Page Four
Summer Nebraskan
Tuesday; June 11, 1963
Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery-
" ; I
i. mj
PRINCESS X Brancusi's "Princess X" stands beneath
the bridge stairway in the Great Hall. The view is from
the print room located on the first level in the north
suite of rooms. (U. of N. Photo by Kaz Tada)
Oslo Youth
In Extension
A 17-year old American'
born high school boy from
Oslo, Norway, who has sever
al of the United States' lead
ing universities vying to re
cruit mm, will not soon be
forgotten by the University
of Nebraska eijher..
Geoffrey M. Swan has just
completed four years of high
school through correspon
dence courses offered by the
University of Nebraska Ex
tension Division. He is in first
place scholastically in the
University's overseas student
division.
Geoffrey, son of Marshall
W. Swan, a foreign affairs
officer with the American
Embassy in Oslo, applied for
admission at Harvard, Yale,
the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, Dartmouth and
Tufts, and was accepted by
all of them.
The young man has accept
ed Harvard's offer and will
begin majoring in mathemat
ics there in the fall.
Mrs. Goldie Thorpe, assis
tant supervisor of pre-c o 1
lege instruction, said Geoffrey
has an academic average ex
ceeding 95 per cent for four
years of high school work and
has excelled in the advanced
course offerings of physics,
mathematics, chemistry and
romance languages.
"Geoffrey has never had a
class inside a normal high
school but has attended pri
mary schools in Holland, It
aly, and England," she ex
plained. "I don't know that I
can remember a more out
standing or interesting case."
Geoffrey chose the extension-courses
of the University
of Nebraska when he was 14
years old after he discovered
that the nearest good college
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preparatory school was more
than 500 miles away. His 16
year old sister, Ingrid, is also
enrolled and has a junior
standing.
The high school instruction
of the University's Extension
Division, a self-supporting and
non-tax subsidized organiza
tion, now has 18,000 registra
tions (6,000 students taking
from one to five courses).
The students, who do all
their work by correspondence,
include handicapped adults
and children, adults wishing
to receive a high school di
p 1 o m a, youth who have
dropped out of school or have
not had the opportunity to at
tend high school, and over
seas students like Geoffrey
and military personnel.
Mrs. Thorpe explained that
the University's extension pro
gram is recognized as the
leading institution of its kind
in the offering of high school
correspondence courses.
We have youngsters from
80 countries in the w o r 1 d,
many of Geoffrey's caliber,
taking work from us and
we're naturally proud to know
that they can excell," she
said.
The first place graduating
student in the adult division
for 1963 is Hildegarde Evan-
son of Davenport, la. The
handicapped division winner
is Donna Eddy, Lusk, Wyo.;
and stateside division, Carole
Engel of Ketchikan, Alaska.
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EDITORS NOTE: Atthourt the recent
epenlnc of the Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery hat already been hichlr pub
Uclied throughout the stale, we felt
that the first edition sf the Summer
Nebraikan should Include additional '
eoveraie ef the building, the Sheldont
and the art work to that the summer
ttudentt may become more familiar
with the Gallery.
Over 17,000 people Visited
the new Sheldon Art Gal
lery during the first three
weeks following its opening,
according to gallery offi
cials. Designed by New Yorker
Philip Johnson, the struc
ture reflects the very re
cent development of this
disciple of Mies Van d e r
Rohe to fuse the Romantic
Classic period of the 1800's
with contemporary Ameri
can architecture.
The facade of the build
ing measuring 100 by 150
feet is dominated by tap
ered and curving piers,
standing 16 feet apart and
ringing the building. The
play of natural light on the
arch system gives the
building a changing appear
ance, with the moving an
gles of the sun. The build
ing's exterior is illuminated
during the night with arti
ficial lights placed at the
base, giving the structure
still another character.
The interior spaces of the
two-story Gallery are en
closed and contrasted, with
clearly departmentaliz
ed elements. A majestic
Great Hall spans the width
of the building and is faced
on the two exterior sides by
recessed glassed vestibules,
the only natural light enter
ing the structure. The Hall
is sheathed in Italian Tra
vertine marble.
A modern bridge stair
way, which connects the
second-story galleries, bi
sects the two-story entrance
hall. Flanking the stairway
are two works of permanent
sculpture, memorials
in honor of the Gallery
donors, A. Bromley Shel
don and his sister, Frances
Sheldon.
Two Sculptures
The two sculptures are
"Bather," a seven -foot
bronze by Jacques Lipchitz,
and "Song of the Bird," a
composition in Norwegian
granite and Greek marble,
by Isamu Noguchi.
Beneath the bridge stair
way is "Princess X," a 22
inch high figure worked in
white marble in 1916 by
Constantin Brancusi, one
of the world's leading sculp
tors of the 20th Century.
This permanently displayed
piece is the most important
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The Great Hall rises 30
feet high, dominated by the
arch system of piers with
' concave profiles. The ceil
ing's arch system is separ
ated and emphasized- by
large circular recessed pan
els, covered with gold leaf.
Harmonizing with the gold
en color of the ceiling is
the dark bronzed facing of
the many-angled stairway,
which cuts sharply through
the rectangular Great Hall.
To the north of the Great
Hall on the first floor are
the general offices, two
small galleries, a print
room, and the Teak paneled
board room for the trustees
of the Nebraska Art 'Assoc
iation. The first-floor south area
contains a 300-seat amphi
theater with projection
room and small stage, suit
ed for lectures and small
chamber-music recitals.
