Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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48 | APRIL 2015 nshoremag.com FACES Attention museumgoers: Our be- loved PEM has something excep- tional on view through June 21, 2015. Audacious: The Fine Art of Wood is a gem of an exhibit from Robert Bohlen and Lillian Montalto Bohlen's personal collection—one oI tKe finest Zood turninJ collec- tions in the country—comprising nearly 300 works representing 107 artists from eight different coun- tries. Featuring over 100 pieces, the show shines light on an often underappreciated art form. BY KILEY JACQUES The Montalto Bohlen collection makes a fine art statement at the Peabody Essex Museum. Wood Lot Over the last century, the prac- tice of shaping wood by lathe has garnered attention as artists redis- cover—and elevate—the medium. "As we started to see the intrica- cies of work from different artists, we quickly realized that what was considered a craIt, reall\ Zas fine art," says Lillian Montalto Bohlen. "So we set out on an expedition to get the art world to take a different position on the work these artists were doing." The Bohlens started collecting wood-turned artworks in 1996, fol- lowing the purchase of an expertly honed small wooden box in San Francisco. Since then, they have given approximately 870 pieces to various museums, 47 of which landed at PEM. "Our objective was to get museums on artists' resumes so the art world and the art-con- suming public would [give] that stamp of approval and consider tKese people reall\ terrific artists,ȋ explains Bob Bohlen. Lillian and Bob are art patrons in the truest sense. Following the combined advice of four cura- tors, they reached out to 73 artists, explaining their interest in buying artworks outright. "Artists some- times work piece to piece to stay in existence," notes Lillian. Following the Renaissance model of patron- age, the couple began putting art- ists on their payroll so "they could freely develop their best work." To date, the Bohlens have worked with 250 artists, across continents, using wood as their medium. Back in the early 1990s, wood art was viewed as a handicraft— bowls, spoons, plates, and vessels made up the bulk of what was being made. By the mid-1990s, the Clockwise from top, Double Helix by Hal Metlitzky; Whirl by Brad Sells; Untitled by Dick Codding; and Seven Poppies by Binh Pho photographs by Terry Martin (bottom left) by Walter Silver (top and middle)