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January 31, 2024

Beauty and the American Country House Movement: Reynolda Museum & Historic House in North Carolina

Reynolda House Library, Winston- Salem
Reynolda House Library, Winston- Salem

There is simply nothing more charming, intimate, and inviting than viewing great art in the setting of a private home or country house. It is one of the experiences our collectors and artists treasure most at each of our Collectors for Connoisseurship Arts Weekends that have been held in Atlanta, Denver, New York City, Savannah, and the Hamptons. This Fall, we plan to travel to the Hudson River Valley in upstate New York and will visit Kykuit, the remarkable Rockefeller country estate in Pocantico Hills. 

In anticipation of future arts weekends, we recently traveled to North Carolina and visited the Reynolda House Museum of American Art  in Winston-Salem. The 1917 134-acre estate includes an historic home, man-made lake, golf course, formal gardens, forest, meadows, wetlands, and bucolic walking trails (open year-round) that are enjoyed by not only tourists but the local community. 

Reynolda House Exterior

The Reynolds estate, known as Reynolda was built by Richard Joshua Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (a pioneer in the advertising and manufacture of tobacco blends, including Camel cigarettes) and his wife Katherine Smith, an astute businesswoman who eventually purchased in her own name more than 1,000 acres as part of the estate.  Katherine envisioned and supervised the building of a self-sufficient estate that included and boasted the most modern innovations in the running of the “model farm” described below. 

Their daughter Mary and her husband Charles H Babcock, Sr. would eventually give 605 acres of the estate to Wake Forest University, including Reynolda Gardens and Reynolda Village. In 1964, Babcock founded a nonprofit (“Reynolda House, Inc.”) to provide public educational arts programming on the estate and in 2003, work was commenced on the Babcock Wing that now contains 31,619 square feet of museum space.

The centerpiece of the estate was the country house above which originally contained nine paintings of historic American art that became the origin of a broad sweeping collection of three hundred works from 1755 to present. 

Before turning to the art collection, it is important to appreciate the historical architectural context of Reynolda. In the late 19th century, as American wealth was burgeoning and cities were experiencing explosive growth, successful urbanites in search of clean air and a more pleasant lifestyle started building “country houses” outside the cities to which they could commute for the weekend. The desire for “country living” by the wealthy produced an architectural “American Country House movement” that would flourish until the Great Depression. 

Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina

Drawing upon the centuries-old British models where the country house was the center of social life for the elites, these country houses were built on large tracts of land which could be used for recreational pursuits such as riding and hunting. Although the American country house had its own unique style, the Gilded Age tycoons who had traveled on the continent sought to elevate their standing in the New World by referencing a variety of Old-World European styles found in England, France, Italy and Spain. These “houses” and “cottages” proclaimed wealth and status and were anything but intimate homes. Lavish and extensive country estates such as those built by the Vanderbilt family in Newport (“Marble House” and “The Breakers” Cottages) and Asheville (“The Biltmore”) announced that the Americans had arrived! 

Notably, regardless of size or opulence, a central feature of these country houses were their gardens. “No feature of the American country house movement was as expressive of the desire for beauty in a rural setting as were its gardens and landscape architecture.” Traces, Spring 2003 at 36. 

Longwood Gardens Conservatory, DuPont Estate, Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania

Indeed, to provide the residents and guests immediate access to the views and gardens, architectural features such as terraces, conservatories, gazebos and loggias became prevalent. Id. One of the greatest garden estates in this era was built by the Du Pont family in the Brandywine Valley which we visited several years ago on a Denver Art Museum tour. The stunning Longwood Gardens located on over one thousand acres with twenty outdoor gardens and a massive conservatory shown here are simply unrivaled. 

