In his two brilliant and engrossing books about the history of modern civilization (the first one covers 1815 'til 1830, and sets the stage for the 19th Century; the other covers the 1920s through the 1990s), the great historian Paul Johnson observed a distinctive feature of our lives. He contends that modern society encourages us to be specialists at something. The result is that very few people are good a more than one or two things, and so we accept our ineptitude and succumb to the influence of experts.

Thomas Jefferson could design buildings and machines, cultivate flowers and plants, play the violin, preside over a young nation, and enunciate the immortal principles of democracy. But today, very few people can fix their own car or computer, a lot of us cannot prepare our own meals, keep a house and garden, and so on, mostly because we devote our time and energy to our “careers.”  Even for the tasks we can reasonably accomplish, we resort to shortcuts or specialty services, just to get the work out of the way. Think of microwave dinners, or books on tape.

Among the things we give up are: insight to the world and to ourselves; appreciation for the value of our lives and the lives of others; and recognition of the beauty that is all around us.

It’s in this frame of mind that I salute Eckhart Grohmann. He is the chairman and president of Aluminum Casting & Engineering in Milwaukee, a company he also owns. In addition to having developed that company — a permanent-mold operation — Dr. Grohmann has, over 40 years, assembled an art collection numbering about 700 works.

More important, he has established a new art museum at the Milwaukee School of Engineering, where his collection is on display.

Why the MSOE, you’re wondering? Because Dr. Grohmann’s aesthetic eye is focused on works of art that depict the beauty, power, drama, and humanity of work. Visitors to the museum can take in paintings and sculptures of workers and their activities, from Europe and North America, some dating to the 16th Century.

“Much of what lines the walls of the museum’s three floors of galleries — 375 paintings — would make art snobs groan,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Few works would pass muster with curators. ‘We have great artists here, but they are only here because of the picture,' Dr. Grohmann concedes.”

And why not? As the Grohmann collection confirms, industry is a worthy subject. It reminds the viewer of men’s and women’s skills, sacrifices, achievements, progress, and potential. Grohmann’s collection covers a range of industry — quarrying, metalworking, brewing, weaving, farming, construction, and more.  Isn’t it fitting that the art depicting these subjects would resonate with a foundryman? 

Art “experts” have largely ruined art appreciation for the rest of us, and we defer to them because we concede that they’re the specialists. More kudos to Dr. Grohmann for this statement, also in the WSJ: “‘They say, art must be for art’s sake — where are the black squares, ‘Untitled’?,” Dr. Grohmann grumbles.  “I don’t want that.’”

Neither do I. Neither should any of us. The dictum Dr. Grohmann references, “Ars Gratia Artis,” is meant to celebrate the life-affirming, life-enhancing power of art, not some individual’s dreary commentary on the emptiness they feel.  Museums should be places that lift our sights, not that reconfirm or heighten our anxieties. Isn’t it encouraging to know that someone, a foundryman, has devoted so much of his life and fortune to upholding this ideal?

The best art is not some individual’s singular presentations, but rather a record of a place and moment in time, and reflection and affirmation of eternal truths that are accessible to everyone.

You don’t have to go to a museum to discover the truth of this. Our churches and public buildings are filled with art capable of inspiring you (though art experts might not approve of your selection.) But, if you do go to a museum, there’s an exhibit in Milwaukee I recommend to you.