May 26, 2010
The Art of Collecting
Gillett Griffin
Retired Curator, Princeton University Art Museum
Minutes of the 34th Meeting of the 68th Year
Rosemary O'Brien introduced the morning's speaker, Gillett Griffin, now and most recently known as retired Curator of Pre-Columbian and Primitive Art at the Princeton University Art Museum. But I must clarify by noting here that he had had another, related, earlier career at the university, as Curator of Graphic Arts at Firestone Library. He entitled his presentation "The Art of Collecting."
Gillett's parents exposed him early to art and architecture and he remembers the fascination at 10,11 yrs Old, while boarding at Deerfield Academy, starting to collect (on a five and dime basis), and listening to auctioneers in the Conn. town. He noted his penchant for sharp bargaining, and his success on a five and dime approach. He entered Yale in 1947, School of Fine Arts, studying painting and graphic design.
Gillett had been the first Yale student to major in graphic arts. While an undergraduate, he had written, illustrated, and published a children's book that had attracted attention and he was hired to replace the retiring Elmer Adler as Curator of Graphic Design at the Princeton University Firestone Library. While Princeton Univ. had an art history curriculum, with classes for credit, Gillett saw an unfulfilled need. He had become concerned over the lack of a creative arts department or any art classes at Princeton."A great university with no outlet for the creative arts", as Gillett put it. In 1965 he wrote an eight-page letter to President Goheen expressing his convictions. This resulted in the beginning of a department of creative arts, located at 185 Nassau Street.
But during the following year, Gillett resigned his curator position to embark upon an extensive archaeological exploration in Mexico along with a year and a half of painting and writing. There he authored a guide book on archaeological sites of Mexico and became the discoverer of Olmec paintings in a Juxtlahuaca cave in central Guerrero. It was the Olmec people who established the first civilization in Mexico, dating 1200-600 B.C. Gillett's work and discoveries were aided by association with a number of local people with whom he consulted and came to know well, including, interestingly, a
model for the great Mexican painter Diego Rivera.
In late 1967, he got a call that brought this on-the-ground experience back to Princeton as Curator of Pre-Columbian and Primitive Art at the University Art Museum. His work has helped give the museum one of the leading Pre-Columbian collections.
From the beginning, Gillett Griffin was an astute, aggressive collector with an instinct for locating and nailing down what he valued and for the right price. During his 37 years as curator, he acquired major new pieces, organized exhibitions, wrote and delivered papers and articles, chaired many conferences. His consulting work included work as advisor on a channel 13 series on Maya. He was co-discoverer of Temple B at Rio Bee, an archetypal Maya palace structure which had been lost after its discovery and had eluded searchers for 61 years.
While Pre-Columbian in focus, Gillett Griffin's art interests are wide ranging. His personal collections include a wide spectrum, many of which were included in his slides. A number of these are included in the Princeton University Art Museum Pre-Columbian collection located on the 1 st floor. It's a world class collection, worth taking a look.
Respectfully,
Jim Johnson
Gillett's parents exposed him early to art and architecture and he remembers the fascination at 10,11 yrs Old, while boarding at Deerfield Academy, starting to collect (on a five and dime basis), and listening to auctioneers in the Conn. town. He noted his penchant for sharp bargaining, and his success on a five and dime approach. He entered Yale in 1947, School of Fine Arts, studying painting and graphic design.
Gillett had been the first Yale student to major in graphic arts. While an undergraduate, he had written, illustrated, and published a children's book that had attracted attention and he was hired to replace the retiring Elmer Adler as Curator of Graphic Design at the Princeton University Firestone Library. While Princeton Univ. had an art history curriculum, with classes for credit, Gillett saw an unfulfilled need. He had become concerned over the lack of a creative arts department or any art classes at Princeton."A great university with no outlet for the creative arts", as Gillett put it. In 1965 he wrote an eight-page letter to President Goheen expressing his convictions. This resulted in the beginning of a department of creative arts, located at 185 Nassau Street.
But during the following year, Gillett resigned his curator position to embark upon an extensive archaeological exploration in Mexico along with a year and a half of painting and writing. There he authored a guide book on archaeological sites of Mexico and became the discoverer of Olmec paintings in a Juxtlahuaca cave in central Guerrero. It was the Olmec people who established the first civilization in Mexico, dating 1200-600 B.C. Gillett's work and discoveries were aided by association with a number of local people with whom he consulted and came to know well, including, interestingly, a
model for the great Mexican painter Diego Rivera.
In late 1967, he got a call that brought this on-the-ground experience back to Princeton as Curator of Pre-Columbian and Primitive Art at the University Art Museum. His work has helped give the museum one of the leading Pre-Columbian collections.
From the beginning, Gillett Griffin was an astute, aggressive collector with an instinct for locating and nailing down what he valued and for the right price. During his 37 years as curator, he acquired major new pieces, organized exhibitions, wrote and delivered papers and articles, chaired many conferences. His consulting work included work as advisor on a channel 13 series on Maya. He was co-discoverer of Temple B at Rio Bee, an archetypal Maya palace structure which had been lost after its discovery and had eluded searchers for 61 years.
While Pre-Columbian in focus, Gillett Griffin's art interests are wide ranging. His personal collections include a wide spectrum, many of which were included in his slides. A number of these are included in the Princeton University Art Museum Pre-Columbian collection located on the 1 st floor. It's a world class collection, worth taking a look.
Respectfully,
Jim Johnson