William Paley Collection

October 23, 2012

William Paley Collection

As a special treat to myself after the rigors of Open Studios, I went to the deYoung Museum to see the "William Paley Collection: A Taste for Modernism" show which ends December 30, 2012. From the website:

A selection of major works from the William S. Paley Collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York will be featured in an exhibition opening this fall. A pioneering figure in the modern entertainment, communication and news industries, Mr. Paley (1901–1990) was a founder of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and a dedicated philanthropist and patron of the arts. The Paley Collection, which includes paintings, sculpture and drawings, ranges in date from the late 19th century through the early 1970s. Particularly strong in French Post-Impressionism and Modernism, the collection includes multiple works by Paul Cezanne, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, as well as significant works by Edgar Degas, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gauguin, Andre Derain, Georges Rouault and artists of the Nabis School such as Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard.

Among the works that will be exhibited at the de Young are Gauguin's The Seed of the Areoi (1892), an important female nude from the artist's first trip to Tahiti; Cezanne's Milk Can and Apples (1879-80); Degas’ exquisite pastelTwo Dancers (1905); Derain's dynamic Fauve painting Bridge over the Riou (1906); Picasso's celebrated Boy Leading a Horse (1905-06); Matisse's masterpiece Woman with a Veil (1927) and Francis Bacon’s Study for Three Heads (1962).

I love collection shows like this because I like to see what choices were made by a collector. There were no surprises in this collection - and sometimes I think that an art consultant is really choosing the pieces based on financial reasons (ie: "I want something that will increase in value in 10 years!"). However, one cannot argue the beauty of a Cezanne landscape or still life, or the simplicity and loveliness of a Picasso figurative work. I also like the show because it wasn't huge - it had a sensible number of pieces and the pieces were spectacular. Some of my favorites...