Photo: National Parks Service, Farm Barns and Clock Tower, Hyde Park Farms

Another typical feature of these country estates included farming complexes, known as “farm models” or “farm groups” that produced significant employment and became the hub of activity for local communities. For example, in 1901, the “Hyde Park Farms” shown here were built in NY by Frederick Vanderbilt who commissioned architect Alfred Hopkins and farm expert Edward Burnett to build a farm group that included many buildings needed for farming operations. Significantly, to carry on the bucolic and appealing sensibilities of the main house, much architectural attention was paid to these support buildings by architects such as Hopkins who added aesthetic design features that made them look like picturesque villages. Although these “gentleman farms” were not built to make money, the capitalists who built them were interested in the innovation of new agricultural methods and efficiencies as well as best practices in farm management. Hyde Park Farms, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, National Park Service.

Reynolda House Grand Staircase and Foyer

The Reynolda estate reflected this national country house movement with its country house and model farm. The gem of the elegant 34,000 square foot historic home is the collection of American art that spans 250 years from the 18th-20th centuries, including works by Frederic Edwin Church, John Singer Sargent, Martin Johnson Heade, William Michael Harnett, Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe, Alexander Calder, Lee Krasner, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol.

The genesis of the collection included works from the Hudson River school which romanticized the vast, unexplored landscape of the American continent and elevated the genre of landscape to religious expression. The school is well represented with works by Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas Cole, Jasper Francis Cropsey and more. 

Reynolda House Collection, Frederic Edwin Church, The Andes of Ecuador, 1855

From the Hudson River Valley in NY to the West and beyond, these artists painted large-scale landscapes that subtly invited viewers to consider often competing religious and scientific philosophies such as “manifest destiny” and Darwinism. As explained by the Reynolda, the stunning and sublime luminist painting by Frederic Church shown here (“The Andes of Ecuador”) attempts to reconcile such tension. The apparent reference to the divine presence in nature demonstrated by the predominance of sky and light along with the small praying figures makes a religious statement while incorporating intricately detailed botanical and biological elements associated with Darwin. See Reynolda Department of American Art Description.

Reynolda House Collection, John Singer Sargent, Portrait of Mrs. Augustus Hemenway, 1890

Befitting such an elegant mansion, portraits by Gilbert Stuart and John Singer Sargent, two of America’s foremost 18-19th century portrait painters grace the walls of several of the main floor rooms which are also filled with many decorative arts objects that comprise the extensive collection of 6,000 historic objects. 

Continuing the journey to the upstairs reached by the fabulous grand staircase shown above, we encounter the diverse modern and contemporary art at Reynolda. A veritable who’s who collection of works of 20th-21st century American artists resides there in room after room. On view include Grant Wood, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O’Keeffe, Stuart Davis, Milton Avery, Alexander Calder, Alice Neel, and Lee Krasner. Not on view although the collection is rotated frequently are works by Arthur Dove, Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Jim Dine, Sam Francis, and Philip Pearlstein.

Reynolda House Collection, Stephen Towns, Flora and Lillie(2022)

Striking and close to home is the recent work in 2022 by Stephen Towns entitled “Flora and Lillie” which is a painting of two of the residents of Five Row, the segregated village built for employees and families living on Reynolda from 1916 to 1960. Based on a photograph and his research during a residency about Black labor in the South, Towns pays tribute to the workers who were so critical to the success of the model farm and estate at Reynolda and throughout the region. Surrounded by Southern flora, an intentional reference by the artist to “Flora,” the captivating and charming figures convey the beauty, strength, and grace of those who labored there. 

Be sure to visit the display in the museum building connected to the historic house that explores the interesting history of the innovations and practices at Reynolda. And do make time to stroll the lovely park-like grounds and gardens.

For further information about the American Country House movement and the efforts to preserve important country houses, visit the American Country House Foundation.

