Art – Writing New Jersey Life

Seward Johnson’s Invitation to Grounds for Sculpture

On April 26, 2024

In Art, Arts, Culture, Museum, STEAM, Travel, US History

Come with me, and you’ll be
In a world of pure imagination
Take a look, and you’ll see
Into your imagination

“Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka” by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley

Beautiful peacocks wow visitors at Grounds for Sculpture

View from “Put Yourself in the Picture” by Roberto Lugo

Grounds for Sculpture is founder and sculptor Seward Johnson’s invitation to embrace art. Visitors, especially children, often hug or play with sculptures like they are old friends, sitting beside them at picnic tables or in outdoor cafes. Many have had the experience of bumping into a Seward Johnson statue around the country (and the world) and uttering, “Excuse me,” only to stop and laugh at the realization that it is not an actual person. The artist’s playful gotcha game continues with a celestial wink.

Beautiful orchard of Japanese cherry, apple blossom, and crab apple trees

The fun, a reflection of hard work, generosity, and planning, began in 1992 as an outgrowth of the Johnson Atelier, which Mr. Johnson founded in 1974, initially in Princeton, as a community for sculptors. The Atelier was ground-breaking by offering sculptors the opportunity to keep control of their work and have access to production methods formerly kept close to the vest within the sculpture world. By all accounts, the Atelier sculptors’ collaborations were, and are, rewarding and fun. The institute has the reputation of being the finest foundry for bronze casting in the country and among the best in the world. (Early collaborators and friends of Seward Johnson from the Atelier, sculptors Herk Van Tongeren, Isaac Witkin, and Brooke Barrie, contributed to the direction of the sculpture park that grew from the Atelier. Mr. Van Tongeren became the first Grounds for Sculpture president and executive director, and Ms. Barrie was the inaugural academic director, curator, and a successive director.) Seward Johnson’s generosity is a gift that keeps giving as sculptors have gone on from the Atelier to form schools and flourish as artists. Visitors may sometimes see the artists at work in the Atelier when exploring the grounds. Today, the Atelier also curates the exhibitions of Seward Johnson’s works, which help to increase tourism wherever the sculptures go.

“Put Yourself in the Picture” by Roberto Lugo

“Captured” by Seward Johnson with a woman reading his daughter’s book of poetry (June 2023)

What has changed most over the past several years at Grounds for Sculpture is that the core group of visitors has expanded from traditional art lovers to a crowd more reflective of those who would have visited when Grounds for Sculpture was the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Through grants from a foundation, Mr. Seward purchased the neglected 42 acres of the former fairgrounds and gradually transformed them with the same generous thought he had behind the placing of his inviting “Everyman” sculptures in public parks – they are a way to draw people back into the park. Among the art lovers at Grounds for Sculpture are international travelers, which indicates the appeal of the art. On a weekend visit this month, children with their families on holiday from overseas sported cartoon T-shirts like the Incredible Hulk. Perhaps Seward Johnson might have taken it as a compliment that budding connoisseurs consider his art, too, a marvel.

The Seward Johnson Center for the Arts (June 2023)

The children are in it for fun, which abounds at Grounds for Sculpture. On an April weekend visit, a giant stone snake was a hit with children who ran along it, as were the Cloud Swings, which had parents and grandparents playing with their children. Ideally, the art and events will inspire children’s lifelong creativity, and there are online activities for young artists to try before they visit.

Founder Seward Johnson

“It’s easy sometimes to forget the simple things that give us pleasure. If we open our eyes, life is marvelous.” Seward Johnson

Seward Johnson with Cecelia Joyce Horton and her parents on Cecelia and Seward’s wedding day

Seward Johnson II, born in New Brunswick, NJ, April 16, 1930, lived a New Jersey story as much as a worldwide one, having resided in Highland Park, Hopewell, and Princeton at different times. His parents were J. Seward Johnson, Jr. and Ruth Dill. His grandfather, Robert Wood Johnson, Sr., was a co-founder of the well-known pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, and his maternal grandfather was Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Melville Dill OBE, a Bermudian who served as an attorney-general and a member of Parliament. Not long after the Lindbergh kidnapping, Seward’s father foiled a kidnapping attempt in the Johnson family home, the Merriewold Estate Castle in Highland Park, which led to the family’s far-flung stays in London, Paris, Bermuda, and the New Mexico Ghost Ranch of Georgia O’Keefe. A fun tidbit is that Mr. Johnson’s cousins on his mother’s side are Michael and Joel Douglas, sons of Diana Dill and Kirk Douglas. Kirk once asked Seward to sculpt a bust of him, which Seward graciously did. Though portraiture was not usually “his thing,” it was a compliment that his famous uncle asked. The sculpture featured the striking dual faces of Kirk, whom the 16-year-old Seward first knew, and the Kirk of what was then 2002.

Following the philanthropic example of Robert Wood Johnson, J. Seward Johnson, Jr. set up six charities for each of his children to contribute to society, Seward’s being the Atlantic Foundation. It was through grants from the Atlantic Foundation that Seward purchased the land for the Atelier and Grounds for Sculpture and funded the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, which his father had founded in 1971 for “preserving the environment through a deep, scientific understanding of the ocean”. The foundation supports marine research, classes, and marine mammal rescue as part of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University.

For someone who often appeared light-hearted publicly, Seward Johnson had navigated life challenges, some even more complex and undoubtedly more painful, by being played out publicly. Despite his intelligence, he struggled as a student due to his dyslexia but later found his way by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. During his service, he fought in the Korean War for four years on the USS Gloucester, and at one point, he and his fellow servicemen nearly lost their lives when the battleship took a direct hit. A failed first marriage caused despair, and lengthy litigation over the family estate made headlines for years. Corporate life did not suit his talents, and he was let go from the family business at 38.

Cecelia Joyce and Seward from the exhibition

A joyful counterbalance was Seward Johnson’s second marriage with writer, poet, director, and producer Cecelia Joyce Horton, with whom he shared the ultimate “meet cute” story. Seward, Cecelia, and another passenger got bumped from a flight from New York City to Nantucket. Seward wisely suggested that the other man, a traveler from California, might enjoy a night seeing the city, which cleared the way for dinner with Cecelia. For an uplifting experience, enjoy the exhibition “That’s Worth Celebrating: The Life and Work of the Johnson Family” in the Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, which shares Mr. Johnson’s happiness with his family life.

