Florence Griswold Museum - Art of the Everyman

As the logo claims, the Florence Griswold is famous for its extraordinary collection of American Impressionism.  This fine museum often collaborates with other small regional museum to move beyond Impressionism to bring a range of exhibition to visitors.  This summer the museum presented Art of the Everyman: Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum.  Earlier this summer I took advantage of a tour to Cogwell's Grant and Beauport sponsored by the Griswold.  Having enjoyed that tour into the world of American folk art, it seemed appropriate to visit the display of folk art on loan from the Fenimore Art Museum.

Van Bergen overmantel, 1728-1738

The exhibition contained a variety of folk art which made for a very pleasant experience.  The overmantel shown above clearly was one of the key pieces.  In my mind Portrait of Laura Hall, 1808 painted by James Brown was an extraordinary moving portrait and the star of the show. The portrait of Mother and Child attributed to Ammi Phillipps, 1825 was also an important piece.

The exhibition also featured a few artifacts like the knife box shown below:

There were a number of "historical works" which would be wonderful primary documents to be explored by students of early American history.  While fascinating for students, I can't imagine wanting one to hang in my living room.

 

William Sidney Mount, Ringing the Pig (1842)

While a modest exhibit, it was well hung and described; consequently, it made for a pleasant morning followed by a delightful picnic overlooking the Lieutenant River with Peggy Wilson a former Choate Rosemary Hall faculty member.

Mass MoCA - Art leading the Way to the Future

 

North Adams has been a symbol of what happened to midsized American cities as manufacturing declined.  At the center of this city are a series of handsome brick buildings which fell into disrepair as the factories closed.  With the loss of the manufacturing, other business failed and once handsome housing stock was abandoned.   This dilemma of ongoing decline faced many American cities, but North Adams with the development of the Mass MoCA campus is leading the revitalization to an important area of the city.  MoCA says North Adams has always manufactured things, now it is creating art!

The manufacturing center in North Adams covered almost 13 acres or a third of the city's downtown area.  The last traditional occupant, Sprague Electric closed in 1985.  A year later a collaboration between North Adams and Williams College presented an extraordinary vision for a new economic and cultural driver.  The results of this collaboration resulted in the 1999 opening of Mass MoCA which has grown to be a premier center for the creation of art in a wide variety of forms.  From the parking lot, one walks past several buildings housing a variety of galleries, commercial venues and open spaces to arrive at a very handsome Visitor Center which hints at the space available in this center.

Sol LeWitt

Beyond visiting the campus of MoCA, the aim was to see the Sol LeWitt:  A Wall Drawing Retrospective.  Everyone in Connecticut is well aware of the work of Sol LeWitt as he is a native son and his work has been prominently displaced at the Hartford Antheneum and the New Britain Museum of Art.  As many times as I walked past one of LeWitt's installation, I never understood his philosophy.  He claimed that he was the originator of the idea behind the design and that idea is separate from the execution of the art.  The exhibition of 105 wall drawings installed over 3 floors was a collaboration of LeWitt, Yale University Art Gallery, the Williams College of Museum of Art, and Mass MoCA.

watch the creative process

Teresita Fernandez: As Above So Below

MoCA is endowed with huge, light galleries and these spaces attract unique, creative art installations.  This type of art is often constructed from a variety of materials and depending on the media, I have either briefly stopped to observe the work or passed by it quickly.  The series of art work created by Teresita Fernandez entitled As Above So Below simply demanded that one stop, observe and enjoye.   My favorite of the several different pieces in this exhibition was called Sfumato and it was fascinating.  The work consisted of over 30,000 small rocks of raw, mined graphite complimented by a hand-drawn graphite marks. Up close you find yourself studying the individual rocks and their tails, but as you step away or look down the gallery you become mesmerized by the shape that emerges and wonder how the artist knew these shapes would be present when all the pieces were in place.

As I wandered through this gallery, I was reminded on the pointillism style that evolved from the European impressionism in the late 1880s.  Once again, I was struck how contemporary art could be seen evolving from earlier schools.

It is important to note that Mass MoCA is more than gallery spaces.  There are numerous performances spaces in various sizes and the leadership of this unique facility has been extraordinarily effective in building a cultural space in the Berkshires.  I would urge anyone interested  in contemporary visual and performance art to travel north and enjoy this fine facility which truly celebrates and supports the creation of art.

The Clark - A Place for Art in the Hills

Traveling to Williamstown, Mass to visit The Sterling and Francine Clark Institute of Art has been a summer time ritual for a number of years.  It is well known for its superb collection of Impressionist and old Master paintings and the well-curated summer exhibitions made it worth the trip. Recently, one could see the construction beyond the existing buildings. While I wondered what the future held for The Clark, I was more anxious to visit the galleries than to consider what the redevelopment would mean.  As newspapers heralded the fact that the work was almost complete and would soon be open to the public, I became seriously curious and began planning my trip.

Naturally, one notices the architectural style of any art museum being visited, but occasionally the building becomes the art and my recent visit to The Clark to view the completion of master plan was one of those occasions.  The Clark is more than a series of galleries - it refers to itself as an art museum and an "international center for higher education, research, and critical discussion of the visual art."  It also supports on its property the Lunder Center at Stone Hill which is the largest regional conservation center in the country.

The Clark Institute of Art, 2014

Over the last 14 years Michael Comforti, director of The Clark and a Choate parent has worked with a team consisting of Pritzker Prized winning Japanese architect Tadao Ando, New York architect Annabelle Selldorf, and Boston landscape architect Reed Hillderbrand.  It is difficult to capture what Comforti has created with a few pictures.  However, I hope that the following images will hint at the elegance and grace of the new Clark Center and encourage all to make the trip to the Berkshires to enjoy this fabulous institution.

