Fine Art Photography Podcast Episode 91: The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University has received the collection of Amelia (Lee) Marks and John C. DePrez, Jr.
Full episode transcript
In this episode of the Fine Art Photography Podcast, a major collection of photographs goes to Indiana
Intro
ArtDaily has reported that The Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University has received a major donation of photographs from the collection of Amelia (Lee) Marks and John C. DePrez Jr., including 116 photographs from 80 artists.
The dates of the prints ranges from 1856 to 2017.
A museum official said the donation will reinforce the Museum of Art as a regional leader in photographic studies and collections.
I love being able to recognize when important collections go to places in the heartland of America. You don’t necessarily need to go to LA, San Francisco, or Chicago, or New York to see great photographs. Previously on this podcast I’ve discussed photography collections in Rochester New York, and Kansas City.
The website All About Photo dot Com includes an extensive list of museums around the nation with photography collections. It includes some surprising locations — for example, the Plains Museum in Fargo, North Dakota is home to more than 1400 photographs. There are listings for places like Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Iowa, and many other places you may not expect to find photography collections.
I’ll include a link in the show notes to All About Photo dot Com. I think it’s important for avid photographers to see great or at least historic prints in museums and art galleries.
As part of the donation, the Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University in Bloomington will receive works by legendary photographers like Berenice Abbott, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andre Kertesz, Edward Steichen, and Alfred Stieglitz, and also work by contemporary living artists like Edward Burtynsky, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Sebastião Salgado.
Notable among the images is Robert Capa’s image The Falling Soldier, shot in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War.
Lee Marks owned and operated Lee Marks Fine Art in New York City before relocating to Indiana. She has also worked as an art consultant and curator.
John C. DePrez Jr. worked as a reporter, editor, and executive at various news outlets, including United Press International and Reuters. He brings an expertise in photojournalism.
Marks was quoted on the university’s website as saying this about why they chose IU for the donation, “We decided to give the collection to the Eskenazi Museum because we were most interested in having these photographs used by students of photography and other related fields. John is a native Hoosier, and I have lived here for more than thirty years, so we wanted to give back to the place we’ve called home. The fact that the Eskenazi Museum is an especially fine university museum on the campus of a renowned university with an especially strong focus on the arts gave us the perfect impetus.”
Of course, as a university-based collection, the photographs will serve as an education resource for students and faculty, as well as an attraction for the general public.
The Marks-DePrez Collection coincides with Eskenazi Museum’s “Year of Photography” in which the University says several important projects will be launched, and which will include the exhibitions Direct Contact: Cameraless Photography Now, which runs February 16–July 9, 2023 and Measuring Time: The Photographs of Jeffrey A. Wolin which runs from September 7–December 17, 2023.
A printed publication featuring the donated works is planned.
Try to see those if you’re local to the Indiana area, or if you find yourself in Indiana during those showings.
That’s all I’ve got for this episode. As always, links and sources can be found in the show notes or on my blog at I Catch Shadows dot com.
Thanks for listening.
I’ll talk to you again real soon.
Sources and Links:
AllAboutPhoto.com, “Photo Museums,”
https://www.all-about-photo.com/photo-venues/photo-museums.php
ArtDaily, “Eskenazi Museum of Art Acquires Marks and DePrez Photography Collection,”
https://artdaily.cc/news/154528/Eskenazi-Museum-of-Art-Acquires-Marks-and-DePrez-Photography-Collection
Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Museum of Art at Indiana University, “IU Eskenazi Museum of Art Acquires Marks and DePrez Photography Collection”
https://artmuseum.indiana.edu/news-events/news-stories/2023-01-30-marks-deprez-photography-collection.html