In the history of the human race has there ever been an individual who has not drawn some simulate of a head or a face? From the Neolithic Plastered Skull found in Jericho, Jordan to a child’s earliest markings in the 21st Century it is the face that captures the attention as we try to make sense of our world. HEADS, FACES, AND SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER draws on this fascination of the human heart and mind.
From noted artists such as Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Otto Dix, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Paul Wunderlich, Bernard Buffet, Georges Rouault, Eric Gill, Giovanni Castiglione, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Werner Drewes, and Leonard Baskin to self-taught artists such as Elder Anderson Johnson and Rodney Charles Hardee to anonymous African artists from Ife, Nigeria and the Dan Peoples with many known and lesser-known artists of high quality in between, this exhibition offers a thoughtful and enjoyable glance at the mystery of the human face.
It is hoped that in these forty-some-odd works, differing in conceptions, styles and media, the viewer will find not only something that will arrest their attention aesthetically but also will intrigue them emotionally and intellectually. Furthermore, we dare hold the aspiration that after seeing HEADS, FACES, AND SPIRITUAL ENCOUNTER the viewer will never again take the faces of family, friends and those around them for granted.
4-WEEK MEMBER RENTAL FEE
$1350 $1150 + SHIPPING*
*CIVA member organizations and institutions receive a $200 discount on exhibition rental fees.
Traveling Schedule
| Dates | Location |
| 2021 | |
| November 4-6, 2021 | St. David’s Episcopal Church 301 E 8th St Austin, TX 78701 512.610.3500 |
| 2022 | |
| November 15, 2021 – March 15, 2022 | Dordt University 700 7th St NE Sioux Center, IA 51250 712.722.6374 |
| March 24 – April 28, 2022 | Village Presbyterian Church 6641 Mission Rd. Prairie Village, KS 66208 913.262.4200 Contact: Kim Higgins |
| September 1 – 30, 2022 | St. Thomas Episcopal Church 1200 Snell Isle Blvd. St. Petersburg, FL 33704 727.896.9641 Contact: Gina White |
| December 1, 2022 – January 2, 2023 | Intersect Arts Center 3636 Texas Ave. St. Louis, MO 63118 573.575.6485 |
| 2023 | |
| February 27 – April 10, 2023 | First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama 600 Governor’s Drive SW Huntsville, Alabama 256.759.6765 Contact: Debbie Bell |
| April 23 – June 18, 2023 | The Kairos Gallery at St. Andrews 440 Whilden St. Mt. Pleasent, NC 29464 843.284.4348 Contact: Dwight Huthwaite |
| September 23 – October 6, 2023 | Trinity Christian Academy – Trinity Art Gallery 17007 Addison Road Addison, TX 75001 972.931.8325 Contact: Frances Allen |
Gallery
About the Collectors
CIVA: How did the Edward and Diane Knippers’ Collection begin?
Edward Kippers: Early in our marriage Diane and I were excited to collect whatever our meager resources could afford. Folk and naïve art, often from the makers themselves, proved to be within our reach. Howard Finster, Clementine Hunter, Chief Wiley, Edgar Tolson, and others were a delight to meet and a joy to collect. Trading my art for that of other artists also allowed us to have the works of friends whose art we admired.
CIVA: Did you find yourself focusing on any particular style or period of art?
EK: With God’s grace, collecting opportunities continued to come our way and a body of work began to form around our Faith, included historic and twentieth-century pieces esthetically related to my work in the studio. The German Expressionist and Georges Rouault were favorites and there were many others.
CIVA: Any artists that you were particularly attracted to?
EK: Diane said that, when possible, I could always buy Oskar Kokoschka. She also liked Rodo Boulanger and Marino Marini. In addition, we tried to collect the work of my teachers: Zao Wou-ki, Otto Eglau, S. W. Hayter, Walter Stevens, and others of the Knoxville Seven. It is in this way, The Edward and Diane Knippers’ Collection of Fine Art came to be.
CIVA: What is your philosophy regarding collecting art?
EK: There is a myriad of other more extensive and much more important collections than ours but that in no way diminishes the joy that we have had in creating this collection which has been a special gift from our Lord. Over the years it has become clear that one should not collect art in order to amass possessions. Collecting art is an act beyond ownership. It is an act of preservation because you want to protect an object of art from the forces that might destroy it because you believe that humanity will be better off having the object, than not. It is an act of faith because you believe that in the future there will be those, like you, who will be enriched by the object’s presence and will also find it worth protecting.
CIVA: Art collecting has sometimes been viewed as a privilege reserved for the wealthy and powerful to exhibit one’s status. But that is far from who you are and your intent. How do you understand the act of collecting?
EK: Collecting art is an exercise of love. First, the love of our human nature and its expression in objects that reflect the poetry of our world. Then there is also a love of history as we collect the artifacts produced in different times and in different places that encapsulate the thoughts and ideas of our ancestors that we can then contemplate in our day-to-day lives. In this way, an art collection in our home adds a depth of flavor, a richness, to our environment and therefore a richness to our time here on earth.
CIVA: How has your Christian faith influenced your collecting?
EK: For the Christian who collects art there is an added imperative. It is that in art we can at times intuit a reflection of God as we look upon the results of the creativity of the artist. After all, it is He who has made us creators in His Image, and therefore the imagination of the human mind and heart in the service of good must bring Him joy.
CIVA: How do you see art augmenting our spiritual life as humans created to serve God?
EK: The gift of art for us is that we have been given the ability to enter into a bit of His joy and in doing so we