OXFORD, Miss. – A painting by American artist John McCrady is coming up
for auction this weekend and the University of Mississippi Museum wants
it to come home to Oxford.
The museum has a great but unexpected opportunity to acquire “Sic
Transit,” a rural landscape painted in 1940. The piece is an important
work of art for the collection, said William Pittman Andrews, museum
director.
“Typically, major fundraising for such an acquisition takes months or
years,” Andrews said. “Because this work is going to auction at a major
auction house in New Orleans on Nov. 21, we don’t have that much time.”
Another item on the museum’s wish list is a rare Shearwater Pottery
bowl carved by the artist Walter Inglis Anderson. The bowl also is up
for bids Saturday.
McCrady was born in Canton, lived in Oxford and studied at UM before
receiving a fellowship at the Art Students League in New York City. He
also attended the University of Pennsylvania before moving to New
Orleans, where he studied at the New Orleans Art School. He was honored
with a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1939. Following a successful
career, he started the John McCrady School of Art in 1942, which ran
until 1985.
Economics always plays a big factor in acquisitions, Andrews said. The
auction estimate for “Sic Transit” is $80,000 to $120,000.
“Ironically, the same factor that makes it difficult for the museum to
easily acquire such a significant work of art is also the same factor
that most likely places the work of art up for sale at this particular
time,” he said. “Because of the economy, the secondary art market,
especially at auction, is a good source of high-quality works with
lower prices than when the art market is booming.”
Works by McCrady don’t frequently come up for auction and when they do, they command a premium price, Andrews said.
“Just because the auction estimate is one figure doesn’t mean that
bidding will not rise above that price,” he said. “There are other
cultural institutions in places that claim John McCrady as one of their
own that will want this painting, to be sure.”
But to not make a solid attempt to bid for the painting would be
irresponsible because collecting the work of John McCrady is part of
the museum’s mission, he said.
The Mary Buie Museum was created as a Federal Arts Center in 1939 and
collecting pieces by artists who worked for the Federal Art Project, as
administered by the Works Progress Administration, is part of its core
mission, explained William Griffith, the museum’s collections manager
and curator of Rowan Oak.
“The FAP was in effect from 1935 to 1943, and McCrady worked as an
important part of this group, which includes artists such as Walter
Anderson, Marie Hull and William Hollingsworth,” Griffith said. “Back
then, it cost $30,000 to build the Buie museum. It’s a little-known
fact that John McCrady taught classes in the basement classroom. We
would be thrilled to add this piece to the permanent collection.”
If the money raised is not enough to purchase the work at auction, it
will be reserved and used to purchase other WPA artists’ works
available in the future at auction or through private dealers, in
accordance with guidance and input from the Friends of the Museum board
of directors, he said.
“McCrady paintings and drawings are rare objects. The artist was also a
skilled printmaker and created many exquisite images of rural regional
life in the American South that are more frequently available,” Andrews
said.
The museum already owns significant works by McCrady, acquired from
private donors. Acquiring “Sic Transit” would add a critical work to
this signature collection.
The Shearwater Pottery bowl would be another key acquisition, he said.
“We don’t have a single work of Anderson’s, or Shearwater, for that
matter, in the collection,” Andrews said. “This is extremely rare
because much of the historic Shearwater work was lost in Katrina. Also,
this is a hand-carved piece rather than a molded piece and is therefore
unique.”
Andrews said the bowl is the largest he’s ever seen and, according to
the auction catalog, the Anderson estate was unaware of its existence.
“Shearwater was and continues to be a success story,” Andrews said.
“They sold lots of beautiful works along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and
New Orleans and they show up in all kinds of unexpected places,
sometimes outside of the U.S.”
The auction estimate for the Shearwater bowl ranges from $15,000 to $20,000, he said.
Art lovers who want to contribute to the museum’s acquisition fund can
send contributions – designated for the museum – to the University of
Mississippi Foundation, P.O. Box 249, University, MS 38677, call
800-340-9542 or go to http://www.umf.olemiss.edu/