Getting A Taste of Classical Art
By Jesse Deconto, Xenia Daily Gazette staff writer

An art museum took a field trip to Xenia School this week. The Christian Thomas Lee Collection of Fine Art stopped at the Xenia School campus, and the students experienced some of the most celebrated artists in the history of Western culture.

Christian Thomas Lee, whose classical guitar playing has earned him world renown, said the fruit of his labor has afforded him the opportunity to collect pieces of the world's finest art.

On Wednesday, Lee spoke to two Xenia classes. He urged the first set of kids to see the importance of art in their lives and tried to convince them that they are all artists. Near the end of the class, he unveiled some of this most precious treasures.

He showed the class an original Pablo Picasso, "Fields of Lavender" by American Clyde Leon Keller, and a piece from Peter Carl Fabergé - a silver-gilt teaspoon from the Russian Czar Nicholas' table.

Lee said he recently bought the Fabergé spoon from Sotheby's London. He also showed off a hand-made, 1736 theological college commencement invitation that he procured from Sotheby's New York. The piece had previously had origins in the Vatican.

Lee's oldest "museum-quality" exhibits are the title pages of Titus and Philemon from the 1599 Geneva Bible, the same version the Pilgrims brought to New England.

He finished by presenting a photographic montage by the British artist Edward Matalon. This piece titled "Violin Boy" came about when Matalon superimposed photographs of 16 great paintings, one on top of the other.

Lee's 50 plus piece, multi-million-dollar collection also includes pieces from Solis and Pasqualini, a matching set of rare French Abuson tapestries, and works by Picasso and Keller.

Lee is no more a stranger to great artists than to great art. The 35 year old started playing the nylon-stringed guitar when he was 6.

Lee studied under the great Japanese classical guitarist Koichiro Koshikadake.

Lee has toured on the international concert circuit for more than 10 years. He said classical guitar music is better for small estates than for large concert hall events. Thus, the vast majority of his nearly 90 annual venues are private estates. He said his audiences have included royalty, United States presidents, foreign dignitaries and captains of industry.

Lee now spends many of his days each year traveling across the U.S. to expose young people to his fine art and music."I want to change my world," he said. "One of the best ways to do that is to partner with institutions that are committed to excellence, integrity and creativity in their educational process."

"Research shows that kids who are exposed to the fine arts test higher than those who are not," Lee said. "It helps develop their intellectual ability."

"Within every individual, there's a desire to be creative and to enjoy the creativity of others," said Lee. "The ability to make and respond to art is part of what makes us human."

"The purpose of art and music is to share," he said. "I want to inspire kids to be creative."

"I'm concerned about my legacy." Lee said. "Its not sufficient for me to live my life for myself. The most important thing I can do is to interact with children so their lives are better."

"In the lives of the great artists we see tremendous examples of lives which were properly lived," said Lee. "Mozart, Beethoven, Franz Liszt - they were all philanthropists."

"I want to be a profile to a child of proper character, good conduct and leadership," Lee said. "I want them to learn the joy of living their lives for other people."