Cindy Burlingham of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles played a key role in the first major solo exhibit of work by Lawren Harris (1885-1970) to be shown in the United States, "The Idea of North," But she didn't play the only role.
"We worked with Steve Martin as the guest curator," she told the Dispatch News.
That's comedian/actor/banjo picker Steve Martin.
"He brought our attention to the artist," Burlingham said. "We had really never heard of Lawren Harris before, yet he's probably the most famous Canadian artist from the 20th century."
"Steve is a real polymath," Burlingham said. "He'd never been a curator before, but he's been an important collector of 20th century American art. He very much knew what he wanted."
Local art lovers seeing Harris' work for the first time may be reminded of Alaska paintings by Rockwell Kent (1882-1971).
"They had a lot in common," Burlingham said. "They must have known of each other, but there's nothing we've been able to find that would show they had any communication between them."
THE IDEA OF NORTH, a talk by Cindy Burlingham, will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at the Anchorage Museum. Museum admission is half price as part of the Polar Nights series.