Nine Galleries
In the north Gallery area
on the second floor are
three principal galleries,
each averaging 50 feet long
by 25 feet wide. In the
south Gallery area, there are
six smaller galleries, each
measuring approximately 30
feet long by 24 feet wide.
Plastic coated cotton pile
fabric of biscuit coloring,
mounted over plywood, cov
er the gallery walls. This
system permits an indef
inite hanging of pictures
without visible damage to
the walls.
The basement area has
special storage rooms for
paintings, sculpture, graphic
arts, and decorative arts,
along with special viewing
rooms for students and
specialists, a mechanical
equipment room, facilities
for catering services, and
shipping and preparation
shops.
The Sheldon Gallery Is
completely wired for televi
sion transmission and has a
Television Control room in
the basement. An electron
ci guide-service will be pro
vided for visitors in the
near future.
The lighting for the exhi
bition areas is entirely arti
ficial, designed by Richard
Kelly, a noted New York
lighting consultant who has
supervised the lighting in a
number of U.S. museums.
Mr. Kelly has distributed
the artificial light through
permanently installed re
cessed fixtures so as to pro-
of used books
University Collections. It is
a memorial to A. B. Shel
don, from his wife, Mrs.
vide a gentle wash of light
over the gallery walls. The
light is concentrated at picture-hanging
height, a band
from two feet above the
floor to nine feet above the
floor. The light graduates
slowly less toward the ceil
ing, but with no scalloped
shadows.
Brightest Objects
This designed effect per
mits the paintings or sculp
tures in the Gallery to b e
the brightest objects in the
normal field of vision, with
no distrction from any ex
terior light.
The collections to be
housed at the Gallery con
sist of the permanent col
lection of the Nebraska Ait
Association, and the Univer
sity's own art collection, the
latter centered around the
F. M. Hall Collection.
Director Norman Geske
says the two collections
are predominately Ameri
can, with the strongest part
consisting of paintings and
scultpure dating after
1920. These works of art in
clude exceptional pieces by
Demuth, Hopper, Hartley,
Marsh, Kuniyoshi, O'Keefe,
Weber, and others.
In addition to the perma
nent memorial works in the
Gallery, the sculpture col
lection includes notable
works by Laurent, Zorach,
Nadelman, and Baizerman.
A British group includes
works by Moore, Hepworth,
Armitage and Butler. Other
European artists such as
Rodin, Rosso, and Barlach
are also represented.
In graphic arts, the Hall
Collection includes prints re
presenting 15th and 16th
in stock
1135 "R" Street
mnerDC
Century book illustration,
German Expressionism, the
modern Mexicans,
and contemporary Ameri
cans. Outstanding drawings
are by Copley, Hartley,
Hopper, all Americans; and
Brancusi, Morandi, and
Pechstein, all Europeans.
Director Geske said of the
collections: .
"Our primary interest is
in American art of the 20th
Century in all of its plastic
manifestations. Secondly, we
have an interest in our
American past, not, certain
ly, in the direction of com
prehensiveness, but at least
in the succinctness of prime
examples. Thirdly, we hope
to achieve a scope in our
collections of sculpture and
graphic arts which will be
wide in terms of both time
and place. Finally as t h e
complement to the perma
nent collections, our pro
gram of temporary exhibi
tions can furnish what we
cannot own."
Mr. Johnson is playing a
leading part in the design
of the Lincoln Center for
the Performing Arts in New
York City
Mr. Johnson, In conceiv
ing the Sheldon Gallery as
a contemporary work of
.art, has attempted to cre
ate an art gallery free of
foot weariness, of eye fa
tigue, and of the obligation "
of chronological viewing.
In its stead, he has sought
through pure and suble use
of color, texture, materials,
and form to place objects
of art in a setting, free of
distractions, so that the ob
server and the art object
can reach the highest pos
sible point of contact.
The Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery becomes a part
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Monday Friday 8 a.m. -5:15 p.m.
Saturday 8:00 a.m. -5:00 p.m.
of the cultural heritage of
Nebraskans through the
generosity of tae late Fran
ces and A. Bromley Shel
don. The funds were made
available to the University
through their estates.
Sheldon Family
The brother and sister
were the children of George
Sheldon, who came to Ne
braska as a young man
from Vermont. After a suc
cessful starf in the fertiliz
er business in New York, he
moved with his family to
Lincoln.
- George Sheldon, the fath
er, invested in pr irate
stocks and real estate in
Lincoln until Siis dea'th in
1936.
Frances, the daughter,
died in Lincoln June 27,
1950. Frances was an ama
teur naturalist and highly
interested in the arts. She
died unmarried and lived
in the Sheldon home for 50
' years.
A. Bromley, who died
Sept. 1, 1957, was the own
er of a number of Nebras
ka farms and Invested in
several lumber businesses.
He made his home in Lex
ington, and was survived by
his wife, Mrs. A. B. (Olga
Nielsen) Sheldon.
The Gallery will be closed
to visitors each Monday,
but open from 10 a.m. to
5 p.m. Tuesday through Sat
urday. Visiting Schedule
On Sundays, the Gallery
will be open from 2 p.m. to
5 p.m.
From Oct. 1 through
June 1, the Gallery will al
so be opened Tuesday eve
nings until 10 o'clock. Of
fice hours will be from 8
a.m. to 5 p.m. each week
day.
Heard About The
