This is the first in a monthly series of ARTicles featuring the newly restored paintings on display at the freshly renovated Marshalltown Arts & Civic Center (MACC).

In 1958, Bill and Dorothy Fisher gifted Marshalltown the most extraordinary legacy; a stunning mid-century modern community center and a world class art collection highlighting the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In addition to the Impressionist movement, the collection features styles including Realism, Pointillism, Fauvism, and more.

After 55 years, the community center and art collection were both in need of restoration. In 2017, the process began with the full support of the Fisher Family and the governing body, the Fisher Governor Foundation. Committees were formed to write grants, digitize records, reach out to organizations and individuals for funding, and hire technical experts and consultants.

An on-site evaluation of the collection was completed the day before the EF3 tornado devastated the north side of Marshalltown and the appraisal of the collection was completed in 2018. A total of 44 artworks, (paintings and sculptures), were chosen for restoration.

In July 2020, the Chicago Conservation Center retrieved the identified works. The very next month, the community center, and much of Marshalltown, was decimated by a derecho. Restoration of the art was completed in 2021, and the Fisher Art Museum opened in September 2022.

Currently on display are approximately half of the paintings from the Fisher Art Collection. The others are resting in climate-controlled storage and will be on view in 2025 when the next exhibition is launched.

Today’s featured painting and artist are Les Elegantes, by Pierre Bonnard.

A French painter, illustrator and printmaker heavily influenced by Paul Gaugin and Japanese artists, Bonnard worked directly on rolled canvas, cutting only when complete, and thus his paintings were not confined by predetermined borders.

Educated at the renowned Julian Academy, he shared the passion of the Impressionists for a textured application of paint, but did not embrace the “vibrating atmospheres” of their work. Joining forces with fellow artists, Bonnard helped form The Nabi Group, (The Prophets), known for their use of flattened space, strong colors and bold forms.

Throughout his career, Bonnard’s favorite model was his beloved wife Mathilde. Upon her death in 1942, Bonnard wrote to his good friend Henri Matisse that painting had become merely “work of consolation.” He led a very solitary existence until his own passing in 1947.

Les Elegantes is an oil on canvas painting completed in 1908. It is an outdoor scene featuring a trio of stylishly dressed women and canine companions. With vivid colors, patterning and bold brushwork, it is representative of the work of The Nabis.

Bonnard wished to the touch the future, stating: ‘I hope that my paintings will hold up… I would like to land before the young people in the year 2000 with the wings of butterflies’. And so they have, and so he does.

Treat yourself to a visit to the MACC to experience firsthand the beauty that awaits. Call 641.758.3005 or visit www.maccia.org for more information.

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Nancy Adams is a member of the

Fisher Art Museum Committee.