Shannon Robinson is the curator and chairperson of the biennial exhibition Windows to the Divine and the annual symposia by Collectors for Connoisseurship (C4C). Past C4C events

More about Shannon…

Filed Under: Art & Travel

May 11, 2023

Exploring Spain’s Museo del Prado and El Greco Museum

Museo Nacional del Prado exterior
Museo Nacional del Prado exterior

The Museo del Prado, formerly the Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures, was opened to the public in November of 1819. The core of the original permanent collection was drawn from the various Royal Residences of Spain with particularly important works being acquired by Charles V in the 16th century and the subsequent Habsburg and Bourbon Monarchs.  Now housing more than 20,000 works (7,000 exhibited) and spanning 135,000 square meters, the Prado is renowned for its Spanish collection, including works by Goya, El Greco, Murillo, and Velasquez. Indeed, the museum houses the largest collection of Goya (130 paintings) and Velasquez (48) in the world.

Like most world-class museums, the size of the collection is so daunting that the typical visitor soon becomes glassy eyed from the sensory overload. Having been fortunate enough to visit most of the world’s great art museums, I have made it a practice to resist the temptation to “see it all” or only view the “most famous” works. In my latest visit to the Prado in November, with a nod to the Spanish masters and an historical focus on the evolution of sacred art (view our Sacred Art videos on this website), I focused on two significant works by Murillo and El Greco.

Recall that as a result of the Renaissance emphasis on humanism rather than spiritual enlightenment and the Protestant Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church, via the Council of Trent (1545-1562), mounted a campaign to renew religious art that was grounded in Catholic teachings and would be uplifting and compelling particularly to the common man.  With radically different styles, the works of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo from Seville and El Greco from Toledo were both successful in their emphasis on emotion and promulgation of the faith.

Bartolomé Estaban Murillo, The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables, 1660-1665, Oil on canvas, Museo Del Prado
Bartolomé Estaban Murillo, The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables, 1660-1665, Oil on canvas, Museo Del Prado

Murillo:  While Marianists cannot help but stand in raptured wonder at the foot of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo’s, The Immaculate Conception of Los Venerables (above), many critics have dismissed his work as saccharine although masterful. Most viewers would assume that Murillo was simply another Catholic painter of the Counter-Reformation, depicting well-established religious tenets of the Church by creating a composition that references two dogmas, the Assumption, and the Immaculate Conception.

To the contrary, Murillo was championing a religious cause lead by Spain promoting the then controversial belief in the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (that she was born without original sin). After much debate, it eventually became one of the distinctly Catholic beliefs two hundred years later when it was formally accepted and defined as dogma by Pope Pius IX in the 19th century.

While Murillo painted the subject many times, his most popular rendition was this one, shown here, and hung in the Hospital of the Venerable Priests in Seville until it was looted by the French during the Peninsular War and acquired by the Louvre in 1852. Eventually, the masterpiece was returned by the Vichy government in 1941 to Francisco Franco and installed in the Prado.

El Greco, <em>Trinidad</em> (The Holy Trinity), 1577-1579, Oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid
El Greco, Trinidad (The Holy Trinity), 1577-1579, Oil on canvas, Museo del Prado, Madrid

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos): Heeding the call for emotion and spirituality over temporal tableaus that emphasized the virtuosity of the artist, El Greco’s mesmerizing canvases with his distinctive fusion of Byzantine traditions and Mannerism inspired Cubism, Surrealism, and Expressionism. In The Trinity (above), one of his most renowned works and the first religious painting by El Greco to enter the museum collection, El Greco expressively and dramatically depicts Jesus Christ ascending into heaven to God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The masterpiece, characterized by his unmistakable quintessential elongated figure painted with bold color and emotion was also his first commissioned work in Toledo (altarpiece for the Church of Santo Domingo el Antiguo).

El Greco, Apostle series, Oil on canvas, before 1614, El Greco Museum, Toledo, Spain
El Greco, Apostle series, Oil on canvas, before 1614, El Greco Museum, Toledo, Spain

Prior to 1872, El Greco was known for his work as a portraitist. Indeed, if you visit the El Greco Museum in Toledo, you will have the unique opportunity of viewing a series of 13 portraits (1610-1614) by El Greco depicting Christ and his 12 apostles. And while in Toledo, don’t miss two of his other famous works in Iglesia de Santo Tomė (The Burial of the Count of Orgaz, 1586) and Santa Iglesia Catedral Primada de Toledo-the Toledo Cathedral (The Disrobing of Christ, 1577-1579).

