Butler acquires renowned artist’s mural
Pierre Soulages was the center of attention at the Pompadou Centre in Paris last week.
Soulages, France’s greatest living artist and one of the world’s foremost abstract artists, was surrounded by the cultural elite of Paris at a reception for his exhibition at the modern art museum.
Just then, Lou Zona, director of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, came through the crowd, grabbed Soulages by the arm and introduced himself as “Lou-ee” Zona.
“His face lit up and he kissed me on both cheeks and said ‘I am so glad to see you! I want to talk with you but I am with the president [of France] now,’” said Zona.
To learn the reason for this rare scene, one must backtrack a few weeks, to when the Butler acquired a Soulages mural.
Titled “14 May, 1968,” the 14-foot by 20-foot ceramic tile mural had been on display for 40-some years in the lobby of 1 Oliver Plaza, a skyscraper in downtown Pittsburgh. The piece was commissioned as part of the construction of the building, but its respect was diminished over the years. A security guard desk was placed in front of it, and at times it was partially obscured by planters.
The building was sold this year, and the new owners decided the mural would no longer be part of its decor. They offered it to the Butler — Zona had expressed interest in it in the past — free of charge. All the museum had to do was come and get it.
It did, and now the dismantled mural is in a Youngstown warehouse owned by Vincent Bacon, a member of the Butler’s board, where it is being restored. When complete, plans call for it to be displayed in a gallery room that will be constructed at the Howland branch of the museum. The mural will be lit and will stand behind a glass wall, where it will be visible 24 hours a day from the outside. Cars passing on old Route 82 will be able to see it, said Zona.
The mural has 300 tiles, each one 11” by 11” and weighing 10 pounds. Its restoration will cost $25,000; the Butler already has $10,000 on hand and is raising money for the balance. The museum will approach donors as it seeks to raise the $300,000 needed to build the 28-foot-by-28-foot gallery room at the Howland branch.
Zona had long admired the mural. As a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh years ago, he would often visit 1 Oliver Plaza just to view it.
After the Butler acquired the work, Zona wrote to the 90-year-old Soulages to tell him that his mural had been moved and will find a new home at the Youngstown museum.
“He wrote me back and said he was thrilled to hear it,” said Zona. “He was overjoyed that it was saved.”
The mural has an appraised value of $600,000, “but in my humble opinion, it’s worth significantly more,” said Zona.
“Soulages,” he said, “is a living legend.”
To illustrate the esteem in which he is held in the art world, the renowned Louvre museum in Paris recently removed a medeival masterpiece to hang a Soulages piece.
“I’m told it’s the first time a contemporary artwork has been displayed in the Louvre,” said Zona.