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St. Olaf unveils Tetlie art collection of famous works

By David Gonnerman '90
September 20, 2006

MoranArt
Boats in Sunset by Thomas Sidney Moran (American, 1837-1926), c.1886. Oil on panel. Moran has been called "the American Turner" because of his sensitivity to light and color.

The Flaten Art Museum at St. Olaf College will open its 2006-07 program year with "A Collector's Legacy: Richard N. Tetlie," an exhibit of work from the estate of Richard Tetlie '43. The opening reception, which included a talk by Tetlie collection manager Philip Rosenbaum, was held Sept. 15.

The exhibit, which runs through Oct. 22, features paintings, graphic works, and sculpture by such artists as Edvard Munch, Gustav Courbet, Francisco de Goya, George Inness, John Singer Sargent and Albrecht Durer. Other works are attributed to such artists as Pablo Picasso, Eugene Delacroix, Honore Daumier and Winslow Homer.

Ewald
Ewald

"This amazing collection contains fodder for study, thought, meditation and enjoyment to all students of art of all ages and experiences," says Jill Ewald, curator of the museum.

A panel discussion, "Collections and Museums: the interactions between them," will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, in Dittmann 305. Panelists will be St. Olaf Professor of Anthropology Carolyn Anderson; Lyndel King, Director of the Weisman Museum of Art; Matthew Welch, curator of the Japanese and Korean collections at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts; and Rosenbaum. St. Olaf Professor of Art History Matt Rohn will introduce and moderate the panel.

MunchKiss
Der Kuss (The Kiss) is one of the five original works by Edvard Munch that are part of the new Tetlie exhibit at St. Olaf.

The collection of more than 2,000 classic paintings, sculptures, wall reliefs, textiles and furniture was bequeathed to the college upon Tetlie's death in 1999 in the hope that it could be examined and enjoyed by scholars and future generations of St. Olaf students. Tetlie's father, Rev. Joseph Tetlie '09, was the college's first Rhodes Scholar, and his maternal grandfather, Professor Halvor T. Ytterboe, is credited with saving St. Olaf from financial ruin during the Depression of the 1890s. Tetlie also was a great-nephew of St. Olaf's first president, Thorbjorn N. Mohn.

The Flaten Art Museum is located in the Dittmann Center on the St. Olaf campus. Visitor parking is available in the adjacent lot. The museum is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Saturdays and Sundays, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Call 507-646-3556 for more information.

RELATED LINKS
Read more about Tetlie here.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.