Transformative Gift of Native American Masterworks Welcomed by Nelson-Atkins

Kansas City, MO. Nov 3, 2015

Joanne and Lee Lyon Collection brings Depth, Richness, Scholarship 

A singular and important gift of Native American art has been unanimously accepted into the collection of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City by its Board of Trustees. The collection of Joanne and Lee Lyon, acquired over decades, contains a number of masterworks, including a group of 14 Southeastern Woodlands and Delaware bandolier bags believed to be the largest such collection in the world.

“The tremendous generosity of Joanne and Lee Lyon represents a pivotal moment in the history of the Nelson-Atkins,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Nelson-Atkins. “These extraordinary objects give greater depth to our Native American collection, and position the museum as the center of research for any scholar studying Southeastern Woodlands art.”

Joanne and Lee Lyon, known in the collecting community for the superb quality of their collection as well as their perceptive judgement and expertise, were methodical in making decisions about where their collection would be gifted. The couple, formerly of Kansas City, lived for many years in Aspen, Colorado. Joanne died in May 2013.

“We selected the Nelson-Atkins because the museum presents the art of Native Americans as great art, not as artifacts,” said Lyon. “That was the deciding factor. In our view, no other museum presents American Indian art as well or as sensitively as the Nelson-Atkins.”

The gift consists of 37 historical objects from the Woodlands, Plains, Arctic, California and Southwest, including the group of extremely rare, early 19th century bandolier bags from the Southeast Woodlands and Delaware peoples.

“These bags are often cited as the most beautiful and inventive of all beaded works created in North America,” said Gaylord Torrence, Fred and Virginia Merrill Senior Curator of American Indian Art. “As a class, they are distinguished by elegant proportion and superb technical refinement. The complex designs are embroidered with the tiniest of glass beads, and yet they possess a sense of freedom and exuberance–in the finely drawn curvilinear motifs, in the tightly constructed progressions forming the compositions, and in the extensive range of colors.”

This gift adds to their 2012 contribution of eight extraordinary objects associated with Chief Moses, along with a number of other important American Indian works from the Plains and Woodlands and more than 20 pieces of Southwestern jewelry.

Moses (c. 1825-1899) was Chief of the Sinkinuse-Columbia, a division of the Interior Salish peoples who inhabited central Washington and Oregon. He was an influential leader, accomplished warrior and skilled negotiator. The Lyons’ gift included a historically important and strikingly beautiful 1865 war shirt that belonged to Chief Moses. A rare 1830 Seminole bandolier bag was also significant in that gift. The bag is recognized as one of the finest in existence.

With an eclectic taste and discerning eye for quality, Lyon has recently begun acquiring ancient manuscripts, and has gifted the Nelson-Atkins with the famous London Book of Gospels, a work which is internationally recognized as one of the greatest late Armenian illuminated manuscripts by Mesrop of Xizan, the most important Armenian painter of the seventeenth century. The bold and colorful illustrations demonstrate the vibrant and highly inventive nature of late Armenian painting. The London Book of Gospels is richly illustrated, allowing for larger or more frequent display of the book and its folios. With over 40 full-page paintings, 23 of which are mounted separately and ready for display, the wealth of imagery present in this one acquisition enables the Nelson-Atkins to exhibit its paintings with much greater frequency.

After moving to Aspen, Colorado in 1978, Lee Lyon, a Kansas City native, Air Force pilot during World War II, Harvard graduate, successful business man, inventor securing numerous patents and accomplished ceramicist, studied with Dale Chihuly at the Pilchuck Glass School in Washington state and worked with hot glass to create unique cast pieces for use as architectural elements. Lyon’s young apprentice, fellow-artist Jacqueline Spiro, became his partner, and for the past 23 years, they have collaborated through the company Spiro now owns, Spiro Lyon Glass in Carbondale, Colorado.

When the Lyon’s son, artist Mike Lyon, and daughter, Pat Brown, were growing-up in Kansas City, Joanne Lyon, a Denver, Colorado native, studied with Wilbur Niewald and Dale Eldred at the Kansas City Art Institute and for nine years was development director for Kansas City Public Television. Returning to Colorado, she partnered in what would become the Joanne Lyon Gallery, featuring internationally recognized artists, both Native and non-Native. She also volunteered as a U. S. Forest Ranger, walking the Maroon Bells trails in the White River National Forest near Aspen.

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art 

The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access and insight into its renowned collection of more than 35,000 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the region. The institution-wide transformation of the Nelson-Atkins has included the 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building expansion and renovation of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.

The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org/.