Noting Seward’s mechanical ability, Cecelia encouraged her husband to move from painting, which they did together, to sculpture. After being rejected by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Seward’s first sculpture, the steel “Stainless Girl,” won the U.S. Steel’s 1968 Design in Steel Award out of 7,000 entries, and, as he joked in interviews, he never won anything again.

Impressively, he carried on with his work despite the initial derision of some art critics who may have missed that he had a different aim. He would comment, “The art of my work is in the interaction, not the aesthetic.”

Seward’s determination, however, demonstrated that he was not a dilettante, and the increasing profits from the sale of his works went back into the Atelier. (In what must have felt like a rewarding, full-circle experience, Georgia O’Keefe later used the Atelier.) Notably, Mr. Johnson received the Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from the International Sculpture Center in 2019, which he had supported for years at the invitation of founder Elden Tefft, a sculptor and a professor at the University of Kansas, and membership in the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

“…not public art, but art for the public…” Seward Johnson

Seward Johnson’s most well-known series of sculptures may be “Celebrating the Familiar” as well as “Beyond the Frame,” which recreated the works of the Impressionists, and “Icons Revisited,” with the monumental sculptures like “Forever Marilyn” from a still photo from Billy Wilder’s “The Seven Year Itch” (the rights of which Mr. Johnson obtained from the photographer) and “Embracing Peace” from one of the better known Victory Over Japan or “V-J” Day photos of a sailor kissing a nurse in anticipation of the end of the war in Times Square. Seward Johnson created “Embracing Peace” from the photo by US Navy photojournalist Victor Jorgensen, which was in the public domain. Photographer Alfred Eisenstadt, who took the more well-known photo, had observed the tipsy sailor passing through Times Square, kissing women of all ages and appearances out of sheer joy that the war was ending. Current perspectives give the photo different meaning for some, but in the context of 1945 and Mr. Eisenstadt’s description, the jubilation at the end of World War II was felt throughout the country.

Life-size “Embracing Peace” in downtown Spring Lake, NJ (2022)

“If It Were Time” by Seward Johnson, an homage to “Terrace at Sainte-Adresse” by Monet (2021)

“Family Secret” by Seward Johnson, inspired by Renoir’s “Two Sisters in the Terrace” (2021)

Regardless of scale, the faces of his works are remarkably expressive. Though “Beyond the Frame” initially drew some criticism for borrowing from other artists, Mr. Johnson believed that if viewers could walk inside the paintings in 3-D, this would be an ultimate sharing of the artist’s vision and a way to engage people who might not otherwise be interested in art. Seward added his contributions beyond the artist’s original canvas. As he said in interviews, he wanted to create “not public art, but art for the public” and added, “Interaction is part of the art form. But the interaction also extends beyond what is simply there to what is created in the viewer’s imagination.” Over the years, his works gained acceptance and became popular. Perhaps by not only doing what he loved but creating it with love is what resonates with people today.

People have compared his works with those of Norman Rockwell, whom Mr. Johnson admired, but he noted that Mr. Rockwell presented a story while Seward wanted the viewer to imagine what his figure’s story might be. Influences that Seward Johnson pointed out in “The Sculpture of J. Seward Johnson, Jr. Celebrating the Familiar” (1987) were the French painter and sculptor artist Honore Daumier, who conveyed his critiques of society with humor and sociologist/journalist William H. Whyte. William Whyte’s book “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces” (1980) contained observations underscored with photos of how people acted in urban environments. Seward Johnson, too, was a keen observer of human behavior and nature. In interviews, he shared that he liked to walk through Central Park for inspiration. His reassuring park figures offered an “enticement to socialize” and to enjoy nature. Similarly, Frederick Law Olmstead designed invitingly to bring people into parks for their benefit. The perspectives of both visionaries have become more invaluable post-pandemic.

Though intellectual, Mr. Johnson possessed an irrepressible sense of humor, which is evident throughout the Grounds for Sculpture. “I like to have discovery in my work, generally done with humor…I like people to smile at what I made them think…” Visitors will find themselves smiling and laughing out loud at some exhibits. When interviewed for the 2014 Grounds for Sculpture retrospective of his work, Mr. Johnson, who created art well into his 80s, divulged that he sometimes napped on the bed in the exhibit of Van Gogh’s bedroom in Arles and then went back to work with tap shoes tucked away in case some excess energy took hold. “I’m living in my dream, you see.”

Seward Johnson’s 3-D version of Van Gogh’s “Bedroom at Arles” that visitors can enter

The process

Imagination meets hard work in creating a bronze sculpture, which can take up to two years to complete. The trompe-l’oeil (“optical illusion”) or the realism of Seward Johnson’s work came with great effort. A novice’s summary of the process is that from initial clay models (maquettes), Mr. Johnson created facial expressions and gestures, then chose a live model to come to the studio for apprentices to make a life-size clay and plasticine figure. Seward finalized the face and pose and selected clothing for the sculpture’s story. Apprentices converted the figure to plaster and set the clothes in resin. Before the resin set, Mr. Johnson pumped air under the fabric and into the pockets to achieve the look of folds and motion in the clothes. The sculpture then dried for two days before being separated into sections.

“On Poppied Hill” by Seward Johnson, inspired by “Woman with Parasol in a Field of Poppies” by Monet

As described in “The J. Seward Johnson, Jr. Celebrating the Familiar,” the “true foundry process” then began. Apprentices converted the plaster pieces to wax by creating a rubber mold for each. They then perfected the details of the wax (“chasing”), which they dipped into a solution to create a protective ceramic shell. The next step was to “burn out” the wax to leave only the detailed ceramic shell with a “precise image of the original,” which is “the lost-wax method of casting”.

Highly skilled apprentices then poured molten bronze at 2,000 degrees F (1093.33 C) into the molds. The team then adjoined the pieces and added bronze details from the sculptor’s vision, like glasses, jewelry, and hand-held objects such as pens or gardening trowels. The last step, which involved reheating parts of the metal using acetylene torches, was the patination or the coloring of the figure with special colors unique to Mr. Johnson’s work thanks to his collaboration with his fellow artists at the Atelier. Computer technology later created the giant, iconic sculptures from the life-size bronze ones. Faces of Seward Johnson’s bronze works became more expressive over time with evolving techniques, which remains essentially the same today, though the Atelier offers more current information about their services.

The casting process of the Atelier also makes creating sculptures more cost-effective for artists, which is another draw in addition to the skilled artistry.

