Pulse: Not for Lack of trying: A quest for artistic awareness
Photos courtesy of The Stillman-Lack Foundation "Strange Flight No. 2," gouache on paper. |
Maryland Community Newspapers Online
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Photos courtesy of The Stillman-Lack Foundation "Strange Flight No. 2," gouache on paper. |
Barry Lack is his great-uncle's keeper.
As executive director of the Atlanta-based Stillman-Lack Foundation, he leads the mission "to advance the legacy" of Russian-American painter Ary Stillman (1891-1967).
An immigrant from Tsarist Russia, Stillman started out painting representational works in the Impressionist style. He trained initially as a teen in his native land, then at the Art Institute of Chicago and New York City's National Academy of Design. His work evolved into abstract expressionism, and he was a member of the New York School along with Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollack. Lack points out that a keen intellect and his heritage as an expatriate Russian Jew, as well as living and working in Paris for 12 years and Cuernavaca, Mexico, for five, all contributed to his art.
World War II and the Holocaust profoundly affected Stillman's perspective.
"For me, the world of surface realities is no longer paintable. For nothing is as it formerly seemed. It is not the surface of things — the look of things — that is real — it is that which is hidden beneath the surface — an inner reality of some sort, that is real," he wrote.
Mostly as a result of being in the wrong place at the right time — Stillman left New York City when "the movement was capturing mainstream attention … [and] chose painting over self-promotion," Lack explains, the artist, who was acknowledged during his lifetime, had been relegated to "relative obscurity."
Three years ago, Lack took the helm of the foundation Stillman's wife Frances started to establish the artist's legacy. The great-aunt, whom Lack knew well thanks to her longevity, placed her husband's work in 36 museums during her 30-year tenure; eight more have acquired his work since. The Baltimore Museum of Art is among them.
Ready for a career change and "concerned about the [foundation's] lack of strategic direction," Lack enlisted a consultant to develop a five-year plan. He guides the work of the advisory board, a group that includes two additional great-nephews. They have created a Web site (www.stillmanlack.org), organized the series of exhibits around the country, and coordinated the first major monograph devoted to Stillman, an in-depth study of his achievements with scholarly essays and 80 illustrations. The JCC exhibit and the book share a title.
Speaking on behalf of his family, "the current generation of great-nieces and nephews," Lack explains, "We feel there is great value, aesthetic, philosophical and educational, in viewing the development of a creative artist, step by step, from his earliest years to his final statements.
"We have also been advised over and over again by our growing community of some 200 art professionals around the country that Stillman belongs in the art history books of 20th-century American art, in particular the abstract expressionist period."
A graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Lack worked at IBM for a dozen years. That training, he says, constitutes his MBA. He subsequently was a management consultant for several firms, including his own, which specialized in turning around businesses. The skills acquired in those previous incarnations — he cites "listening, collaboration, tenacity, patience and networking" — have helped him succeed in his current work.
Despite having neither an education in art nor an aptitude for artistic endeavor, Lack grew up seeing his great-uncle's work in his relatives' homes and his own. In leading the foundation, he says, "I am doing for my great uncle what he was unequipped to do for himself. I also feel like I am the facilitator for the community of art advisers who are impressed enough with Ary's work to feel he belongs in the art history books of the period, right alongside his peers."
With the exhibits and the new book, the foundation appears well on its way to spreading the word.
"We will have met our mission," says Lack, "any time an art scholar writing about the abstract expressionists puts Ary Stillman in the pot of artists to be considered along with the others.
"It's an awareness mission."
"Ary Stillman: From Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism" is on view in the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington's Goldman Gallery, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville, through April 20. The gallery is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Call 301-348-3770, e-mail paltman@jccgw.org or visit www.jccgw.org.
This column is intended as a place to tap the pulse of some of the multitude of creative people and organizations that constitute Montgomery County's professional arts community and celebrate their achievements. Your comments and suggestions are welcome; e-mail ewexler@gazette.net.