Bukowski's father at the art museum

Rekrab

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
I was goofing around on Google Books and did a search for "Henry C. Bukowski", anything published from 1940 to 1960. I was surprised to find that about a half dozen publications of the Los Angeles County Art Museum mention Buk's father as assisting with exhibitions. In one, he's listed as the "special preparator." This made me think of something I'd read or heard where Buk was saying his father pretended to be a curator but was only a security guard at the museum. These publications would suggest he was possibly closer to being involved with the actual art than Buk let on. Maybe he was only hanging paintings and moving sculptures -- who knows. They are from the late 40s through late 50s.
 
Rekrab

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Here are some links to the Google Books pages. Note the snippet views which show Bukowski's father's name and his title:

http://books.google.com/books?id=kWo3AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&dq=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1930&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=1955&num=100&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=wRIwAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&dq=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1930&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=1955&num=100&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=bWJQAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&dq=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1930&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=1955&num=100&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&pgis=1

http://books.google.com/books?id=A3k3AAAAIAAJ&q=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&dq=%22Henry+C.+Bukowski%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=1930&as_maxm_is=12&as_maxy_is=1955&num=100&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&pgis=1

I did the search for 1930 thru 1955. There are a couple more after that, in the late 50s.
 
mjp

mjp

Founding member
Eh, I don't know that he changed his father's history. We would have to define "Preparator" in the parlance of the times, which may be difficult. It could mean little more than "the guy with the keys to that big room downstairs." It just sounds suspiciously like art-speak for "mover" to me. But I'm just talking out my ass, because I can't tell you what it meant at LACMA in the 1940's.

It is interesting to see Bukowski Sr. credited though, and it does give you the idea that Bukowski Jr. intentionally downplayed the job by calling him a security guard. But then if your father regularly beat you and made you spend half your weekend mowing the lawn like some sort of anal retentive freak, you might tend to have bad things to say about him too.
 
cirerita

cirerita

Founding member
According to Miles, Dear Daddy was promoted from "security guard to floor assistant helping to hang pictures" after he claimed that he was the Charles Bukowski that had appeared in Portfolio III. You know, according to myth.
 
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roni

roni

I would never think of his father as a real curator or anything similar. The whole of his biography (even outside what Hank claimed) doesn't point to that at all.

I too guess, it wasn't much more than hanging those pics or something.

What I found cool was the mentioning of him in a publication.

Maybe the lawn-mower-historian of Buknet should get into research here on what exactly that term meant back then.
 
Bukfan

Bukfan

"The law is wrong; I am right"
Nice find, Rekrab! - Preparator? What a nice title for a person hanging up pictures and such...
 
Rekrab

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
I agree with all you say, mjp. Glorified picture hanger and heavy object mover. Still, it surprised the hell out of me that he was mentioned at all.
 
Gerard K H Love

Gerard K H Love

Appreciate your friends
Museums are like little clubs. Everyone is somebody. No security guard left behind.

In the late 70s at the Riverside Art Museum one of my teachers from the city college use to keep large bottles of wine in a large metal cabinet at the museum. It was labeled with a fancy plaque that read: The Allan T. Garrett Memorial Storage Cabinet. I remember toasting it's 3rd or 4th dedication. I sure hope he wasn't the same Garrett who went on hiatus. He did have better tact. Always drank a little wine in class. It was all part of the art.

Oh, I almost forgot, thank you Rekrab for the interesting find.
 
Rekrab

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
slimedog said:
I worked as a security guard, with Buk's father, and he did get "promoted" to help with hanging the pictures.
Click to expand...

Ah, slimedog! You're the perfect information source on this subject. Do you know what exactly a "preparator" of exhibits would have done, aside from hanging /phyisically installing a show? Would he have had any decision maiking powers, as far as chosing and arranging objects, deciding what order they went in, where in the space each item was to be placed, lighting choices, signs, etc.? In other words, did it require him to have any sense of aesthetics, any knowledge of art history, any taste, or was it simply "hang this big oil in the gold frame here, Henry, and that little engraving over there"?

