GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The following essay is an excerpt from the 2003 publication Dallas Museum of Art 100 Years.
Stanley Marcus was a trustee of the Dallas Museum of Art for more than sixty years, from the late 1930s until his death in 2002. While serving as President of the Dallas Art Association from 1952 to 1954, he emphasized the importance of collecting, Mexican culture, and the visitor's experience within the Museum. Through both his benefactions and his personal collections, Marcus enriched the Museum's artistic holdings at the highest level.
A collector, leader, and incredible enthusiast of Mexican art, Stanley Marcus paved the way for our understanding of the extraordinary achievements of both traditional and contemporary Mexican culture. By the time Marcus came to the Museum, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts already owned a substantial collection of Latin American and Mexican art. In 1951 he learned that a collector in Mexico was selling his collection, and Marcus was offered first chance at the sale. Marcus called DMFA Director Jerry Bywaters and told him, "Jerry, we're going to Mexico. Bring your checkbook." The purchases from this impromptu trip greatly benefited the Museum's Mexican holdings, adding multiple artistic voices to the collections, including an important piece by Rufino Tamayo. It was through Marcus's personal friendship with Tamayo that the mural El Hombre was ultimately created and acquired.
Stanley Marcus became friends with Rufino Tamayo while visiting Mexico. In 1951, Marcus asked the artist to create a large-scale painting, a mural, on a subject of Tamayo's own devising. Marcus planned to unveil it as part of the preview for the Texas State Fair on October 9, 1953. This and other important acquisitions were made possible by proceeds from the Neiman Marcus Annual Fashion Exposition, a fundraiser that came to be recognized as the Oscars of the fashion industry, which raised an average of $6,000 per year from 1949 to 1955. Through the Museum could only offer $5,000 for such a work, Tamayo agreed. In a letter to the governor of Texas inviting him to the unveiling of El Hombre, Marcus wrote: "I told [Tamayo] of the efforts of the Governor, i.e., you, to improve the relationships with Mexico and its citizens. I propose that one of the things that would be helpful [would be] to do such things in Texas that would increase the respect in Texas for the cultural achievements of Mexico. The mural called The Man has just been completed and it's on its way to Dallas. It is a painting representing the dignity of man regardless of race or creed."
It was a tall order for Tamayo to paint a masterpiece creating symbiosis between Texas and Mexico, and it was just as difficult a feat to transport the painting to Dallas.
The mural, placed on view to great accolades in Mexico City in August 1953, provoked some controversy. The Mexican Director of Fine Arts recalled the United States' discrimination against Mexican artist José Clemente Orozco by covering his mural in New York dedicated to Stalin. He asked Tamayo not to send the painting to Dallas. The Mexican government offered to buy the mural, but with some cooperative bluffing on the part of Tamayo and Marcus, the Dallas Museum won out.
On August 17, Tamayo shipped the painting to Dallas by express delivery, but the mural didn't arrive. A few weeks later, Marcus received a call from a shipping company in Laredo, Texas, regarding a mysterious package. Marcus immediately recognized its enormous dimensions. But where had it been? As Marcus recalls, " It was found in a freight car that had been shunted off on a track. And nobody ever paid any attention to it until they opened it up and they couldn't understand what it was." The mural finally arrived in Dallas on September 9, 1953. Customs, weather, and unmanageable size delayed its shipment for three and a half weeks, but it reached the Museum in time for its unveiling at the State Fair in October.
El Hombre is a fascinating piece that encompasses the particular synergy between Mexican modernism, European modernism, and Marcus and Tamayo themselves. Tamayo initially referred to the mural as Man Excelling Himself, with the expectation that it would become one of his best pieces. The statement of the artist's interest in the aspiration of mankind may represent Stanley Marcus himself. Like Tamayo's Man, Marcus always reached for the highest plane. His long life was characterized by an uncommon openness to experiencing life in all possibilities and a thoughtful use of such knowledge to encourage his Museum and his community to become their very best. El Hombre is a fitting work for the Museum as it contemplates its next hundred years, and it is an appropriate homage to Stanley Marcus.
Excerpt from
- Lauren Schell, “Stanley Marcus and El Hombre,” in Dallas Museum of Art 100 Years, eds. Dorothy Kosinski, et al. (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 2003), 11.
NOTES
Elaine Higgins originally compiled a content chunk with the above text and several related image assets. During project wrap-up, I moved her note to #incomplete Stanley Marcus and El Hombre (1953.22)
And instead created this note. The images Elaine had sourced (from archives?) never made their way to Piction, and due to lack of captions in the OLC, I am illustrating this CC with the object photography only. CLC 12/6/2018.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS
Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991)
Rufino Tamayo (1899-1991)
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
8601959: UMO
WEB RESOURCES
- Museo Tamayo, Mexico City~Explore Tamayo's relationship to Mexican muralism and his role within Latin American modernism. (Resource is in Spanish).