“Double Check”

A work of art can take on a life of its own, which Seward Johnson experienced with “Double Check,” another “double-taking” statue this one completed for Merrill Lynch and placed in Liberty Park (now Zuccotti Park) near the former Twin Towers. The Everyman sculpture depicts a man checking the contents of his briefcase before a meeting. After 9/11, the work, surrounded by debris, took on a different meaning, which Mr. Johnson speaks about in an exhibition video, a moving segment from “The Saturday Morning Show” with Russ Mitchell and produced by Nadine Witkin, daughter of sculptor Isaac Witkin. Some rescue workers initially mistook the lifelike sculpture for a survivor.

Firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and mourners left notes, flowers, and other tributes around the memorial site. Respectfully, Mr. Johnson changed the time on Double Check’s watch to 8:46 a.m., the time the first tower was hit. Two tributes are at Grounds for Sculpture, one in the entryway (pictured above) and another in the Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, a “shrine” in bronze.

A song in his heart

Sing-a-long host at Rat’s Restaurant accompanied by Phil Orr from the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts

A renowned raconteur, Seward Johnson also entertained people with his Sing-a-longs (with a bit of tap dancing) at Rat’s Restaurant. Accompanied by Adam Weitz and Phil Orr, he would sing Broadway tunes and American songbook favorites. Regrettably, I could not go to what I thought might be the last one, but his joy lives on in delightful YouTube and Atelier Facebook posts. After Seward Johnson’s unfortunate passing at nearly 90 years old in 2020, his friend Joyce Carol Oates compared him with Walt Whitman for his “populist yet strategically calculated art” with a “remarkable declaration of expansiveness….”. After an unveiling of an installation of his on Times Square, Seward serenaded his wife and in a mic drop moment quipped, “Now I can say that I’ve sung on Broadway.” Both he and his wife Cecelia’s generosity went beyond Grounds and the Atelier. Cecelia Joyce Johnson is now president of the Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson Foundation, which awards annual grants to educational and arts organizations. Among these is the Forman School in Connecticut, which supports students with learning differences, and where Mr. Johnson attended and Albert Einstein was an advisor.

(The grand sculptures are marvelous and awe-inspiring, but one of my favorites is the clay model of Albert Einstein, whom Mr. Johnson knew as a mentor from his high school days.)

Jazz greats by Seward Johnson at the Seward Johnson Center for the Arts

“God Bless America,” complete with corn, by Seward Johnson, inspired by “American Gothic” (earlier visit)

“A Turn of the Century” by Seward Johnson, an homage to “Dance at Bougival” by Renoir, with a partial view of “Los Mariachis” en route to Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton Township

One figure from Seward Johnson’s “Los Mariachis”

The landscape

As Seward Johnson shared in a 2002 EBTV (East Brunswick TV) interview with Amy Fisher, “I want to have the land sculpted so that each piece is a separate experience as much as possible. I want it to be a sequential experience going through the park. I think that’s terribly important and then to add theater to the experience so that when you go around, it’s ‘Wow!’ All of a sudden it hits you….” His intent was “to enhance each piece”. Mr. Johnson, both Director of Design and Founder, planned much of the original grounds himself from the “rubble” of the former fairgrounds, which included planting trees while working alongside architect and sculptor Brian Carey. (In a Grounds for Sculpture 2015 video, Facilities Director W. Bruce Daniels notes that starting up required planting more than 2,000 trees, the remarkable variety of which visitors can appreciate on a tree tour, and tens of thousands of shrubs, roses, and ornamental grasses – including bamboo – to fill the grounds that had only a few maple trees remaining.) Mr. Johnson explained that sometimes pieces had to travel around the grounds before finding a home. Repeat visitors will enjoy a different experience on each visit with the circulation of works and new sculptures. Part of the fun is that visitors think that they have seen everything, but with a return visit, they realize that they have not.

A different view of the entrance with Seward Johnson’s “A Turn of the Century” and Wayne Trapp’s “Geometry of the Cosmos” (June 2022)

As Seward Johnson remarked, he did not often create portraits, but in his EBTV interview with Ms. Fisher, he shared that when legendary screen star Audrey Hepburn asked, he could not refuse. Ms. Hepburn generously sponsored the Audrey Hepburn Children’s House, which offers services for maltreated children and is part of the Pediatrics Department at Hackensack Meridian Hackensack University Medical Center.

Across the street from the house is a rose garden with the sculpture “It’s Going to Be a Beautiful Building,” with Ms. Hepburn and an architect who are discussing the plans for the center across the street. Ms. Hepburn gives a sweet wave with her pointer finger to a shy little girl, which Seward observed when meeting with the benevolent actress.

On a June visit to Grounds for Sculpture last year, I went for the roses but fell for the water lilies with a tip of the sunhat to the dedicated horticulturalists and volunteers. (The flowers, the art! The art, the flowers! The floral beauty later transitions into art with autumn leaves and then with snowy vistas.) The sculptures are beautifully incorporated into the landscape, emphasizing how nature and imagination complement each other, an interplay that Mr. Johnson appreciated on a boyhood trip to Canada and later on a wilderness trek there with friends from the U.S. Navy, both thoughtfully shared in an excellent biographical video from the Johnson Atelier and another from Lynn DeClemente Losavio, the Collection Manager of The Seward Johnson Atelier via the Pennington Library.

Water lilies with “Sailing the Seine II” by Seward Johnson in the background

From Renoir’s “Luncheon at the Boating Party,” a partial view of Seward Johnson’s “Were You Invited?” (The answer at GFS is, “Yes!”)

Partial view of sculpture by Andrzej Pitynski (2021)

Works of other sculptors

Grounds for Sculpture has featured the works of numerous sculptors: New Jersey’s George Segal, Magdalena Abakanowicz, Dana Stewart, Clifford Ward, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Red Grooms. The collection is comprehensive, and these are only a few names.

“The Bathers” by Isaac Witkin (June 2023)

Exhibitions

This exhibition, “Likeness” by the artists of The Arc Mercer in the Education Center next to “Double Check,” closes Sunday, April 28^th.

On May 5^th, “Slow Motion” opens with the work of Ana Teresa Fernández, Colette Fu, Billy Dufala, Omar Tate, and Sandy Williams IV.

Previously, “Local Voices,” hosted with an almost familial dedication, was on view to convey an idea of the breadth of the exhibitions.

On the note of local, Seward Johnson’s sculptures are throughout Hamilton Township, which also features Veterans Park, Sayen Park Botanical Garden, and Mercer County Park. Nearby in Trenton is the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Cadwalader Park.

