American contemporary artwork depicting satire and social commentary – from whimsical ruminations to serious, literal messages – are at the forefront of a new Saint Louis Art Museum exhibition that opens to the public on Sunday, June 26.
“Catching the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection” showcases approximately 190 objects amassed over a span of more than two decades by Ted Simmons, the Cardinals catcher and switch-hitter who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020, and his wife, Maryanne, an artist, printer-publisher and owner of St. Louis-based Wildwood Press.
As they added to their collection over the years, the Simmonses sought out pieces that spoke to the artistic and political concerns of their generation. The objects featured in the exhibit are part of an acquisition of more than 800 works of art from the couple’s collection that has transformed the museum’s holdings of postwar American prints. Just as important, the pieces – a variety of prints, drawings, collages and more – bring in 25 artists whose works were not previously a part of the museum’s collection.
“The (Simmons) collection fills in a lot of gaps,” said Elizabeth Wyckoff, curator of prints, drawings and photographs. “Its strength is having a total of 43 artists represented and filling in the gaps when it comes to issues of identity for (groups such as) LGBTQ+, women, African American and Native American, and other subject matter.”
One striking piece is by Native American artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a 1995 collagraph titled, “Celebrate 40,000 Years of American Art.” In her gallery notes for the piece, Mrs. Simmons recalls being with the artist during an event at the Washington University Collaborative Print Workshop (now Island Press).
“It was around the time of the 500th anniversary of Columbus ‘discovering’ America. I distinctly remember Jaune saying to the assembled student assistants, ‘And there were 17 million people here to say hello…'” she noted.
The Simmonses were particularly drawn to works that addressed social issues and historical moments important to them. One of the very first objects they purchased, “Finger Bowl,” is by American artist Kiki Smith, who is known for tackling subjects such as sexuality, birth and regeneration as they relate to the human condition and the natural world in her work.
“Like all good art, it has multiple layers. It is, of course, a gorgeous silver bowl, and then you realize it is standing on three fingers. It is really a remarkable thing. It was also more money than we had ever paid for a work of art. First it lives in my art studio in downtown St. Louis. That was the beginning,” according to gallery notes written by Mrs. Simmons.
There is also an expansive display of works by St. Louis-based woodcut artist Tom Huck, representing the longtime relationship between the artist and the Simmonses, who first met Huck when he was a graduate student at Washington University. Since the 1990s, the couple has been collecting Huck’s prints, as well as many of his original hand-carved wood and linoleum blocks.
Huck, who hails from Potosi, Missouri, developed an interest in prints in his early teens, when his parents started taking him to the Saint Louis Art Museum’s Print Study Room, a space dedicated to viewing specific works from the museum’s collection of prints, drawings and photographs. These days, Huck conducts a yearly woodcut bootcamp for artists and a trip to the Print Study Room is part of their experience, according to Wyckoff.
Also on view are several works from American artist Roger Shimomura, who spent more than 30 years as a professor at the University of Kansas before retiring. His paintings and prints, including 2004’s “Kansas Samurai,” explores the experience of being a “visible minority in Kansas,” according to Andrea Ferber, the museum’s Andrew W. Mellon Foundation fellow for prints, drawing and photographs.
“It made him experience identity in a different way,” Ferber explained.
Another “attention” grabbing piece is a strongly worded missive containing an expletive titled, “Pay Attention,” a 1973 Bruce Nauman lithograph that Maryanne Simmons proclaimed she “loved from the moment I saw it.”
In a previous interview with museum curators, Mrs. Simmons explained she and her husband had been eyeing the Nauman piece for some time before they finally acquired it.
“When you seek something that long, and you see it and it still takes your breath away…” she said in the interview. “I just love that, and Nauman is so esoteric in his use of language, that that’s probably the most straightforward statement he’s ever made.”
The Simmons acquisition, announced by the museum in 2020, is a partial gift and partial purchase: The couple donated 50% of the value of the entire collection and the museum purchased the remaining stake.
“Catching the Moment” is a ticketed exhibition that will remain on view through Sept. 11. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $6 for children ages 6 to 12. The exhibit is free on Fridays and free any time for museum members. For additional information, click here.
