Regional Museums: Their Collections and Local History
By Bill Wittenbreer
Art museums, such as the Minnesota Museum of American Art (MMAA), that collect and display the artwork created by local and regional artists do more than tell the story of the region’s art. Often times, such museums may treat the work of art as a piece of the region’s history. Peter Lund’s Logged Over Hills, North Minnesota, is a case in point. When this happens, the collections of these museums provide an intimate insight into their area’s social, economic, and cultural conditions. The MMAA’s collection tells the story of our area versus that of museums with encyclopedic collections which contain centuries of art from around the world. Though valuable, in many ways, often times it is not the mission of larger collections to interpret the locale in which they are located.
The artwork in local museums, like all artwork, does not give the viewer the story of its origins easily, but it is possible to tease it out of the work. For example, Peter Lund’s painting, Logged Over Hills, North Minnesota (Logged Over), which is part of the Minnesota Museum of American Art’s collection, is arguably Minnesota’s first piece of artwork with a strong environmental message. It surfaced in the early 2000’s and was purchased by the museum. Its origins and history are starting to be pieced together by the museum’s staff.
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Logged Over is a very seductive painting. It has a tantalizing blue sky that immediately attracts the eye and, as you approach, sets up great expectations of a pleasurable visual experience. On closer inspection, this illusion is shattered. Under the blue sky, Lund has painted a logged-over river valley. The water in the river is severely discolored, suggesting that it is polluted. The hillside is nothing but mutilated stumps. Then, as the eye moves along the river, in the distance there is a smokestack belching out black smoke, indicating that the air is also poisoned. Did Lund intend to paint such a strong environmental statement?
We don’t know many of the details of Peter Lund’s life. In the words of one scholar, “Lund has for years been a mystery in Minnesota painting”. [1] He may have come from Denmark; he may have had formal training. He appeared in a Minneapolis City Directory only once, but he exhibited several times in Minneapolis throughout the 1880’s. Between 1890 and 1895, Lund’ name appears in the city directories of Duluth.[2] It is safe to assume that Lund moved to Duluth. What survive of his art work are primarily marine paintings of Lake Superior. The quality of these paintings suggests that Lund had formal training in marine art. Michael D. Smith’s webpage, The Paintings of Peter Lund features a few of Lund’s non-marine paintings.[3] Lund appears to have been quite proficient in the genre styles of the 19th century as well.
Where does Logged Over fit into Lund’s body of work? This question gets more intriguing the more one explores it. The Carlton County Historical Society in Cloquet, Minnesota, owns a much larger version of Logged Over than the one in the MMAA. The one in Cloquet is dated 1889, the MMAA’s is undated. There are also two other versions of this painting in private collections.[4] Why so many versions? Lund obviously had a message that he wanted to spread using the power of his art. In his marine paintings, Lund depicted the waves as very powerful forces of nature acting upon the ships. In Logged Over, the powerful force is not nature, but the human impact on the landscape.
In order to fully appreciate Lund’s Logged Over, it is important to take into account the historical context of the time. The late 19th century marked the beginnings of the conservation movement in the United States, led by Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot. The conservation movement fought to counteract the prevailing sentiment which is best described by Roosevelt, “A tree inspired but one thought and that was to cut it down.”[5] This movement took hold in Minnesota. In 1891, Itasca State Park was created and there was strong support for the establishment of a national forest in Minnesota. This ultimately happened in 1902, with the establishment of the Chippewa National Forest. Was Lund using the power of his art to further the cause of the conservationists? It appears so. Lund deviated from his usual marine and genre paintings to produce not one, but four versions of Logged Over. Obviously he put a lot of effort into making the painting’s message widely available.
Landscape painting in 19th-century America was used primarily to extol the virtues of American scenery, in particular of the Western United States. J.B. Jackson in his essay, “The Meaning of Landscape” traces the development of the concept of a landscape; by the 19th century, “Landscape was a spectacle, a moving pageant… Its chief function was to stimulate pleasant emotions. Americans could look at the paintings of their western lands and take great comfort and pride in the fact that they, as a nation, were truly blessed by the creator”. [6] Lund used all the techniques of 19th-century landscape painting and turned the message upside down! If a landscape is defined as an action /reaction between man and nature, Lund was clearly sending a different message than most landscape painters of his day. Lund was really challenging his viewers to think about the impact that humans were having on the landscape by creating an image of a scarred landscape rather than creating enjoyable view, as was the custom of the time.
Lund’s Logged Over uses the technical conventions of 19th-century landscape painting, but his message is clearly one that reflects a change in attitude towards the land that was occurring in Minnesota at the time he was painting. This is what differentiates this piece from his genre and Lake Superior paintings. These paintings reflect the Minnesota scene at that time; Logged Over marks a change in the Minnesota mindset.
The paradigm shift that Logged Over marks is the emergence of the idea that that Minnesota’s and the nation’s natural resources were not inexhaustible and the current methods of harvesting the nation’s natural resources were harmful. These resources, if they were to last, needed to be conserved managed carefully. The action/reaction between Minnesotans and their environment was changing. The national conservation movement was taking root in Minnesota and Logged Over is a visual testimony to this.
Peter Lund’s Logged Over is still powerful today and testimony to the importance of museums with regional collections, such as the Minnesota Museum of American Art. Such collections are dedicated to telling the story of the nation through a local lens. This perspective clearly gives Logged Over the deserved status as one of Minnesota’s first pieces of environmental art.
Bibliography
Coen, Rena Neumann and University of Minnesota. Painting and Sculpture in Minnesota, 1820-1914. Minneapolis: Published by the University of Minnesota Press for the University Gallery of the University of Minnesota, 1976.
Jackson, John Brinkerhoff. “The Meaning of Landscape.” Kulurgeograi 88, (1965): 47-47-50.
Michael D. Smith. “The Painting of Peter Lund.” http://peterflund.com/ (accessed (accessed Jan. 25, 2010), .
Michael Smith. . E-Mail, Edited by author.
Nelson, Marion J., Minnesota Historical Society, and Norwegian-American Historical Association. Painting by Minnesotans of Norwegian Background, 1870-1970. Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 2000.
Searle, Newell. “Minnesota National Forest: The Politics of Compromise, 1898-1908.” Minnesota History 42, no. Fall (1971): 243-243-257.
[1] Marion J. Nelson, Minnesota Historical Society and Norwegian-American Historical Association, Painting by Minnesotans of Norwegian Background, 1870-1970 (Northfield, Minn.: Norwegian-American Historical Association, 2000), 94.
[2] Rena Neumann Coen and University of Minnesota, Painting and Sculpture in Minnesota, 1820-1914 (Minneapolis: Published by the University of Minnesota Press for the University Gallery of the University of Minnesota, 1976), 146.; Michael D. Smith, “The Painting of Peter Lund,” http://peterflund.com/ (accessed Jan. 25, 2010).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Michael Smith, e-mail, October 6, 2009.
[5] Newell Searle, “Minnesota National Forest: The Politics of Compromise, 1898-1908,” Minnesota History 42,Fall (1971), 243.
[6] John Brinkerhoff Jackson, “The Meaning of Landscape,” Kulurgeograi 88 (1965), 47.
Image:
Peter Lund, Logged Over Hills, North Minnesota Hills, North Minnesota. Painted late 19th century. Minnesota Museum of American Art. Museum purchase in memory of our friend, Marion Nelson.
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