Tag: Adam Levine

Covering the director’s memo mistake

Post author By pennygentieu
Post date April 27, 2022

Mary Sibande (South African, born 1982), Rubber Soul, Monument of Aspiration, 2011, Toledo Museum of Art
Gift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society, 2013.160

Our brand new woke Toledo Museum of Art
guess what? Your new branding is old.

“We will develop an inclusive brand voice and experience that inspires all people and awakens their connection to the deep human story we all share.” Gary Gonya, Director of “Brand Strategy”

That’s what all museums do.

From the beginning of the Toledo museum, there have been people of all ethnicities and walks of life attending art classes and participating in art shows, and shows that speak to everybody, and to act as if we haven’t been inclusive is insulting.

Toledo has always been diverse, and to imply that Toledo has not been diverse is incorrect. Adam Levine, the new director, is the one who wrote the infamous memo after the George Floyd murder stating that the museum’s position on that should be neutral. We certainly were outraged! As I venture to guess were most people in Toledo.

Adam Levine does not have to overcompensate for his mistaken memo by trying to assert that the museum members and patrons and contributors were ever the least bit not for diversity or inclusive. Our history at the museum has always encouraged diversity through their century of Saturday art classes for Toledo Public School system students and others. The TAA show has always been inclusionary since the beginning. The history of shows at the museum defies their argument that somehow the museum is not inclusive or diverse – that is completely false.

There is overwhelming proof that the museum has always been all for diversity and their free open-door policy has alway been like that. The door is open and it’s free, and it was made that way by the progressive founders in 1901, and has stayed that way for 121 years.

The museum does not need to be rebranded because of the new director’s mistaken memo, and Adam Levine should not be selling off our three French Impressionist masterpieces by MATISSE, RENOIR, AND CÉZANNE to raise even more money in the name of diversity when we just had a major fundraiser in 2017 that brought in $43 million, not to mention the numerous endowments the museum already has for buying art, and the Ambassadors, the Georgia Welles Apollo Society, and the Libbey Circle who also buy new art.

Enough already with the overcompensation for the mistake he made with his memo. We have more than enough money to buy new diversified art, as the museum has been doing all along, (see list below showing new acquisitions in just the past eight years) without selling our French Impressionist masterpieces. Unless he’s just selling them to make a statement.

If they really want to be more inclusive and accessible, they could make their parking lot free.

Maybe we need some diversity in our directors. How about someone from Toledo? I’d even be happy with a woman.

Saint Francis of Paola (2003) by Kehinde Wiley (American, born 1977) hanging in the 2014 museum show, Speaking Visual: Learning the Language of Art. It was acquired by the museum in 2005.

Here are some of the shows from the past few years that would be considered diverse and inclusive:

2013

Crossing Cultures: Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art

2014

INSIGHT: CONTEMPORARY SENSORY WORKS Works of art by three major contemporary artists—Pinaree Sanpitak of Thailand, Magdalene Odundo of Kenya, and Aminah Robinson of theUnited States
PEOPLE GET READY: 50 YEARS OF CIVIL RIGHTS

2015

A COLLABORATION WITH THAI ARTIST PINAREE SANPITAK
Guest Artist Pavilion Project (GAPP) resident Pinaree Sanpitak, The Hammock
2016 (focusing on “representation” shows)
Indigenous Beauty: Masterworks of American Indian Art from the Diker Collection
The Rise of Sneaker Culture

2017

Kara Walker, Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)
Doreen Garner, GAPP artist

2018

Glorious Splendor: Treasures of Early Christian Art
Fired Up: Contemporary Glass by Women Artists
The Mummies: From Egypt to Toledo
EXPANDED VIEWS: NATIVE AMERICAN ART IN FOCUS

2019

Global Conversations: Art in Dialogue
Life is a Highway: Art and the American Culture
Anila Quayyum Agha: Between Light and Shadow
Expanded Views II: Native American Art in Focus
Mel Chin

2020

Yayoi Kusama: Fireflies on the Water
Mirror, Mirror: The prints of Alison Saar
Thornton Dial: Trip to the Mountaintop
Picture ID: Contemporary African American American Works on Paper

New, “diverse” acquisitions include:

