To most Texans, the Butt family name usually brings to mind grocery aisles and philanthropy. But starting this month at the Blanton Museum of Art, the H-E-B magnate's name will take on a new dimension as the presence behind a tightly focused show of American modernism. Art that's spent decades hanging in Charles Butt's homes will be presented in one room, reimagining what the collection says about a specific era of American art.
Carter Foster, the Blanton's chief curator and deputy director of collections, says the point isn't to overwhelm visitors with art history or "greatest hits," but to offer a clear, inviting path into 20th-century American art through a private collection that reflects Butt's personal taste and curiosity.
When Foster first encountered the artwork in person, what struck him wasn't the flash.
"It wasn't like a trophy collection," he said. Instead of owning the most famous and expensive examples by major artists, Butt gravitated toward unusual or revealing works. Foster said those pieces often showed artists in transition, moving beyond their most familiar styles and subject matter.
One example of this is an early portrait by Edward Hopper that depicts a fellow art student rather than one of the lonely urban scenes he's known for. Elsewhere in the show, a cityscape by Alice Neel stands out because the painter is more commonly associated with portraits.
Butt also focused his collecting on certain artists – including John Marin, Marsden Hartley and Thomas Hart Benton – allowing visitors to see how a painter's ideas evolved across multiple works.
More than anything, Foster said, the collection reflects Butt's mindset and viewpoint.
"I sense a personality," he said. "There's a sense of curiosity."
That drive toward exploration and curiosity becomes clearer in the way the Blanton has chosen to present the show. The 80 or so works are arranged by themes. The goal of that approach is to help the public navigate through major currents of American modernism, from urban life and regional landscapes to the movement's gradual evolution toward abstraction.
A section titled "Urban Encounters" pairs the early Hopper portrait with works that capture the psychological tension of modern city life, including paintings of New York's elevated trains, which changed the way people interacted with urban surroundings in the early 20th century.
One grouping focuses on precisionism, an American movement influenced by cubism that brought sharp geometry and industrial subjects into painting.
Another highlight of the collection is an Ellsworth Kelly abstraction that hangs near a vibrant painting by Alma Thomas, creating a dialogue between two artists who pushed color and form in different but complementary ways.
Foster said the design of the collection is meant to encourage visitors to resist any concern about having to "do it right" and instead follow their instincts and interests.
"I always encourage people to gravitate to what grabs their eye first," he said.
Having the show contained within one main gallery also changes how the collection can be experienced. While the pieces were displayed for decades across Butt's homes, Foster said, seeing them gathered together gives the collection a unified vision, with pieces complementing or contrasting one an other.
"There's nothing like seeing objects in person," he said. "When you actually gather something together in one place, especially in a museum gallery setting, it just changes the way the works look."
For Texas audiences, the exhibit offers a chance to see a private collection that was built over decades, focusing entirely on American art and traveling only within the state. Butt, a long-time education philanthropist, chose to concentrate on American modernism rather than European movements that often dominate the art market.
The result is a show that can double as a primer on 20th-century American art, offering glimpses into depictions of rural life as well as bold abstractionist works without feeling like a textbook.
Rather than worrying about understanding the whole collection, Foster advises audiences to let their curiosity and in-the-moment reactions lead them around the room. "I don't think [they'll] be overwhelmed at all," he said. "It'll be like a tasty box of candy you can sample."
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