Stan Herman and his magical kingdom

If it is true that every picture tells a story, then Stan Herman’s is a story told by hundreds of paintings, sculptures, figurines, and memorabilia.

Not only has Stan procured art for most of his life, he has cared for and loved a collection primarily comprised of local and Canadian art. Truly, this is a story that should only be told in pictures.

Stan’s collection is a stunning visual achievement, made even more so for the fact that Stan is legally blind. Yet miraculously, he can see the blazing colours whirling and dancing within his menagerie containing almost every imaginable hue, saturation, and texture.

The strongest impression one gets upon meeting Stan is that he, above all, cherishes all of life’s gifts. He clearly doesn’t take time or joy for granted. Secondly, he loves to kibitz, with an easy flow of friendly banter and a stream of jokes, like a running commentary on the deep pleasure he takes in another’s company and specifically guiding them amongst his vast array of paintings from postage-sized etchings to massive beaded tapestries.

Stan Herman first realized his love for art many years before he and his wife, Rosemary, moved to Huntsville seven years ago. Invited to a gallery showing at Jonathan’s Antiques almost forty years prior, he bought his first piece, a limited-edition print.

Something in owning that first artwork resonated so powerfully in him that it awoke an unquenchable passion for accumulating art and setting up a gallery that he could share with his family and friends. Little did he know where his passion would lead: he has amassed a broad scope of unusual and vital Canadian art. Not only drawn to paintings, Stan appreciates a wide variety of approaches to creative expression, especially the use of textures, unique mediums, and striking themes.

Stan is not only an art enthusiast, he is also a successful entrepreneur. He continues to maintain his practice as an independent insurance broker servicing accounts and client relationships he has maintained throughout his professional life of fifty-plus years.

While Stan was chasing art and building his career, his wife Rosemary, after their children were raised, also built a successful life in library science, a demanding course of study and in itself an extremely challenging career choice.

The walls and shelves of Stan’s house are lined with figurines and paintings, many of which are replications of famous van Goghs and Monets done with extraordinary exactitude. Even though Stan is a proud owner of a great many original Canadian works, he also has accumulated fine works of art done by students and art factories that specialize in reproducing the masters. Surprisingly, these are deceivingly well done.

Nothing quite prepares a viewer when Stan invites you into his gallery. Every inch of space is lined with an inordinate display of shape and dazzling colour. One wall here contains landscapes and animal portraits, while the opposite wall is filled with textured dreamscapes, papier-mâché, abstracts, or just pure form without any intellectual rationale. On another wall there stand massive chainsaw carvings, overlooking and protecting rare and fragile porcelain statuettes, some dating from the 1800s. Moreover, the various canvas sizes and lighting all work magically to overwhelm the sense of time and space, like Alice in Wonderland of orgasmic creativity.

The names of the multitude of artists get lost in the cacophony of stylistic approaches but each painting or objet d’art is reverently given its own space to breathe, to shine. It wouldn’t be impudent to state that this gallery is a work of love more than treasure.

In many ways that’s what make this room and Stan so wonderful: his love for the gift of art, in all its forms. He seems to relish the chase in some way, the finding of those rare and perfect acts of artistic expression. There is no doubt, too, that Stan is more than capable of handling negotiations with art dealers and he combs the remote corners of the internet in search of work that he wants to add to his multitude of canvas and sculptures.

Thematically, Stan doesn’t seem to have a preference for any particular scene or story line in his collection. There are landscapes, portraits, and wild animals to be sure, street scenes and fantasy. Most of these works are exhilarating, if only for the juxtaposition of imagery and execution, but moreover they represent a view of our experience that many of us miss in our daily activity. Life is a wondrous, exciting adventure. From the smallest to the largest, every moment is a mystery, filled with magic. Art can reflect that but it takes the insight of a great heart to see it.

Stan would like to thank all of the local artists whose work he admires: Pam Carnohan, Col Mitchell, Maureen Riekhoff, Tim Rice, Mandy Higgs, Neil Sternberg, Miranda Lane, Renata Dusk, Maggie Broda, Patricia Astley, Nalini Almas, Bill Brown, Gerry Lantaigne, Jared Pratt, and Janet Stahl Fraser. And these are only a small fraction of the creators who have contributed to his private gallery.

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