The Collectors:
featuring materials from the Luther College Collections
April 1 - August 25, 2005
Preus Library, Koren, Olin Buildings
Mijau-Mijau (? - 1976)
"Turtle"
Other (Natural Pigments), ca. 1950-1970
LFAC # 2004:06:04
The various collections at Luther College have been enriched over the years
by the activities and donations of several collectors. Objects from the
Fine Arts, Anthropology/Ethnographic, and Geology Collections are
represented in this exhibit. Knowing something of the history of
individual collectors and their relationship to Luther College can enhance
our understanding and appreciation for exhibited materials. Images on this
page feature recent donations from Jutta Fischer (Herrmann) Anderson.
Information on other collectors can be found within the exhibit.
Jutta Anderson was born in Krefeld, Germany and in 1968 emigrated to the
United States, where she became a citizen in 1973. She holds a master's
degree in art history and art education from Johannes Gutenberg
Universitat, Mainz, Germany, and has done post-graduate and graduate study
in the areas of psychology, theology, and art history. In 1994 she was
assistant professor of 20th century art history at Luther College. From
January 1982-October 1995 she was First Lady of Luther College while the
Rev. H. George Anderson served as President.
Jutta's art-related activities have been extensive. She has made numerous
presentations at workshops, classrooms, conferences and retreats, and
assisted in writing two books and numerous journal articles with her late
husband, Rolf-Dieter Herrman. In 1986-89 she chaired the Gerhard Marcks
Centenary Committee at Luther College, and in 1991 became a member on the
Board of Directors for the Iowa Arts Council, chairing that group's Artist
Project Advisory Panel in 1993. She is a member of the advisory board for
Christianity and the Arts, served as assistant editor for an issue that
focused on "Arts and the Lutheran Tradition," and also wrote a quarterly
column titled "Things Visible and Invisible." She is a charter member on
the international Advisory Board for Finlandia University, and a member of
the advisory committee for The ELCA Art Collection in Chicago.
Gerhard Marcks (1889-1981)
"Orpheus in the Underworld (Orpheus in der Unterwelt)"
Woodcut, n.d.
LFAC # 2004:07:06
In 1974 Rolf-Dieter Herrmann served a fellowship at the Australian National
University in Canberra, accompanied by his wife, Jutta, and their two small
children, Lars and Niels. While there, Jutta became very interested in the
Aboriginal objects that adorned a friend's home. Galleries in Sydney and
Melbourne, as well as the Institute for Aboriginal Studies in Canberra,
opened doors to collectors who were willing, in Jutta's words, "to entrust
some of their treasures into our hands. I believe their hope was that this
sacred art would speak for itself in its new American environment and add a
missing dimension. Over the years the continued presence of these
artifacts in my various homes (including the President's House on the
Luther College campus) served as a reminder of that power that art has to
teach us about worlds yet unfathomed."
In 2004, Jutta donated her Australian Aborignal objects to Luther College,
in the hope "that this collection may have a similar effect on this school
that is predominantly shaped by its European tradition and that it may
instill in its students the desire to explore and value otherness." That
gift was designated as the Lars Gunnar and Niels Holger (Hermann) Anderson
Collection at Luther College. She also donated ten original woodcuts which
together formed the Orpheus Portfolio by the artist Gerhard Marcks. The
portfolio had previously been given to her late husband as a gift from his
father, and is now designated as The Rolf-Dieter Herrmann Collection at
Luther College.
