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Show Sanguinetti Is Architect of Artistic Gem Continued from D-1 Saturday. "It never would have happened without Frank," says Norma Stromberg, chairwoman of the museum's advisory board. "It's been the culmination of his life." When Sanguinetti arrived 34 years ago from his native Arizona, the UMFA's entire collection - all 800 pieces of it occupied the third floor of the University of Utah's Park Building. Sanguinetti was unimpressed. He figured he would spend a few years in Salt Lake City, then seek a better job elsewhere. The businessman-turnedart scholar steered the UMFA into its own building in 1970 and began bolstering its modest holdings. Deciding the museum should collect art from across the centuries and all over the world, Sanguinetti sought out Greek antiquities, Chinese vases, African sculptures, Renaissance paintings and 20th-century American art. He coaxed major donations from Utah arts patrons, most notably $5 million worth of European masterpieces from Ogden gun magnate Val A. Browning. Under Sanguinetti, the UMFA became the first university art museum in the Western United States to receive accreditation from the American Museum Association. Today the UMFA boasts more than 17,000 pieces in a collection worth about $24 million. And Sanguinetti recalls each one of them. "The amazing thing about Frank is that he remembers every single detail," says Stromberg. "He can tell you when each piece was acquired, how much he paid for it and the background of the artist." Sanguinetti is fond of all his acquisitions, but for the first time, he has allowed himself to embrace a favorite: "Elegant Couples Dancing in a Land- , scape," a 16th-century oil by Flemish painter Ambrosius 1 Benson. The painting hangs ' upstairs in the new museum. "I'd always shied away from naming a favorite. It's like saying who is your favorite child," he says. But he's retiring soon, so why not? "The painting expresses so much about humans and their interactions." His move to the new building complete, Sanguinetti will step down as UMFA director sometime in the next 12 -J months. The demands of opening the new museum installing the art, giving tours, scheduling events have left him exhausted and elated. In the meantime, he will continue a pleasing ritual he has enjoyed since moving his office into the new UMFA this spring: Twice each day when he arrives, and again before he leaves - he strolls alone through the galleries, gazing at the artwork. A proud father in his glorious new home, admiring his children. "I am filled with love," he says, not without emotion. "This is the end of my career. I've absolutely no regrets about anything." ''The Monumental Head of Pierre de Wiessant" is one of 62 Rodin sculptures on show at the new Utah Museum of Fine Arts. |
