through Oct. 8.
Gallery hours will be 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Sundays. For more information about the exhibition or to
schedule special showings, contact Dr. Geist at 660-248-6304 or the
gallery at 660-248-6324. The gallery is handicapped accessible.
More than 60 paintings, lithographs and photographs are on display,
including works by illustrator Monte Crews; former Oklahoma artist
Charles Banks Wilson of Fayetteville, Ark.; Oscar E. Berninghaus; George
Caleb Bingham; and Robert MacDonald Graham Jr. A number of the paintings
are by Mid-Missouri artists and alumni of Central Methodist University.
These include works by well-known artists, including Frank Stack of
Columbia; Erica Rutherford and Fred Shane, both of whom taught at the
University of Missouri-Columbia; Sharon Dyer of Boonville; Fayette
photographer Dale Graham, who studied with the renowned landscape
photographer Ansel Adams; and CMU alumni George Potter (Class of ’63) of
Colchester, Ill., Betty Switzer Hutson of Kansas City (Class of ’51),
Edna Schenk (Class of ’35) of Ventura, Calif., and Charles Broadus
(Class of ’84) of Fayette. Also being presented are the works of husband
and wife artists Louis and Elsa “Elsie” Freund, who were the primary
organizers of the Eureka Springs, Ark., art colony. The Freunds, long
influential in the Arkansas art world, died several years ago in Little
Rock.
Commenting on the newly donated Clementine Hunter paintings, Geist said,
“Ever since our great Clementine Hunter show in l996, we have been
enamored of this remarkable folk artist. Now we feel quite fortunate to
have two of her wonderful original works in our permanent collection. We
are very grateful to the Schoephoerster family for sharing these works
with our many visitors to the Gallery.”
Clementine Hunter, who died in 1988 in Louisiana at the age of 101, has
often been called the “Black Grandma Moses,” another celebrated folk
artist who, like Hunter, didn’t take up painting seriously until later
in life and lived to be 101 years old. She died in 1961.
Hunter was born in December 1886 on a Natchitoches, La., cotton
plantation and lived in Louisiana all of her life. She died in January
1988. Hunter’s art style was represented in brightly colored images of
plantation life in Louisiana. Her subjects depicted everyday life in the
black community – seasonal festivals, weddings, dances, and church
going, including baptisms and other Christian religious subjects. Her
paintings included oils on paper, art board, cardboard and canvas. She
also painted on glass, as is represented by her work called “Painted
Bottle,” which was done on a nine-inch-tall bottle.
She was in her early 50s when she began painting seriously. In time, she
was to become Louisiana’s most famous folk artist and is considered
today one of the most important folk artists of all time. Her work can
be seen in the Smithsonian Institute, The Museum of American Folk Art in
New York, The New York Historical Association, The New Orleans Museum of
Art and The Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, among several other important
galleries.
