Nature’s Art: Geodes from the Collection of Robert R. Wiener The Rye Arts Center Spring - Summer 2021 Curated by Gail Harrison Roman, PhD A Tribute to Robert R. Wiener The Rye Arts Center extends its gratitude and love to Bob Wiener: Humanitarian, Connoisseur, Collector, Scholar, Educator, Cherished Friend Front cover: Vanadite, Morocco Back cover: Malachite, Congo 1 NATURE’S ART: GEODES FROM THE COLLECTION OF ROBERT R. WIENER Guiding Light of The Rye Arts Center Robert R. Wiener exemplifies the Mission of The Rye Arts Center. He is a supporter of cultural endeavors for all and a staunch believer in extending the educational value of the arts to underserved populations. His largesse currently extends to the Center by his sharing geodes with us. This is the latest chapter of his enduring support that began thirty-five years ago. Bob is responsible for saving 51 Milton Road by spearheading in 1986 the movement to prevent the city’s demolition of our home. He then led the effort to renovate the building that we now occupy. As a member of the RAC Board in the 1980s and 1990s, Bob helped guide the Center through its early years of expansion and success. His efforts have enabled RAC to become a beacon of the arts for the local community and beyond it. Bob has joined with RAC to place cases of his geodes in area schools, where they attract excited attention from children and adults alike. Bob’s maxim is “The purpose of life is to give back.” Led and inspired by Bob, The Wiener Family Philanthropy supports dozens of organizations devoted to the arts, community initiatives, education, health care, and positive youth empowerment. From his home in Westchester County to New York City and Colorado, and throughout Israel, Bob has facilitated programming that educates, inspires, and elevates people around the globe. A humanitarian, Bob opens his heart to thousands of people. A dynamo, his involvement with individuals and groups quickly becomes a shared commitment to helping those in need. Among his many efforts to help underserved children, we gratefully acknowledge Bob’s support for RAC’s outreach programs that began with Head Start decades ago. A dedicated and prescient collector, Bob has amassed a vast collection of magnificent crystals that originate in geodes -- long in advance of the current vogue for collecting them. While galleries, auction houses, and individual collectors have recently focused increasing attention on these works, Bob has been admiring and collecting them for more than forty years. 2 Bob fondly remembers his childhood visits with his grandmother to New York City’s Museum of Natural History, where he was fascinated by the mineral exhibit there, which -- for a young boy -- rivalled the dinosaur fossils on display. Some years later, Bob made his first purchase of geodes by chance when he was twenty-seven years old on a visit to Puerto Rico. On a nighttime walk in Old San Juan, he spotted a window display of diamonds in a jewelry store, which were showcased against a backdrop of minerals. Bob explains, “I didn’t buy any diamonds, but I bought six geodes.” Since that inaugural moment in his collecting history, Bob has amassed nearly three thousand geodes. An authority in his own right, he works with geologists and other professionals to acquire many of his pieces from the major annual trade shows in Tucson and Denver. His advice to fledgling collectors is: “Start small. Enjoy the passion. Buy one you really like instead of three.” What distinguishes Bob’s collection is that his voracious appetite for collecting is informed by his deep knowledge and boundless love of these “rocks.” These add to our visual delight and enhance our knowledge of the earth. Rather than collect jewelry, decorative objects, or artworks that feature crystal forms in a variety of contexts, Bob maintains focus on the rocks themselves. Aesthetics and science account for his choice of objects and their display. Wide-ranging in their geographic origins and prismatic reflections, Bob’s geodes allow us to experience our planet’s geologic history, their vital practical uses, and their visual delights. In Bob’s ongoing collecting, he has become an accomplished scholar of crystallography and the other disciplines that explain geodes (geology, mineralogy, etc.). He is familiar with international research and with mining activities around the world. Bob’s extensive scholarship and mindful collecting have informed the display of his geodes with excellence and elegance. Bob’s collection rivals those in museums of natural history around the world, and they have been exhibited in art and science museums. These stellar works are a testament to Bob’s aesthetic sensibility, his visual acuity, and his enthusiastic appreciation of the blending of Art, Nature, and Science. 