Heidi Gealt (left), director of the
IU Art Museum, talks with Karen Herbert at Bryan House in
front of the restored painting by John Edward Bundy, View
from Bay View. |
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Pierre Daura still life |
The Bryan House library features
books from the IU Press. |
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| Bryan House |
“When Dr. Herbert first accepted the position at IU, people started
talking to me about Indiana artists. I had no idea what that meant
until I stepped into this house,” said Karen Herbert during an informal
tour of the first floor of Bryan House in Bloomington.
A magnificent T.C. Steele landscape on the wall behind her underscored the meaning of her statement. Herbert, who has a special fondness for Hoosier Salon artists, asked to cover personally the costs of restoring one of her favorite paintings—a 1902 landscape by John Edward Bundy from the Dailey Family Memorial Collection. The Bundy painting now hangs in Bryan House, and Herbert professes admiration of the artist’s technique when discussing the work with visitors.
Another of Herbert’s choices for display in Bryan House is a floral still life by Pierre Daura, a 20th-century, Catalan-American artist. Herbert noted that the painting was donated to IU by the artist’s daughter, Martha, who was impressed that Catalan language and culture was taught at IUB’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese. “When we have functions here, people really admire the art. They don’t just look at it—they come and talk to me about it. So many people recognize a T.C. Steele. I know that if we move something, or put it into storage for conservation purposes, it would be noticed,” Herbert said.
The visual arts aren’t the only way the Herberts put their mark on the presidential residence. The reading room gets noticed by visitors almost as much as the paintings. When the Herberts moved to Bloomington, the president requested that the intimate wood-paneled library only feature IU Press books. The result is gratifying, said Karen Herbert. “Guests come in here and browse and usually come away wanting to get copies of some of the books for their own libraries. We think it’s a good way to promote IU’s wonderful press.”
When asked about the origins of her love of the arts, Herbert credits the influence of her childhood environs. “I grew up in the D.C. area, so the National Gallery and the Corcoran were my playground,” she said. “But I love living in this house—walking through the rooms and looking at the art and beautiful books. It’s like living in a museum.”
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