Vincent Melzac

Vincent Melzac (1914–1989) was an American business executive and art collector, best known as one of the earliest and most daring collectors of paintings of the Washington Color School. Melzac, often described as a larger than life figure, was briefly chief executive officer of the Corcoran Gallery of Art. His legacy, the Vincent Melzac Collection[1] has been broken up, but significant parts remain at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.

By training an educator, Melzac was short of stature, but not boldness, a characteristic reflected both in his business affairs and his art collection. His fortune came from a chain of beauty salons, and he owned a catfish farm in West Virginia. He had a reputation for demanding a hard bargain from painters who needed his money, and it was rumored that his businesses were under investigation for false advertising.[2]

coverage in Washington Star-News, November 30, 1972

As CEO of the Corcoran (serving concurrently with director Gene Baro in an awkward administrative structure), Melzac was a blunt and tough-minded cost-cutter.[3] On November 3, 1972, at a black tie reception celebrating the opening of a major Sam Francis exhibition, Melzac and Baro came to blows. As recalled by Roy Slade (who succeeded Baro as Corcoran director),

“ Melzac seemed upset that people were not paying attention to his wife, busty and blonde, in a glittering silver dress. At the bottom of the grand staircase I was talking to Dom Bonham and a few friends. I looked behind me to see Gene Baro, blood streaming from his eye on to his white tuxedo shirt. Melzac was storming off with his wife. Gene stammered, “I think Melzac has gone to get a gun. I am going to lock myself in my office”. I realized that with this altercation, I was basically now in charge, as I was the senior administrator left in the gallery.[2] ”

Unfortunately for Melzac, a photograph of Baro's blood-streaming face was published in the New York Times and in Newsweek.[4] Slade recounted, "The photograph of the bloody director was stark evidence that not all was well at the Corcoran."[5] Both Melzac and Baro were dismissed by the Corcoran's board on November 30, 1972.

Melzac later became known as a breeder of Arabian race horses. His art collection was for a time loaned to the Central Intelligence Agency, and he received the CIA's Agency Seal Medallion from Director William Casey in 1982. He died October 11, 1989, in Washington, D.C.[3]

References

  1. ↑ The Vincent Melzac Collection, Forward by Walter Hopps, Introduction by Ellen Gross Landau, Retrospective Notes on the Washington Color School by Barbara Rose, Copyright 1971 The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.: printed by Garamond/Pridemark Press, Baltimore, MD LCCC#75-153646
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Roy Slade (2008) "Fisticuffs", Roy Slade's Artworld
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Ex-Corcoran Gallery Chief Vincent Melzac Dies at 75", The Washington Post, October 13, 1989
  4. ↑ "Corcoran in Crisis," Newsweek (February 26, 1973)
  5. ↑ Roy Slade, "Lecture at the Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL", February 25, 2007