Carolyn Hill (May 1, 1938 - May 12, 2010)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing Carolyn Hill, retired executive director of Oklahoma City Museum of Art, who died in Oklahoma City on May 12, 2010 following an extended illness. She was 72. Carolyn will forever be remembered for her lifelong love, passion, and achievements in the arts and for leaving behind her indelible mark on the fabric our community.

A native Oklahoman, Carolyn received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oklahoma then completed post-graduate studies at The Julliard School, New York, and The Mozarteum, Salzburg, Austria. Her interest in the arts extended beyond music, and she continued her studies in art history at major European museums during several summers abroad.

She spent more than 30 years in New York City, where her professional career focused on the arts and arts education. She taught music and was director of the art and music department at the United Nations International School, music director and conductor of the Livingston Symphony Orchestra, and president and director of the Carolyn Hill Gallery.

She returned to Oklahoma City in 1993 to care for her aging mother and was appointed executive director of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in 1994. During her tenure, she was instrumental in raising the funds for the Museum’s move from its location at Fair Park to the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center in the heart of downtown Oklahoma City, as well as the funds for the purchase of 18 glass installations by Dale Chihuly, the largest collection in the world. She also brought national recognition to the Museum with the establishment of film and education programs and outstanding international exhibitions, including the blockbuster exhibition Roman Art from the Louvre.

“Through her passion for the arts, strong leadership and bold vision, Carolyn Hill transformed the Oklahoma City Museum of Art from a small museum at the fairgrounds into a vibrant and very important cultural component of our city and state. Equally adept at promoting Roman Art from the Louvre or NBA basketball, Carolyn played a major role in our collective effort to elevate Oklahoma City to the next level,” said Frank Hill, chairman of the Museum’s board of trustees.

Carolyn retired as executive director of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in December 2008. Upon stepping down, she wrote: “I have been more than fortunate to have worked with a dedicated board and staff to advance the Museum’s development. It has been serendipity that these years have coincided with the City’s renaissance. I have every confidence that the Museum’s best days lie ahead.”

Revered by her staff, patrons and friends, Carolyn was the recipient of the By-liners Award for Arts in 1997, the Governor’s Arts Award in 2001 and the Stanley Draper Award for Community Excellence in 2003, and was inducted in The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools’ Wall of Fame in 2008.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her parents, Virgil and Flora Hill, and her brother, Russell Hill. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Lois Hill, niece Debra Zobel, and cousins Philip Waters, Terri Gillick, Steven Knapp and Scott Knapp. Carolyn and her family and friends will be forever grateful to her dedicated caregivers who helped make her life meaningful during her illness.

A funeral service will be held at St. Paul’s Cathedral, 127 NW 7th Street in downtown Oklahoma City, on Wednesday, May 19, 10:00 a.m. A reception will be held at St. Paul’s immediately following the service.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, Oklahoma City, OK, 73102.

Carolyn Hill (May 1, 1938 - May 12, 2010)

Edmund P. Pillsbury Ph.D., Heritage’s Chairman of Fine Arts and Director of Museum Services

In Memoriam: Dr. Edmund P. Pillsbury – 1943-2010

A statement from Heritage Auctions Co-Founders Steve Ivy and Jim Halperin on the sudden passing of Edmund P. Pillsbury Ph.D., Heritage’s Chairman of Fine Arts and Director of Museum Services.

We learned this morning of the passing of Dr. Edmund P. (“Ted”) Pillsbury at the age of 66 from an apparent heart attack yesterday afternoon after returning from lunch with a consignor. All of us here at Heritage Auction Galleries wish to express our deepest sympathy to his wife, children, coworkers and all others who knew and loved him.

Dr. Pillsbury was well-known as one of the world’s foremost art museum professionals. He earned his Ph.D. in Italian Renaissance Art from the University of London’s Courtauld Institute of Art. Among the places that flourished under his leadership are: The Yale Center for British Art; the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London; the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth, TX (he served as director of the Kimbell for 18 years and built it into one of the greatest art museums in the world); the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art in Las Vegas, and the Meadows Museum at SMU. He also served as an advisor to The Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Ted joined the Heritage family in 2005 and, with his dynamism, unimpeachable reputation and encyclopedic knowledge of Fine Art, made an immediate impact as Chairman of our Fine Arts and Museum Services departments. He essentially built both departments from scratch, recruiting a world class team of experts and other professionals.

