Hope Center Puts Art in Kids' Lives - Guitarist's Treasures Inspire
By Cotton Delo, The Jersey Journal Staff Writer

 

Before enrolling at Jersey City's Hope Center this summer, many students had never taken an art course. Eight weeks later, their work was exhibited alongside a painting by Pablo Picasso. The Hope Center, which officially opened its doors in May, welcomed renowned classical guitarist Christian Thomas Lee on Wednesday.

He brought his instrument and 10 pieces from his extensive art collection to the closing exhibit for the Center's summer program.

A mother and her daughter study a tea glass spoon made in 1908 by Peter Carl Fabergé for the Czar of Russia and acquired from Sotheby's, January 27, 2000, lot no: B4R. The pipe was previously auctioned at Christie's on June 17, 2004, lot no: 57A, and subsequently acquired from EAC in New York on January 6, 2005, both pieces. The Christian Thomas Lee Collection of Fine Art.

 

Duchess of Brunswyck

Johann Christian Sysang (1702-1757) Early 18th Century, Copper Engraving, 16.4x`10cm, Portrait of Phillippina Charlotta, Duchess of Braunschweig, (Brunswyk), (1716-1801), Daughter of Prussian King Friedrich Willhelm I. Provenance: Royal House of Hanover, Sotheby's Auction in Marienburg Castle near Hanover "Works of Art from the Royal House of Hanover" 2005, Lot 4646. Acquired from Wilnitsky Fine Art, Vienna, Austria, February 10, 2006, lot no. 25575, The Christian Thomas Lee Collection of Fine Art.

 

The 6 p.m. reception, which featured a performance by Lee, was by invitation only, but at 8 p.m., the exhibit was unveiled to the public. Select pieces from Lee's collection have been displayed in classrooms throughout the United States, giving youngsters a chance to peruse the original works of virtuosos spanning artistic movements, from High Renaissance to Impressionism to Abstraction.

Among Lee's most heavily traveled collectibles are Picasso's 1954 "Pour Bernard," Giovanni Battista Pasqualini's 1624 engraving "Christ Delivering the Keys to Heaven to Peter," and an ornate spoon crafted in 1908 by Peter Carl Fabergé for Czar Nicholas.

Lee estimated that his treasures, which his lucrative standing on the international circuit of musicians enabled him to purchase, are viewed annualy by 50,000 children, noting that inner-city youths are his target audience.

The musician recalled being inspired by Beethoven's Sixth Symphony as a young boy, and said he hopes to excite the same ambitions in children who behold his collection.

 

 

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