The Barbara Burgess and John Dinkelspiel Collection of Southern Art

Acquired over more than a decade by Barbara Burgess and John Dinkelspiel, transplanted Bostonians who settled in the Lowcountry, this collection includes 21 works by Jonathan Green along with works by nearly a dozen other Southern artists. Among the more than 50 works in the collection are paintings, pastels, photographs, prints and lithographs, sculpture and collage. In 2009, the couple generously donated this entire collection to the Museum where it will remain an inspiration for activities aimed to enlighten and educate generations of art lovers and artists.

Collection Highlight

Jonathan Green | It’s Delovely | 1995 | acrylic on canvas | 7” x 5” | 2008 gift of Barbara Burgess and John Dinkelspiel

Did you know…?
This small painting is from South Carolina artist Jonathan Green’s The Entertainer series, which consists of 7” x 5” paintings. The series was inspired by the saying, “It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings.” In Green’s experience, all of the jazz singers he’d seen perform were big women. The title is derived from a popular Cole Porter song, which appeared in his 1936 musical Red Hot & Blue and the 1962 musical Anything Goes. The wonderful contrast of cool blues and greens with warm red tones suggest that Green had the musical Red Hot & Blue in mind when composing his palette. For the female figure, Green had in mind the legendary singer Mabel Mercer, an iconic singer in New York in the 40s and 50s. The cloud forms in the background give the singer a dream-like backdrop that gestures toward the dream-like quality of her voice. It is not often that we see facial features in Green’s figure paintings, so this depiction is quite unique in that regard.