Director's Letter

At the end of this month, we are opening a gallery dedicated to our Islamic art collection, the first of the Asian galleries to be reinstalled. We've received a number of messages asking why we pick out one religion and don't show "Christian art" as such. Well, in identifying art as "Islamic" we are following a long-established tradition in Western museums (the Louvre, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art) that brings together centuries of artistic activity from many countries, all united by an adherence to rules that derive from the Qur'an or other Islamic texts. It's a common misperception that figures are not permitted in such art, but, as you'll see from a number of objects and paintings, such is not the case. Even so, the emphasis is definitely on color, line, and form. Much of the art represents periods when Islamic cultures were the custodians--and further developers--of ancient Greek knowledge in mathematics and medicine. We use "Arabic" numerals and, as I'm sure many of you already know, "algebra" is Arabic in origin, evidence of the long guardianship of a discipline lost to the "West" for centuries.

I sense that some of these questions on the nature of Islamic art are driven by the tragic events so many Americans now directly associate with some practitioners of that religion. Historically, this is a huge distortion, and I hope you'll come and enjoy our presentation of some of Islam's loveliest artistic achievements.

Look for more information on what's in the Islamic gallery in the March e-newsletter. To attend the gallery's opening celebration, An Evening on the Silk Road, see below.

Exhibitions

Government Support for the Arts: WPA Prints from the 1930s

Schwartz Galleries of Prints and Drawings
Through March 21, 2010

Above: David P. Chun, American; Picnic, 1935/1943; lithograph. Gift of the Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project Courtesy of the Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects Top: Todros Geller, American; South of Chicago, 1937; woodcut/wood engraving. Gift of the Works Progress Administration, Federal Art Project Courtesy of the Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration, Commissioned through the New Deal art projects

Artists in need of economic relief during the Great Depression were paid by the U.S. government to create editions of original prints in all mediums. However, lithographs, woodcuts, linoleum cuts, and wood engravings dominate the media on view in this exhibition. Practicality could be the reason behind this phenomenon.

Lithography is a very user-friendly medium for artists who love to draw. Using a greasy crayon, or brush and pen with a liquid version of the greasy substance, an artist draws a design on a chemically prepared stone or plate. While the image-making process was easy, printing was another matter, one requiring knowledge, skill, and experience. Typically throughout history, artists have worked with professional printers, who not only operate the presses but also prepare the paper and ink and clean the stone or plate from impression to impression.

In theory, the woodcut, linoleum cut, and wood engraving processes are simple. To make a classic, pure woodcut, an artist carves a plank of wood with knives. The same is true for linoleum cutting, except that the tools are different. In classic wood engraving, other specialized tools are used to incise lines into the end grain of a block of wood. In all cases, the portion of the image that transfers to paper is what remains once the block has been carved. Of course, artists can mix and match their materials and techniques as it suits them, and often woodcutting and wood engraving are found together in any given image (see top).

Screenprint was a new process in the 1930s; those prints made for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) were among the first. Etching is usually a very complicated multistep process that is not easily learned and requires the use of harsh chemicals. Neither technique was as commonly understood as lithography or cutting and engraving in wood and linoleum.

In addition to paying printmakers for their work, the WPA supplied all the materials. This could account for the prevailing small size of many of the prints. It might have been a matter of economy to issue smaller plates and blocks that would require less paper, ink, time, and expense to print on manageably sized presses.

New On View

John Sloan's WPA Painting

Schwartz Galleries of Prints and Drawings
Through March 21, 2010

John Sloan, American; Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue, 1934; tempera and oil emulsion on board. Courtesy of the Fine Arts Program, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General Services Administration, with the cooperation of Charles E. Terrill & Cathie E. Terrill. Commissioned through the New Deal art projects

Just outside the WPA prints exhibition is another example of art created under the auspices of the federal government--a painting by John Sloan. Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue was painted in 1934 for the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) and hung in the office of a U.S. senator for a number of years before disappearing. Officially listed as missing since 1938, the painting was located in the 1980s and is now on long-term loan to the DIA.

The painting's route from the halls of government to those of the DIA was circuitous. Works created by artists on salary with the PWAP, whether paintings, prints, or sculpture, were the property of the U.S. government and intended for display in public buildings. Fourteenth Street at Sixth Avenue hung in the office of the Democratic senator from New York Royal S. Copeland until his death in 1938. (Copeland had strong Michigan ties, including a stint as mayor of Ann Arbor.) But when South Carolina Senator James Byrnes took over Copeland's office, the painting was no longer there.

In the early 1980s, during an administration change in Washington, congressional staffer Charles Terrill found the unframed painting in a pile of trash next to a dumpster. Terrill, who was surprised to find such a stunning painting discarded on the street, was taken with it and took it home. where it hung on his wall until his death in 1987.

