Speed Art Museum Recieves Gift of American Historical Flasks

January 27, 2005, Louisville, Kentucky – The Speed Art Museum is pleased to announce a gift of 601 American historical flasks from Louisvillian Robinson S. Brown, Jr. The flasks, produced by American glass factories between 1815 and the1890s, were used to hold whisky. They also provide a fascinating glimpse into American history and nineteenth-century interests.

By 1815 figured flasks were very common in America. Made from cast-iron, brass or bronze molds there are over 750 known patterns. Many pattern designs were inspired by topical events of the day including politics and patriotism. Others were decorative motifs inspired by architectural details.

The Brown collection offers a sampling of the wide variety of figured flasks produced in this country. Grouped in 15 categories, the Brown Collection encompasses historical (presidents, railroads, etc.), decorative (scrolls, sunbursts, etc.), organizations (Masons), and locales (Pike’s Peak, Baltimore Monument, etc.). Some flasks in the collection were produced locally at either the Louisville Glassworks or the Kentucky Glassworks.

Scott Erbes, Curator of Decorative Arts at the Speed remarked, “The Robinson S. Brown collection of historical flasks provides a fascinating visual record of American popular culture and decorative motifs in the designing of bottles. Mr. Brown is a great connoisseur, and his collection is outstanding in its depth and in the quality of examples he sought and acquired.”

Brown has been an avid collector for more than 50 years. In addition to figured flasks, he is interested in paintings, early cut-glass, and coins. A Louisville native, Brown began working summers for Brown-Forman during college. After graduating, he worked full time at the Louisville-based beverage firm in advertising and sales until 1982 when he retired as chairman of the board.
The Robinson S. Brown Collection will have its premiere showing in the Speed’s Focus Gallery from February 15 to August 7, 2005.

Founded in 1927, The Speed Art Museum has over 13,000 pieces in its collection spanning 6,000 years, ranging from ancient Egyptian to contemporary art. The Museum has distinguished collections of 17th century Dutch and Flemish painting; 18th century French art; Renaissance and Baroque tapestries; and significant holdings of contemporary painting and sculpture. African and Native American works are also represented in the Museum’s collection. “Passport to the Speed,” an audio-guide of selected works in the permanent collection, is available for a rental fee of $3 at the museum’s Welcome Center.

The Speed Art Museum is located at 2035 South Third Street in Louisville. Other features of the museum include a hands-on Art Learning Center for families, a café and gift shop. Gallery hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and Sunday 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays. For general information, call (502) 634-2700.

The Speed Art Museum Recieves Important Whistler Collection

The Speed Art Museum received a gift and partial purchase of 88 works on paper, including 87 lithographs by James McNeill Whistler executed between 1878 and 1903, and a lithograph of Whistler by printer Thomas Way. The works – the gift of collector Steven Block – make the Speed a major center for the study of this important American artist.

James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834-1903) Nocturne, 1878-87 Lithotint on blue gray paper, laid down on white wove paper Gift and partial purchase from the Steven Block Collection made possible in part by Mrs. W. L. Lyons Brown.

Steven Block, a graduate of the University of Louisville and Harvard University, began assembling his important Whistler lithograph collection in the late 1970s. It is considered to be the largest collection of Whistler’s lithographs in private hands. In giving the collection to the Speed, Block said, “I am delighted to bring this collection to the Speed Art Museum and to Louisville. Over the last two decades it has been an honor to participate in the study and renewed appreciation of Whistler’s lithographs. With this gift, the Speed and my hometown of Louisville become one of the world’s centers of scholarship on James McNeill Whistler.”

Best known for his exquisite painted portraits, Whistler (1834 - 1903) was also an accomplished printmaker whose lithographs offer insight into a more introspective side of the artist’s career. When Whistler began experimenting with lithography in 1878, he faced a dual challenge: mastering the artistic nuances of a new medium and confronting public and critical prejudices against the technique. By the mid-nineteenth century, lithography was largely perceived as a commercial enterprise used for the production of advertising materials, inexpensive illustrations, and reproductions made for the growing middle class. Nevertheless, Whistler—aware of the lithographic explorations of French artists Camille Corot, Édouard Manet, and Edgar Degas—hoped to bring about a lithographic revival in Britain while simultaneously expanding the range of his work and attracting a broader audience.

Whistler’s interest in the medium never waned and he experimented with lithography intermittently until his death in 1903. He created the majority of his lithographs during his time in London and Paris, 1887-1897, aspiring to create airy “drawings” that were the visual equivalent to music. Whistler found that he could achieve more subtle effects with lithographic crayon than with any other medium.

Works in the collection depict intimate scenes from daily life, delicate landscapes, and images of the friends and family closest to the artist. In addition to black and white lithographs, there are three of Whistler’s very rare colored lithographs, a technique with which he began to experiment in 1890. Whistler’s lithographs have been described as his most abstract, yet personal, form of expression.
The Gift and partial purchase from the Steven Block Collection has been made possible in part by Mrs. W. L. Lyons Brown.

Robert Goodnough, (American) Red, Blue, and Gray, 1965 Acrylic and oil on canvas Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky 2003.10

Speed Art Museum
Acquires Painting by Important
Abstract Expressionist

The Speed Art Museum has greatly enhanced its contemporary art holdings with the acquisition of Robert Goodnough’s Red, Blue, and Gray, painted in 1965 at the height of Goodnough's long career.

Born in Cortland, New York, Goodnough became a central figure in the thriving community of artists living in New York during the 1950’s and, through his participation in intellectual discussion groups, engaged with important abstract painters including Willem de Kooning (1904-1997), Robert Motherwell (1915-1991), and Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), as well as composer John Cage (1912-1992) and art critic Clement Greenberg (1909-1994).

Goodnough is often referred to as a second generation Abstract Expressionist, or even, a Color Field painter, but he is perhaps best described as a maverick who never belonged to any particular school of artistic thinking. His prolific output, executed in an impressive range of media, while reflecting the influence of these twentieth-century modern masters, is characterized by a highly developed personal style.

Although his name may not be as recognizable as Jackson Pollock, for over fifty years, Bob Goodnough has been a more than well-respected member of the initial group that formed the Abstract Expressionist movement and his unique career path separates him from those artists whose work he reflects. Adapting technique and theory from his contemporaries, Goodnough stands out as a richly imaginative maverick, unable to be pinned down by a single school of thinking or artistic practice.

Red, Blue, and Gray consists of five horizontal rows of narrow rectangles on a light gray background. Blocks of color randomly fill the rectangles with different shades of red, blue and black. The painting demonstrates not only the discipline and control that Goodnough brings to his craft but also the commensurate skill with which he compresses dynamic forces into surface plane of the painting. Red, Blue, and Gray is currently on view in a special installation with another Goodnough work in the Speed’s collection, Vietnam.

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