2021 ACHIEVEMENT IN ART: THE ALBRITTON COLLECTION

May 28 - August 1, 2021

The annual Achievement in Art Exhibition provides the public a chance to view important works of art while honoring notable collectors on their achievements in art collecting.

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART PAST HONOREES

2020 Collection of Harmon and Harriet Kelley, San Antonio, TX
The 85 works in this exhibition date from the late 1800s to 2002 and represent just a fraction of what is contained in the Harmon and Harriet Kelley Collection of San Antonio, TX. Inspired by an exhibition of African American art at the San Antonio Museum of Art in the winter of 1986-87, the Kelleys began their collection in part to reflect their heritage for their two daughters. Developing their taste and acumen as time went on, the Kelleys took great satisfaction in finding lesser known artists and researching the artists’ lives and artworks, ultimately compiling a comprehensive collection of African American artists. The exhibition was presented at the Amon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth, TX, the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX, the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA, among others. Included in the exhibition are drawings, etchings, lithographs, watercolors, pastels, acrylics, gouaches, linoleum and color screen prints by such noted artists as Ron Adams, Benny Andrews, Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas, Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, John Biggers, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Eldzier Cortor, Margaret Burroughs, and many other outstanding lesser known artists.

2019  Pam and William Campbell, Fort Worth, TX
Through the years, Bill and Pam Campbell of Fort Worth, Texas have been an integral part of the contemporary art scene. Since 1974, William Campbell Contemporary Art, has dealt with some of the most important artists of the day, as well as some of the most promising ones that have come to their notice. Many of the latter have become the former. The years have brought an ever-widening circle of involvements in the art world, as well as a life beyond anything ever expected. “We still get excited about seeing a great work of art for the rst time and feel tremendous joy every time our efforts bear fruit on behalf of an artist.” The Campbells’ community involvement has included leadership roles and behind-the-scenes support. Their deepest satisfaction has been in connecting several generations of artists and collectors with one another, within the gallery and beyond to the national and international level. “Watching and being a part of artists’ thriving careers has been exceedingly rewarding!”

williamcampbellcontemporaryart.com

2018  Collection of Michael and Dalia Engler, Amarillo, TX
Mike and Dalia Engler, long-time supporters of the AMoA, have generously funded exhibitions, museum programs, and staff professional development.  In addition to their steadfast financial support, they have also volunteered their time to serve on the Board of Trustees.  Both Mike and Dalia have served as President of the Board (1997-8 and 2004-5 respectively), and they have generously donated a number of significant works to the museum’s Permanent Collection.  These gifts include the work of Florence Pierce, Joseph Marioni, and Theodore Waddell.

The Englers began to focus their collection in the late 1990s.  The pivotal acquisition of three works by Florence Pierce would influence the trajectory of their collection of monochromatic paintings.  They were first introduced to Pierce’s work by the late AMoA Curator and Director Patrick McCracken, who in early 1995, presented Pierce’s first museum exhibition titled Ambient Seduction. She is best known for her essentially monochromatic works of layered resin on mirrored Plexiglas.  These artworks, like all of the works in the Engler’s collection, are best experienced with time, consideration, and thought rather than seen at a glance.  Because they reflect, absorb, and emanate a glow with constantly changing available light, they require the viewer’s active participation.  

The Englers acquired these three works in 1997 through Charlotte Jackson Fine Art in Santa Fe. For nearly 30 years, Charlotte Jackson has championed the work of contemporary American and European artists: Modernists, Monochrome, Concrete, Light and Space, and Color Field painters and sculptors.  Her gallery has been instrumental in the success of numerous artists as well as the development of many significant collections.  One such collection is that of Natalie and Irving Foreman, which is now a part of the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. In many ways, the core of the Engler’s collection mirrors that of the Foreman’s; the exception being the Engler’s interest in collecting glass and the recent additions of Hiroshi Sugimoto photographs. 

Soon after purchasing the Florence Pierce works, the Englers began collecting in earnest.  The next acquisition was Joseph Marioni’s Red Painting #45, 1999.  Marioni was an original member of the Radical Painting group along with other monochrome painters that met in New York during the 1970’s and 1980’s.  In a recent essay titled Footnote Number 6: Art and Objectness, Marioni writes, “The flat plane of painted color allows us to see the inner movement of the light itself.  Light is the energy that activates the pigmented paint, and is the radical opticality of the painting.  It is not derived from or verifiable by touch.  So the painting is flat for visual clarity and full disclosure of its color.  We are all immersed in light, most or all of our lives.  Paintings delimitation is to see a particular moment of the light.  So that, in the architecture of concrete painting, function follows light.” 

Mike and Dalia have been actively collecting from artists whose work they appreciate for more than 20 years.  They have come to know many of the artists in their collection and have nurtured those relationships.  The artworks in this exhibition have been lived with for much of that time.  The Englers have steeped themselves in the works of the monochromatic painters and have developed an understanding of the key figures that informed this genre of painting.  Other notable artists in the collection include Josef Albers, Robert Motherwell, Sir Anthony Caro, John Beech, Carl Andre, Marcia Hafif, Agnes Martin, and Erica Blumenfeld, among many others.

2017  Montie Ritchie Collection, JA Ranch, Clarendon, TX
2016  Cheech Marin, Los Angeles, CA
2015  Wes and Missy Cochran, LeGrange, GA
2014  Fred and Laura Ruth Bidwell, Cleveland, OH
2013  Richard and Nona Barrett, Dallas, TX
2012  40th Anniversary Celebration: Highlights from the Permanent Collection
2011  Honoring Texas Collectors, Texas Panhandle Area
2010  The Amarillo High Collection, Amarillo, TX
2009  V.J. Jordan, Jr., Amarillo, TX
2008  The Area Arts Foundation, Amarillo, TX
2007  The Collection of Betty Bivins Childers
2006 Stephane Janssen, Carefree, AZ
2005  Dr. and Mrs. William T. Price, Amarillo
2004  30th Anniversary of the Permanent Collection at the AMoA 
2003  Closed for renovation
2002  Mr. and Mrs. Jack S. Blanton, Austin
2001  Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ladd, Amarillo
2000  Winton Blount, Montgomery, AL
1999  William Morris Family, Augusta, GA
1998  Warren / Fentress Family, Waco
1997  Fred Jones, Norman, OK
1996  Ira Spanierman, New York, NY
1995  Tom May Family, Dallas
1994  John Murchison Family, Dallas