When it comes to fine art, Brookfield is no cultural wasteland. Many homes contain original works by both local artists and internationally known artists.
But where in public view can art be seen and appreciated by residents and visitors? Edouard Chassaing’s “Means of Air Mail Transportation” sculpture has been hanging in the Brookfield Post Office since 1937, and is well known to anyone waiting in line for postal service. It is probably the best known piece of artwork in the village.
More modern examples of art do exist at various sites for public inspection. Many have never heard of the Lens Gallery, at 3739 Grand Blvd. This was a good idea that never fully formed, and the shop never really had an opening.
Yet, even now, in the front window of this old bakery building, are some fine examples of black-and-white photography, professionally mounted and framed. The window dressing surrounding the photographs is a tasteful arrangement, executed in a classical style.
In the front window of the Zoo City Frame Up, located in what was the old Chamber of Commerce building at 3724 Grand Blvd. are further examples of both modern and antique photographic art.
Among the contemporary floral pictorials in black-and-white and color, are four enlarged scenes from old Brookfield postcards. These show old sections of the village as they existed around a century ago. Want to see how Maple Avenue looked north of Eight Corners back before the 1920s? How about looking down Grand Boulevard from around 1910?
Are these scenes art or not? What changes a photo postcard into art? At any rate, these scenes have been framed and mounted and would enhance any living room. Or even a history museum.
One would almost expect to find artwork in the Brookfield Public Library, at 3609 Grand Blvd., and one is not disappointed. However, one might have to descend into the depths of the library to find the truly interesting works.
In the basement along the corridor is a hand-colored print of the first Brookfield Library building, in existence from 1913-85. This work is from one of many pen and ink drawings created by Brookfield’s own past master artist, Esther Cervak, who exhibited her works for many years at Julia Cihlar’s annual art fairs along Broadway Avenue.
On the library’s main floor is a print of “The Storm of Battle: HMS Victory at Trafalgar, 1805,” originally painted in oils by the famous LaGrange artist, Charles Vickery. This print was presented to the library in 1987 by the Brookfield Women’s Club.
Perhaps one would not expect to find art upon the walls of a grocery store. However, it is a fact that at Tischler’s Finer Foods, at 9118 Broadway Ave., a mural catches the eyes and simply won’t let go until one has taken in all of its colorful expanse.
At the rear section of the store, along the back of the meat market counter, is the widest piece of art in all of Brookfield.
Created by Natalie Whalen in early 2006, this artwork depicts a meat market backroom, as if seen through large glass windows. No novice to painting murals, Whalen, who lives on the Chicago’s Northwest Side, revealed some of the methods and problems she faced when creating the mural.
“The mural took awhile, broken up in time, and was completed in a few months, in March 2006. I used a foam stencil to make the ivy and leaves, to make it look a little more interesting. My scaffold got hit with shopping carts a lot, and people talked to me and asked me where products for sale were. I was practically like a greeter.”
She also illustrated the square posts nearby. Green, leafy vines wind their way up to the ceiling, among the odd bricks painted here and there.
While the First National Bank of Brookfield does not exactly function as an art gallery, it has evolved over the years into something like one. This will come as no surprise to the many bank customers, but even casual visitors over the years have viewed the selection of paintings and prints of animals on the walls.
Mark King’s impressionistic work is the most exhibited, and here are his oils and prints of many animals, such as a single lion’s head, using small splashes of color to create the face. Look for his illustrations of snow leopards, zebras, elephants and lions-many lions.
King was born in Bombay, India in 1931, and graduated from La Martiniere College in Calcutta, where he studied art and botany. Going to England, he attended the Bournemouth College of Art, and later moved to Paris to study at the Ecole and the Louvre. His interest in depicting animal life was a result of his upbringing in India. Truly, King is a most important impressionist of international stature.
Look for “Tigre,” another creation of King’s. Peggy Schultz, a director of the First National Bank of Brookfield, was most enthusiastic about this piece.
“So many of our customers walk in from Broadway, and they see this,” she said. “It’s just a nice, striking piece, and I like the way the oils are sort of piled on each other.”
There’s even a delicate trace of white whiskers on the tiger, too.
However, animals are not the only works of art to adorn the walls. There is a painting of Eight Corners, looking east towards the old First National Bank building, fountain and Leo’s Liquors. Even the old Jewel store sign can be seen in the distance. This watercolor was painted on site around 1990 by Richard Alan Nichols, of Addison.
Born in 1963 in Chicago, Nichols, a traditional impressionist, studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. He holds degrees in fine art, and also commercial art. Each of his works strives, in his words, to be “a visual poem.”
Nichols also did watercolors of animals in their settings at the Brookfield Zoo. In one of the bank’s offices is a watercolor scene of the interior of the old Seven Seas Panorama building, with several dolphins leaping up out of the water toward hoops as a crowd watches the show. One can tell what happens next to the people in the front rows. They get wet from the splashes.
Another of his bright zoo watercolors is of two children next to a fence, watching two giraffes, who are stretching their necks over towards them. The small boy is on the fence, almost looking as if he wants to pet a giraffe, while his older sister stands in back of him, not so sure that she wants to get so up close and personal.
A real favorite of bank customers and art lovers is a photo by Randy Napier, from Grafton, N.D. Napier, a wildlife photographer, shot this print, titled “Another Day on the River.”
It was taken in a forest of southwestern Alaska during the salmon run on the Brook River. The female bear shown here was feeding on salmon as she walked up a stream. The morning light glistens on the tall grasses and backlights the bear’s body.
Thus, it seems quite obvious that, at least in Brookfield, one never knows where one is going to find art, whether it be in a store window, supermarket or even a bank.
