: When Jim and Cherye Pierce bought their first Ansel Adams prints
in 1977 at a New Orleans gallery, they never expected to amass an
outstanding photography collection significant enough to make a
major museum exhibition.
But as the collection has grown in size and value, it has become
a superbly distinguished photography collection, deemed worthy of
a national museum exhibition tour. The exhibition is organized by
the Honolulu Academy of Arts, where it was first shown earlier
this year.
"In Celebration of Light: Photographs from the Collection of
Cherye R. and James F. Pierce," on view at the New Orleans Museum
of Art through August 15, is being presented thematically with
separate categories for the iconic image, urban and natural
environments, still lifes, animals, nudes, the modernist impulse
and the human condition.
Almost one-third of the 119 works in the exhibition are connected
in some way to New Orleans, having been either purchased in New
Orleans, created by New Orleans artists or having a subject
matter related to the city.
The exhibition marks the first time that major works from this
collection have been shown together. Photographers featured in
the collection read like a who's who of the photo elite - Ansel
Adams, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Henri Cartier-Bresson,
Minor White.
"At the time we bought our first prints, Ansel Adams' 'Moonrise,
Hernandez, New Mexico' and 'As pens, Northern New Mexico,'
photography was the medium of the moment and very affordable,"
says Cherye Pierce.
Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays and other special occasions
became reasons to buy photographs to add to their collection.
Jim's travels to medical conferences and Cherye's frequent
commutes from Hawaii to New Orleans over 19 years gave them
opportunities to visit galleries on the mainland and find both
vintage masterworks and works by contemporary photographers. Now
their print collection numbers approximately 500 works.
According to Jim Pierce, one of his best finds was at an antiques
shop in San Francisco where he picked up a print by Imogen
Cunningham. "I wasn't sure I wanted it at the price the owner was
asking so I told him I needed to think about it. I walked around
the block, the whole time worried someone would buy it before I
returned. Then I hurried back, offered him less than he was
asking, and walked away with a fabulous vintage Cunningham
print," says Pierce, chuckling while recalling the story.
"In the 1970s, photography was a new art medium to look at and to
explore," he adds. "It didn't take long for us to get hooked
because of the extensive inventory of beautiful prints by such
photography masters as Alfred Stieglitz or Brett Weston, that
were available at reasonable prices."
On Cherye Pierce's trips home to New Orleans she relied heavily
on Southern gallery owners to help her learn more about the
medium and to introduce her to the work of emerging artists. The
regional influence is reflected in the selection of artists
represented in the collection and in the subject matter. Jim
Pierce, a self-taught researcher, reads voraciously about the
subject.
In the 1980s, University of Hawaii sponsored a series of
photography programs hosting visiting photographers. This enabled
the Pierces, who now live in Hawaii, to meet and make personal
collections with such photo greats as Harry Callahan, Aaron
Suskind and others.
The collection, primarily in black and white, is well-rounded
with examples of both vintage and contemporary master artists -
some well known and others less recognized. The collection
presents a diverse and academically significant variety of
printing processes, subject matter, themes and style of
photography. Among the more famous living photographers in the
collection are Larry Clark, William Clift, the Douglas Brothers,
Elliott Erwitt, Robert Frank, Luis Gonzalez Palma and Irving
Penn, to name a few.
"In Celebration of Light" is accompanied by an illustrated
catalog with a foreword by NOMA director John Bullard. For
information, 504-488-2631 or www.noma.org.
