Art: RENAISSANCE IN THE MIDWEST

In Gopher Prairie, Minn., Sinclair Lewis’ culture-starved heroine, Carol Kennicott, yearned to argue art with her energetic, flat-chested friend Vida Sherwin. For 15 minutes they debated: It’s art, but is it pretty? Then Carol cried: “I don’t care how much we disagree. It’s a relief to have somebody talk something besides crops. Let’s make Gopher Prairie rock to its foundations: let’s have afternoon tea instead of afternoon coffee.”

Today, chances are that Carol’s offspring are busily raising money for the local museum, planning the annual art show and maybe taking painting lessons on the side. In the Midwest, art enthusiasm is busting out all over. Museum attendance is up (218,000 visitors to a Van Gogh show at Chicago’s Art Institute), donations and bequests are steadily mounting. After many a long, lean year, art associations are proudly setting up permanent headquarters along Main Street.

Into the Market. With more money than ever before to buy art, even small museums are dipping into the market. The Springfield (Mo.) Art Museum recently picked up an Albrecht Dürer print, a Ben Shahn painting, Mother and Child, and a 10th century Persian bowl. The big, endowed museums are taking a back seat to no one, e.g., the St. Louis City Art Museum’s purchase this month of a Frans Hals portrait for $150,000. Kansas City’s collection, which goes back 4,000 years to a Sumerian statue, also goes forward to a recent Picasso.

To show museum directors, patrons and art enthusiasts assembled for the annual American Federation of Arts get-together what rapid strides the Midwest is making, Iowa’s Des Moines Art Center last week was exhibiting a rich cross section of art from Midwest collectors: 89 paintings and statues from 31 Midwest museums, colleges and universities and private collectors. The Des Moines show proves that Midwestern collectors do not stick exclusively to such safe 19th century American classics as George Caleb Bingham, George Inness and Thomas Eakins, and the Midwest’s Big Three, Grant Wood, Thomas Benton and John Steuart Curry. They are also willing to bet their money on modern European masters—Braque, Matisse, Henry Moore and Giacometti—and the still-debated U.S. Painters Max Weber and the late Yasuo Kuniyoshi (opposite).

Tricks & Treats. To make their museums a part of community living, most Midwest directors are willing to turn handsprings. The Des Moines Art Center, which boasts three kitchens and a movie theater, gives the annual rose show and lends space to the African Violet Society. The Minneapolis Institute of Arts throws open its doors for a four-day Christmas show, last year had 21,673 visitors turn up to learn Christmas games, cooking and gift wrapping. Minneapolis’ up-to-date Walker Art Center pulls in young and old alike with its jazz concerts. The museums eagerly share with the universities the task of art education and teaching.

For Midwest artists, most of whom shelter in academic circles, a bigger buying audience and broader tastes are heartening news for the future. Says Norman A. Geske, acting director of the University of Nebraska Art Galleries: “In our one big show, there is always a rumpus over something that’s considered too daring. But on the whole, you can bring almost anything into Lincoln. I think we are abreast of the folks in New York City, and, in fact, some New Yorkers tell me we’re ahead of them.”