Busman's Holiday

(April 20, 2017) Council Bluff’s IA, Omaha, NE

Thursday I played hooky. I forwarded my work telephone and headed with my friend and art mentor, Dr. Ed Welch to Omaha, and Council Bluffs for a day trip to a familiar historic site and a first class art exhibit.  

Our first stop for me an encore was at the Historic Dodge House in Council Bluffs. Grenville Melin Dodge is one of those historic figures you have never heard of, though you have seen his picture. In the famous picture celebrating the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Grenville Dodge is one of the men shaking hands in front of the two railroad engines.

Grenville Dodge was one of those men in the second half of the 19^th Century who exemplified America’s manifest destiny. He was successful in the military, politics, railroad building, and as a Wall Street financier.  

Dodge’s highlight reel includes service in the Civil War obtaining the rank of Major General and distinguishing himself at the Battle of Pea Ridge and the Siege of Atlanta. As a railroad builder, besides being the Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad, Dodge built and or financed several railroads including the Texas & Pacific, and railroads in Europe, South America, and Russia. Dodge behind the scenes essentially controlled the Republican Party in Iowa for over fifty years. Dodge and his brother Nathan (N.P.) Dodge were major developers in Omaha and Council Bluffs and had significant business interests there in banking and real estate. 

The beautiful Dodge House was built in 1869 at a cost of $35,000. It has been painstakingly restored with much of the original furniture. The home tells the Dodge story. A significant factoid is that five Republican Presidents dined at the General’s home.

In addition to the Council Bluff’s home, the General lived in a private rail car and maintained a home in New York City. Dodge was a close associate of General and President U S Grant. When Grant’s Tomb was dedicated on New York City’s Riverside Drive in 1897, Dodge was Grand Marshall of the Parade at the dedication.

After our history lesson and a quick lunch at The Cheesecake Factory Ed and I reached the Josyln Art Museum to see the current exhibition Wild Spaces, Open Seasons, Hunting and Fishing in American Art.  Admission was a modest $10.

This honestly first class exhibition was a look at American art's fascination with hunting and fishing. The exhibit was curated by the Joslyn Art Museum, my Mother Ship – The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Fort Worth) and the Shelburne Museum (Shelburne, Vermont). Wild Spaces will be traveling to Cowtown this autumn.

Relating to hunting and fishing throughout the exhibit the artwork emphasized several themes:

Men hunted to support themselves and their family

Hunting and fishing was an outdoor sport of the leisurely upper class

Hunting could be a hazardous adventure. 

Hunting portrayed mythical stories

Hunting transformed a young nation into an industrial power

The vanishing wilderness

There were many art pieces, primarily oil on canvas and sculpture demonstrating and reinforcing these themes. Included were many objects by some of America’s greatest artists representing many genres. Some important major pieces were on display.

A few of the artists shown were Thomas Eakins, William Merritt Chase, Rockwell Kent, Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt, George Caleb Bingham, Martin Johnson Heade, William R Leigh, Alfred Jacob Miller, Frederic Remington, John Singer Sargent, Charles M Russell, N C Wyeth, Marsden Hartley, Doug Manship, William Hartnett, August Saint-Gaudens, and Edward S Curtis.

I was introduced to a new wildlife artist, Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait who I liked and hope to learn more about.

One sculpture that particularly appealed to me was Diana by Saint-Gaudens. The sculpture was a casting of the original designed for atop the tower on the original Madison Square Garden.

One point the exhibition made that struck me was a quote attributed to  Ralph Waldo Emerson who “encouraged Americans to relate to the land as a means of cultivating a national identity.”

Our road trip was an enjoyable escape. 

Mother of All Mothers

(April 10, 2017) Chicago, Illinois

Our family spent last weekend celebrating granddaughter Sara Kulesza’s Bat Mitzvah in Chicago. It was wonderful spending time with family and close South Dakota friends. Having time on Monday before Seder on the first eve of Passover, Harry and I headed downtown for a drop in peek at the massive Art Institute of Chicago.

The Art Institute’s current featured exhibit is of James McNeill Whistler’s famed painting “Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1” (1871). Universally known as “Whistler’s Mother”, it is one of the world’s most recognizable paintings. The exhibit was Mother’s third trip to Chicago; her last stay was at the Art Institute sixty years ago. She usually resides with her owner the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

James McNeill Whistler (1834 -1903) was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is slightly ironic his grandfather, Captain John Whistler, founded Fort Dearborn in 1831 in what is now Chicago. Fort Dearborn was located where now is Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, a few blocks north of the Art Institute. Whistler who was an expat most of his life and never resided in Chicago considered himself a son of the City.

Whistler’s parents wanted him to study for the ministry but he was not interested. Instead Whistler was accepted to West Point. His career was lackluster and near the end of the three-year course of study, after much leniency, Superintendent Robert E. Lee dismissed him. As a Cadet he did distinguish himself as a draftsman and cartographer. Leaving West Point, Whistler moved to Washington, D. C. where he went to work for the U. S. Land Survey. Later following his art muse, Whistler moved to Paris and later settled in London.

As an artist, Whistler is best known as a painter and printmaker. His painting employed resolved brush strokes, while his printmaking technique was very sensitive and his lines precise.

Surrounding the masterpiece is an interesting story. Whistler’s mother was living with him in Chelsea at the time of the painting and agreed to be the model for his composition. Originally she stood in his living room for the portrait. However the physical demands of posing proved to be too strenuous for Mom. Consequently the painting was recomposed with her sitting.

The result was the painting we know today capturing and embodying some of the best qualities of motherhood at the time; “stoic rectitude and frugality.”

The curated exhibit was contained within one gallery yet exhibited to give context to the Grand Centerpiece and the Artist. Associated pieces in the exhibit that I particularly liked were:

       Portrait of Whistler (1869) by Walter Graves

      

       Self Portrait of Whistler (1871 – 1873) chalk on pale brown paper

      Portrait of Arthur Jerome Eddy (1894) by James McNeill Whistler – oil painting done in Chicago during the Columbian Exposition

     Black Lion Wharf Print (1859) by James McNeill Whistler – part of the Thames set. This is the small print seen in the background in “Whistler’s Mother”.

With a little time left in our Art Institute stay, Harry and I attacked the Field McCormick Galleries of American Art. I walked into the first gallery and was blown away by James Earl Fraser’s (of buffalo nickel fame) “End of the Trail.” It is little known that Fraser grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota. Residing next to the famous sculpture were castings of Frederic Remington’s “Bronco Buster” and “Coming through the Rye.” Seeing these three was worth the price of admission ($24 adult, $20 senior).

Just walking through there were so many museum worthy pieces to see. There were works by favorites John Singleton Copley, Martin Johnson Heade, Thomas Cole, Thomas Moran, August Saint-Gaudens and many many others.

One particular sculpture I was attracted to was a sculpture of Abraham Lincoln by Daniel Chester French (designer of the Lincoln Memorial.) Remarkably the Lincoln Centennial Commission of Nebraska commissioned the sculpture but they did not complete the subscription payments allowing the sculpture to find new owners.

It was interesting to learn that Chicago had been a starting or “dropping off” point for many Western artists in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The Art Institute’s American collection is extensive and alone worth a visit.