Flock to New Exhibition

Ducks in Springtime

As a teenager, KSU alumnus Russell Clayton had a very interesting pen pal, Robert Woodruff, chairman of the Coca-Cola Company. Through his long acquaintance with Woodruff, Clayton was introduced to Woodruff's favorite artist, Athos Menaboni. Clayton was intrigued by Menaboni's work, and cultivated a relationship with the artist, and his wife and sister.

Clayton began collecting his artwork. Even after becoming a high school teacher in Marietta, Clayton continued to add to his collection, which now includes 34 original paintings, and hundreds of prints and other items (books, china plates, magazine covers, etc.) associated with the artist. It is perhaps the single largest private collection of Menaboni assembled anywhere. On April 14, this impressive collection will go on view to the public for the first time.

“The Collector’s Vision: Works by Athos Menaboni from the Collection of Russell Clayton” will be on exhibition in the Fine Arts Gallery at Kennesaw State, April 14-May 12. The show offers a comprehensive retrospective of Menaboni’s career, which spanned the decades from the 1920s through his death in 1990.

Born in Italy, Menaboni emigrated to Atlanta where he recieved many private commissions from the city’s most prominent families, including the Woodruffs, Havertys and Callaways. He painted murals in the Swan House and restored the sky portion of the Civil War painting at the Cyclorama. He is perhaps best known, however, for his magnificent renderings of birds, which earned him a reputation as the 20th-century Audubon. His bird illustrations appeared in many magazines and World Book Encyclopedia. He created the image of Georgia’s state bird and flower–the brown thrasher and Cherokee rose–that can be seen in every public school in the state.

Menaboni also painted many landscapes and watercolors, often recapturing the beauty of his native Italy. “The viewer is fortunate to be able to experience a broad range of Menaboni’s styles and subjects from soft impressionistic landscapes to detailed bird studies,” according to KSU Curator Suzanne Talbott, who worked directly with Clayton to assemble this exhibition.

Clayton, whose collection of official White House Christmas cards and Menaboni-created Christmas cards were displayed at Kennesaw State in December 2004, is pleased to share Menaboni’s work with the community and the university. In fact, he has pledged to donate both his White House papers and memorabilia collection and his Menaboni collection to the university. This promise enabled the KSU College of the Arts to secure a $1 million pledge from the Robert Woodruff Foundation to build a Menaboni gallery in the university’s proposed art museum.

“Athos and Sara Menaboni have made a lasting and profound impact on my life,” Clayton said. “The Menabonis were lifelong learners, and shared their knowleged and varied interests with their many devoted friends who will always remember them with deep admiration and affection.”

Clayton will share his insights at a gallery talk during the exhibition’s opening reception, which is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. on April 14. He will speak at 8 p.m. The reception and the exhibition are free and open to the public. For more information, call 770-499-3223.