Review: Kimbell exhibit shows artistic view of Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass

The Bass family has contributed greatly to the city of Fort Worth. Their latest largess is sharing the art collection compiled by the late Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass, mother and father to brothers Sid, Edward, Robert and Lee, at the Kimbell Art Museum in a free exhibition.

Eric Lee, director of the Kimbell, has reconfigured a gallery in the Renzo Piano building to represent the great room in the Bass home. Originally it was a basketball court for the boys; after they left home, it was repurposed for living in a more genteel manner.

The gallery acts as a stage set of the room furnished with only its artwork. The paintings are quite large, and most of the names quite familiar — Mark Rothko, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Fernand Léger among them, a staggering wealth of magnificent artworks for a private home. And then you see the two van Goghs, a Monet, two Renoirs and paintings by Vuillard, Bonnard, Hoffman, Albers and Matisse hanging in the side galleries.

Sculptures were also part of the Basses’ collecting habit. Maillols, a Segal and Remingtons are lined along the window wall, bringing the total to 37 pieces on display.

This extraordinary private collection that spans artwork from the time of the impressionists to post-World War II was collected over a 50-year period. Perry died in 2006, and Nancy Lee in 2013.

The first really pricey piece was purchased in 1963. The Deauville Harbor (Le Bassin de Deauville), by Raoul Dufy, was hanging in the Knoedler Gallery window in Paris. It spoke to Perry Bass, who was a committed sailor, and after much back-and-forthing — to the gallery and in discussions with Nancy Lee — they bought it and brought it home to Fort Worth to hang over the mantel in the dining room.

Less than 20 years later, in 1982, they were so confident in their art purchases, they splashed out to buy two paintings by Vincent van Gogh. This was huge — the Kimbell doesn’t own a single van Gogh, much to the dismay of several directors.

The Basses bought art to commemorate special occasions: Perry purchased a version of The Kiss, by Rodin, to give to Nancy Lee on their 25th wedding anniversary in 1966.

A study in taste

The collection is what one imagines extreme wealth can buy. It is also a window into the couple’s own taste, as there are paintings by lesser-known artists here, as well.

The large Kees van Dongen, Portrait of Madame Malpel, 1908, which hangs with the greats, might not make it into a museum collection.

The artist ran with the fauves, the “wild beasts” who followed the impressionists and were known for their love of extreme color. He had early success painting prostitutes and entertainers; then his style became more and more cartoonish, and by the mid-20th century, devolved into something almost akin to Keane paintings.

Madame Malpel was the wife of a gallery owner, and this painting is considered one of van Dongen’s first attempts at full-length portraiture. It comes from his best period, and Madame projects a great spirit.

In 1891, he won the French lottery, and since he was one year from retiring with a pension, he continued to work. Only after retirement was he able to devote his time solely to painting. His Self-Portrait, c.1888, is not interesting until you know his story, and then it has a lovely sort of heroic quality.

Franz Marc was a painter who died at age 36 during the First World War, and his Large Lenggries Horse Painting I, from 1908, is a marvel. Marc was fascinated by animals — especially horses, cows and deer — believing them to have great spirituality.

This small herd is a powerful swirl of yellows and oranges, as Marc used color to express the feelings and rhythms he saw in the animals.

During the war, Marc painted camouflage patterns for the German army and died at the Battle of Verdun. This canvas was found 20 years after his death; it had been cut into pieces and used to pad his studio roof. It has been expertly repaired.

There are two Frederic Remington sculptures in the far southwestern corner of the gallery, the place they would land if they had fallen through the facade of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, rolled down the hill and landed in the Kimbell.

It is quite odd to see Western art at the Kimbell, but Perry’s uncle Sid Richardson was one of the largest private collectors of works by Remington and Charles M. Russell and no doubt influenced his nephew’s early art choices.

Lee Bass admits that he hesitated to include them but, now that they are there, next to the sculptures by Maillol and George Segal, they look perfectly at home.

These are the reminders that the artworks come from a house, not a museum. Most of the Bass-owned artworks are museum-quality; it is the anomalies that bring home the personality.

It is only through these pieces that we get a sense of their love of color, pretty women, interesting characters and horses and their unabashed pleasure in sweet paintings by Renoir and challenging works by modernists.

Imagine what hangs on your walls says about you. Suddenly, a private collection seems so very personal, and without them telling us why they bought what they did, seeing it all together, in one gallery, says plenty.

This story was originally published March 2, 2015 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Review: Kimbell exhibit shows artistic view of Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass."