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Butler Art Museum Acquires Pierre Soulages Mural
 July 2010 (Youngstown) – Pierre Soulages (born 1919), an internationally renowned artist of French origin, has a worldwide following. Recently, the Pompidou Centre in Paris hosted a retrospective of work by Frances famed “painter of black,” drawing from collections around the globe to honor Soulages, a French cultural icon. In 1968, Pierre Soulages created a site-specific tile mural commissioned by the owners of One Oliver Plaza, a building in Pittsburgh. In the spring of 2009, the Oliver building was sold and the new owners planned to remove the 14 x 20 foot mural, composed of 294 individual, hand-formed ceramic tiles.
This masterwork, unveiled in Pittsburgh in May of 1968, was offered to art museums and organizations there; none were willing to undertake the difficult removal of the work. The Director and Board of the Butler Institute accepted the work as a gift from the new owners of the Oliver building, and removed the delicate tile mural in an intensive ten-day time period. The monumental project was accomplished through the dedicated work of Michigan tile restoration expert, Larry Mobley, directed by retired engineer and Butler Board of Trustees President, Vincent Bacon.
This extraordinary work (now in storage and undergoing fine art conservation) will be reinstalled in a glass-fronted room, created specifically for the massive piece. Designed by Bart Gilmore of Cortland, Ohio, the “Soulages Gallery” will be constructed at the Institute's Trumbull branch, located in Howland Township. (A Butler satellite facility founded in 1996, the Trumbull branch mission includes the display of works by internationally acclaimed artists that inform and inspire American artists.) The Soulages mural, titled “14 May, 1968,” will be featured in this new gallery, and will be accessible for public viewing night and day, free of charge. (This work is set to be unveiled at the Butler'sTrumbull branch in 2010.)
Contributions to support this project include; a grant from the Warren Area Chamber Education, Civic and Cultural Foundation (Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber), a gift from the family of Ray Travaglini, Foundation Medici and a grant from the Trumbull County Convention & Visitors Bureau. Additional funds are being sought to assist with this effort. For information and/or to contribute, contact the Butler Institute, 330.743.1107, ext. 123.
The Butler Institute of American Art has announced the publication of its second major art history volume highlighting the museum’s renowned permanent collection. 
July 2010 (Youngstown) – Masterworks from The Butler Institute of American Art, a three year effort by Butler staff, contains full color reproductions of one hundred sixty of Butler's most beloved works. Recent acquisitions, including the Butler's new Jackson Pollock and Norman Rockwell paintings, are included in this stunning, 416 page volume, printed in the USA by City Printing Company of Youngstown. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Pollock Personal Foundation of Youngstown, and many other generous contributors, this catalogue is a beautiful reflection of the historic Butler Institute, a source of pride for our Ohio community since its founding in 1919.
Designed by art catalogue designer David Hayes (Oneonta, New York) and exquisitely produced utilizing high definition digital photographs taken by Joseph P. Rudinec (Boardman, Ohio), each Butler image is accompanied by a scholarly essay by art authorities from around the globe.
Masterworks from The Butler Institute of American Art is available for purchase exclusively in the Museum Gift Shop in Youngstown. Download a .pdf order form for this book.
Thanks to the generosity of Flora B. Giffuni of New York City, the Butler Institute in Youngstown features a permanent gallery devoted to the display of pastels works. The Flora B. Giffuni Gallery of American Pastel Art offers exhibitions of accomplished American artists, group shows from the Pastel Society of America, as well as the display of pastel works from the Butler's prestigious collection. Information about programs and demonstrations to highlight the Butler's Giffuni Gallery exhibition are planned by the Institute's Education Department.
The Butler's collection now exceeds 20,000 individual works, and conservation needs far exceed the funds available. Through the Institute's Adopt-a-Paining program, generous individuals help the museum meet that need by donating funds to cover the cost of painting restoration. A donation by Neita Burger and Debra Burger has resulted in cleaning and conservation of Gardner Symons' "Silence and Evening Light" , a beautiful plein-air winter scene now on view in the Butler's Watson Gallery of American Impressionism.
You, your friends and/or your company may also "adopt" a work of art from the Butler collection that is in need of conservation. To date, of the ten Butler paintings earmarked for conservation, six have received funding for restoration, and four have been conserved. Adopted paintings will carry permanent signage to acknowledge the donor or donors by name.
For further information, or to adopt a painting through a tax deductible donation to the Butler, contact Butler's registration department, Call ext. 116. or email
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