3 Shared joy Bob states that geodes bring him joy, a feeling that he hopes will affect others. He explains that “Geodes are part of the eccentric beauty that God delivers to us.” This exhibit enables RAC to extend Bob’s “joy” to visitors of all ages. The first exhibit of “Nature’s Art: Geodes from the Collection of Robert R. Wiener” took place in our Gallery in 2013, with huge attendance and with public and critical acclaim. As Bob claimed in 2013, “The Rye Arts Center may have started something!...” We invite you to contemplate—with “joy” -- the intimate relationships among Art, Nature and Science, and the ways in which they are intricately linked, producing “Nature’s Art.” Gail Harrison Roman, PhD, curator 4 Special Thanks to: ■ Robert R. Wiener ○ for his generosity, wisdom, love, and support ■ Claudia Mauro and Suzi Randolph ○ for their help in all things geodes and beyond ■ Alan M. Piñon Navarro and Melvin Hernandez ○ for their patience and assistance ■ Adam Levi ○ for his expertise, guidance, and friendship ■ Caitlin McMenamin ○ for her design capabilities, creativity, and sense of humor ■ Sarah McKay ○ for her aesthetic sensibilities and discerning eye ■ Laura Wilcox ○ for being our legendary saint of paint ■ Vicky Blank ○ for her many indulgences, large and small ■ Anne Fumasoli ○ for her camaraderie and smiling encouragement ■ Noah Opitz ○ for his engaging dialogue and thoughtful suggestions ■ Kim Wilson ○ for ensuring we get it done ■ The Gallery Committee, the Staff, and the Board of The RAC ○ for their continued interest and involvement ■ The Roman Family ○ for their endearing support and enduring love 5 NATURE’S ART: GEODES ESSAY BY GAIL HARRISON ROMAN, PhD Geodes pictured in this catalogue are from the Robert R. Wiener Collection and appear with his permission. 6 Geodes from the Collection of Robert R. Wiener on Exhibit at The Rye Arts Center 2021 ■ Agate ■ Crocoite ■ Memetite ■ Amethyst ■ Dioptase ■ Mesolite ■ Apatite ■ Dolomite ■ Muscovite ■ Aquamarine ■ Epidote ■ Orpiment ■ Aragonite ■ Fluorite ■ Prehnite ■ Arsenopyrite ■ Galena ■ Pyrite ■ Azurite ■ Garnet ■ Quartz ■ Barite ■ Goethite ■ Rhodochrosite ■ Brasilianite ■ Gypsum ■ Scolecite ■ Calcite ■ Helvite ■ Sphalerite ■ Cassiterite ■ Hematite ■ Stibnite ■ Celestite ■ Hemimorphite ■ Stilbite ■ Cerussite ■ Heulandite ■ Sulfur ■ Chalcedony ■ Magnetite ■ Vanadinite ■ Chalcopyrite ■ Malachite ■ Vivianite ■ Chrysocolla ■ Manganoan ■ Wulfenite ■ Citrine Calcite ■ Creedite Plus: ■ Trilobite [Fossil] ■ Petrified Wood ■ Phosphorescent Rock (calcite, fluorite, et al.) A discussion of selected minerals from the Collection appears later in this essay. 7 What is a Geode? A Geode is a rock with a hollowed-out cavity in which crystalline structures form where minerals have been deposited by groundwater or hydrothermal activity over millions of years. Cracking open a Geode might reveal a colorful crystal inside. Enlivened by their natural beauty and prismatic color and informed by their environmental context, Geodes are an explosive celebration of nature’s finest aesthetic productions. The word Geode derives from the Greek word meaning “the shape of the earth” (γεώδες). Geodes are found all over the world, mostly in rocky and volcanic areas, in Afghanistan, Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Russia, Spain, the western United States, and elsewhere (perhaps read: everywhere). These precious minerals -- among them gold, silver, copper, malachite, and azurite -- have inhabited the earth for eons. Together, they carry within them the geological history of our planet. 8 Geodes and our Earth Geology is the study of the earth. Geodes tell the story of the Earth subsequent to the extraordinary cosmic event known as the “Big Bang,” which formed the earth approximately 4.5 billion years ago. They appear in the earth’s outer and inner layers. The Earth’s layers are: ● Core - a solid inner core and a fluid outer core ● Mantle - a layer of dense minerals ● Continental Crust - a thin crust composed of rocks and minerals with chemical compositions that differ from those in the Core and Mantle. Its rocks and crystalline masses have been subjected to the natural processes of the rock cycle: erosion, metamorphism, and sedimentarism. This crust covers about one-third of the earth’s surface. 9 Mineralogy is the study of Minerals, which are the building blocks of rocks (the study of which is petrology; they are naturally occurring inorganic solids with a distinct chemical composition and an ordered atomic arrangement. These types of rocks characterize Planet Earth, and examples of these can be found in Geodes from the Robert R. Wiener Collection. Like fossils, they contain the history of our earth. Igneous Rocks begin in volcanoes of hot lava. As the molten rock cools and crystallizes, it forms into granite, obsidian, amethyst crystals, or other materials, depending on the rate of cooling. These are found in mountainous and volcanic terrain. 10 Metamorphic Rocks develop when extreme heat and pressure cause rocks to melt and flow, changing as new minerals replace the old ones, as in one example, marble. Often considered luxurious decorative material, marble is extremely strong and can be used as a building material. Sedimentary Rocks are formed when wind, water, and ice break rocks into small pieces called sediment.