Naturalism –
Janss Collection

Exhibition Statement

Considered one of the most significant gatherings of art in private hands, the Glenn C. Janss Collection (over 350 works) spans figures from Edward Hopper to Edward Ruscha. Within this variety of styles, a wide range of subject matter emerges. The Schneider Museum of Art exhibit had “Naturalism” as its theme, with landscape the prevailing genre.

Representing this theme were works by Jack Beal, Nell Blaine, Sheila Gardner, Joseph Raffael, and Neil Welliver, some of America’s best contemporary realists. While “landscape” evokes a certain image, works from the Collection point to varying interpretations, from documentary to environmental, from country to urban. These artists have chosen a familiar means to express new ways of looking at a subject.

Drawings and watercolors predominate, and through the directness of the media, reveal the strengths and inflections of the individual artist’s skill. Before the 1950’s it was common for works of this type to indicate a preliminary study for a later work. These, however, were executed as fully developed renderings, which gives them added power.

For the Schneider Museum of Art to exhibit such a Collection was especially significant. Early on, SMA officials set a goal to bring the best work available, and they succeeded showing such diverse exhibitions as Christo, Old Master Drawings, Ed Keinholtz, Art of the Orient, and many others. This exhibition, however, was thematically contained, while at the same time stylistically diverse.

The Glenn C. Janss Collection was on loan to the Schneider Museum of Art from the Boise Art Museum and Glenn C. Janss. Museum programs are supported by funds from the Friends of the Museum and Southern Oregon University, and by grants from the Oregon Community Foundation and the Oregon Arts Commission with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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