Gordon W. Gilkey, ca. 1985
of nature in many ways—but the collector was always there,” says Walker, who now teaches printmaking at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland.
MARIAN WOOD KOLISCH (AMERICAN, 1920–2008), GELATIN SILVER PRINT, BEQUEST OF MARIAN WOOD KOLISCH, © PORTLAND ART MUSEUM
A PRINTMAKER’S LEGACY By 1947, Gilkey had amassed a large collection of prints and etchings by artists ranging from the 15th century to his own contemporaries: Picasso, Whistler, Chagall, Rembrandt, Goya, Renoir, Hogarth. Some were acquired through trades. Some were postwar bargains. Sifting through his collection, a visitor might find books from the private collection of Queen Victoria that had been a gift of appreciation from a German matriarch after Gilkey had helped relocate family jewels, or a rare series of Hogarth prints he’d snapped up at a London bookstore. A four-color lithograph by Toulouse-Lautrec was among only four known in existence: Gilkey owned one, as did the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gilkey was still working overseas when he was hired to chair the Oregon State University Department of Art—a chance to teach printmaking to a new generation. In 1963 he was named the first dean of OSU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences, now the College of Liberal Arts, where he was a fiery advocate for the disciplines, working to create new majors and expand academic offerings. By the time he retired in 1977, his habit of trading prints had produced a full-fledged international collection featuring more than 15,000 pieces, most of which were stowed on shelves in the basement of his Corvallis home. An unapologetic graphic arts evangelist, Gilkey decided that his collection should be shared—preferably in a permanent home accessible to students, scholars, and the generally curious. After being wooed by several universities and museums, Gilkey chose the Portland Art Museum and donated about 8,000 prints in 1978—ultimately donating more than 14,000 objects. In 1993, the Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Center for Graphic Arts opened. Gilkey served as curator for the col-
lection, while also teaching printmaking at the museum’s school, the Pacific Northwest College of Art. He was eventually named professor and printmaker-in-residence. Even when he was well into his 80s, it wasn’t unusual to see Gilkey wandering about the museum’s graphic arts center with a stack of prints, each image accompanied by its own story. It was like reminiscing over old family photographs, images cherished and familiar. He loved them. And he wanted you to love them too. “There really wasn’t an ounce of pretension in the man,” recalls Sherwin Simmons, UO professor emeritus of early 20th-century art and design, who used to bring his art classes to study Gilkey’s collection. “It was always an incredible pleasure to watch him working with students. He would lumber out like a great, friendly bear—quiet, but incredibly loquacious in a slow, halting way. He would pull out prints and start telling stories. The students were fascinated, and so was I.” While Gilkey died in 2000, the collection—which today numbers about 21,000 graphic art prints and 6,000 photographs—is still among the most important print collections on the West Coast, says Bruce Guenther, chief curator at the Portland Art Museum. “What it says about the man is that he absolutely loved paper. He loved the printmaking process and he loved printmakers,” Guenther says, noting Gilkey’s role in building and nurturing a printmaking community in Portland that remains strong. “Graphic arts have always been an important part of the 20th-century vocabulary, and it was a vocabulary that excited Gordon,” Guenther says. “He has, by the force of his largerthan-life personality and advocacy, helped so many people discover printmaking. “That is his real legacy.” Kimber Williams, MS ’95, had the pleasure of interviewing Gordon Gilkey in 1994 and recalls his passion for printmaking, which was nothing short of infectious. Today, Williams covers faculty and staff news at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Her most recent piece for Oregon Quarterly was “Long Journey Home” in the Winter 2012 issue.
WHAT’S LOST IS FOUND THE STORY OF THE STOLEN ARTWORK CONTINUES TO EVOLVE. TWO YEARS AGO, 1,500 MISSING PIECES—INCLUDING PAINTINGS AND PRINTS THOUGHT TO BE ORIGINALS BY PICASSO, CHAGALL, AND OTHERS—WERE FOUND IN A SQUALID APARTMENT IN MUNICH. IN OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR, AN INVESTIGATION UNCOVERED 139 PIECES OF STOLEN ART (BY MATISSE, KLEE, KANDINSKY, AND OTHERS) HANGING IN DUTCH MUSEUMS. THE STORY WILL ALSO COME ALIVE ON THE BIG SCREEN THIS WINTER WITH THE RELEASE OF MONUMENTS MEN, FEATURING GEORGE CLOONEY AND AN ALL-STAR CAST.
THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
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