Around the world with John Deere.

• Author: Ferling, Rhona L.
• Position: Corporate Gallery: The John Deere Collection - Cover Story

If you ask curator Larry Jonson whether the John Deere collection has a particular theme, he'll tell you it's a "potpourri." And he's proud of that quality, too. "You can see anything from primitive New Guinea artifacts to an English crewelwork piece from 1625 to a Grant Wood painting," he says. In fact, you could say that diversity -- the theme of divergent cultures, concepts and ideas -- is the point of the collection.

That's no accident. Back in 1965, then chairman William Hewitt decided to start a collection that would harmonize with the architecture of the company's Moline, Ill., headquarters and that would enrich the employees' environment. But his aim wasn't just esthetics. If employees were exposed to different cultures through art, he reasoned, they might get a better handle on how cultural factors affect John Deere's businesses. With that in mind, Hewitt decided to buy pieces for the fledgling collection from countries in which the

company did business.

Today, it's still traditional for the company's chairman to choose new art acquisitions. The company also buys directly from artists and galleries, and it seeks out native talent by encouraging artists to submit samples of their work, such as slides, pamphlets and brochures, which it keeps on file. The collection currently totals about 1,500 pieces, of which 600 are considered "important" works by well-known artists. The media range from paintings, sculptures and collages to ancient artifacts and textiles.

What do John Deere employees think about all this? According to Jonson, most really like the art collection and take a great deal of pride in their surroundings. Although they don't get to pick the art in their immediate environment, almost all of the pieces are out in the open...