2002 - Exeter College - University of Oxford

The JCR has, over the years, amassed a truly impressive collection of twentieth century art. Peter
Davis (1999, Music) describes his tenure as JCR Arts Officer and his response to the embarrassment of riches
under his care
From Piper to Parker
The JCR Art collection
From its inception over thirty-five years ago,
the JCR Art Collection was intended to
provide a body of contemporary art from
which undergraduates could borrow works to
display in their rooms. So what happens when
the collection contains a few pieces of art that
have risen considerably in value, pieces that
cannot be insured to be looked after by one
student, and are in urgent need of restoration?
This was the situation
that the Arts Committee
found themselves in
during the Michaelmas
term 2001.
The astute buying
of the Arts Committee as
it existed in the 1960s had
left the current Arts Committee
in a comfortable
position. Yet the possession
of some works by
highly reputable modern
artists also brought problems
along with it. Eventually
the JCR collectively
decided to sell some of
the pieces from the collection,
and then to invest
over half the money from
this sale into contemporary
works. The remainder
has gone into the
Michael Cohen Trust in
the hope that a book grant
scheme for future generations
of Exonians might
result.
While retaining some important works in
the collection, the arts committee could increase
the scope of the collection by having less money
tied up in individual works. An intense period of
buying, together with a worried looking JCR treasurer,
occupied the next few months. Acquisitions
included works on canvas by Suan Evans, Thomas
Beck and Andrew Clocker, lithographs by
Ralph Gibson and Ed Ruscha, and photographs
by Turner Prize nominee Cornelia Parker. The
committee supported the Ruskin School of Art
by purchasing etchings by student Rosie Wellesley.
However, more notably, after purchasing William
Kentridge’s series of mixed media etchings Zeno
at 4am, it was realised that William was the son of
Hon. Sydney Kentridge QC, former Exonian and
honorary fellow of the College. Through new additions
to the collection, the JCR forged links with
Old Members.
The Arts Committee also took this opportunity
to commission new works. In the 1960s,
the committee had commissioned John Minton’s
Fishermen and John Piper’s
Exeter College Chapel (left);
mirroring this, the 2001
Arts Committee commissioned
the works by Thomas
Beck and Andrew
Crocker, together with
Portrait of Oxford by Daniel
Misser, recently completed,
and soon to be
presented to Exeter.
With all of these
new pieces, it was fitting
to organize an exhibition.
In March 2001 the Arts
Committee displayed the
show From Piper to Parker,
a retrospective of JCR art
from modern to contemporary.
Held in Magdalen
Auditorium against a
backdrop of John Piper
tapestries, we exhibited
modern works by John
Piper, R. B. Kitaj and
David Hockney, juxtaposed
with contemporary
works by Cornelia Parker, Ed Ruscha and William
Kentridge. We hope that Old Members might be
able to support shows at Exeter in the future; perhaps
an exhibition space at the college could be
funded by a generous benefactor!
Over the past year, the Exeter College Arts
Committee has used the legacy of the existing art
collection to add a contemporary edge to the collection,
hopefully establishing a corpus of works
that will be used by future Arts Committees. But
most importantly, the committee has opened up a
larger amount of works to a greater number of
people.
22 EXON - Autumn 2002