2013

Seven Sisters: Tjungkara Ken acrylic on linen

2015

Nam June Paik (South Korean, 1932- 2006), Beuys Voice

2016

Kara Walker (American, born 1969), 15 prints from the portfolio Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated)
Alfredo Jaar (Chilean, born 1956), Be Afraid of the Enormity of the Possible
Silvia Levenson (Argentinian, born 1957), Strange Little Girl #7
Gajin Fujita (American, born 1972), Hood Rats
Saibai Island, Torres Strait (Northern Islands, Australia), Mask
Alice Neel (American, 1900–1984), Nancy and the Rubber Plant

2017

Ancient Roman, Season Sarcophagus. Marble, about 280–290 CE
Ancient Roman, Bust of a Flavian Matron. Marble, late 1st–early 2nd century CE
Jaume Plensa (Spanish, born 1955), Paula

2018

DIANA AL-HADID The Seventh Month
NATIVE AMERICAN ART –
Acoma Pueblo, Embroidered Manta
Santo Domingo Pueblo, Polychrome Pottery Jar
Cheyenne, Model Tipi Cover
Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation, Northern Plains, Ledger Drawing #3
Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation, Northern Plains, Ledger Drawing #5
Robert Campbell, Jr. (Indigenous Australia, 1944-1993), Killing Magpie Geese
Titus Kaphar (American, born 1976), Watching Tides Rise
Yun Fei-Ji (Chinese-American, born 1963), High Noon
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (Iranian, born 1924), Aram (Convertible Series)
Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian (Iranian, born 1924), Untitled
Kiki Smith (American, born 1984), Seated Nude.
Toots Zynsky (American, born 1951), Pienezza
Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese, 1876-1950), Moonlight of Taj Mahal No. 4
Elias Sime (Ethiopian, born 1968), Tightrope, Zooming In
Sherrie Wolf (American, born 1952), Zebra with Cherry and Fava Bean
Beatriz Caravaggio (Spanish), Different Trains
Gajin Fujita (American, born 1972), Rider (benzaiten music goddess)
Elizabeth Murray (American, 1940–2007), Stay Awake
Hung Liu (American, Chinese born, born 1948), I Hear Their Gentle Voice Calling
Carrie Mae Weems, well-known for The Kitchen Table Series (1990), embodies the artist as activist
Moody Blue Girl is part of a series Weems started in 1989 called Colored People

2019

Saint Francis of Paola by Kehinde Wiley
Monir Farmanfarmaian (Iranian, 1924–2019), Untitled
Alison Saar (American, born 1956), Topsy and the Golden Fleece
Joyce Scott (American, born 1948), Nuanced Veil
Agus Suwage (Indonesian, born 1959), Keberangkatan
Wendy Red Star (American, Crow, born 1981), iilaa/ee =car (goes by itself)+ ii =by means of which+ daanniili = we parade
William Villalongo (Amencan, born 1975), Beautiful Boys.
LaToya Ruby Frazier (American, born 1982), 2 photographs from the series, Flint is Family: a. Shea at work driving bus 38, Route 45 for Flint Community Schools Transportation, First Student Co. b. Shea Zion departing Flint Ml for Mississippi at 4 a.m. on June 25th, 2016

2020:

Thornton Dial (American, 1928-2016), Trip to the Mountaintop
Martha Pettway (American, 1911-2005), “Housetop”-“Half-Log Cabin”

Adam Levine came to the museum as director in April 2020.

Here’s a link to a pdf on the museum’s website that shows some of their “diverse” acquisitions over the past nine years:

https://www.toledomuseum.org/sites/default/files/exb_globalconvocaptionsheet_0.pdf

FROM THE TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART’S MISSION STATEMENT:

COMMUNITY RELEVANCE: We will be an integral member of our community and will be responsive to issues of community concern and importance, particularly as they relate to the arts.

VALUES: As individuals, we pledge that our relationships with one another and with our audiences will be governed by: Integrity; Respect; Trust; Cooperation; Positive Approach; and Self-Discipline.

Goodbye Matisse Renoir and Cézanne

Post author By pennygentieu
Post date April 22, 2022

A tribute to the Mrs. McKelvys of the Toledo Museum of Art

From the introduction of The Collection of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy
Written by Otto Wittmann, Director, Toledo Museum of Art, 1964

Margaret Gosline McKelvy was one of Toledo’s great benefactors, yet she was so modest and so reticent that few knew all that she did for the community in which she lived. Her joyous and lively interest in the arts and people expressed itself in two ways that profoundly affected this community through its Art Museum. Her father, William A. Gosline, Jr., who was President of the Museum from 1934 to 1947, had taught her to love and collect art. She had the courage to acquire only works of art she liked and always considered that one day her collection would be the heritage of all of us in this community. Her acquisitions were planned to supplement the collections of the Art Museum yet they remain a very personal expression of her strong and sure taste. Her collection will strengthen and enrich the Art Museum, giving pleasure to all who visit it.

