Wednesday, Sept 9, 2015 - starting from the Super 8 in Gluckstadt, MS, down to the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art (Laurel, MS), back up to the Mississippi Museum of Art (Jackson, MS), west to the R.W. Norton Art Gallery (Shreveport, LA), then spend the night up at the Super 8 in Tyler, TX:
519 miles; 8 hours 13 minutes.
Since I was up bright and early, and I didn’t want to get caught in any rush-hour traffic (see, I can learn from yesterday’s experience!), I left the Super 8 at 7 AM (it was a beautiful morning in Mississippi):
and was down in the McDonald’s in Laurel, MS at 9. I got a Senior coffee for 35 cents and worked on my computer (emails and blog). I changed into “nice museum clothes” and was at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art at 9:55.
They have a wonderful collection - in my app I list seven artists:
Albert Bierstadt
William Stanley Haseltine
Winslow Homer
John Kensett
Thomas Moran (2)
William Trost Richards
J.M.W. Turner
and although I did not see the Turner or the Haseltine, beauties included:
Winslow Homer - Fisherman’s Wife, 1873
(although the frame may be a bit ornate for my taste) (or for Winslow Homer’s taste?).
Albert Bierstadt - Autumn in New Hampshire, c. 1857
Thomas Moran - A Glimpse of Long Island Sound from Montauk, 1907
I am stunned that these beautiful collections are in towns and small cities scattered throughout our country - I only hope that they get enough visitors to make them feel good about keeping their doors open.
I then went back up the road to Jackson, to the Mississippi Museum of Art.
Um, it was a disappointment - neither the Bierstadt nor the McEntee were on display. At least, since I had to be on 20 West anyway, it did not take me out-of-my-way; and the people could not have been friendlier.
223 miles west is the R.W. Norton Art Gallery in Shreveport, Louisiana (west of the Mississippi River!). I got there at 4 (closes at 5) and I treasured every single minute. they have a “no photographs” policy, so this list will have to do
Rodin - The Thinker
Thomas Moran - Landscape with Bridge (print)
Thomas Moran - Morning on the St. John’s, Florida (print)
Canaletto - Landscape with a Pilgrim at Prayer (etching)
Albert Bierstadt
- Rocky Mountain Scene with Bear, c. 1860
- Morning in the Rocky Mountains, 1862 exquisite!!
- View of Snow-Covered Mountains, c. 1875
- Emigrants Resting at Sunset, c. 1880
- Yellowstone Falls, Wyoming, c. 1880
- Yosemite Valley, c. 1890
- Garden of the Gods
Frederic Edwin Church
- Landscape with Waterfall, 1858
- Mountain Lake, c. 1875
Thomas Cole
- The Snow Squall, c. 1825
- Mt. Chocorua, White Mountains, c. 1828 ? 29 ?
Jasper Cropsey
- Niagara Falls, 1882
Asher B. Durand
- Haying, 1838
- Landscape, Sunset, 1849
James MacDougal Hart
- The Mill, 1857 / 1887 ?
Thomas Hill
- Yosemite Valley, 1869
Winslow Homer
- Shadows on the Dunes, 1883
Daniel Huntington
- Ruins of Jamestown, VA, c. 1835
Thomas Moran
- Deep in a Forest, 1871 gray scale!
- Sunset, La Rita, New Mexico, 1902
- View of Philadelphia from Belmont Plateau, Fairmont Park, 1871
William Trost Richards
- On the Cornish Coast, 1878
William Sonntag
- Mountain Lake Near Piedmont, West Virginia, c. 1860
- Scene Near Grafton, West Virginia, 1864
In addition to “appreciating the art”, I think a major reason I go to these museums is the chance for discovery - either works that I like but have never seen before, or to discover “artists of interest” in their collection that I did not know about. Both these situations happened at the R.W. Norton Gallery - I loved seeing the etchings by Canaletto and Thomas Moran, and I discovered that they have 2 paintings by William Sonntag (I will get those into my app).
Back on the road, I'm sure there is something Thomas Moran or Albert Bierstadt could have done with those clouds and light
I finished the day driving 546 miles- Thank you, God, for another great day!
Music today was back to alphabetical songs; 130 songs, beginning with
Harvest 1972 Neil Young Harvest
and ending with
I Get A Kick Out Of You 2004 Jamie Cullum Twenty Zer05
The list can be accessed here
Highlights include:
Paul McCartney singing "Heart of the Country" as I drive through very-rural Mississippi
Yes doing "Heart of the Sunrise" AS THE SUN IS RISING (well, sunrise was a few hours earlier, but it is still "rising in the sky")
Jamie Cullum - High and Dry: "Flying on your motorcycle"
America - Horse With No Name:
On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
Frank Sinatra - How About You: "I like potato chips, moonlight, motor trips, how about you?"
and of course, the first line from Steely Dan's Home At Last: "I know this super highway; This bright familiar sun"
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