Contemporary American painting and sculpture

(Chris Devlin) #1
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JohnMarin,whosepictureshavebeenincludedinthreeofourexhibitions,


maybeappHcable.Marinsays,"Art—somethingthatexistscompletely


withinitself—givesofitselfonlytosensitivepeople—fortheyapproach


itrightly... Iwouldsuggest(asanexercise) thatsometimeyoutake


yourtwoeyesalongwithyou—andleaveyourintellectandyourfriends'


intellectsathome—youmightwithoutthesehandicapsseethingsthat


wouldsurpriseyou."


Lookingatpicturesisatwo-waycontract.Theartistattemptstotell

us,asclearlyasheseesit,somethingofhisexperience.Theobserver,on


theotherhand,agreestobringanopenmindandassensitiveanemotional


approachaspossible.Whatcomesoutofsuchanexchangeisunique,vary-


ingasthevariablesinvolved.Itishopedthattheexperiencewillbeboth


pleasurableandvaluable.Butitmaynot.Inanycase,itiswelltoempha-


size,asAllenS.Wellerhaspointedout,that"aworkofartisnotan


imitationofanythingwhichexistsoutsideitself."Itisitself"acomplete


andindependentexperience."Thistheviewerofcontemporarypictures


mustkeepconstantlyinmind.


Duringaperiodoffouryears,theUniversityofIllinoisContemporary
PaintingExhibitionhasachievedastandingamongnationalarteventsand

itscataloguehasbeenwidelysought,bothathomeandabroad.


AttheUniversity,itisconsideredvastlyimportantthatourfacultyand

studentbodyha\eanopportunity toexperiencethebestcontemporary


worksofthetheatre,literature,music,thedance,painting,architecture,


landscapearchitecture, andthegraphic artsingeneral. These annual
FestivalsofContemporaryArtsarethusapartoftheculturalexperience
ofeachandeverystudent.Moreover,hundredsofguestscomefromIllinois
andneighboringstatestoparticipateintheseevents.
Fromthis 1952 exhibition,asinpastyears,theUniversitywillmake
purchasesofcanvasestoaddtoitspermanentcollectionofcontemporary
Americanpainting.Theselectionsforthisyear'spurchasewillbeannounced
followingthecloseoftheexhibition.

REXFORDNEWCOMB,Dean


CollegeofFineandAppliedArts
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