Mrs. McKelvy liked young people and helped many to obtain the education necessary to pursue a useful life. In the arts she gave scholarships to promising young artists, so that they could become technically proficient. Many became art teachers, and are now benefiting countless children through their teaching. With typical modesty, Mrs. McKelvy gave these scholarships either through the Museum, as Gosline Scholarships, honoring her father, or through the Toledo Board of Education, as Gilmartin Scholarships, honoring Elizabeth C. Gilmartin, former Supervisor of Art Education in Toledo’s public schools. Few knew the name of the donor.

Mrs. McKelvy was a lifelong resident of our community, served on the boards of many charitable institutions in addition to being a Trustee of this Museum. The delightful and personal collection of works of art given to the Museum by Mrs. McKelvy is recorded in this catalogue. Her pictures and objects will give pleasure to many. Her generous and lighthearted spirit will live on in these works of art and in the hearts of all those whom she helped, and who are now helping others to learn from and enjoy the arts.

A collection of valuable French Impressionism and other French art which was made from a woman’s point of view, Mrs. McKelvy used her critical feminine eye to collect art with the intention of giving it to the Toledo Museum of Art. And now the museum is selling her Renoir.

Check out Mrs. McKelvy’s bequeathed collection that was published in this booklet by the Toledo Museum of Art in 1964:

The Collection of Mrs. C. Lockhart McKelvy

UPI article about the museum’s 1990 Impressionism show, which got the second highest attendance of any show in the history of the Toledo Museum of Art. But they are going to sell three of these most popular paintings for a 12th century object from Southeast Asia, perhaps, according to the museum’s Brand Strategy Director, Gary Gonya.

The Great Art Heist of 2022

Goodbye, Matisse, Renoir, and Cézanne. The new director of the Toledo Museum of Art, Adam Levine, tells us that you are no good for the museum anymore, that we have too many of you, that you are not even that good, that you don’t serve the community fairly, even though you are so popular, that people go to see you first when they visit the museum, and 6,700 people came to see you in the Impressionism show on the Saturday after Thanksgiving one year.

Matisse, Renoir, and Cézanne brought the community together. The Matisse, Renoir, and Cézanne are great works of art that the Toledo community loved and made us proud of our Toledo Museum of Art. They are part of the fiber of the museum that is us, the diverse and artistic Toledo community that makes up the Toledo Museum of Art.

LeMaxie Glover at work, Blade photo, courtesy of Karen Glover

Mrs. Margaret McKelvy, LeMaxie Glover’s benefactor, bequeathed The Bather by Pierre Auguste Renoir to the Toledo Museum of Art. It was part of her curated personal collection of French art.

“She always considered that one day her collection would be the heritage of all of us in this community.” – Otto Wittmann, Director, 1964

And now they are getting rid of a major painting from her collection under the guise of diversity.

Could it be that the new museum director is using us, making half of us feel ashamed that we have so much French and European art, and planting the seed that the other half needs to question whether or not French and European art really speaks to them, as if it should only speak to people of French and European descent? Could it be that it is the director who cannot relate to the art in our art museum, since his expertise is in ancient art, anthropology, and mathematics?

If it were not for Mrs. McKelvy’s generous support of LeMaxie Glover, our local art community would not be as diverse as it is today. Our museum has always been progressive and welcoming to every person in this community, no matter what ones’ personal heritage.

LeMaxie Glover was influenced by the impressionistic work of Renoir, as were many art students in Toledo. LeMaxie Glover learned his craft and his art at the Toledo Museum of Art School of Design, and Mrs. McKelvy gave him a scholarship to Cranbrook Academy of Art. McKelvy was an important patron of Glover’s. In return, LeMaxie Glover was not only one of Toledo’s best sculptors, but he also served unselfishly as an art teacher at Woodward and Scott High Schools for many years, helping generations of Toledo youth appreciate and create art.

Pugilist, LeMaxie Glover 1967, terra cotta. Collection of Karen Glover. Photo by Penny Gentieu

As if they need to sell our masterpieces in order to buy more art, anyway.

