Four decades of couple’s art collecting result in UNL exhibition ‘Material Joy’

L. Kent Wolgamott – Nov 4, 2023 – Lincoln Journal Star

Sue and Tom Tallman pose for a portrait at Richards Hall on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus on Oct. 25. An exhibition of art from the Tallmans’ collection at the Eisentrager/Howard Gallery will be on display until Nov. 10. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star

My cmnt: I wish I had seen this exhibit. I would love to see their whole collection! These two have a wonderful eye for what is beautiful and not just trendy.

For Sue and Tom Tallman, it started in Las Vegas.

That’s where, four decades ago, the Lincoln couple took their first steps in collecting art.

“We’d gone to art fairs where you would meet some artists and pick up a few things,” Tom Tallman said. “Then we went to Las Vegas and we’re not gamblers. So we’re just looking around and I go into this shop and there’s two cheetahs, bronze cheetahs, by a guy named (Loet) Vanderveen. I said, ‘I really like this one.’ Then Sue looks around the wall and there’s a relief coming out.”

“It’s a coyote drinking, a guy drinking with a coyote,” Sue Tallman said. “It’s very colorful. So I go, ‘I like that.’”

“We bought them both,” Tom Tallman said.

The cheetahs and drinking coyote were the seeds for the Tallmans’ collection, which has grown exponentially over the decades.

“We’ve been married for 44 years,” Tom Tallman said. “We’ve been collecting for 40 years. If you buy four or five each year, you’ve got 200. It just ends up being a lot. So this is, I think, 66 (pieces). But we’ve still got a lot and there are several that we thought were pretty cool that (curator) Emma (DeVries) didn’t choose.

Some of the pieces from Sue and Tom Tallman’s collection on display at the Eisentrager/Howard Gallery are brightly colored and fun, evoking the “joy” in the title of the exhibition, “Material Joy.” KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star

Sue and Tom Tallman have been collecting for 40 years and are now displaying some of their pieces at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Richards Hall. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star

The exhibition “Material Joy” is on display until Nov. 10. KENNETH FERRIERA, Journal Star