![](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/humanities\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/146\/2019\/01\/Mathis-Gallery.jpg\")
Linda Brazeau, director of the UWM Art Collection, talks about some of the artwork in the newly renovated and expanded Emile H. Mathis Gallery. At right is Ernst Ludwig Kirchner\u2019s \u201cLandscape\u201d (circa 1917). Next to it is \u201cLandscape with Circles,\u201d a 1975 lithograph by Alexander Calder donated by Mathis. (UWM Photo\/Elora Hennessey)<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n
UWM treasure at last has a suitably prominent home, thanks to a gift from a donor and art collector, the late Emile H. Mathis.<\/p>\n
The UWM Art Collection and its steward, the Department of Art History, celebrated the opening of a new exhibition space, the Emile H. Mathis Gallery, with a public opening on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n
The Emile H. Mathis Gallery is a state-ofthe-art 2,400 square feet exhibition space, named in honor of patron Emile H. Mathis, an art connoisseur, collector and gallery owner. The renovated and expanded gallery marks a new chapter for the UWM Art Collection, providing additional exhibition and storage space to display and house the expanding permanent art collection.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are immensely proud to showcase the university\u2019s extensive art collection in such a beautiful space,\u201d said Dave Clark, interim dean of the College of Letters & Science. \u201cThe Emile H. Mathis Gallery is not only an excellent teaching tool for our students, but also a great community resource for all of Milwaukee. Emile\u2019s gift will enrich the university and the city for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Linda Brazeau, director of the collection, said the renovation more than triples the display space of the gallery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe additional space gives us the ability to better showcase the collection,\u201d Brazeau said. \u201cThe gallery is also now more accessible, which raises the profile of the collection, something Emile Mathis insisted upon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gallery\u2019s inaugural exhibition, \u201cLegacies: ReVisioning the UWM Art Collection,\u201d showcases artworks of varied media celebrating the collection\u2019s richness and breadth. The exhibition honors the patrons whose gifts of art form the UWM Art Collection.<\/p>\n
Prominent works of art from the collection on exhibit include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 Edgar Degas, \u201cDancer,\u201d c. 1880
\n\u2022 Rembrandt van Rijn, \u201cSelf Portrait in Velvet Cap with Plume,\u201d 1638
\n\u2022 Pablo Picasso, \u201cStill Life with Caged Owl,\u201d 1947
\n\u2022 Georges Braque, \u201cStill Life with Music,\u201d 1962
\n\u2022 Joan Mir\u00f3, \u201cWoman and Bird in the Night,\u201d 1944<\/p>\n
Other notable featured artists include Pierre Auguste Renoir, Robert Rauschenberg, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Jim Dine, Christo, and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.<\/p>\n
Mathis\u2019 gifts to the university go well beyond the gallery. Upon his death in 2012, he bequeathed more than 600 pieces of African art and more than 1,700 prints to the UWM Art Collection. The collection of prints, which spans 500 years, includes etchings by Rembrandt, Whistler, and others. The collection of African art, which includes 20th century masks and sculptures, represents cultures from western, central and northern Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Emile showed me the list of art he intended to donate, I couldn\u2019t believe the artists\u2019 names on the list,\u201d Brazeau recalled.<\/p>\n
It was Mathis\u2019 intention that the university would use his prized collection for teaching and display for years. Brazeau, whose brief acquaintance with Mathis developed into a close friendship, said she was gratified to see his vision realized.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to believe he\u2019d be happy with the way this has turned out,\u201d Brazeau said.<\/p>\n
Mathis was born in Superior, Wisconsin, in 1946. He moved to Racine in 1964. He studied fine arts at UW-Superior, and after teaching in Sheboygan, returned to Racine in 1970. He started the Mathis Fine Art Gallery in 1972, and gained a reputation as an art historian, art collector, dealer, curator, community activist and philanthropist.<\/p>\n
In addition to his contributions to the UWM Art Collection and the gallery space, Mathis established the Emile H. Mathis Endowment Fund, which will support the UWM Art Collection\u2019s collected prints in perpetuity.<\/p>\n
By Greg Walz-Chojnacki, University Relations<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UWM treasure at last has a suitably prominent home. The UWM Art Collection and its steward, the Department of Art History, celebrated the opening of a new exhibition space, the Emile H. Mathis Gallery, with a public opening on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1234,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n