It makes a good story in Art News

The museum can buy more diverse art without selling their French Impressionist masterpieces, with the $4 million that they can spend on art every year from the income of the Libbey endowment alone. Many Toledoans treasure the masterpieces in our museum. Selling off these paintings to get a quick $40 million to buy “diverse” art (with their eye on a 12th century object from Southeast Asia) is foolish. They could do a fundraiser. The museum curators often add one hundred or more artworks each year. Do they really have sell our venerable, valuable French Impressionist masterpieces from important collections to buy more art? They will be losing the support of the bequeathing community.

Perhaps in the future, donors should loan, instead of bequeath their great works of art to the museum, so when a new director comes along and wants to deaccession it, the artwork can be given to another museum that might appreciate it, without the first museum getting to cash it in. I wonder how Mrs. McKelvy’s heirs feel about the museum’s deaccessioning of her Renoir. At least if it’s going to be monetized, Mrs. McKelvy’s many descendants should benefit, not the new museum director who is actively diminishing her legacy and erasing the museum’s rich history.

In his April 8 letter to museum members about the sale of the three paintings, Adam Levine went into detail about the Libbey Endowment Fund but didn’t even mention Mrs. McKelvy, whose Renoir was given directly by her, and not bought with the funds of the Libbey Endowment, as were the other two paintings.

It must be a very touchy subject these days among Toledo’s wealthy patrons who are thinking about bequeathing art. Because the artwork is wanted today, but “get it the hell out of here” tomorrow, as their memory will be. (That is, depending on the whim of the new museum directors, who are not Toledoans, and will probably be getting the hell out of here as soon as they can, too. Lately, since 2005 or so, directors of the Toledo Museum of Art tend stay around for only seven years.)

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

See The Blade’s April 25, 2022 editorial:

Toledo museum of art should keep its top tier

Whatever happened to Isaac Rader?

Post author By pennygentieu
Post date April 5, 2022

Isaac Paul Rader (1906 – 1986)

Isaac Paul Rader, famous for his paperback cover illustrations, is “entirely a Toledo product.”

He learned his craft by taking classes at the Toledo Museum of Art; his teacher was Karl Kappes. At the tender age of 14 (he might have been 15), he won top prize in the fourth annual Toledo Area Artists Exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art. That made him famous – his museum win was a true legend enduring all of his life and written about in his obits!

He moved to Detroit, where, in his twenties, he made a name for himself as the premiere artist for official portraits of judges.

Then he moved to New York and became a magazine illustrator. His paperback covers, created in the 1960’s, are highly collectable.

Google Images screenshot, 2022

The Toledo Blade, June 26, 1986

Toledo Times, March 28, 1921, Isaac Rader “entirely a Toledo product.”

Toledo Blade March 1921, The Carpenter by Isaac Rader. An oil painting of his father at work, painted life-size.

The first prize going to a 15-year old caused quite a stir in Toledo — but he had to win. His stunning painting, which was painted life-size, was better than any other entry. The jury included Nina Spalding Stevens (head of the art school and wife of the museum director) and Blake-More Godwin (who would become the next museum director, in 1927.)

That was the last year the Federation did their own judging. For every Toledo area artist show after that, the Federation utilized judges from out of town (until the last two, in 2013 and 2014, which were judged by the museum director and associate director– we know what happened after that…)

Another reason to bring back the real Toledo Area Artists Exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art, to help Toledo artists become famous like Isaac Paul Rader!

Subject: May Show Season
Date: 04/06/2022 11:19AM
To: ALevine@toledomuseum.org, rsewell@toledomuseum.org

Dear Adam and Rhonda,

I just posted a new-found artist, Isaac Paul Rader, on artistsoftoledo.com – I thought you might be interested. At age 14, he won top prize in the TAA show, and went on to have quite a career as an artist. Just an example of the missed opportunities for young Toledo artists without the museum’s annual area artists show. It means something to be shown at the Toledo Museum of Art – it can really change one’s life!

It’s exciting to see the changes at the museum — how is the Community Gallery coming along?

All the best,

Penny Gentieu

https://artistsoftoledo.com/goodbye-matisse-renoir-and-cezanne/

Tags Adam Levine, Rhonda Sewell, Toledo Area Artists Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art

Our brand new woke Toledo Museum of Art guess what? Your new branding is old.