Seward Johnson work near Hamilton Township Town Hall (2020)

Photos from the annual Azalea Festival at Sayen Gardens with the wonderful Denny Paul Quartet (added May 2024):

For more “local” viewing of Seward Johnson’s work, also enjoy an exhibition at Ocean County College through June.

Visiting

Friendly staff members welcome visitors to the Grounds for Sculpture which is open daily from 10-5 (closed Tuesdays), though kindly check the Visitor Information as these change with the seasons. Reserve tickets online and allow several hours to explore. A museum shop with lovely selections is open Wednesday-Sunday.

A sculpted welcome along the way (June 2023)

Informal dining is available in the Van Gogh Café, which also offers pre-ordered take-out totes for Picnics in the Park in season to enjoy on the grounds, and another café in the Domestic Arts Building, when available, as is fine dining at the well-reviewed Rat’s Restaurant. Rat’s, named after Ratty from “The Wind in the Willows,” Mr. Johnson’s favorite character from a favorite book by Kenneth Grahame, recalls Monet’s Garden at Giverny. The restaurant has a separate entrance, and its hours are Wednesday through Sunday. Rat’s and the beautiful sculpture park grounds are available for meetings and events.

Grounds for Sculpture offers accessible tours of all kinds, as well as wheelchair and electronic convenience vehicle rentals. Tours for schools, colleges, adults, and corporations are available, though the popular school tours are sold out through June 17^th. Reserving well in advance is best. There are concerts and other events throughout the year. The Atelier is available for tours, private events, and team building. Additionally, Grounds for Sculpture became LEED Gold Certified in 2019, and it has two electric car charging stations. Memberships and volunteering (and gardening) that support Grounds for Sculpture and the Atelier are welcome. The Arc Mercer and Audrey Hepburn Children’s House via Executive Director Amy Glazer (amy.glazer@hmhn.org) also welcomes support.

The invitation

In this travel post, the GPS turned toward Seward Johnson’s life as he and the Grounds for Sculpture connect intrinsically. A true philanthropist, Seward Johnson has made his own “Everyman” good-hearted impulses larger than life with the realization of an incredible vision. Still present in the delight of visitors, Seward Johnson invites us all to his ongoing celebration.

Seward Johnson sculpture in homage to Monet’s “Women in the Garden” (partial view)

A “road trip” postscript

Seward Johnson’s sculptures at Old Westbury Gardens, Old Westbury, NY, which were selfie sensations (2022)

Seward Johnson’s Sculptures in Spring Lake, NJ (2022)

(Sources: groundsforsculpture.org and exhibitions, sewardjohnsonatelier.org, The Sculpture of J. Seward Johnson, Jr. Celebrating the Familiar by J. Seward Johnson, Jr. with Paula Stoeke, americanprofile.com, johnsonatelier.com, sculpturemagazine.com, youtube.com (Atelier, Pennington Public Library, EBTV, Nantucket History, Coppervideo), courierpostonline.com, communitynews.org, groundsforsculpturewordpress.com, mycentraljersey.com, washingtonpost.com, causeiq.com, ibdb.com, stateoftheartsnj.com, willowwoodarboretum.org, sculpturemagazine.art, artmuseum.princeton.edu, mainstreetmurfreesboro.org, walkaboutnewyork.com, observer.com, atlasobscura.com, downtownny.com, artcitybronze.com, uvalaw, hmdg.org, britannica.com, Wiki)

A Holiday Thank You

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On December 26, 2022

In Art, Baking, Christmas, Culture, History, Holidays, Museum, Travel

“Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly Merry Christmas.” Peg Bracken

Enjoy the ongoing celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Three Kings Day/Little Christmas with cocoa in a cookie. Warm thanks for following and a “cheers” to happiness in 2023!

Magnolia from Winterthur Museum and poinsettias from Longwood Gardens

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup powdered sugar
Beat together the cocoa powder, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder. Beat the dry ingredients into the cocoa-oil mix. Cover and chill for 4 hours or overnight. Bake at 350°F for 10 to 13 minutes. Yields about 50 cookies.

Fun twists:

Double Chocolate: Add a cup of mini chocolate chips.
Black Forest: Add a cup of chopped dried cherries or cranberries
Mint Chocolate: Swap 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla for mint extract, and add some crushed candy canes to the powdered sugar
Orange Chocolate: Swap 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla for orange extract
Powdered sugar: Add some cinnamon for a festive fun.

(Source: simplyrecipes.com)

Beautiful trees and flowers from Longwood Gardens thru 1/8

Beautiful menorah at Morven Museum, Princeton

“A Festival of Trees” at Morven Museum thru 1/8

SAVE – A friend to homeless animals, Morven Museum

Beautiful tree at Palmer Square, Princeton

Santa visits children at Palmer Square thanks to the Princeton Fire Department

Shining stars of the Princeton Fire Department 🌟

The Princeton Fire Department spreading holiday cheer 🎄✨

Tree dedicated to servicemen and women at the annual “Yuletide at Winterthur,” Winterthur Museum, Delaware, thru 1/8

The signature, exquisite floral tree, Winterthur

Enjoy a Garden Tour with Tyler at Winterthur

For what’s in bloom, enjoy checking Winterthur’s yearly bloom guide 🌸

“Christmas in Stockbridge”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On December 7, 2020

In Art, Arts, Culture, Family, Museum, Travel

“I don’t think Christmas is necessarily about things. It’s about being good to one another.” Carrie Fisher

A slightly curving panoramic shot to capture this 8 foot long painting at the Norman Rockwell Museum

At Christmastime, Norman Rockwell’s “Home for Christmas (Stockbridge Main Street Christmas),” which perfectly captures Christmas joy, comes to life the first Sunday of December with a living recreation of the painting which is now on view locally at the Norman Rockwell Museum – Home of American Illustration Art. “Gilmore Girl” fans will recognize the tradition of tableau vivant from “The Festival of Living Art” with Stockbridge’s delightful, real-life atmosphere outdoing even the charm of Stars Hollow. In a festive tweaking, the historic Red Lion Inn from the painting, now open in winter, twinkles with lights and features harmonizing carolers on the porch. Passers-by join in song with the same delight of the Berkshires proud who cheer at the words “from Stockbridge to Boston” from “Sweet Baby James” performed by their neighbor James Taylor in his summer visits to Tanglewood. Holiday concerts fill the churches and halls while both residents and visitors stroll along Main Street, closed to traffic for a few hours, each person truly part of the holiday canvas in this highlight among a weekend of events.

