By Louis A. Zona
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – You may know the British comedian Rowan Atkinson, the star of “Mr. Bean.” He’s long been one of my favorites.
The funniest episode in one of his films is where he plays an art critic who ends up erasing the face of Whistler’s Mother. It cracks me up every time I see it.
In this column, I will take a few paragraphs to discuss a passion of mine, which is our great museum of art, The Butler Institute of American Art. Way back in 1919, Joseph G. Butler Jr. decided that American art was just as significant as any art emanating from Europe.
That’s right, Mr. Butler gave America its very first museum of American art. It was a first and the beginning of an extensive line of firsts, including the first building specifically built to house a museum devoted entirely to American art.
Another first was attaching five beautiful additions to that original building, including the newly created Bacon Wing. And before that, The Butler was given a remarkable collection of technological art from a California collector, David Bermant.
It was the first museum to add an exciting wing dedicated to art based on new media, from holograms and video to mechanical and computer-based works.
From a modest collection of 33 landscapes from Mr. Butler’s personal collection, the art collection has grown to over 22,000 works. Included in that growth are works by such artists as Jackson Pollock, Winslow Homer, Willem de Kooning, Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell, a who’s who of American painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers and videographers.
We often hear that The Butler’s art collection contains many masterpieces. So, what is meant by the term?
A masterpiece is a unique work of art that ranks among the absolute best an artist creates. An example of an American art masterpiece is Homer’s “Snap the Whip,” which is in the Butler collection.
It is the most admired of Homer’s many works. Critical acclaim reveals that it is creative and skillfully painted. It is also the most reproduced of Homer’s work: prints, educational videos, cards, games and any material in which art is recreated.
The blessing is that The Butler’s collection of masterpieces numbers well into the dozens. And it is the number of masterpieces in this collection that establishes The Butler’s reputation as the home of masterpieces by America’s greatest painters and sculptors.
Given what is known and admired about The Butler’s collection and the advancements to its facility, it is no wonder that The Butler is so often lauded as “America’s Museum.” I’ll bet that even Mr. Bean would agree.
It also speaks to the number of scholars who extensively use the collection in their research. It is interesting to note how many of America’s best-known personalities have visited and admired The Butler, from the former head of the Metropolitan Museum, Tom Hoving, to the painter and entertainer, the late Tony Bennett.
American art scholars who have used The Butler collection also include Dr. Barbara Novak, Dr. William Gerdts, Dr. David Shirey, professor Donald Holden (Whistler scholar) and Americanist of the Whitney Museum, Dr. Barbara Haskell.
So many American artists have been inspired by what they’ve seen at The Butler, as well. Many stories are told of painters and sculptors who hosted their first major solo exhibits in The Butler galleries such as optical painters Julian Stanczak and Richard Anuszkiewicz.
Hundreds of artists received their starts at The Butler. And so many are prominent, honored visual artists.
Educational programs fill the calendar that include art classes, hundreds of tours and traveling exhibitions. The Butler has one of the most active docent programs in America. It has been praised far and wide, as have the galleries that give visitors a history of America through the art.
On many Sunday afternoons, a Butler director’s lecture focuses on current exhibitions or additions to the permanent collection. The popular lecture series augments what the education department presents.
An important first for The Butler is a recent video monitoring system that is a voice activated state-of-the-art security system. “Sentry,” created in Cleveland and designed specifically for The Butler, is an advanced electronic surveillance system.
The Butler’s system has inspired similar ones at larger museums around the country including the National Gallery in Washington and Boston Museum of Art. The system is ultra-sensitive and able to detect the slightest danger to the art that it protects.
Why this monitoring system is so important can be understood by an incident at a Southwestern museum that involved a young boy who stuck a wad of bubblegum on a Minimalist canvas. The art restorers were unable to remove the gum since the weave of the canvas presented a challenge. Scientists believe it will take future technology to remove it from the weave of the canvas.
The Butler also has in place an extensive fire detection system that can detect water in its lower levels. Water can be as damaging as fire. Therefore, an extremely sensitive detection system alerts staff of potential problems.