A DM i N i STRAT iv E
Exploring the Club’s Art: Michele Russo
M
ultnomah Athletic Club is fortunate to count two Michele Russo paint- ings in its collection. “Two Men” (1980, below) is on the wall to the left of the entry to the Sports Pub, and “Kneeling Nude” (circa 1975) is on the left wall of the Reading Lounge, opposite the four-paint- ing arrangement by his wife, Sally Haley. Born in 1909, Russo accompanied his mother on a visit to her native Italy in 1914, only to be detained there for the next five years as World War I raged throughout Europe. This seminal experi- ence contributed to his lifelong sense of being an outsider, a foreigner in both Italy and the United States. He chafed at
the academic, traditional
emphasis on the old masters in the curricu- lum at Yale, fostering hostility toward the artistic establishment. On a political level, he joined anti-fascist movements and was well known to the FBI in the 1930s. Russo and his wife came to Portland in 1947, joining the faculty of the Museum Art School, where he taught for 27 years. He considered himself a “modernist” interested in the abstract, and the creation of forms, shapes and colors. Over the years Russo found himself fascinated by geometry; its simplification, monumen- tality and emotional quality. His abstract human figures have simple surfaces and no facial features since his emphasis is on the expression of the figure, not its personality. He stresses impact, wanting each painting to be a confrontation with the viewer. Ever the activist, Russo helped establish a “One Percent for the Arts” program and initiated rules that protect artists in their relationships with galleries. Although fame was not important to him personally, his impact on Northwest art is immense. He died in 2004.
-Marilyn Lindgren WM
Located in the Pearl District:
2011 2010
320 NW 10th Avenue ~ Between Everett and Flanders phone: 503.227.3437
www.JudithArnellJewelers.com
APRIL 2012 | The Wınged M | 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72