“Home for Christmas” and The Red Lion Inn

A real-life detail from “Home for Christmas”

Everyone from our proud veteran bus driver to the carriage drivers who smiled for the camera three times while visitors like us got photos in motion right was wonderful. The vintage car owners meet up year after year, welcoming honored new ones into the fold with a neighborly rapport. Filled with goodwill, part Stockbridge, part Rockwell, strangers offer to take photos for each other and talk about their affection for the town and their favorite Rockwell paintings as if they, too, were coming home. So warm and wonderful is the atmosphere that when looking up the photos, I had forgotten that it had rained that day just two years ago.

Though the live event did not take place this year, the good news is that a virtual version and seasonal events are online through December 31^st to plan ahead for next year. Even better news, Stockbridge is open and welcoming friends in a safe way via the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce. The Norman Rockwell museum offers a train set replica of the painting along with the incredible art collection, both viewed on a timed schedule. Enjoy reading about one summer visit and the profile of the self-defined “illustrator” via “Frankly Norman: A Sketch” with a surprise guest. (Hint: The Hoboken, New Jersey guest’s “Christmas with the Rat Pack” had a unique holiday spin.) Fun tidbits are that Mr. Rockwell’s first Stockbridge studio was above the supermarket in “Home for Christmas” and his models, like Pop Fredericks who portrayed Santa in the artist’s “storytelling” and at events, were often his neighbors

“Couple Dancing Under Mistletoe,” 1928, from Norman Rockwell’s Charles Dickens series for “The Saturday Evening Post”

The Norman Rockwell Museum – Home of American Illustration Art

“Golden Rule,” 1961, at the Norman Rockwell Museum

Enjoy, too, the otherworldly beauty of “Winterlights” and Christmas trees at the McKim, Mead & White architectural gem Naumkeag, nearby Lenox’s virtual “A Christmas Carol” at the Gilded Age Ventfort Hall, and “NightWood” the outdoor “sound, light, and color” show at Edith Wharton’s home, all through late December – early January. With our renewed appreciation of nature, the Berkshire Landkeepers have ideas for taking in the woodland beauty. A Stockbridge Virtual Arts & Crafts Show, Gingerbread House Contest, and Hometown Christmas Light-Up Contest keep the season festive. Though the shops along Main Street offer everything from tech to nostalgia, the bow on top is the Stockbridge holiday spirit.

Sweet tree at Cramwell, a former resort, now a spa

A view to spring with Norman Rockwell’s “Spring Flowers,” 1969 (WikiArt)

(Sources: normanrockwellmuseum, newenglandhistoricalsociety.org, stockbridgeareachamber.org, saturdayeveningpost.com, thetrustees.org/place/naumkeag/, stockbridgeinn.com, antiqueshomemagazine.com, Wiki)

“Daisy, Fala, and Wilderstein: Rhinebeck Gems”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On May 27, 2019

In Architecture, Art, Travel, US History

The Wilderstein Mansion seen through May blooms

Fair, kind, and true, have often lived alone, Which three till now, never kept seat in one.
Sonnet 105, Shakespeare

From the Kingston Rhinecliff Bridge, the Hudson Valley views are breathtaking and with the array of May green, celebrate spring. Blossoming dogwood trees greet visitors at Wilderstein, the home of Margaret “Daisy” Suckley, a distant cousin of both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

The Wilderstein Mansion

The Suckley family home at Wilderstein is incredible, a beautiful model of Queen Anne Revival style, and cheerful with its bright colors. Photography is not permitted inside the mansion, but all the more reason for a tour. You will enjoy seeing elegant rooms ranging in style from English Revival to Louis XIV with stained glass windows by Joseph Burr Tiffany, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s cousin. Interestingly, the first portraits visitors see are of the maternal Montgomery matriarchs, including Alida Livingston, part of the extended Livingston family which includes the first governor of New Jersey, William Livingston, who resided at Liberty Hall. The name of this National Historic Landmark is from a petroglyph, a stone found on the property with a rendering of a figure smoking a peace pipe. “Wild man’s stone” is a term that conveyed fascination with Native American culture in 1852.

The Suckleys (which rhymes with “Book-ley” as articles note) hailed from England, and Daisy continued the tradition of daily tea at 3 p.m. year-round. The family fortune was from shipping, a similar source for a number of prominent Hudson Valley neighbors. Summers growing up on the Hudson River featured parties, sailing, and tennis, a sport in which Daisy won numerous trophies that are on display. Charming, too, among the elegant first floor rooms are a collection of glasses with the New York Giants’ logo. Once the staff at the gas station knew that Daisy was a Giants fan, they gave her glasses on each visit, sweet mementos of both her charm and the warm community. The upstairs with the turret and Hudson River views is undergoing restoration.

The Suckley Hudson River idyll experienced a ten-year disruption. Though Daisy was close with her father, Robert Browne Suckley, his noted profession was “gentleman,” which did not enhance the family fortune. Upon a reversal of that fortune in the 1893-1897 economic depression, the family moved overseas to Switzerland where it was less expensive to live at the time. The Suckley’s resided in a hotel, an isolating experience for children used to playmates. Several of seven Suckley children were born there and felt invested in European life. After their return to the United States, Daisy’s older brother, Henry, with whom she was close, volunteered to drive for the American Ambulance Corps on the French front, known through the writing of Ernest Hemingway and others. Capable and respected, Henry had become commander of the section sponsored by the members of the New York Stock Exchange. A few days before the United States entered World War I, Henry, 31, died in a bombing raid while transporting a wounded soldier, a remembrance of both on this Memorial Day.

As a young woman, Daisy studied successfully at Bryn Mawr College for two years. Her father had championed the completion of a degree for his bright daughter, but Daisy’s mother Elizabeth thought that would make her less appealing as a prospective bride. Nevertheless, Daisy did serve as a nurse’s aide on Ellis Island during World War I and, after her father’s sudden death in 1921, found herself in the role of companion to an aunt and caretaker of her family.

When FDR was recovering from polio that same year at his nearby Springwood home, his mother Sara invited Daisy to tea to lift her son’s spirits. FDR welcomed intelligent and charming company, and this began his closeness with her. Their relationship evolved to the point where he included Daisy in the original planning for Top Cottage, or “Hill-Top Cottage,” which she initially believed they would share after his retirement. FDR’s trust in Daisy remained if not his romantic interest. She not only became the confidante of the president of the United States for twelve years, 1933-1945, but she helped him plan the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, the first presidential library which FDR created to offer public access for documents of U.S. history. Daisy was one of the library’s initial archivists.