When Terrill died the painting was given to his sister Cathie Terrill, who lives in Traverse City. It wasn't until Terrill's nephew, Bob Wuan, saw paintings by John Sloan in the DIA on a visit in the late 1990s that the connection to his uncle's painting was made.

In 2003, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) became aware of the painting's location and recovered it from Terrill. Through negotiations, the GSA agreed to a long-term loan of the work to a museum designated by Terrill. She chose the DIA.

Fourteenth Street joins the museum's other Sloan holdings: two spectacular paintings from the early years of his career--Wake of the Ferry and McSorley's Bar.

WPA Murals

One of the lasting results of the various Depression-era programs supporting artists are the murals found in post offices and other public buildings across the country, including at least fifty in Michigan, spread throughout the upper and lower peninsulas. A portfolio of images taken by former DIA chief photographer Dirk Bakker can be viewed on the Web site of Michigan Public Radio.

Bakker began photographing WPA art in Michigan in 1978 and has taken pictures of more than fifty Michigan projects. The small sample of his works featured on the Web site provides a glimpse of the genres and subjects that artists created during the Great Depression to depict both American life--historical and contemporary--and American ideology. The murals were painted by a cross section of accomplished artists who competed to win commissions and generally received payment ranging from $300 to $800 for their ideas, labor, and materials.

The DIA's Celebration of Black History Month

Henry Ossawa Tanner, Flight into Egypt, 1899; oil on canvas. Founders Society Purchase, African Art Gallery Committee Fund

Throughout the year, the DIA presents programs focused on African American art and culture, but during February, in honor of Black History Month, there are more events scheduled across all disciplines: art, film, music, storytelling, and family activities. The brainchild of scholar Carter G. Woodson, Black History Month is a federally recognized, nationwide celebration that provides the opportunity for all Americans to reflect on the contributions of African Americans to the development of U.S. history and culture. In 1926, Woodson single-handedly pioneered the celebration of "Negro History Week" for the second week in February to coincide with commemorations of the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. The week was later extended to the full month and renamed Black History Month.

Among the highlights of this year's museum activities are the Fats Waller Revue, featuring compositions by the great jazz pianist, including Ain't Misbehavin', Two Sleepy People, and Your Feet's Too Big; lectures on the influence of Mexican muralists on the work of African American artists and analyses of the connection between biblical imagery and the African American experience through the art of Harriet Powers, Henry Ossawa Tanner (above), Betye Saar, and Romare Bearden; and for film lovers, the DFT presents Mine, which examines the bond between humans and animals in the context of Hurricane Katrina.

For a complete list of activities, times, and dates, click here.

Detroit Film Theatre

This month, the DFT launches a new series of Saturday films--DFT Docs--featuring new, independent nonfiction films each week. All DFT Docs are shown at 4 p.m.

Katrina survivors Malvin Cavalier and Bandit from Mine

The series begins February 6 with Mine, a compelling, award-winning film that examines the essential bond between humans and animals within a surprising context: Hurricane Katrina. As New Orleans residents recover from the flood, they try to reunite with their pets, who have been adopted by other families all over the country. The film chronicles the custody battles that arise when two families love the same pet. Meet Mine producer Erin Essenmacher for a question and answer session after the film screening.

No Impact Man, showing February 13, is the story of author Colin Beavan, a newly self-proclaimed environmentalist who vows to make as little environmental impact as possible for one year: no more automated transportation, no more electricity, no more nonlocal food, no more material consumption. That is, until his espresso-addicted wife and two-year-old daughter are dragged into the fray.

The February 27 film is Strongman, the up-close-and-personal story of Stanley "Stanless Steel" Pleskun, who can lift dump trucks and bend pennies with his bare hands, but who struggles to transcend his chaotic New Jersey home life and the toll of his slowly-but-surely advancing age.

For the complete DFT schedule, click here.

Islamic Gallery Grand Opening

Syrian or Egyptian; Bottle made for the Rasulid Sultan HIzabr al-Din in Yemen, 1296-1321; glass with gilding and enameling. City of Detroit Purchase

Spend an evening on the Silk Road in celebration of the opening of the new gallery of Islamic art with a reception, gallery preview, dinner, and recital by Simon Shaheen and Ensemble on Saturday, February 20, at 6 p.m. The dinner features food from along the trade route from China to Italy. The keynote speaker is Sheila Canby, Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge, Department of Islamic Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The gallery opens to the public on Sunday, February 28.

For ticket inquiries, please contact Tim Burns at 313.833.4025 or tburns@dia.org.