His tenure here at Heritage lasted nearly five years, the longest of any institution he served other than the Kimbell, and we all expected to be working with him for many more years to come. This is such a sad day for Heritage’s 375 employees, and for the art community at large. Ted will be terribly missed, though his legacy proudly continues.

Steve Ivy & Jim Halperin

Edmund P. Pillsbury Ph.D., Heritage’s Chairman of Fine Arts and Director of Museum Services

Veronica De Anda Tosten

Veronica DeAnda Tosten, our friend and Dallas based artist, is finally at rest after her six-year struggle with cancer. She was 33. Veronica is survived by her husband and fellow artist, Erik Tosten, her mother Maria, her father Ruben, and her sisters Debrah, Norma, Sandra, and brother Ruben II.

Veronica was known by all of her friends to possess an unfailingly sharp wit, peppered with a dry sense of humor. She was a quiet observer by nature; an aspect of her personality that featured heavily in her work.

In an art practice reminiscent of her small stature and soft manner, Veronica was inclined to favor the intimate over the grand, and the subtle over the overt. Her pieces are rife with quiet humor and poignancy, and while on the surface are generally light-hearted, suggest a greater narrative that speaks to the power and influence of the gentle. Her pieces deal with weighty subjects without threat or fear. Her work is accessible. This is its strength–it is small and quiet, intimate and inviting, yet is imbued with a resolution that speaks volumes.

Veronica received her BFA in painting at the University of Texas at El Paso. She went on to receive an MFA in Drawing and Painting at the University of North Texas in 2003. In addition, Veronica served faithfully and without equal for five years as a board member at 500X Gallery, even as her condition continued to deteriorate. After her time at 500X, Veronica worked as the Gallery Director at Mighty Fine Arts Gallery and continued to innovate her own work, all the while doing her best to maintain her health.

All of her friends and family, and the whole of the Dallas/Fort Worth Arts Community will sorely miss Veronica. She had a hard and valiant struggle with her illness and her respite had been a long time coming, but she rarely complained. That same resolution seen in her work is a reflection of its creator; her strength speaks volumes. Still, Veronica’s relief was overdue. As a close friend remarked most aptly on the day of her passing, “Your battle was so long…get some rest now”.

We will all miss you, Veronica.

The preceding was provided by Jim Burton, former board member of 500X Gallery, Adjunct Professor of Art, University of North Texas and friend.

Memorial at 500X Gallery

A memorial for Veronica will be at 500X Gallery this Saturday, February 13, from 2-5 p.m. A slide show celebrating Veronica’s life and art will be playing during the memorial. A eulogy written by Veronica will be read at the midpoint of the memorial. Veronica’s husband, Erik, would like donations be made to EASL in lieu of flowers.

Banana Peel by Veronica De Anda Tosten

Glassy Eyes and Wooden Teeth by Veronica De Anda Tosten

Thomas Hoving (Photo by Fred R. Conrad)

Dallas Art News is saddened by the passing of Thomas Hoving, former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Mr. Hoving was 78.

Mr. Hoving was more than just a museum director, he was also author of two successful books about his experiences at the Met: Making the Mummies Dance (1994) and False Impressions: The Hunt for Big-Time Art Fakes (1997). Both books give a behind the scenes look at a major museum.

Our fondness for Mr. Hoving comes primarily from his second book, False Impressions. We are very interested in the enigmas surrounding art including high prices, theft and forgery.

“Before reading False Impressions, I only considered forgeries to be paintings and drawings,” said Michael Roman, managing editor of Dallas Art News. “Afterward, I realize a forgery could be anything.”

Thank you, Mr. Hoving.

Other Forgery Books

Dallas Art News recommends the following books on forgery:

• The Art Forgers Handbook by Eric Hebborn
• False Impression: The Hunt for Big-Time Art Fakes by Thomas Hoving
• The Forger’s Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick