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Cellini forever enshrined at the Lincoln Museum *** UPDATED x1 ***
Monday, Nov 3, 2008 - Posted by Rich Miller * Oh, for crying out loud…
Look, the federal indictment against Cellini may not be as strong as it could be, and he most definitely deserves his day in court, but he’s always been a controversial figure in Illinois politics and completely associated with this state’s “pigs at the trough” image. He and Jim Thompson re-invented “pinstripe patronage” here So, indictment or no indictment, forever memorializing him at the Lincoln Museum - of all places - is an abomination. If you’ve ever read Paul Simon’s book “Lincoln’s Preparation for Greatness,” you know that back in the days when Lincoln was in the Illinois House, businesses which wanted to incorporate had to pass a bill through the General Assembly. As a result, lots of legislators got in on some free money by being made corporate directors. Lincoln never did. Also, at a time when Illinois was still mostly undeveloped, the General Assembly routinely passed legislation opening up public lands for private developement and legislators usually were in on the scam. Lincoln only participated once, and he ended up losing money. So, putting the king of pinstripe patronage in a painting of Abraham Lincoln that’s hanging at the Lincoln Museum is just wrong, on every level. And when the Sun-Times asked if the Museum would remove the painting if Cellini was convicted, the paper got this response…
What a crock. Cellini and his wife have raised a ton of money for the museum, and Mrs. Cellini essentially oversees the museum via her chairmanship of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Cal Skinner discovered in January of last year that Julie Cellini’s visage is also in a painting at the museum. These paintings cement our state’s reputation as almost beyond reform. Or, since it’s Cellini, perhaps it should be “asphalts” our reputation. *** UPDATE *** Scott Reeder notes the irony at Gov. Blagojevich’s firing of Richard Beard, the director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library, who was accused of shoplifting…
* Related…
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- Just Observing - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:29 am:
Rich… I really think you are making too much of the painting. I hardly think the museum needs to get rid of the painting because there may or may not be a likeness of Cellini within the painting.
- Secret Square - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:31 am:
It may be inappropriate, but is it really any worse than Renaissance or medieval artists using their patrons, friends or mistresses (some of whom had less than saintly reputations) to depict saints or other religious figures?
- North of I-80 - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:31 am:
So Cellini was helping Abraham Lincoln too? Can the artist repaint just the portarit part so that Tom Petty stands off Lincoln’s right shoulder instead?
- Stone Mason - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:31 am:
Paintings can be taken down and stored in a closet (Rouge’s Galley). It seems much more difficult to remove the name of a convicted felon from the cornerstone of the Library.
- Dan S, a Voter and Cubs Fan - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:34 am:
Rich, you are correct. Cellini has been getting rich at the public trough for over 40 years under multiple Governors but it took an association with 1 bumbleing knuckehead to get him indicted. Maybe we owe Blagoof a small thanks on this one.
- Anon - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:38 am:
Maybe it’s appropriate, given the accepted levels of government corruption in Lincoln’s day. Didn’t Lincoln himself say of one of his Republican contemporaries that “he would steal anything except a hot stove”?
- Fan of the Game - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:39 am:
I don’t see it as a big deal. The Cellini’s helped raise boatloads of money for the museum. While Mr. Cellini may have done some untoward things in other venues, it’s not inappropriate to memorialize him here in such an innocuous way (I wouldn’t know Bill Cellini–nor would the vast majority of museum guests–if he hit me).
On another note, your comments make me sad that we don’t have a strong spekesperson for political integrity like Paul Simon any more. I disagreed with almost every position he took, but I respected the man and his ethics so much.
- phocion - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:41 am:
Rich, you complain too much. Isn’t it true that the “Lincoln” in the painting is none other than you - before you settled into your sedentary lifestyle?
- Rich Miller - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:42 am:
lol
no
- wordslinger - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:42 am:
It’s the height of vulgarity. Can you imagine the ego that would permit it?
But you know what? Let it stay. Post an accurate description of who’s in the piece and how they got there. Let it be a permanent reminder to everyone on how things work here, just like the official portrait of George Ryan with his hand on the Capitol Dome candy jar.
What’s going to be in Blago’s official portrait?
- VanillaMan - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:42 am:
I am opposed to censorship.
It is not our place to pass judgement on an image deemed too similar in appearance to an individual we today judged unworthy of an image. It doesn’t matter to me if the image looks like Cellini, Mussolini, or Mohammed. We cannot pass judgement on public images when their appearance reminds us of someone we dislike at the moment.
An image of Chaplin among Hollywood stars in 1930 may end up reminding us of Hitler in 1940, but that would be taking the image out of context. An image of Cellini would be just as out of context in a fictional setting in 1860 with Lincoln. In 20 years, the same image may remind us of another individual - we just don’t allow ourselves this kind of censorship.
- Bill Baar - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:46 am:
Are other contemporaries depicted?
- Vote Quimby! - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:48 am:
Thanks for pointing out Paul Simon’s excellent Lincoln book–probably the best of the 20+ books written by one of our state’s finest senators.
Why doesn’t ALPLM do a “Where’s Waldo?” theme and you can pick out all the indicted people in every painting? Kind of sad heading into the bicentennial that ALPLM and other Abe things are getting headlines for all the wrong reasons…
- Macbeth - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:49 am:
Corruption even finds its way into *art* in Illinois.
Wow — this is one messed up state.
- Excessively rabid - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:51 am:
Where’s Royko when you really need him?
- red dog - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 9:53 am:
wordslinger is on the money-why should anyone be concerned about a painting that accurately reflects the political corruption that is a significant force in Illinois politics? taking it down would demonstrate a vague conviction that such corruption doesn’t exist-at least the artist who was paid off for the image was projecting a sense of reality
- A Citizen - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 10:02 am:
If Cellini was as powerful as folks believe the museum would have walls of vertical prestressed asphalt instead of $5,000 per square Egyptian marble.