Walking past granite, concrete and glass to enter

Steps from basement toward the reflecting pools

Looking to the hills that surround the center

Looking over the back of the new entrance

Original building with new facade

Even though the real purpose of my July visit was to explore the new building, a little time was left to visit the main galleries and a few favorite works.  Walking into the old building one it greeted by a gallery displaying works by Winslow Homer and also George Inness.

Winslow Homer, Undertow, 1886

George Inness, Home at Montclair, 1892

Much has changed with the new expansion and development of the grounds surrounding The Clark, but the extraordinary collection of wonderful art remains the heart and soul of this very special place in the Berkshires.

Hudson River School - Historical and Contemporary Visions

In the past I have often walked quickly by any paintings which were dominated by the greens and brown tones used by the members of The Hudson River School because I found found them somewhat depressing.  However, the opportunity presented itself to visit the Albany Institute of History & Art which built its collection by acquiring works that represent the artistic inclination of artists living and working in the Upper Hudson Valley.  

The summer exhibit was entitled The Hudson River School and the Nineteenth-Century Landscape. 
Given the breath of the Institute's collection, there were a wide variety of artists and themes on display.  Consequently, I learned that The Judson River School artists when way beyond pasture scenes with cows or dark, dark forests.

James M. Hart, Valley Lands

Thomas Cole, Lake Winnepesaukee

Wandering through the two floor of the exhibit, I found many artists who
were unknown and made me realize that the Hudson River School should not be ignored.

John Vanderlyn, A Distant View of the Fall at Niagara

Asher B. Durant, Cathedral Ledge

DeWitt Clinton Boutelle, Catskills Mountain House

After truly enjoying many landscapes from the Hudson Valley School, I moved on to the SMALL + SEDUCTIVE: Contemporary Art from the Albany Institute's Collection.  It is difficult to share images of this show, but some of my favorites were done by  William B. Shade, Judy Alderfer-Abott, George Wexler and Marjorie  Portmaw.

It is often the unexpected that offers the most pleasure.  While waiting to meet my husband Jim, I had enough time to peek into the show SUMMER EXPLORE: Photographic Works by Martin Benjamin, Tom Fels, Dana Hoey, Will Jaeger and Caroly Blackwood.  As I walked through the several galleries housing the pictures by photographers, I started to ponder the difference between painting and photography.  When I got to the Carolyn Blackwood photographs I was simply amazed! A quote described her as a "misplaced painter who has a camera rather a paint brush" and I knew I had to think about photography in a new way. While looking at the Elements of Place, the barrier between photography and painting melted away from me.  Ms. Blackwood takes her inspiration from the Hudson River in upstate New York and the results are extraordinary beautiful.

Leaving the Albany Institute of History and Art, I was reminded how artists can often be placed on a continuum of art history. For this reason, I found it rewarding to view the original artists of the Hudson River School and discover how they influenced those who can after them.  I also realized that medium is not as significant as creative impulse.

Folk Art & Folly - Two Historic Homes and Their Collections

The Florence Griswold Museum is hosting an exhibit of Folk Art from the Fenimore Art Museum.  To compliment this show, the museum sponsored a trip to Cape Ann, Mass to visit two properties managed by Historic New England which is a comprehensive regional heritage organization committed to the preservation and cultural and architectural heritage of New England.

The first property we visited was Cogswell's Grant in Essex, Massachusetts

The Cogswell Grant house displays the American folk art collection of Bertram K. and Nina Fletcher Little which the couple accumulated over sixty years.  

         The Littles purchased the 165 acres Cogswell Grant farm in 1937 and carefully restored it as a home and a place to display their large collection of antiques and folk art.  The pieces in the collection continue to be displayed as the family lived with them.  Admittedly, early American furniture has never been one of my favorite art forms; however, I found myself fascinated by the many portraits that hung around the house.  For some reason these works seemed more interesting, more dynamic than those hanging in museum galleries.

I was also fascinating by the many small artifacts displayed as they would have appeared when the house was lived in.

                                                   

There are a number of paintings on the walls that were interesting because of their theme or technique.  While it added to the mood of the building to see this art hanging as a owners decided to place it; it was also frustrating because it was often difficult to get close to the art because there was an understandable prohibition against walking of the antique rugs.

It has been difficult to share pictures which can provide the full flavor of the breath and depth of the Little's collection of folk art.  Taking the Photographic tour of the Cogswell's Grant house might provide the reader with a sense of this unique historical and artistic site.

Beauport - Architectural curiosity overlooking Glouster Harbor

Henry Davis Sleeper

Beauport, the Sleeper-McCann House, Glouster, Massachusetts is also a property managed by Historic New England.

This unusual house was the summer home of Henry Davis Sleeper, America's first professional interior designer.  It served Mr. Sleeper as a place to meet with clients and as a comfortable place to entertain his wide circle of well-known guests.  It also served as a venue to display Mr. Sleeper's collection of art, curiosities, colored glass, china, and historical artifacts.  Each of the 40 rooms has a unique theme based on some aspect of his collection.  The Charles McCann family purchased the house after Mr. Sleeper's death and kept it, for the most part, as it was in Sleeper's time.

 

An absolute favorite room on mine is the book tower - every home should have such a wonderful space!

There were also wonderful spaces that overlook the harbor.

The gardens provide wonderful spaces to relax.