Last updated: 8/19/2011
700 College Drive
Decorah, IA 52101
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Dr. Kate Elliott
phone: 563-387-1328
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David Kamm
phone: 563-387-1300
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The Collection is supervised by Fine Arts Collection Curator, Kate Elliott, with assistance from Gallery Coordinator, David Kamm. Numbering over 1,500 works, the Collection contains art dating from ca. 500 BCE to the present but focuses on art produced in the 20th century. While many of the artists represented in the Collection originated from the upper midwest, exemplified by College Artist Orville Running, most notable works were created by artists outside that area. Collection concentrations include works by California potter Marguerite Wildenhain; German Expressionist Gerhard Marcks, and New York artist Frans Wildenhain. Norwegian-American art, principally represented by the artist Herbjørn Gausta, pre-Columbian pottery; and Inuit sculptures are also prominent elements of the Fine Arts Collection.
The Fine Arts Collection exists to support the general mission of the college by promoting awareness and understanding of a broad spectrum of artistic expression through diversity in media, culture, and historical perspective. As unique expressions of the human condition, works in the collection invigorate learning and teaching and provide expanded opportunities for study, research, and individual pleasure.
The Fine Arts Collection was begun late in the 19th century when Herbjørn Gausta, noted Norwegian-American artist and Luther College art faculty member, donated over 30 works to the college. This initial gift was augmented with additional works by Gausta, particularly portraits, donated by friends of the college.
Donations of important paintings and oriental rugs from Arthur Andersen in the 1930s, and over 15 significant works from the Nils Remmen family in 1941, formed the core of the collection for several years.
The late potter Marguerite Wildenhain was the chief patron of the collection in recent years. She donated a sizable collection of her own ceramics and drawings, a collection of woodcuts, drawings, and bronze sculptures from German Expressionist Gerhard Marcks, and a fine group of pre-Columbian ceramics.
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