Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 20, 1993 TAG: 9301200332
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRIS GLADDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
THE GIFT OF ART
A CEO who played hardball, Ferrum College benefactor and art patron R. Stuart Moore "wasn't a businessman with blinders on."
R. Stuart Moore knew what he liked. He liked art and he liked Ferrum College.
So when Moore, who was 68, died of emphysema in October, the former president and chief executive of Lane Furniture Co. left Ferrum an estimated $10 million in assets to bolster its endowment. It's the largest gift in the four-year college's history, and it made local headlines.
But Moore also left the school his art collection, 117 paintings that Moore collected with increasing passion as he grew older. The collection is an eclectic assortment that ranges from the non-objective to the realistic.
The quality also varies, says art professor Jane Duncan Stogner who is nevertheless ecstatic over the acquisition. She intends to use the entire gift as a teaching collection.
"Some of the pieces are tourist art. We want to show students that there are different types of art," Stogner says. "This will give us an opportunity for a dialogue."
But as Moore increasingly dedicated himself to collecting, he refined his eye, Stogner says. And his growing wealth also enabled him to buy better pieces. In his later years, Moore became particularly interested in Western art. Consequently, some of the more impressive paintings are by Western artists.
"The best pieces were bought in the last four years," says Ferrum president Jerry Boone. "As he moved along financially, his tastes improved." A view of Yosemite National Park by California artist Dave DeMatteo recalls the meticulous detail of the 19th-century landscape artist Albert Bierdstadt.
"Time for a Drink" by Howard Rogers captures the action of cowboys at work.
And "Hopi View (Grand Canyon)" by Earl Carpenter is perhaps the centerpiece of the collection. A richly colored sunset vista, it captures the majesty and mystery of the Arizona natural wonder. It also reflects Moore's collecting philosophy as well.
Moore didn't just accumulate paintings, he bought them as reminders of the places he visited in his extensive travels. Wheelchair-bound toward the end of his life, Moore decided to make a special trip to Arizona specifically to buy a painting of the canyon. His health prevented him from the kind of gallery hopping that he once enjoyed. So friends scouted the galleries by phone and gathered slides. Finally, Moore made the trip and picked the Carpenter painting. He placed it in the middle of his sun room where he could sit for long periods of time and look at it.
"Almost all of the paintings had some special story or meaning," says Boone. "They were something that struck his fancy or were remembrances of a trip he was on."
Moore also supported regional artists. The collection of paintings includes works by Blacksburg artist Vance Miller, Roanoke area artists George Solonevich and Vera Dickerson and Lynchburg artist Kitty Gibson.
Stogner recalls that paintings were hung floor to ceiling in Moore's Altavista home. He also decorated his lake house with prints and paintings.
"He was a real patron of the arts," Stogner says. "He wasn't stuck with one style or period. I've learned to appreciate the man for his appreciation of art. If it appealed to him, he bought it. He didn't buy as an investment or to decorate but as a memory of a special trip."
The collection is still being appraised, but its value could be considerable.
Moore paid $8,500 for the Grand Canyon scene. A signed and limited Norman Rockwell print is Moore valued at $6,000. And a watercolor of a barn by popular North Carolina artist Bob Timberlake is worth several thousand dollars, says Boone.
Moore was a lifelong bachelor who played hardball in business. He came from a small West Virginia coal mining town, joined the service and earned an MBA from Harvard on the GI Bill. Moore worked his way up to the top job with Lane, one of the largest furniture companies in the world.
He received both his love of art and his interest in Ferrum from his mother. Some of her prints were still in his collection when Moore died. Ferrum began as a Methodist mission institute. Moore's mother was a devout Methodist who baked cakes and cookies to sell to raise money for scholarships to Ferrum.
Though Moore never attended Ferrum, he served on its board of directors and helped the school long before he left it practically his entire estate.
"He was very much business like," Boone remembers. "He helped us put together the most recent set of guidelines in managing the endowment. He was always interested in the business of the college, at the same time realizing it was an educational institute. He wasn't a businessman with blinders on."
When Boone first came to the college, Moore decided the president's house needed some refurbishing. He had the entertainment area furnished and decorated at his own expense.
Boone says he knew the college was getting the art collection but was surprised at the size of the rest of the bequest.
"He was very quiet in his deeds for others," Boone recalls.
THIRTY PAINTINGS from the bequest of R. Stuart Moore are on exhibit in Ferrum College's Stanley Gallery through Feb. 3. Gallery hours are from 1-3 Mondays through Fridays; Evening hours Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are from 6 to 9 p.m.
930120 CUTLINES STORY #23791 TOPIC WED KEYWORD1 DESK AUTHOR:ELLISON01/20/93 \ SUB SUB SUB SUB SUB SUB wed. extra front cutlines photo photo photo
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