CHICAGO—For the third year in a row, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) Literary Lions Luncheon brought together a who’s who of the Chicago art world. Held on October 7 at the elegant Gold Coast club The Casino, the event attracted influential art collectors like Gilda Buchbinder and Ellen Sandor as well as museum directors, Douglas Druick (Art Institute of Chicago) and Anthony Hirschel (Smart Museum of Art). The guest speaker was Jerry Saltz, SAIC faculty member and senior art critic for New York magazine, who enthralled the audience of cultural dignitaries with his slightly irreverent and always insightful remarks.
The Literary Lions Luncheon featured the announcement of the Jean Goldman Book Prize, awarded annually for outstanding publication by an SAIC faculty member. The submitted books were evaluated by a distinguished jury of individuals from leading cultural institutions, including Gloria Groom, the Art Institute of Chicago’s David and Mary Winton Green Curator and Chair of the European Painting and Sculpture Department; Sarah Guernsey, Executive Director of Publications at the Art Institute of Chicago; Lisa Meyerowitz, Editor in Chief at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and James Panero, Executive Editor of the New Criterion.
The 2015 Jean Goldman Book Prize was given to David Getsy for his book, Scott Burton: Collected Writings on Art and Performance, 1965–1975. Getsy’s important and profound publication offers a vivid characterization of Burton’s writing and art—identifying time- and process-based art as reactions to minimalism and addressing the inherent connections between conceptual performance art, sculpture, and theater.
This year’s event also featured a special Lifetime Achievement Award, given to acclaimed art historian and art critic James Elkins.
Both awards were presented by Douglas Druick and Walter Massey, President of SAIC. Commencing the program, Massey remarked, “Today would not be possible without the vision of Art Institute of Chicago Life Trustee Dr. Jean Goldman. An art historian, author, scholar and former instructor at the school for 20 years, Jean recognizes the importance of the contributions SAIC faculty members make to arts literature, research and scholarship.”
Net proceeds from the Literary Lions Luncheon support SAIC’s Literary Lions Endowment Fund, established to provide institutional grants for SAIC faculty research.
About Jean Goldman
Dr. Goldman, a philanthropist as well as a former faculty member at SAIC, is a noted art historian with a specialty in Old Master drawings. She has published on the topic of 16th- and 17th-century Italian drawings, a cornerstone of the Goldmans’ personal collection. She has lectured at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and SAIC. Her deep commitment to the arts in Chicago is further evidenced by her numerous leadership roles at the Art Institute of Chicago, including the Board of Trustees and the Woman’s Board. She is an honorary lifetime member of the museum’s Old Masters Society and also sits on the advisory committees to Prints and Drawings and European Painting.
About David Getsy
David Getsy is SAIC’s Goldabelle McComb Finn Distinguished Professor of Art History and Interim Dean of Graduate Studies. He received his BA degree with highest honors from Oberlin College and his PhD in 2002 from Northwestern University. Among his numerous awards are two Mellon Fellowships, the Getty Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, and a Kress Foundation Fellowship.
About James Elkins
James Elkins is an art historian, art critic and SAIC’s Emily Crane Chadbourne Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism. Elkins has authored 25 books, covering the history and theory of images in art, science and nature as well as representations of the body and the relation of studio art practice and art history.
About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago
For 150 years, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) has been a leader in educating the world’s most influential artists, designers, and scholars. Located in downtown Chicago with a fine arts graduate program ranked number two by U.S. News and World Report, SAIC provides an interdisciplinary approach to art and design as well as world-class resources, including the Art Institute of Chicago museum, on-campus galleries, and state-of-the-art facilities. SAIC’s undergraduate, graduate, and post-baccalaureate students have the freedom to take risks and create the bold ideas that transform Chicago and the world—as seen through notable alumni and faculty such as Michelle Grabner, David Sedaris, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Hunt, Georgia O’Keeffe, Cynthia Rowley, Nick Cave, and LeRoy Neiman. Learn more at saic.edu.
The 2015 Literary Lions Luncheon. From left to right: Douglas Druick, James Elkins, Jerry Saltz, Jean Goldman, David Getsy, Walter Massey, Elissa Tenny, Steven Goldman