- Encyclopaedia Britannica~Learn more about Tamayo's career as an artist and collector.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1953.22
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General Description
The following essay is an excerpt from the 2003 publication Dallas Museum of Art 100 Years.
Stanley Marcus was a trustee of the Dallas Museum of Art for more than sixty years, from the late 1930s until his death in 2002. While serving as President of the Dallas Art Association from 1952 to 1954, he emphasized the importance of collecting, Mexican culture, and the visitor's experience within the Museum. Through both his benefactions and his personal collections, Marcus enriched the Museum's artistic holdings at the highest level.
A collector, leader, and incredible enthusiast of Mexican art, Stanley Marcus paved the way for our understanding of the extraordinary achievements of both traditional and contemporary Mexican culture. By the time Marcus came to the Museum, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts already owned a substantial collection of Latin American and Mexican art. In 1951 he learned that a collector in Mexico was selling his collection, and Marcus was offered first chance at the sale. Marcus called DMFA Director Jerry Bywaters and told him, "Jerry, we're going to Mexico. Bring your checkbook." The purchases from this impromptu trip greatly benefited the Museum's Mexican holdings, adding multiple artistic voices to the collections, including an important piece by Rufino Tamayo. It was through Marcus's personal friendship with Tamayo that the mural El Hombre was ultimately created and acquired.
Stanley Marcus became friends with Rufino Tamayo while visiting Mexico. In 1951, Marcus asked the artist to create a large-scale painting, a mural, on a subject of Tamayo's own devising. Marcus planned to unveil it as part of the preview for the Texas State Fair on October 9, 1953. This and other important acquisitions were made possible by proceeds from the Neiman Marcus Annual Fashion Exposition, a fundraiser that came to be recognized as the Oscars of the fashion industry, which raised an average of $6,000 per year from 1949 to 1955. Through the Museum could only offer $5,000 for such a work, Tamayo agreed. In a letter to the governor of Texas inviting him to the unveiling of El Hombre, Marcus wrote: "I told [Tamayo] of the efforts of the Governor, i.e., you, to improve the relationships with Mexico and its citizens. I propose that one of the things that would be helpful [would be] to do such things in Texas that would increase the respect in Texas for the cultural achievements of Mexico. The mural called The Man has just been completed and it's on its way to Dallas. It is a painting representing the dignity of man regardless of race or creed."
It was a tall order for Tamayo to paint a masterpiece creating symbiosis between Texas and Mexico, and it was just as difficult a feat to transport the painting to Dallas.
The mural, placed on view to great accolades in Mexico City in August 1953, provoked some controversy. The Mexican Director of Fine Arts recalled the United States' discrimination against Mexican artist José Clemente Orozco by covering his mural in New York dedicated to Stalin. He asked Tamayo not to send the painting to Dallas. The Mexican government offered to buy the mural, but with some cooperative bluffing on the part of Tamayo and Marcus, the Dallas Museum won out.
On August 17, Tamayo shipped the painting to Dallas by express delivery, but the mural didn't arrive. A few weeks later, Marcus received a call from a shipping company in Laredo, Texas, regarding a mysterious package. Marcus immediately recognized its enormous dimensions. But where had it been? As Marcus recalls, " It was found in a freight car that had been shunted off on a track. And nobody ever paid any attention to it until they opened it up and they couldn't understand what it was." The mural finally arrived in Dallas on September 9, 1953. Customs, weather, and unmanageable size delayed its shipment for three and a half weeks, but it reached the Museum in time for its unveiling at the State Fair in October.
El Hombre is a fascinating piece that encompasses the particular synergy between Mexican modernism, European modernism, and Marcus and Tamayo themselves. Tamayo initially referred to the mural as Man Excelling Himself, with the expectation that it would become one of his best pieces. The statement of the artist's interest in the aspiration of mankind may represent Stanley Marcus himself. Like Tamayo's Man, Marcus always reached for the highest plane. His long life was characterized by an uncommon openness to experiencing life in all possibilities and a thoughtful use of such knowledge to encourage his Museum and his community to become their very best. El Hombre is a fitting work for the Museum as it contemplates its next hundred years, and it is an appropriate homage to Stanley Marcus.
Excerpt from
- Lauren Schell, “Stanley Marcus and El Hombre,” in Dallas Museum of Art 100 Years, eds. Dorothy Kosinski, et al. (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 2003), 11.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Museo Tamayo, Mexico City~Explore Tamayo's relationship to Mexican muralism and his role within Latin American modernism. (Resource is in Spanish).
- Encyclopaedia Britannica~Learn more about Tamayo's career as an artist and collector.
Notes
Elaine Higgins originally compiled a content chunk with the above text and several related image assets. During project wrap-up, I moved her note to #incomplete Stanley Marcus and El Hombre (1953.22)
And instead created this note. The images Elaine had sourced (from archives?) never made their way to Piction, and due to lack of captions in the OLC, I am illustrating this CC with the object photography only. CLC 12/6/2018.
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