{"id":60055,"date":"2021-09-28T16:43:25","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T22:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=60055"},"modified":"2021-10-11T12:26:36","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:26:36","slug":"dick-and-timmy-burtons-artful-estate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/dick-and-timmy-burtons-artful-estate\/","title":{"rendered":"Dick and Timmy Burton’s Artful Estate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bonnie Phillips, Untitled, mixed media on canvas, 44 x 38 1\/2 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWHO did THAT?\u201d I ask,\u00a0stopped cold by\u00a0a\u00a0large,\u00a0just-hung\u00a0abstract in rich, compelling colors \u2013 peaches, browns, grays, and a variety of blues and violets\u00a0\u2013\u00a0hanging\u00a0behind the front desk\u00a0at Phillips Gallery. \u201cThat<\/em> is a Bonnie Phillips,\u201d replies Bonnie Phillips in a small voice.\u201cIt isn\u2019t signed, but they tell me it is mine, and I can\u2019t argue,\u201d she adds with a smile. This revelation is but the first of many surprises I will have while touring the Dick and Timmy Burton Collection, an unforgettable estate sale at Phillips through Oct. 8. Bonnie Phillips\u2019s paintings are scarce, but the Burton show has three \u2014 the one large abstract; the others are small, and one is surprisingly representational.<\/h4>\n

Hanging next to the Bonnie Phillips\u2019 abstract is the delightfully painted and titled \u201cMixed Marriage,\u201d Maureen O\u2019Hara Ure’s painting of a clearly satiated recumbent lion smiling at a somewhat ruffled, red-feathered exotic bird opposite. Makes me happy. Makes me wish I had money.<\/h4>\n
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Maureen O’Hara Ure, “Mixed Marriage,” mixed media on panel, 15 3\/4 x 24 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Burtons only collected the best of the best, that\u2019s manifest looking around the gallery, something I have done several times recently to view this remarkable show:\u00a0 excellent, even extraordinary Utah art combined with Richard Burton\u2019s fascinating, you-are-there photographs, the latter hanging in a ribbon pattern ringing the gallery horizontally; other work runs vertically down through it \u2014 a terrific design by gallery director\/curator Meri DeCaria and fine art consultant Hadley Rampton.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Dick\u00a0Burton and Susan \u201cTimmy\u201d\u00a0Dinwoodey\u00a0Burton weren\u2019t just rich art collectors with a shrewd sense of what was timeless: \u201cThey were artists themselves,\u201d says author and artist Teresa Jordan who dined several times at one of the Burtons\u2019 two art-filled homes (one in Salt Lake City, the other in Heber) with her folklorist\/musician husband Hal Cannon, who fronts the\u00a0cool\u00a0\u201cdesert music\u201d\u00a0group 3hattrio.\u00a0<\/span>\u201cI think they wanted to not only support their own aesthetic life but really wanted to support artists,\u201d says Jordan, who has a show opening at Phillips in April and a monotype in this show titled \u201cIn Flight.\u201d She recalls, \u201cWhen I was turning to visual art, they bought two or three pieces and it really meant a lot to me. And they did that for many artists. Having a vibrant language of community and creativity was important to them\u00a0—\u00a0in Salt Lake City and Utah. Bonnie and Denis [Phillips] were so important to them [in fulfilling that commitment].\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

Timmy Burton was a chef who had a catering business for 25 years. Jordan recalls that her food was intriguing as was the way she dressed: \u201cShe was a textile artist and always wore something interesting to look at. Dick was interested in music. He had a very good eye and a very good ear. He was interested technologically in the mixing and recording of music. Dick was also interested in supporting storytelling in rural communities … in getting the voices of unheard people to tell their stories. I think that Timmy was more social than Dick: He liked one-on-one conversations. Timmy was involved socially in bigger groups; Dick was introverted.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Susan Fleming, “Connection (from the Space Series),” oil on paper, 18 x 18 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

A stack of terrific Hadley Rampton watercolors commemorating her travels greets you on entering the main gallery (sorry, Rampton aficionados, nary an aspen to be had); there is a worthwhile Susan Fleming oil on paper titled \u201cConnection\u201d (from the Space Series), and an untitled Julie Connell from 1989 \u2013 lots of old friends to be found on these walls.<\/span><\/h4>\n

I had strolled right past a brilliant George Dibble watercolor and didn\u2019t recognize it as his at all, yet I worked alongside Dibble for years at The Salt Lake Tribune, have even curated two shows of his work \u2013 but this one escaped me entirely. It\u2019s an unusual, for Dibble, rendering of a mansion<\/span> occupied for 20 years by George Dern, once governor of Utah.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Trevor Southey, “Farm Eggs,” oil on paper, 18 x 18 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

