Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999 Page: 5
60 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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why I'm moving to a larger house-the dialogue has
become so chaotic between the art and the objects. A
larger space will allow me to be more sensitive to that
dialogue."
So what might God expect in the way of contribu-
tions from Harper?
The young collector becomes thoughtful.
"There was room in His house for the pauper, so I
suppose I'd give something fairly humble, probably
something figurative. Maybe the Billy Jack Souza piece,
because of all he's gone through in his lifetime. One of
my mother's paintings. And Paul Kittelson's Candy
Necklace."
Harper treasures this last work because it taught
him an important lesson about collecting.
"I had decided I had too many small pieces, so,
although I liked it, I passed on it. I went back to the
gallery and it was gone. It took me three years to talk the
owner out of it," he recalls.
Like other collectors, Harper stresses that starting
small is the best way to begin, especially when money is
a consideration. He's now considering major works of
art from sites as far away as this year's Venice Biennale.
But what price tag scares him on a painting?
"$25,000," he replies. "I'd have to think about that
for a while."
Alton and Emily Steiner
The first thing that Emily Steiner will tell you is that
she's the practical one. That leaves her physician
husband, Alton, Chairman of the Glassell School of
Art's Core Fellows Board, to play the role of fanciful
enthusiast.
"I don't mind that," says Alton Steiner, relaxing in
a lounge chair in the glass-walled family room of their
traditional Meyerland home. Despite the eclectic array
of art that dominates the room, there's a sense of tran-
quility about it all, a reflection of the doctor-teacher's
calm demeanor.
He continues: "I like addiction. I just started by
bringing home ceramic and glass pieces from a Galleria
store 15 years ago. The kids thought I was silly. Then I
got really interested.
"We went to Scottsdale for a meeting, and I saw
the work of Allan Houser. My father had just died and
left us a little money, so I bought. Before that, I had
never spent more than $100 on a work of art. I had
money to burn at the time," he says, smiling, "and
I did."
Early on, the Steiners decided to focus on a few
young Houston-based artists, to support them while
collecting their work in depth. The couple owns more
than 20 sculptural pieces by Joe Mancuso and an array
of 40 or more paintings by Core Fellow David
Aylesworth, including many small early works
purchased at the Menil bookstore for between $50 -
$75. For six or seven years, Steiner figures, he purchased
three or four works by Aylesworth each year.
Reality finally set in: "I'd spent my father's money
by '87," he confides. "Then Emily and I had to decidethat nothing could be bought from savings, just income.
"Each purchase since then has been a battle.
There's not a work here that hasn't been bought under
protest," he says, smiling at the
practical one.
"But it's Emily who falls in
love with the pieces once we have
them," he continues. "It's she who
will tell you in-depth about the
works of art, mainly because of
her studies in art history."
Both are equally enthu-
siastic-and knowledgeable-
about their art, especially about
the philosophy behind individual ,.
pieces and the techniques the
artists used to realize their ideas.
Outside, beside the pool,
Alton Steiner explains the impor-
tance of material in Joe Mancuso's
exterior works: "The key is in his
use of natural materials-cement, wood. The process of
weathering and natural aging is an integral part of the
work. As is the actual technique. That Beach Ball over
there: it's not just a ball-shaped piece of concrete. It is
36 disks of different sizes put together to make a sphere.
Incredible."
Emily Steiner takes over inside, in front of the large
David Aylesworth entitled Oh, So Elsa Maxwellish of
1996. "They're such unusual colors." She gestures
toward the work. "The technique is fresh and
impromptu-the way the objects float in space. There's
even a bit of black spray paint down here." She sounds
less serious for a moment, but promptly returns
to the art historian's approach: "It reminds me
of things in Arshile Gorky's work. Phillip
Guston was an important influence."
Two minimalist works, by Glassell School
Director Joe Havel, add humor and sophistica-
tion to the collection. 2 &r 3D Drawing, a mass
of tangled bronze strands that stands out from a
wall and dramatically casts its linear shadow
onto the plaster surface, links sculpture and
drawing in a way that no textbook dissertation
could explain.
Havel's Autobiographical Piece, consisting
of a bronze armature supporting a white shirt
collar with buttons suspended on a thin cord-
hung at the artist's actual height-is a sophisti-
cated reference to those measuring charts that
many endured as growing children.
Alton Steiner often visits an artist's studio
while a work is in progress. "I've been a teacher
all my professional life. Sometimes I can help an
artist evaluate where he is with a work of art,
help him, or her, to decide if a work is 'done."'
But it's harder for the Steiners to decide
which three works they'd choose to join the
Heavenly collection. Both agree on Aylesworth's
1996 painting, so large that it looks like a back-
drop at a Surrealist art ball.
Beyond that, Emily Steiner asks, "Couldn'tARTLIES SUMMER 1999
Alton and Emily Steiner in
front of an exterior work by
Joe Mancuso.
Emily Steiner with Joe
Havel's Autobiographical
Piece.III IFIII~
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Lightman, Victoria H. Art Lies, Volume 23, Summer 1999, periodical, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228053/m1/7/?q=%22Bryant%2C+John%22: accessed June 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; .