Exhibition: "Riches of a City ~ Portland Collects" Opens at The Portland Art Museum

Written by Clark Stringfellow Tuesday, 31 January 2012 20:31

PORTLAND, OR.- Organized by the Portland Art Museum, the exhibition 'Riches of a City: Portland Collects' celebrates arts patronage in Portland and the influence these collections have on the Museum. Opening on February 5, the exhibition features more than 230 objects from some 80 private collections in the city. The exhibition title references a quote from C.E.S. Wood, a founder of the Museum and arts patron: “Good citizens are the riches of a city.” Some of the objects in the exhibition have been shown at the Portland Art Museum or other institutions in the past but most will be exhibited publicly for the first time. For nearly a year, four of the Museum’s curators have been exploring local collections of photography, prints, drawings, silver, Asian art, European art, and modern and contemporary art, uncovering exceptional objects including works by Degas, Picasso, Lautrec, Miro, Roy Lichtenstein, and Warhol. On exhibition through 22 May, 2011.

The curators visited with more than 150 collectors and considered hundreds of objects. The works in the exhibition reveal a variety of collecting interests and passions and give the public a rare glimpse behind closed doors. The diversity of objects also reflects the diversity of collectors from long-time residents to new citizens and from individuals with large collections to some with a handful of objects.

“This exhibition provides an excellent opportunity for the Portland Art Museum to fulfill one of its core responsibilities, which is to place great works of art within the public realm either through temporary exhibition or by adding to the collection in perpetuity,” said Brian Ferriso, the Museum’s director.

Art collectors can have a strong influence on a museum’s permanent collection, and the Portland Art Museum is not an exception. More than 80 percent of the Museum’s permanent collection has come from generous gifts of art from collectors. From Portland’s earliest years, citizens have collected the art of their day from Egyptian scarabs and Ethiopian crosses, Japanese prints and Chinese ceramics, English portraits and French Barbizon School paintings. These collectors brought these exotic works back from their travels to Portland. Many of these private collectors would be the founding members of the Museum and lend their artworks to the early exhibitions of the Portland Art Association. In its 117 year history, the Museum has organized 20 exhibitions highlighting private collections in the region.

Riches of a City is the most ambitious of these exhibitions historically, not only with the number of objects but also the diversity of mediums on display. The exhibition installation is organized almost like a museum within a museum. Bright yellow end walls key the visitor that they are entering different sections where objects share a common subject, technique, or theme. This organization allows visitors to consider ancient Asian art in relationship to contemporary prints or works of photography through multiple generations, or artists who were influenced by other artists. For example, the Schnitzer Sculpture Court presents a three generation look at mid-century American art through paintings and sculpture.

Founded in late 1892, the Portland Art Museum is the seventh oldest museum in the United States and the oldest in the Pacific Northwest. The Museum is internationally recognized for its permanent collection and ambitious special exhibitions, drawn from the Museum’s holdings and the world’s finest public and private collections.

The Museum’s collection of more than 42,000 objects, displayed in 112,000 square feet of galleries, reflects the history of art from ancient times to today. The collection is distinguished for its holdings of art of the native peoples of North America, English silver, and the graphic arts. An active collecting institution dedicated to preserving great art for the enrichment of future generations, the Museum devotes 90 percent of its gallery space to its permanent collection.

The Museum’s campus of landmark buildings, a cornerstone of Portland’s cultural district, includes the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art, the Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts, and the Northwest Film Center. With a membership of over 23,000 households and serving more than 350,000 visitors annually, the Museum is a premier venue for education in the visual arts. Visit :  http://portlandartmuseum.org/

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