'Someone In Time' Exhibit Captures Life at Turn of the Century
By Sean Ely

Richard and Jane Manoogian in front of Three Cobb Sons, a portrait painted in 1876 by Theodore E. Pine. This year's display at Grand Hotel has the theme, "Someone in Time," with portraits depicting people who could have been guests at the hotel from the late 1880s to the early 1900s.

Since 1990, Richard and Jane Manoogian have displayed pieces of their vast collection of paintings at Grand Hotel, and this year, the viewers of the exhibit, "Someone in Time," are not the only ones doing the observing.

Dozens of pairs of eyes peer right back.

Mr. Manoogian chose portraits to illustrate this year's theme, "Someone in Time," a take-off of the popular motion picture filmed on Mackinac Island. Most of the portraits were painted in late 1800s and early 1900s and represent a person, group of people, or an animal. Portraits, he said, usually show what the subject looks like, while revealing an aspect of their personality.

"We tried to pick pictures of people we thought might come to Grand Hotel 100 years ago," said Mr. Manoogian, a resident of the West Bluff and chairman and CEO of Masco Corporation, one of the world's largest manufacturers of brand-name consumer products for the home and family. "That was sort of the theme of all the pictures this year. We chose the picture of the boy and girl for the cover of our brochure because they look very Victorian."

That specific portrait, "Interior with Children," is 42.5 inches by 46.5 inches and was painted with oil on canvas by American artist Seymour Guy in 1883.

Mr. Manoogian, when selecting the portraits for this year's showing, wanted viewers to be able to stare at the portraits and let their imaginations roam. He envisions the subjects rocking in a chair on the long Grand Hotel porch, strolling in Tea Garden, or playing a game of chase on the hotel lawn.

The largest, at 89 inches by 72 inches, "Portrait of the Three Cobb Sons" by Theodore E. Pine, drew much attention at an opening reception for the exhibit Sunday evening, June 3. The fascinating element is the detail in the children's faces.

"I walked into this room the other day when it was first hung up and I was amazed," Mrs. Manoogian said, who had never seen the painting. "I call it the wow factor."

The Manoogian collection, primarily by American artists, is extensive, with hundreds of paintings on loan around the world.

"He has pictures at the White House that Mr. and Mrs. Bush have personally chosen," said Gene Gargaro, an executive at MASCO Corporation and advisor for Mr. Manoogian's paintings. "There are some in the national gallery in Washington, D.C. , in the State Department in Washington, in different museums throughout the country, and in the Detroit Institute of Arts, which is one of his favorite places to display his artwork.

Mr. Manoogian's true passion lies in sharing his works of art with those who will appreciate them.

"My mother loved art, but I'm a big collector," he said. "I collect a lot of different things, and the fun for me is finding things and then collecting them. Over the years, I've put together collections of American Indian art, American silver, furniture, a lot of which we don't have anymore, but I just like building collections. The fun for me is the finding and the sharing aspect of it."

Grand Hotel, he said, is a perfect place for his paintings.

"I think the fun of it is hanging it at Grand Hotel, because the hotel was built about the same time that a lot of these paintings were painted, and we live in a house that was done at about the same time as well, so it almost makes you think that you're back 100 years ago, with the subjects and the people in the pictures," Mr. Manoogian said.

Mrs. Manoogian agrees.

"The first time I ever walked into the hotel in the early '80s, I looked around and I said, 'I wish we could hang our paintings in this hotel, from all the same era, because they would look really pretty,'" she said. "One thing led to another and we ended up buying a house here and the paintings just kind of found their way to the hotel. It's been 18 years since we started coming."

"It's a very generous and magnanimous gesture of the Manoogians to come and do this here every year, and we're honored and delighted and pleased to have them here," said R. Daniel Musser, Jr., the hotel's chairman. "The opening is always an enjoyable evening, and the art show is like a start of the season for Mackinac. It's a very good kickoff to the beginning of the season."

The Mackinac Island exhibit is, indeed, special, Mrs. Manoogian said, and of all the exhibits they sponsor, they look forward most to the one here on Mackinac.

"This is my favorite event because we all get together, and we haven't seen each other in such a very long time." Mrs. Manoogian said. "We love doing it as long as the Mussers love us doing it. We will always be here, we love it."

"Mackinac is lucky to have the Manoogians here, after all they have done for this island," Mr. Musser said. "We should all be thanking them every day. The art show is an amazing addition, because if they didn't come, we'd never have any art of this caliber hanging on the walls. No hotel would have that caliber of art. We are just honored and pleased and delighted to have them."