A big museum acquisition
- and a big correction

Dear Subscriber:

Two items here, one a correction for a gaffe. (gulp)

Continued philanthropy

Years ago, during my three-year residency-fellowship from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts in Miami Beach, I was introduced to two great supporters of the arts in Florida, Jeffrey and Areta Kaufman, who ended up collecting several of my paintings.

We became friends and I was saddened to hear that Jeff passed away two years ago. On a positive note this summer, Areta has generously donated a major painting, "Fox Creek Crossing" (below) to the Erie Art Museum's permanent collection (Erie, Pennsylvania). I hadn't seen the work since it was first exhibited at the Bass Museum (Miami Beach) in 1990 - almost three decades ago!

Fox Creek Crossing, 64 x 63, oil on canvas

"Fox Creek Crossing" is a large painting – and among my thickest. Like my other paintings from that time, the paint probably averages more than half an inch thick over its more-than five-foot by five-foot surface. (More than a cubic foot of solid paint.) It is a key work from that period, and I am very happy that Areta decided to donate it to the EAM (a museum not far from me), for the public good.

This year, after several curators at the Department of State convened on the matter, I was informed that they had selected my painting titled Cleft, NH (pictured below) for the new NATO headquarters in Brussels. Wow! And so after the paperwork was done, you may recall that I reported this in this newsletter.

Cleft, NH, 60 x 46 inches, oil on linen

Then, as I was waiting for the fine art shippers to arrive, the curators had a belated – but I trust not chagrined – change of mind. The section of NATO headquarters for which this painting was destined is concerned with marine and sea-based operations, and they now felt compelled to change for a painting they had previously considered, Headland, which focused on the sea. It was of course logical, and I was happy we could switch.

Headlands, 50 x 40 inches, oil on linen

My only concern was how or when I should correct my prior newsletter. Well, now that Headland has been installed at NATO for a couple months, I think the coast is clear. I am of course relieved, but more than that, still deeply honored to have had this painting (well, two, actually) selected for this globally significant (and beautiful) facility.

Sorry for the prior misreport!.

Wishing you a slower summer,

- Thomas