|
 
When Arthur I. Appleton's children would spy an antique shop on family
vacations, they got scared. They would point out horses, or anything on the other
side of the road, to distract him.
"They thought I'd be there for hours," Appleton remembers.
But his love of art, not always appreciated by his children, has brought FSU
and Central Florida Community College the biggest gift they have ever received -
The Appleton Museum, valued at $42 million, in Ocala.
Appleton's philosophy on buying art is a simple one - he collects what he
likes.
The result is a range of art that reflects the eclecticism of the 81-year-old
Appleton.
From 19th century European paintings and sculptures - like Appleton's
favorite, the life-sized bronze, silver and gold bust of a Macedonian woman - to
antique trinkets found in knick-knack shops, Appleton's collection has as much
variety as he does.
He discovered his love of art at the age of eight when his parents, Swedish
immigrants who had settled in Chicago, took the family to Europe. His mother
instilled in Appleton an appreciation for rare objects, and his father gave him
good business sense.
Appleton was a recent graduate of Dartmouth when his father died and left
him the Appleton Electric Co. in Chicago. He ran it for 36 years, acquiring more
than 60 of his own patents and a 2,000-acre farm in Ocala, where thoroughbred
horses are trained.
As a young man, Appleton met his wife, Martha O'Driscoll, who was starting a
career as an actress in California.
After that first date, Appleton says, he told his best friend he would marry
her. But because he was shy, as he remembers it, he didn't even kiss her good
night. But shy is not a term Mrs. Appleton would use to describe her husband
today.
When they married, Mrs. Appleton left her acting career, disappointing Mr.
Appleton, in a sense.
"She was doing very well, and when I married her she quit," Appleton said. "I
was expecting a meal ticket."
"So 49 years later, we're still together," he said, sighing and rolling his
eyes in pretend regret. "But, no, I got a great girl. And I don't have to say
that, but she's some kind of girl."
She returns the compliment: "He is wonderful, every day."
They have four children together. And Appleton has two from his first
marriage. Of all of his accomplishments, Appleton said, he is proudest of his 10
grandchildren.
When he was 67, he retired and sold his business to the Emerson Electric Co.
for $168 million.
Tons of his art had been stored in company warehouses, and he says he needed
a place to put it. Because he wanted to keep it together, he built his own
museum, at a cost of $8 million in 1986.
Appleton picked Ocala -- although he also has homes in Chicago and Miami, and
spends more time in Miami -- because his horse farm is near Ocala, and the area
seemed to need a museum. In fact, the museum acquired 1,400 members -- a hefty
membership in the art world -- as soon as it opened.
A few years later, in 1991, when the museum was having financial trouble,
Appleton donated more money, including an endowment of more than $2.5 million,
and gave the museum to FSU and CFCC. (He offered it first to the University of
Florida, but the UF art school turned him down, creating an instant Seminole
fan.)
And FSU's art students are thriving on it.
They have access to an unusual diversity of art. It ranges from Pre-Columbian
American art to African sculptures, 19th century European paintings to Asian
pottery, Japanese tapestries to Mexican sculptures, and Victorian furniture.
The museum also reaches out to the non-academic public.
The new $4-million Edith-Marie Appleton wing, given by Appleton's sister
with a match from the state, contains classrooms, an art-history library and
space for rotating exhibitions. Students from kindergarten through graduate
school -- or long out of school -- can attend classes and lectures or do
research there.
FSU's students do first-hand research on art pieces never explored before.
Sandra Talarico, director of the Appleton, said they might have to go abroad to
get the same experience.
When classes come to the museum, the staff creates a hands-on program built
around what they are studying. If it is African art, pupils make masks, dance and
create their own African-style art.
"We give students a feel that a museum is not just walking through and
looking," Talarico said.
She hopes for a new generation of Americans who will be interested in art
their whole lives, and won't mind so much stopping along the road at antique
stores.
|
