The Membership Magazine of the San Antonio Museum of Art
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The membership magazine of the San Antonio Museum of Art FALL 2013 Lethal Beauty Director’s Letter ON THE COVER 2012–2013 Nanban-style Tosei gusoku armor with personal flag, Board of Trustees Edo period, mid-18th century. OFFICERS Iron, lacquer, silk, silver, Mrs. Karen Hixon, Mr. John Eadie, Treasurer gold and paper. Chairman Mr. W. Richey Wyatt, Courtesy of Private Collection. Ms. Claudia Huntington, Secretary Vice Chairman PHOTOGRAPHY BY FORREST CAVALE AND ZACFORREST CAVALE AND ZACH NILES OF Great Believers VOTING TRUSTEES THIRDELEMENTSTUDIOS.COM Mrs. Martha S. Avant Mr. Gilbert Lang Mathews Dear Members, Ms. Janet L. Brown Mr. Bruce Mitchell Mrs. Stephanie Cavender Mr. Guillermo Nicolas In September, you’ll see three billboards around town with the same kind of powerful— Mr. Jorge del Alamo Mr. Andrew Novak Parade horse mask in the Mr. John Eadie Mr. Thomas I. O’Connor and beautiful—armor that’s on the cover of this magazine. In the coming months, hundreds shape of a dragon’s head, 4 Mr. Thomas Edson Dr. Raul Ramos, M.D. of thousands of people will drive by these ads every week. We are fortunate to have patrons Edo period, 19th century. Mr. Anthony Edwards Col. William Rasco Leather, lacquer, and horsehair. like Walter and Lenora Brown—both great believers in our Museum and Life Trustees— Mrs. Claire Golden Mrs. Elizabeth McAllen Courtesy of Private Collection. who not only suggested the billboards to help bring a wider audience to Lethal Beauty, but Mrs. Marie Halff Roberts Lethal Beauty Mrs. Emory Hamilton Mr. William Scanlan, Jr. PHOTOGRAPHY BY FORREST CAVALE AND offered to pay for them! Mr. Banks M. Smith ZACFORREST CAVALE AND ZACH NILES OF Mrs. Rose Marie Hendry Recently another “great believer” gave us a bequest of $1.5 million. Please see page 25 THIRDELEMENTSTUDIOS.COM Samurai Weapons Mrs. Karen Herrmann Mrs. Beth Smith for details about this generous gift from long-time member Bob Harper (many of you will Mrs. Nancy Steves Mr. Christopher C. Hill and Armor remember him and his love for the Museum) and the exciting ways we will be using it. Mrs. Karen Hixon Mrs. Ruth Eilene Sullivan Ms. Candace Mr. Rich Walsh Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Harper we will soon have a newly renovated restaurant, Humphreys Mrs. Sonya Medina using all of the Hops House, which allows us to dedicate the entire Stables building to the Williams Ms. Claudia Huntington activities of the education department. (With over 300 programs a year, we need the space!) Mrs. Harriet Kelley Mr. Kenneth L. Wilson Mrs. Rosario Laird Mr. W. Richey Wyatt Mr. Harper also designated his bequest to support traveling exhibitions that would other- Mrs. Kim Lewis Mrs. Karen Lee Zachry wise be out of our Museum’s reach. So watch for more great exhibitions in the future. That LIFE TRUSTEES is the power of being a great believer. Mrs. Lenora Brown Mrs. Peggy Mays What’s in It’s not every day we receive such magnanimous gestures, but every day we do watch Mr. Walter F. Brown, Sr. Mrs. Patsy Steves another important number—our growing membership. We have doubled the number of Mrs. Betty Kelso members in the last two years, with almost a 50% increase in the last six months alone. ADVISORY TRUSTEES 6 All of you are “great believers,” too, in the importance of our Museum to the quality of life Ms. Margery Block Mrs. Katherine Moore in San Antonio. Thank you! Mr. Dale F. Dorn McAllen Mrs. Chave Gonzaba Mr. Randall T. Mays Stop by often for the inspiring new exhibitions and programs you’ll read about in these Mr. Friedrich Hanau- Mr. Henry R. Muñoz, III Political Art at pages. I want you to be proud to belong, glad you visited (again) and delighted by the expe- Schaumburg Ms. Carol S. Olson rience of learning about the world, right here at your Museum. Mr. Edward A. Hart Mr. Epitacio Resendez V Mr. Peter M. Holt Mr. Patrick B. Tobin the Turn of the Mr. James Letchworth Hope to see you soon, NATIONAL TRUSTEES Millennium P.S.We’d love to hear about a Mrs. Lila Cockrell Ann R. Roberts favorite day or time you spent at the Mrs. Eva Garza Lagüera Mr. John J. Roberts Museum or an artwork in our collec- Mrs. Jane Macon Mr. Nelson A. tion you cherish. Send me an email Mrs. Janey B. Marmion Rockefeller, Jr. Mrs. Marie Schwartz 8 Katherine C. Luber, Ph.D at [email protected] and HONORARY TRUSTEES The Kelso Director put “favorite” in the subject line. Mr. H. Rugeley Mrs. Edith McAllister Ferguson Dr. Ricardo Romo Danny Lyon Robbie Conal EX-OFFICIO TRUSTEE (American, born 1944) Katherine C. Luber, Ph.D. The Bikeriders Holy Homophobia!, 1990 Lithograph, artist’s proof 30 x 24 in. Gift of Michael McGowan 2012.27.2 VIEW Magazine is a membership publication of the San Antonio Museum of Art. Editor Magazine Design Cary Marriott Texas Creative 9 Preview Managing