Shannon Robinson is the curator and chairperson of the biennial exhibition Windows to the Divine and the annual Collectors for Connoisseurship Arts Weekends that have been hosted by our nonprofit in Denver, New York City, Paris, Atlanta, Savannah and The Hamptons.

More about Shannon…

Filed Under: Art & Travel

February 21, 2020

Multifaceted and Diverse Art of New Zealand

Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand
Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand
Auckland Art Gallery
Auckland Art Gallery

One of the great pleasures of international travel is to visit and view the national collections of art museums around the world.  In a recent visit to New Zealand which is justifiably heralded as a land of spectacular natural beauty that attracts outdoor enthusiasts from around the globe, I was delighted to experience the diversity of art works exhibited at the Auckland Art Gallery which is not a private gallery, but rather, the country’s largest art institution.

Opened in 1888, the original main gallery building housed not only the art museum, but also the public library and the City Council offices which were later moved.

Frank Bramley, <em>For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven</em>, 1891, Auckland Art Gallery (Mackelvie Trust, 1913)
Frank Bramley, For of Such is the Kingdom of Heaven, 1891, Auckland Art Gallery (Mackelvie Trust, 1913)

The Auckland Gallery initially focused on European and British art, with major donations by Sir George Grey (former colonial governor of New Zealand) of over 12,000 items (manuscripts, rare books and paintings) and James Tannock Mackelvie (decorative arts, furniture, ceramics and paintings).  The Mackelvie Trust continued to acquire works for the Gallery such as the striking social realist painting shown above by British artist, Frank Bramley, which underscored the grief associated with child mortality regardless of class (contrasting the white dresses and expensive flowers of the girls and women in the funeral procession with the local fishing class).

Edmund Blair Leighton, <em>In Time of Peril</em>, 1897, Auckland Art Gallery
Edmund Blair Leighton, In Time of Peril, 1897, Auckland Art Gallery

Indeed, for the first half of the 19th century, the collection continued to be dominated by European old masters such as this popular work by Edmund Blair Leighton who specialized in historical genre paintings that were praised in the European academic system (this work was exhibited at the Royal Academy exhibition of 1897), but later disparaged by modern art curators.

Gottfried Lindauer, <em>Tāwhiao Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero,</em> 1882, Auckland Art Gallery
Gottfried Lindauer, Tāwhiao Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, 1882, Auckland Art Gallery

In contrast, in 1915, Auckland businessman, Henry Partridge donated his collection of paintings by Gottfried Lindauer, a Bohemian artist who immigrated to New Zealand in 1874 and became famous for his paintings of the Māori people, including many portraits of Māori chiefs such as this painting of a chief of the Tainui tribes.  As explained by the Gallery, this collection remains an important record of the respected ancestors of the Māori.

Jasmine Togo-Brisby, <em>Closed Canoe Cargo, Post-Plantation, Bot Blo Stil</em>, Auckland Art Gallery
Jasmine Togo-Brisby, Closed Canoe Cargo, Post-Plantation, Bot Blo Stil, Auckland Art Gallery

Fast forwarding to the present, the current exhibitions on display entitled Chapters of Change in New Zealand Art, contain a fascinating pictorial history of this country and its art such as the Post-Plantation series by contemporary Australian South Sea Islander artist, Jasmine Togo-Brisby.  The series contains three portraits of three generations of women (mother, daughter and granddaughter) whose heads are shown balancing miniature colonial sailing ships as references to the slave diaspora and the practice of kidnapping and transporting Pacific Islanders to Australian plantations.

<em>Chapters of Change, Radical Beginnings</em>  Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery
Chapters of Change, Radical Beginnings Gallery, Auckland Art Gallery

In the chapter, entitled Radical Beginnings, the gallery is dedicated to the elegant and simplified works of the early contemporary Māori fine artists in the 1950’s who broke away from the traditional carvings and paintings that preceded them to embrace the influences of modernist styles and practices of artists like Brancusi, Barbara Hepworth, and Henry Moore while still invoking narratives based on Maori heritage.