From the brief film interview with Daisy before the Wilderstein tour begins, some people might dismiss her as being a character. Daisy had not had the house painted since 1910, and it was then the 1980’s. She wore cat-eye glasses and used “patrician” speech. Beloved by her neighbors, however, who thought she needed help in later years, they suggested that Daisy take in a boarder, which she did, and also rented out the carriage house. As someone on the tour kindly noted, FDR had provided not only the nation but his cousin with Social Security following her retirement. After Daisy’s death at nearly 100 in 1991, it turned out that she had a rainy day fund of $900,000 that she was afraid to spend having experienced the loss of most of the remaining family fortune in the Great Depression. Two relatives received this money, and one, returning the love, put this aside as funds to begin the restoration of Wilderstein after her own passing.

What one also takes away from the video is Daisy’s empathy with FDR as she remarked on how incredibly tired he was before he died at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia. He could get away from the public eye, but never the burdens of public life that had weighed on him for twelve years. As his health declined, FDR had asked Eleanor to stay with him as Springwood, but unfortunately too much had passed between them.

As a confidante, Daisy listened without judgment. When Franklin died, Daisy arranged for Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd’s departure to spare Eleanor’s feelings and Franklin’s reputation. After FDR’s death, his daughter Anna found Daisy’s letters to her father; he had saved them in his stamp collection box, which he always had with him. Both the stamps and the letters were sources of comfort and a turn of mind away from office. Whether or not she read them, Anna kindly returned the letters to Daisy. The discovery of these letters in 1991, along with some of FDR’s correspondence and Daisy’s diaries, was a revelation to most as no one knew of the closeness between them. The letters that remain characterize their relationship as a friendship with sometimes romantic overtones, but friendship is what it was though Daisy never married.

Admirably, even after FDR’s death, Daisy never revealed his confidences which ranged from opinions on foreign leaders, Winston Churchill was “an English mayor LaGuardia,” this in one of his letters, to his thoughts about declaring war on Japan. With the perspective of national security of 2019, it is extraordinary to think that at least some, if not all, of their letters traveled through the US Mail. What is even more telling is not necessarily what FDR wrote to her, but the constancy and the intimacy – he shared his innermost thoughts sent from international summits like the Atlantic Charter Conference on the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales in Newfoundland and the White House, where Daisy was a frequent guest. They took drives together in the Hudson Valley when FDR returned to the respite of home and adoration. Daisy took two of the rare photographs of FDR in a wheelchair, both at Top Cottage, another testament to their closeness and his trust in her.

Thank you and credit to our wonderful guide, who noted that Daisy was “smart” and “witty,” with a dash of research added. A nice couple on the tour asked great questions, which always adds to the experience. Thank you, too, to my friend from school, and reader, who shared Sonnet 105 with me, and we pass the gift along to Daisy.

Wilderstein is holding another of its wonderful art exhibitions on the grounds, and it was a pleasure to meet James Meyer, one of the artists who was installing his work “Undercurrent”. The show opens June 1st, 5-7. Be sure to pick up a brochure about the art and artists on your Wilderstein visit.

Dedicated gardeners keep the grounds at Wilderstein in bloom

Another view of the beautifully restored exterior

View of the Hudson River and the lighthouse

Fala

Before Daisy’s death and the discovery of her closeness with FDR, she was known as the cousin who gave the president his beloved Scottish terrier, the darling of both his owner and the nation. At times, Fala was the president’s political avatar as in the famous “Fala speech” of 1944 in which FDR expressed Fala’s disdain for false rumors generated about him by political opponents. Reportedly, the joke stemmed from a suggestion by Orson Welles.

The celebrated Fala was born in 1940 on the Wilderstein estate where Daisy kept kennels, one of her many interests, and she picked out the charmer to lift her cousin’s spirits. FDR named him after an ancestor, “Murray the Outlaw of Falalahill”. Before Fala became a White House resident, Daisy trained him to perform tricks, even appearing to smile, which should have gotten him a place on a ballot. As it was, Fala so popular that he had his own secretary to handle his fan mail. If you, too, are a fan of the adorable dog, you can also read more about him in Margaret “Daisy” Suckley and Alice Daigliesh’s book “The True Story of Fala,” available on Amazon, the FDR Library blog, and “Hyde Park: The Year From the Top”.

Fala’s image is everywhere in the cheery gift shop along with a book by Ken Burns’ collaborator, Geoffrey C. Ward, who wrote many of the award-winning scripts for Mr. Burns’ historical works, including “The Civil War”: “Closest Companion: The Unknown Story of the Intimate Friendship Between Franklin Roosevelt and Margaret Suckley”. His book is the source of information about the FDR-Daisy letters in various articles. Look forward to reading this, and you can also find it on Amazon.

Calvert Vaux and Central Park

Wilderstein grounds planned by Calvert Vaux

If you enjoy Central Park and Prospect Park, both part of New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Wilderstein is another wonderful place to visit that Calvert Vaux designed. Daisy’s father engaged Calvert Vaux, known as one of the Central Park co-designers to plan the grounds in the “American Romantic style” for Wilderstein. The Central Park Conservancy Institute for Urban Parks carries on the generous tradition of Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted. The Conservancy park professionals support their fellow urban park colleagues across the country by sharing best practices for maintaining beautiful open spaces for everyone to enjoy. Central Park’s Belvedere Castle, designed by Mr. Vaux, will reopen soon after its restoration. For news of the restoration, NY1’s Roger Clarke @RogerClark41 on Twitter will have updates.

The Gate House, now the Wilderstein office, designed by Calvert Vaux.

The rains which brought us the beautiful greenery this year made Calvert Vaux’s Wilderstein Trails better suited for exploration on another visit, though it was delightful to have made the hours on this trip (12 – 4 Thursday through Sunday in the summer). Among the structures Mr. Vaux planned for the grounds, the Potting Shed by Lord and Burnham is newly restored. The beautiful plants on the grounds are also a credit to Calvert Vaux’s partner on this project Horticulturalist Samuel Parsons of Queens, New York. Though the original 100-plus acre estate is now three, visitors can walk down to Suckley Cove on the river for more beautiful views and the petroglyph from which the estate gets its name. As they say, the third time’s the charm, an ideal excuse for another visit to Wilderstein.

