[July 3, 2008]
There was a small reception tonight. When I arrived for it, there were two new donations: a sculpture by Bryan Thomas, and a photograph by Greg Halpern.
A friend wanted to paint, so I put him to work. He worked on the copy of Annunziata’s copy of Benjamin Franklin. It was his first time using oil paint, and he seems to have a feeling for it. I told him that he would still have to make a trade in order to get the painting, but he makes great drawings, so I am sure this won’t be a problem.
Janet Steck and her husband Henry came. Janet ran the gallery for a long time. It was great to talk to her about some of the history of the collection. She told me that a sociology professor had rescued the WPA paintings from being thrown out. I learned about Ralf Jean Baptiste: he was a student at Cortland, and a good lacrosse player. Janet also told me about the Matisse print–it was damaged when it was stolen. They know right away when it went missing, but were unable to find it. Someone had taken it to California. Several years later, it arrived in the mail, but it wasn’t packed properly, and the glass of the frame broke, and damaged the print. I asked her who did the watercolor paintings of the chickens in the back yard ( 1990.1.F)–there is a whole flat file drawer of watercolors like this. She told me it was by Robert Pennoyer, and that he is a local artist who donated his work to the Dowd
I asked Janet to pick something out for me to copy. At the end of the evening, Henry told me he had ordered one of David Ahlsted’s paintings. I told him I hope it wasn’t one of the one’s with the women’s heads cut off, he said it wasn’t. These paintings are very large, so I have my work cut out for me.