Arnold Manaaki Wilson, <em>Tāne Whakapiripiri</em>, 1978, Auckland Art Gallery (private collection loan)
Arnold Manaaki Wilson, Tāne Whakapiripiri, 1978, Auckland Art Gallery (private collection loan)

For example, in this sculpture by Arnold Manaaki Wilson, created in 1978, the carving from kauri wood in a simple ‘H’ form depicts Tāne, the great son of Ranginui (Sky Father) and Papatūānuku (Earth Mother).

Colin McCahon, <em>'The Wake': A Poem in the Forest</em>, 1958, Auckland Art Gallery
Colin McCahon, 'The Wake': A Poem in the Forest, 1958, Auckland Art Gallery

As for the museum’s many exhibition spaces containing contemporary art, one of note is the exhibition entitled “The Wake: A Poem in the Forest,” where the viewer is confronted with an immense painting consisting of sixteen panels painted by the artist, Colin McCahon in the attic of the Auckland City Art Gallery in 1958. Intended at that time as a new kind of visual experience combining painting with poetry, the unframed panels now fill a circular gallery and contain the poem by John Caselberg (a lament for the loss of his Great Dane, Thor) scrawled across a painted environment depicting a New Zealand forest with its distinctive kauri trees that symbolically represent the stages of grief.

In short, if you have the opportunity to visit this magical country, be sure to visit its many cultural treasures such as the Auckland Gallery.

Shannon Robinson is the curator and chairperson of the biannual exhibition Windows to the Divine and the annual Collectors for Connoisseurship Arts Weekends (Nov 5-7, 2020 Denver).

More about Shannon…

Filed Under: Art & Travel

November 22, 2019

500 Years of Fashion in Paper Art at SCAD Atlanta

While museum goers have long had the opportunity to view and admire historic textile costumes from around the globe, in Atlanta at the SCAD FASH Museum, the public is invited to an exceptional exhibition of highly detailed sculptures created from mere paper and paint by the Belgian artist, Isabelle de Borchgrave.

In her exhibition, entitled Fashioning Art from Paper, Isabelle presents incredible sculptural replicas of costumes over a 500-year period beginning with the Renaissance and the Medici family shown here.  It is hard to believe that the elaborate lace collars, ruches, pearl necklaces and other finery are all made of paper!

From elaborate period gowns to 20th century couturiers such as Worth and Poiret to this spectacular turquoise gown inspired by Mariano Fortuny– all command awe from the viewers as they move from one breathtaking creation to another.

In the center of the exhibition, SCAD installers created a ring of exotic and colorful hanging costumes created by the artist from her “Les Ballet Russes” series interpreting costumes designed by Leon Bakst, Giorgio de Chirico and Pablo Picasso.

Over her 40-year career, Isabelle’s works have been exhibited internationally, including Belgium, China, England, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, and the USA, and can be seen in museums throughout the world.  Her latest creations were inspired by her visit to the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 1994.  Paper costumes and tromp l’oeil became the focus of her collections which have achieved worldwide recognition and made her an international name and reputation associated with fashion and paper.

Kudos to the artist and co-organizers, SCAD FASH, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Society of the Four Arts, Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Frick Art and Historical Center, Baker Museum and Flint Institute of Arts for a spectacular take on fashion made of paper!

The exhibition is located at the SCAD Fashion Museum in Atlanta and will run through January 12, 2020.  So, if you are in Atlanta during that time, be sure to stop by.  Our Collectors for Connoisseurship (C4C) group considered it a highlight of our recent C4C Arts Weekend in Atlanta and Savannah from Nov 7-11.

Shannon Robinson is the curator and chairperson of the biannual exhibition Windows to the Divine and the annual Collectors for Connoisseurship Arts Weekends (Nov 7-11, 2019 Atlanta & Savannah).

More about Shannon…

Filed Under: Art & Travel

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