Also, how much prestige did his position have? Was he considered the curator's righthand man, or just a schlub? Did he still have more mundane guard duties after he was promoted, or did he only work on exhibitions?

Any light you can shed on this is much appreciated. Thanks.
 
roni

roni

I think it means, before every exhibition, he had to prepare himself to be confronted with art soon.
 
D

dragon

mjp said:
It is interesting to see Bukowski Sr. credited though, and it does give you the idea that Bukowski Jr. intentionally downplayed the job by calling him a security guard. But then if your father regularly beat you and made you spend half your weekend mowing the lawn like some sort of anal retentive freak, you might tend to have bad things to say about him too.
Click to expand...
Buk Jr. said in his stories that when his father died , he left house to some
woman he lived with for few weeks. Like , father left him nothing, cause
of hate.

As, you can see in Timeline, in real life , father left him house.
Somehow, it gives new look on Buk Sr. who didn't give house to some woman
or to church, but left it to his son. If he realy hated him so much he wouldn't do it, don't you think so?
 
S

slimedog

Rekrab said:
Ah, slimedog! [...] Any light you can shed on this is much appreciated. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Well, you know, it was so long ago but from I recall his father was a real kiss ass (that's how he got his better paying job) & really had no appreciation for art at all. A lot of the guards were artists, I'd say fifty percent, and I at least had a big apprection of it. His duties consisted of merely hanging the pictures due to the instructions of the curators. By the way, I do recall him talking about his son and he spoke very dispairingly of him, saying he was lazy and not a "real man." I would've never imagined that many years later I would be posting on a forum dedicated to his son.
 
Rekrab

Rekrab

Usually wrong.
Slime dog, thanks for your memories. It is amazing that we have a first hand witness to behind the scenes events from half a century ago. Do you know if Bukowski's father ever tried painting, or did he ever talk about art? Or was it simply a job to him, making a living?

Your comments on the father's disparging comments on his son are especially interesting. Thanks again.
 
S

slimedog

Let me tell you Buk's dad had no appreciation of art, or at least the most conservative kind-I think he liiked Norman Rockwell but he didn't even like the Impressionist and certainly nothing like Picasso or any modern art. It was simply a job for him. I didn't really dislike the fellpw but he wasn't one of my favorite co-workers.
 
S

slimedog

I was what they called a "break guard"- I relieved guards at their posts for breaks and lunches. With nothing to do all day it's very easy to stroll over toward the next post or gallery and chat a bit. I do remember him as an affable fellow but one who would get upset at patrons touching things, which was our job but I found him a bit harsh. Mostly I just found him somewhat boring especially compared to our struggling artists who while not eccentric still had interesting things to talk about.
 
D

dragon

Slimedog, you are excellent witness.Do you know if Buk' s father was poor or middle class and he wanted to be rich? Suffered he was not ? He left house to his son and Buk sold it for 7000$, was it descent sum of money back in 1958? Buk always claimed in his novels lack of money and suddenly - heritage , half the value of house...Any idea how quickly he spent it all.
 
mjp

mjp

Founding member
slimedog, forget all these unimportant questions - what did Bukowski Sr. smell like?
 
S

slimedog

I would say Bukowski Sr. was lower middle class and I only knew him for a couple of years, I don't even recall if he had a house let alone what happened to it after I knew him. I don't recall what he smelled like! We did have to wear these navy blue sport jackets and gray dress pants and some of us were very casual about it but he was always dressed very properly I recall and I don't think he really meshed with the artistic types there.
 
cirerita

cirerita

Founding member
Slimedog,

were you there the day Bukowski Sr. brought a copy of Portfolio III along claiming he was the Charles Bukowski who had written "20 Tanks from Kasseldown?"
 
roni

roni

Oh, I was there then.

It was way interesting, since on one side he seemed to be proud to be a published writer but on the other, a little ashamed about the content and writing style.

I never knew why, till I discovered the ugly truth about the authorship.
 
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