Part One Of ‘The Search To See’

On View At Minneapolis Institute

Exhibit Celebrates Major Gift of Photography

Images downloaded 7-11 from website

1½ col photojournalist

“The Photojournalist,” by Andreas Feininger, 1955, gelatin silver print.

1½ col surf

Martin Munkacsi, “Liberia,” 1931, gelatin silver print.

2col tree

Jerry N. Welsmann, Untitled, 1969, gelatin silver print.

FOR 7-20

PART ONE OF ‘THE SEARCH TO SEE’ ON VIEW AT MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE w/3 cuts

avv/gs set 7-11 #706176

MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. — An exhibition in two parts highlights a gift of fine photographs from Frederick B. Scheel to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA). Collected over a period of nearly 40 years, this gift of more than 600 prints comprises work by 106 masters of photography from the late Nineteenth Century until the 1960s.

The first part of “The Search To See: Photographs from the Collection of Frederick B. Scheel” is on view through November 4. Part Two opens December 1 and will be on view through March 30.

Notable names include Margaret Bourke-White, Berenice Abbott, August Sander, Edward Steichen, Andre Kertesz, Sebastiao Salgado, Minor White, Roman Vishniac, Jerry Uelsmann, Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andreas Feininger, Bill Brandt, Brassai, Paul Strand and Edward Weston.

“We are incredibly grateful for this unprecedented gift,” said Dr William M. Griswold, director and president of the MIA. “The integrity of Mr Scheel’s vision and his keen connoisseurship are represented in his collection of master photographs, which will have a transformative impact on the MIA’s photography holdings.”

The Scheel collection represents one man’s vision after years of personal study. Scheel paid astute and informed attention to both the history of photography and art market activity of fine photographs. Scheel’s personal vision and knowledge, combined with his passion for excellence, are apparent in the broad representation of work displayed in this exhibition. To adequately present the collection, the MIA decided to produce this exhibition in two parts, doubling the usual duration of shows in the museum’s Harrison Photography Gallery.

“The Scheel collection is not a textbook collection,” said Carroll T. Hartwell, curator of photographs at the MIA. “Fred has always collected according to his own lights and not until recently did he entertain the notion of donating his collection to a museum. Through the years his admiration of the MIA’s permanent collection and exhibitions has grown and now we are the beneficiaries of this wonderful gift.”

Altogether the two parts of this exhibition contain close to 200 photographs drawn from the larger collection of more than 600 prints. Interspersed is a modest selection of Scheel’s own photographs, which stand on their own as the product of a finely honed eye and sensibility in the tradition of Strand, Adams, Brett Weston, Kertesz and others who have been Scheel’s inspiration and, in several instances, his artistic mentors. Born in 1921 in Moorhead, Minn., Scheel lives in Fargo, N.D., and is a recently retired partner of Scheels All Sports, Inc.

Begun in 1973, the MIA’s collection of photographs includes the work of more than 900 photographers. The collection consists primarily of Twentieth Century American work, with increasing emphasis on photographs from all countries and contemporary color prints. The collection has developed and continued to grow because of the active and generous support of loyal donors, who have provided gifts of art, acquisition funds, and named galleries.

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is at 2400 Third Avenue South. For information, 612-870-3131 or www.artsmia.org.