The contributors to the RISD Museum's current collection confess that they appreciate the artists more than they do the art.
Joseph Chazan, clinical professor of medicine at Brown, and his wife Helene don't see themselves as patrons of the arts but as friends of artists.
"I enjoy the art because of the people who made it. We aren't classic art collectors," he said.
Art pieces the Chazans have collected over the years very much define their living space. But since the 1980s, the couple has also made the effort to share their art with both the RISD and Brown communities.
In celebration of the couple's contributions to RISD, the RISD Museum will be displaying about 50 of the more than 200 works that the Chazans have donated to the school, in an exhibition called "Chazan's Choice: Gifts of Contemporary Art to the RISD Museum."
The Chazans' collection is eclectic. Glass benches, colorful acrylic paintings and photographs of American Indians are just a few of the pieces included in the exhibition.
Clarity in vision and execution is what attracts the Chazans to the art they collect.
Joseph Chazan's eye is "decisive," and he has a "strong aesthetic," said Judith Tannenbaum, Richard Brown Baker curator of contemporary art at the RISD Museum.
For the Chazans, to collect art is to live with the art.
The couple first started collecting art in the 1970s as a way of beautifying their home to "make our living space more pleasant," Joseph Chazan said.
But as the couple acquired more art, not all the works complimented their living space. Joseph Chazan consequently filled his offices with leftover art and donated much of his collection to RISD and Brown over the years.
With several works by RISD alums and faculty represented in the collection at the Museum, Chazan's ties to the community are apparent.
Most notable in the collection are two lithographs by Joseph Norman, a RISD faculty member from 1991 to 1997. One of the pieces, entitled "Out of Home! The Negro Baseball League," portrays an erect baseball bat surrounded by chains. The black experience is a consistent thread in the artist's prints. Some of Norman's other works are also included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
While some pieces were created by artists outside of Rhode Island, much of Chazan's collection reflects the pulse of the Ocean State's contemporary art scene.
Tannenbaum described art from Rhode Island as "pretty diverse," with a strong focus on the craft tradition.
Many of the collection's ceramic and glass pieces reflect this tradition. "Mantled Figure," by Howard Ben Tré RISD MFA '80, a well-known Rhode Island artist, is made entirely of cast glass, bronze powder and steel.
In contrast to some of the collection's more conservative pieces are bright, wacky works like "Journey to the Tourney," by Brian Chippendale RISD '96.
The piece, made out of 16 color screenprints, is a playful look at the future, depicting cartoon-like aliens, robots and planets in vivid purples, blues and reds.
Sloan Kulper, a second-year graduate student in industrial design at RISD, said the Chazans' collection carries a spirit that is characteristic of the RISD art scene.
"I think it has a playfulness and optimism that you find here very commonly. It's not particularly style-oriented," Kulper said.
The Chazans have also been actively involved with the art department at Brown, having donated several pieces from their collection to the school, including the weather vane that hangs in the List Art Center. The piece was created by Jonathan Bonner, a prominent Rhode Island artist and a close friend of the Chazans.
Two works by Walter Feldman, professor of art at Brown, entitled "Lager Lieder" and "Quiet Words," are also included in the Chazans' collection at the Museum.
Tannenbaum said through this exhibition she hopes to showcase interesting art, to show the range and depth of the work made in Rhode Island and to celebrate the generosity of the Chazans.
The collection will be on display at the RISD Museum, 224 Benefit St., until April 24. Admission is $3 for college students with valid ID. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.risdmuseum.org for more information.