Calvert Vaux’s original Potting Shed and Greenhouse

Guide to Wilderstein Trails by Calvert Vaux

Hamlet of Rhinecliff

Part of the Morton Memorial Library and Community Center

Rhinebeck

A few photos of charming Rhinebeck with thanks to @RhinebeckGuide for following on Instagram. You can enjoy wonderful photos and remembrances of their Memorial Parade there and on Facebook.

WWI Monument to all who served, known as the “Doughboy” by Allen Newman, 1910 (Poughkeepsie Journal blog, which credits E. M. Visquesney as the creator of the model “The Spirit of the American Doughboy”)

The Rhinebeck Post Office

Avid stamp collector President Franklin Delano Roosevelt opened the Rhinecliff Post Office on May 1, 1939, and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark placed the cornerstone in this hometown WPA historic marvel of chandeliers, fieldstone, murals, and museum. Present, too, were Treasury Secretary Henry Morgantheau and Postmaster General James Farley with whom FDR sometimes designed new stamps as well as Dutchess County post offices and public buildings. Newspaper photos often pictured FDR serenely working on his stamp collection. As a boy, stamp collecting had introduced Franklin to the world. In the role of president during WWII, the calm and orderliness of his past-time appealed to a shaken public who viewed him as a paternal figure putting the world in order.

FDR oversaw the design of the post office, on the National Register of Historic Places, requesting that it represent “Kipsbergen,” the home of his Beekman ancestors. The name may be familiar from the town’s historic Beekman Arms, also in the are designated as the “Rhinebeck Village Historic District”. Formally designed by architect Rudolph Stanley Brown, the post office is built in Dutch Colonial Revival style, popular in the area and favored by FDR. The building incorporated some of the stones from the original Beekman home that had burned down. Rhinebeck artist Olin Dows, both a painter and chief of the Treasury Relief Art Project, funded by the Works Project Administration, created the murals for both the Rhinebeck and Hyde Park post offices.

Hudson River scene from the Olin Dows mural

Trowel used by Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark

FDR Library and D-Day Exhibit at Hyde Park

This weekend, “D-DAY: FDR and Churchill’s ‘Mighty Endeavor'” opens with ongoing events throughout the summer. The FDR Library will honor friend of the library Ralph Osterhaudt for his service and lifelong commitment to the legacy of his fellow servicemen in World War II. You can sign up for newsletters about the library’s exhibits and events.

Thank you again to the FDR Library for retweeting “Hyde Park: The Year from the Top”. Pictured are some recent photos of the library and the beautiful grounds at Hyde Park where you can also visit Springwood, the resting place of the president and first lady, Top Cottage, and nearby Val-kill, the Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, as well as enjoying the delightful town.

Winston Churchill by Oscar Nemon at Freedom Court

Vanderbilt Mansion and Historic Gardens

The nearby Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, with upcoming summer events, features beautiful Historic Gardens, the nonprofit F.W. Vanderbilt Garden Association, Inc., that welcome volunteers.

Hudson River view from promontory towards the park exit

New view of the Pavilion, now the Visitor Center

Culinary Arts Institute of America

Looking forward to a formal visit to the Culinary Institute of America, but had to post these lovely sunset views. Thank you for the kind permission to photograph.

(Sources: Wilderstein.org, FDR Library, fdrlibrary.tumblr.com, PBS “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” nytimes.com, tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com, postalmuseum.si.edu, livingnewdeal.org, hrvh.org, hvmag.com, hudsonrivervalley.com, flickr.com, Wiki)

“Heart, Mind, and Soul: The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On November 10, 2018

In Art, Culture, Family, Travel

The temple exterior and entranceway. The interior temple resembles the style of the marble arches.

This magical-looking place nestled in the rolling green fields of Robbinsville, New Jersey is a Hindu temple, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. The temple, or mandir, is one of approximately 100 in the United States and 1,000 globally. The grand exterior, or mandap, houses the inner sanctum, the actual mandir, and the entire complex is is an “akshardham”. By definition, “mandir” in ancient Sanskrit means “means a place where the mind becomes still and experiences inner peace“. The atmosphere upon arrival is immediately uplifting and reflected through pleasant exchanges with devotees and visitors on the way into and within the mandir.

Beautiful floral entry

Magnificent temple sculptures

Art, Architecture, and the Divine

The Robbinsville temple is in the Nagara style of Hindu mandir architecture found in Northern India. Nagara style temples are square with graduated projections and towers that give the mandir height. Characteristic features in addition to the towers are domes, golden spires, flags, the sanctum, and pillared halls. Each has symbolic meaning like the pinnacles, aspiration, the golden spires, the immortality of the soul, and the flags, spiritual attainment. The inner sanctum is where one will find the most important deities. These elements of temple architecture combined create a link between devotees and the Divine.

The temple’s style is not purely architectural. The Robbinsville mandir is built according to Scripture as are all traditional mandirs. This influence of religion on architecture echoed in a recent tour of Central Park when the staff guide mentioned that the landscape designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux took inspiration directly from the Bible to create serene pastoral settings, though the mandir follows specifications for scared architecture. These sacred temples are not exclusively traditional. More modern temples, hari mandirs, are smaller, and ghar mandirs, shrines within devotees’ homes, are where families perform rituals and discuss scripture together.

The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is made of white marble, white limestone, and pink sandstone, selected to last in this cooler climate. As the mandir’s introductory film notes, the use of natural stone is similar to that of iconic spiritual centers like St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Angkor Wat. The stone-carving process is extensive and fascinating. For an idea of the undertaking, artisans in India created the sculptures. Many volunteer, but the carving also provides work to skilled artists whose talents are not in demand as they once were. The marble is primarily Italian Carrara, totaling 68,000 cubic feet, and the limestone is from Bulgaria and India. The sculptured stone, some 13,499 pieces, arrived in Robbinsville 98% complete after a journey of 21,500 miles. Additional volunteers finished the work. All this is breathtaking, but it does not prepare one for the splendid interior of the mandir with white marble and golden statues that appear silver in the lamplight. The sacred images, or murtis, within the mandir and on the pillars in the mandap are not just deities, but “living works of art” and “liberated souls…ancient sages, and exemplary devotees” that are models of spiritual inspiration.

