Letter From the Director
May 2002

The past year has been a time of extraordinary transition for the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University. On June 1, after serving 21 remarkably creative and energetic years as the Director of the Castellani Art Museum, Dr. Sandra Haller Olsen became the Director of the UB Art Galleries and Museum Studies Program. Several months later, on January 31, 2002, Museum staff received news that our great benefactor and friend, Armand J. Castellani, had passed on.

In the days and weeks that followed Mr. Castellani’s death, numerous tributes appeared in publications throughout the Niagara Frontier. Reading through the tributes, one cannot help but be amazed by the diversity and range of Armand J. Castellani’s life achievements. His renown as a businessman, his deep commitment to family and community, his passionate engagement in the study and collection of art, and his generosity to Western New York will never be forgotten. Without doubt, one of Mr. Castellani’s most spectacular and enduring gifts to the Niagara Frontier community is the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University. In thinking about how to best honor the memory of the Museum’s namesake, it seemed most appropriate that our tribute should celebrate Mr. Castellani’s far-reaching impact on the Western New York art scene. In the pages that follow, friends and colleagues from the Western New York arts community share memories that highlight Mr. Castellani’s role as a collector and benefactor.

Certainly, I did not know Mr. Castellani as well as many of those who have contributed to this special memorial edition of our newsletter. Yet, as a 10-year member of the staff at the Castellani Art Museum, I do have several vivid memories of him. One incident in particular, connected to preparations for Personal Preferences (1999)—an exhibition of favorite artworks selected by Mr. Castellani and his wife Eleanor— will always remind me of Mr. Castellani’s exuberant love of art. I happened to be standing at the door to the storage area the morning Mr. Castellani first returned to the Museum after spending several months in Florida. He and Sandy were heading straight for the storage area, Mr. Castellani walking so quickly that Sandy had to pick up her pace. As they reached the door, Mr. Castellani exclaimed to me and everyone else within hearing range, “God I love this place!” It seemed to me that he literally couldn’t wait to get his hands on the art in storage, and to get started on the process of sharing it through Personal Preferences.

Following the spring 2001 installation of his Echoes: A Century Survey exhibition at the Castellani Art Museum, artist Arnold Mesches donated a painting to the Museum in honor of longtime patrons Armand and Eleanor. The 4 _ X 4 inch Echoes 23 depicts a smiling group of four people, a young boy and three adults, while conveying both the intimacy and nostalgia evoked by an old snapshot from a family photo album. Mesches offered this particular painting as “a memento to an era, to our friendship, to our lives together and the warmth it always wells up in me.”

Perhaps, as Mesches so poetically suggests, an era at the Castellani Art Museum has drawn to a close—but what a fine legacy has been built. A few highlights from a collection that now includes nearly 4000 artworks: Josef Albers’ Homage to the Square (Dimly Lighted) (1958); Alfred Jensen’s Family Portrait, Per II (1975); Roberto Matta’s Interruption of a Memory (1966); Joan Mitchell’s Begonia (1982); Maurice Utrillo’s The White House (1920); sculptures by Louise Nevelson, Beverly Pepper and Judy Pfaff; a steadily growing photography collection that includes a rare, early photo collage by Cindy Sherman. Basquiat, Haring, Miro, Picasso Rothenberg and Warhol are all represented in a collection of prints and works on paper of tremendous depth. There can be no better tribute to Mr. Castellani than to visit, look at and enjoy the artworks he has so generously gifted to us.

Kate Koperski
Interim Director