Vincent Price Visits Elyria – April 10, 1959

Vincent Price was well known as an American actor specializing in roles in horror films such as House of Wax (1953) and House on Haunted Hill (1959). He also appeared in many well known non-horror movies, including Laura (1944) and The Ten Commandments (1956).

Did you know that he also had a fine reputation as an art collector and expert, with a degree in art history? It was this aspect of his expertise that brought him to Elyria in April 1959 for an art lecture sponsored by the Elyria Woman’s Club.

The article about his visit appeared in the Lorain Journal on April 11, 1959. Price’s opinions are pretty interesting, and sometimes even a little prickly.

Price visited Lorain County a few more times. He portrayed Oscar Wilde in a one-man show at Oberlin College in 1974, and appeared on stage at Lorain County Community College in November 1983.

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Speaks In Elyria
Vincent Price Offers Advice
On How To Buy Paintings
By NANCY COTA

Vincent Price, whose repute as an art expert rivals his fame as an actor, last night had some advice for people who want to buy a painting for their home.

Choose a modern original over a copy of an established painting, he said. “In selecting an original you make up your own mind.” Besides, he added, it’s cheaper, and we owe modern artists a living.

Price spoke at Elyria High School under the sponsorship of the Elyria Woman’s Club. He voiced opinions on a number of topics:

The Cleveland Art Museum: “It is one of the best museums in the world. The collections of Medieval, Asian and French art are all good.”

Enjoying art: “Don’t die before you’re dead. To deny yourself the privilege of art is to deny yourself the privilege of seeing.”

Modern art: “Painting is merely a statement of fact and the painter is a reporter of our time.” You may not like what he reports, he continued, but it is nonetheless a valid statement of the world.

How can the painter see as pretty, he asked, a world which has seen two great world wars in our time? Continuing, he asked, how can a picture of the crucifixion, “the greatest example of man’s inhumanity to man,” be “pretty?”

Cubist painting: “Cubism arose out of the scientific discovery that under microscopes all matter looks like geometric forms, such as circles, squares, and triangles. The painter is reporting this fact when he uses cubistic forms on his canvas.”

Dislike of modern art: “People may force modern art into an eclipse because of their refusal to look at it, but it will be valued eventually because of its reporting of our times.”

An actor’s responsibilities: “An actor must assume a responsibility toward the public good.”

Movies vs. television: “Movies are not meeting the challenge of television. There are too many downbeat movies. How many dope addicts do you know?"

New trends in movies: “The winning of nine academy awards by “Gigi” reflects the growing discontent with downbeat movies. Movies should turn from problems to pure entertainment.”

The American audience: “People won’t go to see a play in Cleveland, even with its original cast, because they feel they have to wait until they go to New York to see it.”

“Americans are quick to complain if they spot a defect in a play or movie, but they seldom send compliments for something which is done well.”

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Vincent Price has been featured on this blog before. Click here to see my post about the Palace Theater’s Friday the 13th Jinx Show, which starred Vincent Price and Peter Lorre in Tales of Terror.