With this in mind, I have spent a reasonable amount of time with the art in the galleries at the museum. I am also hopng that you good readers might come visit some day, and in this hope and with my experience being among these artworks, I want to share with you my favorite 20 items from the collection, in the order in which they appear in the galleries. Some are simply listed, but others have some information taken from the collection catalog.
- James Wooldridge, Indians of Virginia, ca. 1675 - This is one of the earliest works in our collection, and it is supported by the earliest book in our library collection. Wooldridge never stepped foot on the North American continent, but when Sir Edward Conway commissioned the painting of Native Americans, Wooldridge was undeterred. The images in the painting were taken from engravings by Theodor DeBry in the book Admiranda narratio fida tamen, published in 1590. The engravings in this book were created from the watercolors of John White, who was the governor of the colony of Roanoke, now in the British Museum. This painting is, in essence, a copy of a copy. Still, the textual connection fascinates me, and makes it the first painting I like in the collection.
- Martin Johnson Heade, Haystacks, 1871-1875 - All I can tell you about this is that it has a stunning glow, and is also very intimate, because of its small size (10 x 22 in.).
- Victor Dubreuil, The Cross of Gold, ca. 1896 - As you probably know, one of my primary interests is American history. I still remember the day one of my professors, Mark Beasley, performed part of William Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold speech for us in class. This trompe l'oeil painting deals directly with that speech, as it was painted in the same year, and features the much-discussed currency.
- Dennis Miller Bunker, Anne Page, 1887 - This is the most arresting portrait in the collection, I think. It is stark, and to me very dark.
- Frederic Remington, Cowpuncher's Lullaby, 1906 - Coming from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, how could I not add a Remington to the list? Fortunately, the Remington in the collection is sublime, another great night scene much like the Carter’s The Old Stage-Coach of the Plains. It is another gorgeous lament for the loss of the west.
- George Wesley Bellows, Excavation at Night, 1908 - Though the portrait of Anne Page might be the most arresting portrait, this painting is the most frightening to me. It has a strong association with hell, and with Dante entering purgatory with the poet Virgil.
- Rockwell Kent, Greenland Landscape, ca. 1932-1933 - Rockwell Kent is among my favorite American artists. I love both his paintings, as well as his illustrations and woodcuts. Greenland Landscape is perhaps not his best painting, but the glow of the sky and the mountains, as well as the dogs playing in the foreground, is wonderful.
- Charles Sheeler, Amoskeag Mills #2, 1948 - Sheeler is another one of my favorite American artists. I love his precisionist style, and how he worked in photography and painting. I love this painting’s precision mixed with elements of cubism. I get lost in the juxtaposed planes every time I see this.
- Stuart Davis, Still Life with Flowers, 1930
- Joan Mitchell, Untitled, 1952-1953 - This was a painting I initially did not care much for. It is quite abstract, and very large. Jen turned me onto it, and it is one of my favorites. Let yourself really look into the painting, and I think you’ll get some feedback from it.
- Edward Hopper, Roofs of the Cobb Barn, 1931 - I love Edward Hopper, and I love his watercolors above all else. Though this one is not terribly famous, I love how it feels simultaneously intimate and very distant.
- Stuart Davis, Self-Portrait, 1912 - This is very dark, and disturbing. I will just let you draw your own conclusions here.
- Ben Shahn, Self-Portrait Among Churchgoers, 1939 - I love how Shahn faces away from the “establishment” in this.
- Adolph Gottlieb, Trinity, 1962 - Much more complex than I intimate here, but this takes me back to my design classes.
- Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: Joy, 1964 - This painting is warm, and is a nice visual palette cleanser before the darkness that is the Walker (next on the list). The warm yellows and oranges are such a wonderful color representation of the painting’s title: Joy.
- Kara Walker, A Warm Summer Evening in 1863, 2008 - Jen and I attended the Walker show in Fort Worth, and I was very underwhelmed. I did not care much for the cut paper work seen in the show there. However, this work in tapestry and felt is extremely disturbing and speaks volumes about violence to African-Americans not just in the south, but everywhere in the United States.
- Dan Flavin, Untitled (to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Inch), 1964 - Flavin, along with Hopper and Sheeler are among my favorites. This piece feels like a warm hug to me, and I love that it comes from industrial elements. It also speaks to the commercial nature and medium of art, as well as to our notions of what art should be. It has been respectfully hung, almost by itself in a room here.
- Bo Bartlett, The Lobster Wars, 2007 - I like this painting for two reasons. First, it reminds me of Maine, where Jen and I vacationed this summer. It was truly idyllic. However, this painting is anything but idyllic. There is something menacing about the scene when you really look at it. Why is there a skull and bones on the sail, and where did that smoke on the horizon come from?
- Andrew Wyeth, Airborne, 1996
- James Turrell, The Way of Color, 2009 - This is the most moving piece in the collection to me. I’ll embed a video of David Houston talking about the piece, and leave it at that.
All that said, please come visit - I would love to share these pieces with you!
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