- zatoichi - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 10:14 am:
This could be one fine fundraiser. $1,000 gets a headshot in the background for a large public painting in a prominent location, $10,000 gets you a full body shot standing next to Lincoln at Gettysburg in a display. Using PhotoShop type technology, you could move people in and out of paintings: $500 gets you a 6 month head shot in the Library scene plus a copy for your home computer or Christmas cards. Same deal as Cellini. Got a convention in town? Spot a member in the museum tour, win a Lincoln prize. From Japan? Get proof of your family’s connection to Lincoln in a museum painting.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 10:16 am:
The same sort of thing has been proposed for baseball players who made the Hall of Fame during the “steroid” era, or Pete Rose’s induction into the HOF with consideration of his gambling habit.
Put an asterisk on it.
- Captain America - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 10:42 am:
I think we should open a new “Hall of Shame” Museum for all the elected officials, political bureaucrats, and corrupt businessmen/power brokers who have been convicted of perpetrating crimes against the body politic.
All other elected officials, high level appointed officiala, and major contractors doing business with all levels of government whould be required to tour the museum, as part of a comprehensive ethics reform.
Fitz, our 21st century “Untouchable,” should also be enshrined in the museum to suggest that crime may pay in Illinois , but if you do the crime, you’re going to do some time.
- Thomas Westgard - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 10:48 am:
I remember hearing the story of a town in Italy that still has a statue of Mussolini. The explanation given for leaving it in place was that he’s part of their history, and Italy is filled with statues of past political figures, some good, some bad. As long as we maintain a clear parallel between William Cellini and Mussolini, I figure it’s okay.
- Dooley Dudright - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 11:13 am:
This is WAY down the Lincoln Museum vulgarity scale when you consider George Ryan’s defilements and desecrations to it. From machinations in construction contracts to trying to make it a patronage dump (e.g., Ryan’s oafish push to install his chief of staff, Robert Newtson, as the library’s first director) to the appalling visual blight of seeing Ryan’s name on the cornerstone of the building whenever I enter the library, well, a stealth Cellini caricature tucked somewhere on a portrait is nuthin’, I tell ya. Nuthin’.
- anon again - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 11:18 am:
i had some friends coming to town last week and they stopped at Pilot in Decatur to get gas and one of his kids said kind of out loud Dad whats that smell, before he could answer a guy behind them in line answered springfield
- Bill - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 11:35 am:
Now, that’s funny!
- Anon - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 11:35 am:
I saw Bill Cellini’s image on a taco, a grilled cheese sandwich and under the Kennedy Expressway at Fullerton too.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 11:41 am:
Anon-
Was the image under the Kennedy weeping?
- Larry Mullholland - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 1:42 pm:
It’s Art… not a big deal. I think there is art of G. Ryan & Blago in the capitol.
I think Bill Cellini and his wife Julie deserve a lot of credit for the mere existance of the Lincoln Museum. Most people do not realize the years upon years of effort the Cellini’s have made to make the Library & Museum a reality. Years upon years of work “behind the scenes”….
I have prediction, Cellini will not be convicted of the charges.
- Art critic - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 1:48 pm:
Might make a nice QOTD to posit what Rod’s official portrait should look like… I’m thinking a re-creation of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”.
Not just because Rod sees himself as the central figure, but that it lets you put all his co-conspirators and enablers in there beside him.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 2:26 pm:
=$1,000 gets a headshot in the background for a large public painting in a prominent location, $10,000 gets you a full body shot standing next to Lincoln at Gettysburg in a display=
Give the Blagidiots a few days and this will be the new gimmick to balance the budget. AA’s only wonder is if Monk’s pal gets a cut under the great “naming rights and concessions” deal.
Personally, I thought that dude in the picture was Jimmy DeLeo.
- Just the Facts - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 3:41 pm:
Is it any worse than this?
Italo Balbo, the namesake of Balbo Avenue in Chicago’s south Loop, was a fascist party leader and close associate of dictator Benito Mussolini. As Mussolini’s Ministry of Air, Balbo attracted worldwide attention by leading the Italian Formation Flight from Rome to Chicago during the World’s Fair of 1933. Upon his arrival in Chicago, Balbo and his Italian flying unit were received as dignitaries and a street was named in his honor to commemorate the visit.
- Bookworm - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 5:50 pm:
To see a much more beautiful and appropriate example of the same general principle, visit this site:
http://www.muralsbyjericho.com/murals/murals.htm
which depicts artwork at St. Mark’s Catholic Church in Peoria. Click on individual pictures to see them in better detail.
Several of these murals include depictions of actual living or deceased parishioners. For example, the man standing behind Jesus (Nicodemus) in the mural of Christ being placed in the tomb has the face of a longtime church deacon.
The artists who did this project said that placing contemporary people in murals of this type was common in the time of Fra Angelico and other artists of his era (14th-15th centuries).
I simply want to point out that painting contemporary people into recreations of historical, religious or cultural scenes is not unusual, has been going on for centuries and can be done very tastefully.
In all probability, the artist who painted Bill and Julie Cellini into the Lincoln Museum pictures did so simply to honor their status as major benefactors and fundraisers for the museum, not with any regard or necessarily even any knowledge of his (alleged) crooked political dealings.
By the way, is it just my computer, or does the depiction of Bill Cellini as shown on the Sun-Times website make him appear to have a really bad case of five o’clock shadow?
- Disgusted - Monday, Nov 3, 08 @ 8:19 pm:
Bill, don’t forget our stinkers are your stinkers too. Cellini and Ryan spent plenty of time in Chicago, and then you have Fast Eddie. It’s a statewide odiferous organization, that’s for sure.