I guess I missed the Dibble because of the Trevor Southey etching of a basket of farm eggs; or maybe it was the <\/span>lovely and colorful Don Athay oil pastel on paper titled \u201cPicnic Ground\u201d that seems more an imaginative and enticing walk through the woods than a place to settle with a basket of edibles. There\u2019s a killer Francis Zimbeaux of sailboats docked on the Great Salt Lake. Also on the water, this time in Portugal, is an unusual work by Doug Snow that, naturally, sold immediately, as did the lush Earl Jones in the next room.<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0A spellbinding Denis Phillips from the late \u201880s titled \u201cSpring,\u201d 44 x 48 in. acrylic on linen, holds the tangerine-painted south wall in the East Gallery, its colors coordinating perfectly with its backdrop. A fluffy white cloud formation above a craggy multicolored mountain range implies light rain, perhaps, causing the greening of the plains beneath. This painting brought tears to a friend\u2019s eyes, not only to mine.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Sharon Alderman\u2019s \u201c . . . In Four Movements\u201d must be seen to be absorbed. An undulating cotton fiber double-weave in four sections of checkerboard squares done in mostly neutral colors, it takes one\u2019s breath away.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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And Meri DeCaria\u2019s delightful work, four pieces, as I recall, is mostly sold out but should be seen before it goes to new homes. It is top-notch DeCaria with titles like \u201cWay Out,\u201d \u201cBurst,\u201d \u201cBlast,\u201d and \u201cSave It for the Gravy.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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Sharon Alderman, “…In Four Movements,” cotton fiber double weave, 11 1\/4 x 11 3\/4 in.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Joseph Marotta\u2019s haunting narrative photograph, small and perfectly framed, is easy to pass by but don\u2019t miss it \u2013 hung by the Julie Connell on the wall near the front desk and door to the frame shop. Taken in 1976, while Marotta was an MFA student at Arizona State University, before he became a professor and head of photography and imaging at the University of Utah (a position he relinquished a year or two ago to artist Edward Bateman),\u00a0 it is an untitled portrait of a room at the Luhrs Hotel in Phoenix. It “was in pristine 1920s condition,\u201d says Marotta, who \u201cstayed there a number of nights before it was demolished in 1978.\u201d It is proof that every picture does, indeed, tell a story, when shot by a visionary photographer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Marotta remembers that \u201cDick Burton was a genuinely nice person, who cared about people and the natural environment of Utah. Soft-spoken, but came alive when photography was the subject. He was a serious collector of photography; if you wanted to see original prints by photographers you\u2019d only read about, you’d go to the Burton\u2019s home. … He was also a fine photographer. Well-seen, well-made images in black and white, though he did some color. … He was a traditionalist, of the straight school of the medium. Edward Weston, Dorothea Lange, and Cartier-Bresson come to mind. He loved discussing photography and making photographs. He was passionate about both,\u201d says Marotta.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Artist Adrienne Winter, framing and sales consultant at Phillips, recalls Burton when he came into the gallery as \u201cthe kindest man, quiet, thoughtful. I was young then and thought he seemed slow, but it was really just that he was thoughtful.\u201d<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Dick Burton, “Big Sandy River Crossing, photograph, 11 x 16 1\/2 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

Denis Phillips, Burton\u2019s friend of some 40 years, says the dedicated photographer and philanthropist was \u201ca balanced person with many interests. We talked about sailing, motor homes, about art all the time. He took a lot of photos of Highway 89 and had acres of land in Heber \u2014 and a tractor.\u201c Phillips mentions the standout photograph by Burton that hangs by itself on the north wall between the windows: a captivating self-portrait of the photographer kneeling by water\u2019s edge, complete with a Peter Pan shadow, probably the best of his work in the exhibition. There are some excellent forest scenes, and he captures snow-covered fields beautifully, but this image makes one gulp.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Sadly, after 56 years of marriage, Timmy Burton died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident on July 6, 2018. She had graduated from the University of Utah in 1964 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing and was a lifelong, active artist. She was a member of the Utah Surface Design Group, The Mary Meigs Atwater Weavers Guild (see our article here<\/a>), and The Utah Sewing Guild. She had been a board member of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Dick Burton, “Hayden Valley Spring, photograph, 11 x 16 1\/2 in.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dick Burton, who graduated from the University of Utah Business College, began his career at the investment division of First Security Bank but left to study photography at UCLA, teach the subject at Utah State University and the Salt Lake Art Center, and would pursue his passion avidly for most of the rest of his life. He was also an accomplished skier and mountain climber who raced motorcycles and loved piloting his Cessna and Piper Cub aircraft around the Western states.<\/span><\/h4>\n

He died Dec. 29, 2020, after a fall in his home. According to his wishes, Dick Burton was cremated, and<\/span>\u00a0his ashes were buried next to Timmy\u2019s in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.<\/h4>\n

Richard Burton (1940 – 2020)<\/em> and Dick & Timmy Burton Collection<\/em>, Phillips Gallery<\/a>, Salt Lake City, through Oct. 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWHO did THAT?\u201d I ask,\u00a0stopped cold by\u00a0a\u00a0large,\u00a0just-hung\u00a0abstract in rich, compelling colors \u2013 peaches, browns, grays, and a variety of blues and violets\u00a0\u2013\u00a0hanging\u00a0behind the front desk\u00a0at Phillips Gallery. \u201cThat is a Bonnie Phillips,\u201d replies Bonnie Phillips in a small voice.\u201cIt isn\u2019t signed, but they tell me it is mine, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":844,"featured_media":60056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/BOPH258R_untitled.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 13:16:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/844"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60055"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60073,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60055\/revisions\/60073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}