The College Hispanic American Students (CHAS) organization, in conjunction with Meadows Museum, held a student reception yesterday evening to welcome the exhibition “From Cranach to Monet: Highlights of the Perez Simon Collection.” The reception, held partly in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, consisted of a private viewing of the collection and was open to all SMU students.
“We held this reception to enable students to get a sneak peek at this amazing collection and in celebration of our month of Hispanic heritage,” said CHAS member Elizabeth Rubalcava.
The Perez Simon Collection, which will be open to the public today, consists of 57 paintings from Simon’s collection of fine art. The collection represents artists from Italian, Dutch, German, Flemish, Spanish, English and French schools. The Meadows Museum will be the first and only U.S. venue where this one-of-a-kind private collection can be seen.
SMU student Jamie Siegle said, “It is really cool that this is such a private collection. No one else in the U.S. will … view these spectacular paintings unless they travel to SMU.”
She added that, “SMU is so privileged to be given the opportunity to have such a collection on campus.”
The collection covers six centuries ranging from the Renaissance era to Impressionism and features masterpieces by some of the most respected painters in history. The artists include Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, Goya, Rubens and Canaletto.
“The best thing is this is such a top-quality collection and it’s encyclopedic,” said Meadows Museum graduate assistant Betsy Mahoney.
“It is nice for Meadows to have a relationship with Juan Antonio Perez Simon, and for him to share his collection with us is an honor,” she added.
Juan Antonio Perez Simon and his wife Josefina, both Spanish-born and now residing in Mexico, have collected more than 1,000 objects of fine art throughout the past two decades. The paintings not only reflect a broad span of art history, but also Simon’s personal taste and broad vision. Painted on the wall by the exhibit is a quotation from Simon himself: “The works that I acquire represent my personality and I want them to be an extension of myself as well as to have artistic quality.”
Student Jennifer Shad enjoyed the opening.
“It is a beautiful collection,” she said. “I am not well versed in art, but seeing such amazing paintings from renowned artists is a once in a lifetime experience.”
Shad said she was most impressed by Van Gogh’s “The Pink Laurels,” which was one of nine watercolors he painted in his life. The collection will be available for viewing today through Dec. 31.
