CHRYSLER EXHIBITS MODERN ART
THE SOUTH'S BIGGEST and most baffling art exhibit was unveiled January 16 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, by Walter P. Chrysler Jr. '33, whose collection of expressionist works is reputed to be worth more than a million dollars. A primary social event as well as an artistic occasion, the opening of Mr. Chrysler's show was attended by F. F. V.'s and visiting art lovers who came by invitation for a formal reception at the Museum.
The Chrysler collection, publicly exhibited for the first time, was described by Museum Director Thomas C. Colt Jr. '26 as"one of the largest, most important and remarkable collections of expressionist art in the United States." Including a background group of works by early precursors of modern art such as El Greco, Chardin and Goya, the collection is built around works that trace artist's fight for freer and more creative expression down through Picasso, Braque and other contemporaries.
Many famous paintings by Renoir, Degas, Manet, Cezanne, Gauguin, Rouault, Juan Gris, Matisse, Leger, Derain, Chirico, Mondrian, Helion and other masters are in the exhibition. In the sculptures there are abstract works by Arp and Brancusi, two heads by Despiau, Lehmbruck's "Kneeling Girl" and Lachaise's "Man." There is also a group of early American primitives.
Described by Time as "the biggest and Bourbonniest modern art show Virginia had even seen," the preview was attended by the Governor of Virginia, the Mayor of Richmond, and an array of distinguished guests and socialites, together with 58 of Mr. Chrysler's friends who arrived in a chartered private railroad car. After a cocktail party given by Chrysler at the Commonwealth Club and a buffet supper at the Governor's mansion the party proceeded to the Museum for the formal opening.
The bizarre art forms of many of the artists represented caused confusion, appreciation and amusement among the varied spectators. Said Dartmouth man Colt of Dartmouth man Chrysler's show, "It will be a healthy experience that will provoke dissension, discussion and revaluation."