Editor Calendar Design Tatiana Herrera-Schneider Robert Salinas Contributing Editor Photographers 12 Education Betsy Beckmann Daniela Riojas Stevan Starnes Peggy Tenison Summer Interns 13 Calendar Amy Harrison Danny Lyon Alexandra Medellin (American, born 1942), Sparky and Cowboy (Gary Rogues), 22 Membership & Development Schererville, Indiana, 1965 San Antonio Museum of Art Silver gelatin print 200 West Jones Avenue • San Antonio, Texas 78215 h. 11 in. (27.9 cm); w. 14 in. (35.6 cm) 26 ArtScene (210) 978-8100 • www.samuseum.org Gift of Ernest Pomerantz and Marie Brenner 2012.23.46 ©Danny Lyon/Magnum Photos FALL 2013 3 To- sei gusoku suit of armor with white lacing and Chinese full sets of armor will be on view, complete with masks al Japan through family-friendly activities. A full-color magistrate’s cap helmet and helmets. Remarkable weapons include long and short catalogue accompanies the exhibition and is available 18th century swords—the oldest of which dates to the 1200s—daggers, at both the main SAMA Shop and a dedicated special Private Collection Courtesy of the Clark Center and even a few examples of early Japanese rifles. In addi- exhibition shop. for Japanese Art & Culture tion, a brilliantly painted pair of folding screens illustrates SAMA’s presentation of Lethal Beauty is generously PHOTOGRAPHY BY FORREST CAVALE AND samurai battles in the famous warrior epic Tale of Heike. supported by Lenora and Walter F. Brown. Lethal Beauty ZACFORREST CAVALE AND ZACH NILES OF THIRDELEMENTSTUDIOS.COM Lethal Beauty, as the title evokes, contrasts the deadli- is curated by Dr. Andreas Marks, Minneapolis Institute Lethal ness of samurai weapons and the artistic beauty with which of Arts, Collection of the Clark Center, and the exhibi- they are imbued. Many of the objects reveal the capacity for tion tour is organized by International Art and Artists, aesthetic appreciation expected of the cultivated samurai. Washington, DC. Lethal Beauty in San Antonio is sup- The final section of the exhibition presents samurai objects plemented by works from the collection of Dr. Robert R. that were later recycled and repurposed, such as a bonsai Clemons and others. tray made from forty sword scabbards. A $5 special exhibition surcharge over general A Discovery Gallery in the exhibition will allow vis- admission applies to view Lethal Beauty. This surcharge Beauty itors to explore samurai culture and aspects of tradition- is waived for all Members and children 17 and under. Samurai Weapons and Armor Bushido- : The Way of the Warrior September 28, 2013 – January 5, 2014 Samurai, which literally means “those who serve,” Literally “Military-Knight-Ways,” bushidō was the idealized ethical code of the samurai class. As were a class of warrior in traditional Japan, active from detailed by Inazō Nitobe in Bushidō, the Soul of Japan (1899), this is “a code unuttered and unwritten...a the twelfth to nineteenth centuries. The moral code of law written on the fleshly tablets of the heart.... It was an organic growth of decades and centuries of the samurai—that stresses loyalty, honor and mastery of military career.” - martial arts—is a celebrated aspect of this unique type of Bushido values Rectitude: The power of resolve, to decide and to carry warrior lifestyle. The samurai served the nobility during include: out the right course of action at the right time, without both periods of intense warfare and times of peace (such as wavering. A finely nuanced sense of fairness the Tokugawa period, 1603–1868). Samurai were officially in practice underpins ideal samurai conduct. disbanded in 1876 and were banned from carrying swords. Soul of Courage: The Bushidō states that courage, distinct from Samurai are celebrated in Western popular culture reckless daring, is only of value in the service of righteous- through movies, novels and video games. The reach of the samurai ness. To see what is right and fail to act is cowardice. A samurai culture in America is evident in works ranging noble samurai is never flustered, and can even toss off According to Inazō, the sword from the Star Wars films to the Ronin comic books. witty extemporaneous verse in the face of death. was considered to be the soul Samurai became unofficially enshrined in mainstream Benevolence: Bushi no nasaké, the tenderness of a war- of the samurai, an emblem of culture through the parodies of John Belushi, Quentin rior, refers to mercy tuned to justice, and backed up with power and prowess, venerated Tarantino and others. Samurai culture has even spawned power. Cultivation of sympathy also produces a value to near-worship. As boys, future an entire genre of international cinema (chanbara). for poetry: “Not infrequently a marching soldier might samurai were ritually bestowed In Lethal Beauty: Samurai Weapons and Armor visitors be seen to halt, take his writing utensils from his belt, a sword.