HOW TO GO:
What: “Transfigurations: Modern Masters from the Wexner Family Collection”
Where: Wexner Center for the Arts at the Ohio State University, 1871 N. High St., Columbus
When: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays. Closed Mondays. Entry to this exhibit is via timed ticketing. Walk-ups are welcome, but reservations are suggested to ensure as short a wait as possible. The exhibit is open through Dec. 31.
Admission: $8 for adults; $6 seniors (65 and older). Free for visits on Thursdays after 4 p.m. and on the first Sunday of each month (must be reserved in advance). Free for members, college students (with valid ID), those under 18.
For information: See www. wexarts.org/transfigurations or call (614) 292-3535
VIDEO: To hear Sherri Geldin, director of the Wexner Center for the Arts, talk about the museum’s current exhibit, see MyDaytonDailyNews.com
“Without bread, we die of hunger, but without art we die of boredom.” — Jean Dubuffet
It’s always awe-inspiring to see a major art exhibit on loan from a private collector. It’s fascinating to see what particular treasures an individual or family has chosen to purchase and to live with day-in and day-out.
That’s the case with the new Deco Japan exhibit that’s just opened at the Dayton Art Institute and represents 20 years of collecting by a Florida couple, Robert and Mary Levenson. And that’s also true of “Transfigurations,” the amazing exhibit of 60 paintings and sculptures at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University. The not-to-be-missed show won’t be shown anywhere else, so this is your only chance to view it. It will be on display through Dec. 31.
The exhibition is the personal collection of Ohio’s best-known retailer Leslie Wexner and his wife, Abigail, and focuses on masterworks by Pablo Picasso and Jean Dubuffet, and sculptor Alberto Giacometti. The show also features paintings of horses by Susan Rothenberg, oil and charcoal works by abstract impressionist Willem de Kooning, and the lovely “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” by Edgar Degas.
It’s a rare opportunity to see masterpieces that haven’t been seen by the public for years, if ever.
Guest curator for “Transfigurations” is Robert Storr, professor and dean of the Yale University School of Art and former senior curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art.
What to expect
The exhibit is organized by artist and in addition to the world-class galleries of art, also includes some fascinating educational elements as well. Make sure you allow time to watch the films: you’ll watch Picasso actually creating a work of art; listen to interviews with a number of creative folks who’ve been influenced by these masters, see videos of Dubuffet and Rothenberg. Check out the time line that indicates what was happening in the world and it coincides with the lives of each of these artists. There’s also an interesting interview with the Wexners about their collection that includes comments by Picasso’s granddaughter.
“It’s the first time and probably the last time that this particular collection will be shown in total and it really is no exaggeration to say that it’s one of the finest private collections of 20th-century art in the country and even the world,” says Picasso scholar Lisa Florman, who chairs the history of art department at Ohio State and has contributed to the impressive catalog published for the show. “It’s a collection of extraordinary high quality.”
Although no one will reveal the value of the collection, Florman said that this spring a 1932 Picasso sold for $28 million. The Wexner exhibit includes 19 Picassos.
“Many of the works in this collection are of comparable quality and even greater art historical significance than that painting,” Florman said.
Because of the value of this art, don’t be surprised to find additional guards in the galleries as well as a list of prohibited items including pens, cameras, bottled water, large handbags, double-strollers. You can check out all of the guidelines in the humorous video “What to Know About Transfigurations.” You’ll find it at: http://wexarts.org/transfigurations/
More about the Wexners
Many folks don’t realize that Les Wexner, founder, chairman and CEO of Limited Brands (now L Brands), has Miami Valley roots — he was born in Dayton. A recent article in Forbes magazine referred to him as “the billionaire who single-handedly changed how America shops.”
Though his work days may revolve around Victoria’s Secret, Pink, Bath & Body Works, La Senza and Henri Bendel, Wexner has also found time to develop a passion for fine art. He began collecting in the 1970s, at first buying a variety of artists’ work. About 20 years ago, however, he began focusing on a specific few.
Florman said that’s unusual because most collectors typically have a variety of different artists represented in their collection.
“Mr. Wexner didn’t grow up around art but he was always very clear about what he liked and didn’t like and he had good advisors,” she said. With the purchase in 1986 of a significant work by Picasso, Wexner began a partnership with the art dealer Richard Gray, who, along with his son, Paul Gray, has maintained a close working relationship with the Wexners ever since.
The ask
Sherri Geldin, director of the Wexner Center for the Arts, said although she’d known the Wexners since she first came Columbus, it took her a long time to build up the nerve to ask the couple if they’d be willing to share their private collection and exhibit with the public.
The right time, it turned out, was when Geldin began planning the 25th anniversary of the Wexner Center and wanted to do something “spectacular” to mark the special occasion. It had been a generous gift from Wexner in memory of his father, Harry Wexner, that allowed the Center to open in 1989. His alma mater’s international research laboratory for the exploration and advancement of visual, performing, and media arts has since become a national treasure and Wexner continues to serve as the Center’s foundation chair.
The Wexners said yes, they’d loan their exhibit for the important anniversary. (So their walls wouldn’t be bare over these months, the couple had copies made — and framed — of each of the treasures on loan.)
“We really feel that we’re just custodians, guardians of these pieces for a time,” Les Wexner told the Columbus Dispatch. “Humanity is really the owner.”
The title of the show, Geldin said, refers to 98 percent of the artwork on display that is figurative and shows the human form.
Meet the artists
Florman said there is incredible diversity shown through the depiction of the human figure. Although Picasso is certainly the biggest draw for the exhibit, Florman believes DeBuffey may be the biggest revelation.
“I think Picasso is certainly the better known artist and I’m a Picasso scholar so I’m tempted to say the better and more significant artist, ” she says. “DeBuffet is not as well known, particularly in this country — he is better known in France — and the collection of his works that the Wexners have assembled is stunning. I don’t know of another collection — public or private of Dubuffey — that are of this caliber.”
Both Geldin and Florman have had the privilege of seeing this artwork in its natural habitat — the Wexner home in New Albany.
“I was in many ways surprised when everything was assembled to see how much there was,” says Florman. “It’s a big house so you lose a sense of how many there really are. Even for those with access to the Wexner’s house, the conditions under which we are all getting to see these works are really extraordinary — the lighting is ideal and the installation brings out a lot of connections among the paintings that are not so readily apparent in the house unless you live there and see them on a regular basis.”
The importance of Picasso
Florman, who said her decision to focus on Picasso was as much a decision of the heart as of the head, says much of what happened in the later 20th century and even into today was made possible by Picasso.
His work is arranged chronologically in this exhibit and includes paintings from each decade of his career.
But it would be incorrect to view the gallery as a display of Picasso’s stylistic development, Florman said, because he was always going back and forth between various styles. The Picasso gallery in the exhibit, she says, is heterogeneous and shows off a multiplicity of Picasso’s styles. Florman advises visitors to view all of the work in the exhibit with an open mind, “so you can appreciate the diversity and the variety and sheer inventiveness.”
“He invented so many things,” says Florman. “Picasso had his hand in the invention of Cubism which was later reinterpreted by many other artists. He and Braque together invented the medium of collage which became a very popular and important art form through much of the 20th century.”
She suspects that’s why Leslie Wexner admires Picasso so much.
“He was the the master of reinvention, perpetually experimenting and constantly creating something new, even as he was very aware of what had gone before,” Florman concludes. “He was a student of art history and because of that was able to invent new things and reinvent himself all the time. “
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