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This is the second in a monthly series of ARTicles highlighting the current exhibit at the Marshalltown Arts & Civic Center (MACC). Titled: Seeing Anew Part 11, the exhibit features roughly half of the works from the Fisher Art Collection, the other half which comprised the original Seeing Anew exhibit from 2022-2025. An exciting mix of late 19th & early 20th century paintings and sculptures, many of the pieces now on display have not been accessible for nearly 6 years; having, in the interim, undergone restoration at the Chicago Conservation Center.
In 1958, Bill and Dorothy Fisher gifted Marshalltown the most extraordinary legacy; a stunning mid-century modern community center, yet after 55 years, the building itself was likewise in need of restoration. In 2017, the process began with the full support of the Fisher Family and the governing body, the Fisher Governor Foundation. Committees were formed to write grants, digitize records, reach out to organizations and individuals for funding, and hire technical experts and consultants. And in Sept., 2022, the Marshalltown Arts & Civic Center and the Fisher Art Museum opened, ready to serve and inspire for many more years to come.
Celebrating the intentional, well-informed and prescient collection that Bill and Dorothy Fisher amassed primarily during the 1950's and 60's, Seeing Anew Part 11 includes work by artists from France, Russia, Italy and the Netherlands and showcases multiple art movements such as Impressionism, Fauvism, Symbolism, Abstraction and more. Also featured are a nod to Bill Fisher's musical talents and aspirations and 2 works that were donated to, (and fit seamlessly into), the collection.
Today's featured artwork is the painting Nature Morte Au Grand Panier, (Still Life With Large Basket), by the French painter, René Genis.
Born in French Indochina (Vietnam), René Genis and his family relocated to Bordeaux, France when he was 8 years old.
Genis began his formal training at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he studied for 5 years, and where his talent was readily noticed. After winning a scholarship, he then attended the National School of Decorative Arts in Paris, where he further developed his skills as a painter, printmaker and illustrator. During the course of his long career, he taught art at the College de Pontoise and was awarded the coveted Jeune Peinture prize in 1960.
Genis was a member of the Parisian Neo-Figurative School, as was his good friend, last month's featured artist, Andre Brasilier. It seems right that in the current exhibit, their paintings hang side by side, and it is intriguing to imagine conversations shared.
Though Genis' oil painting, Nature Morte Au Grand Panier (1956) depicts traditional subject matter, it is decidedly modern in composition and palette. In simplified forms and areas of flat color, Genis depicts a still-life with domestic items and a hint of nature. The focus of the painting is a large basket, whose textured surface and neutral colors are punctuated by the flat pink surface of the cloth below.
In his lifetime, Genis exhibited widely, including numerous one-man shows in Paris and New York. René Genis died at age 89 in 2003, in Paris, France. His works can now be seen in museums in Provence, France, Tokyo, Japan, and, yes, here in Marshalltown, Iowa.
Visit/revisit the MACC and bring a friend! You'll be glad you did. 709 S. Center St. #641.758.3005 / www.maccia.org. Hours: Wed-Fri (8:30 AM – 4:30 PM) / Second Sat of each month (11:00 AM- 3:00PM)/ Third Thu of each month (4:30 PM – 6:30 PM).
Nancy Jeanne Adams is a member of the Fisher Art Museum Committee.