What may surprise visitors is that the grand, beautiful temple holds fast with interlocking stone. Quotes from the Rig Veda, hymns in ancient Sanskrit, are inspiring poetry in stone that one can read throughout the temple. Skylights and white marble floors add to the lightness of the interior. The tradition of the lamplight in the mandir pre-dates electricity and skylights and once provided the only light in the temple within the temple. Among the sculptures, visitors will see peacocks, particularly at the entrance gate, which are the national bird of India, and elephants, which represent “resolve, grace, and nobility”. One devotee mentioned that the elephant is honored for the many centuries when it carried stone to build the mandirs in the days before other transportation. Ganesh, the popular deity known as the Lord of Good Fortune, the Lord of Beginnings, and the Remover of Obstacles, who is also important in Bhuddism, is depicted with the head of these beloved animals that reflect different accounts of his origin.

Entranceway

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir

Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Sanstha (BAPS) is a branch of Swaminarayan Hinduism. Devotees believes that Bhagwan Swaminarayan, or the yogi spiritual leader, was God on earth and his Divine presence continues through succession. The Swaminaryran, also referred to as “Swaminaryran Lord,” was born as Ghanshyam Pande (1781-1830). His philosophy led to social reforms in India. His follower, Shastriji Maharaj (1865-1951), a sadhu and Sanskrit scholar, or holy man of ancient Hindu letters, formed BAPS on June 5, 1907 based on his interpretation of the Swaminarayan’s teachings. One of his successors, His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, blessed this site in August 2014. The present spiritual leader of BAPS, His Holiness, Mahant Swami Maharaj, bestowed his blessing in September 2017.

BAPS in Robbinsville continues the ancient Hindu tradition of “worshipping the Divine through murtis, or sacred images, enshrined in mandirs”. The BAPS communities worldwide focus on spiritual living, family values, and community service. Though the mandir has a respectful quiet on a visit, rituals and festivals involve music. The mandir also offers Indian cultural events and celebrations for devotees in the great hall.

“A place of paramount peace” is an apt description. While walking through the beautiful inner mandir, devotees brushed aside concerns about interrupting them at prayer. The devotees warmly shared aspects of their faith and excitement at the near completion of the spiritual center. Construction on this mandir began in 2010 and though it is complete, the mahamandir, a greater temple, reportedly the largest in the world, is under construction adjacent to the mandap where there will also be a youth center and an exhibition hall which will feature “Indian history and culture”.

Visiting

The mandir is an active house of worship. Visitors are welcome to take photos outside, but the temple kindly requests a respectful covering regarding clothing and no photo-taking inside. Please respect their wishes. For visitor information, please see BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.

The visit is free, but donations, however modest, are welcome as a thank you. Reservations are not required for individuals or families, but do call for larger groups: (609) 918-1212. Upon arriving, you will be asked to remove your shoes as a respectful courtesy. The welcome is most cordial with the gift of prasadam (“prasad” grace and joy), a sanctified sweet, for each visitor. An introductory film and a free guided tour with a volunteer will add to your appreciation of the temple. If a guide is not available, the audio tour is excellent, and the book available to visitors at the welcome desk is helpful as an introduction to both the mandir and Hinduism. There is a snack shop and café.

To the right of the entrance, one may participate in the ritual of abhishek, or pouring water over the “sacred image of God,” here, Shri Ghanshyam Marahaj, the childhood form of Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Though the deities may seem confusing initially to those who are not familiar with Hinduism, the belief is that there is one supreme God, Brahman, the creator. Along with Shiva, who preserves the earth, and Vishnu, who destroys the earth so it can be created anew, the three are both one and separate in a mystical way like the Holy Trinity. All the deities and even devotees are the Divine presence on earth. “That which we call the Hindu religion is really the Eternal religion because it embraces all others.” The temple guidebook complements this thought, “Without the deities, the mandir would be no more than a beautiful building. With them, it becomes a sacred place of worship wherein God resides”.

There is so much to see and the atmosphere is so peaceful that you will want to return. We had wonderful practicing neighbors while growing up, but my knowledge of Hinduism is more academic going back to incredible studies as an exchange student at Bowdoin College. This visit is was a welcome opportunity to talk to people about their faith without being intrusive. Devotees were warm and gracious in doing so as well as proud and excited to share their beautiful spiritual home. By no means is this modest travelogue definitive about BAPS or Hinduism, so please do enjoy a visit yourself to learn more.

In researching, this Hindu proverb stood out as a cornerstone of many faiths, “There is nothing noble about being superior to some other man. The true nobility is being superior to your previous self.” The faith that brings the mandir’s stones to life is indeed at the heart of its beauty.

(Sources: www.baps.org/Global-Network/North-America/Robbinsville.aspx, BAPS publication for visitors and visitor film, bbc.co.uk, definitions.net, kashgar.com.au, Swami Sivananda quote, Sri Aurobindo quote, iasmania.com, americanshipper.com, Britannica.com, Wiki)

Beautiful grounds

Behind the striking temple exterior (mandap), the construction continues to complete the center (akshardham).

“Imagination: Isamu Noguchi”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On October 14, 2018

In Architecture, Art, Culture, Travel

“The Letter,” 1939, Haddon Heights Post Office

“Everything is sculpture. Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space, I consider sculpture.”

The Artist

Isamu Noguchi, 1904-1988, was a Japanese-American artist who felt most at home in New York City. His neighboring New Jersey legacy is one of sublime beauty, “The Letter,” a WPA era sculpture at the post office in Haddon Heights, near Philadelphia. The elegantly simple figure of a reclining woman writing a letter floats cloud-like above the grounded, wooden post office decor, reflecting her dreamy reverie as she writes what may be a love letter. Mr. Noguchi’s work conveys mystery, sharing his imagination while he challenges ours. The letter writer has a serene smile that suits the friendliness of the town-proud residents by an artist who loved creating work for the public to enjoy. This included sculpture, gardens, fountains, playgrounds, and furniture. His art combined the best of American and Japanese aesthetics.

“News,” 1940, stainless steel bas relief, 50 Rockefeller Center, the former Associated Press Building

As one of the great figures of the twentieth century whose 84 year-long life spanned the globe and whose artistic work included Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism, there is so much to learn about Isamu Noguchi. His mother, Leonie Gilmour, from New York City, was a Bryn Mawr graduate who once taught at the Academy of Saint Aloysius in Jersey City. While later working as an editor in New York City, Leonie met the Japanese poet Yone Noguchi. After the relationship ended, Leonie joined her mother in Los Angeles where Isamu was born in 1904. A few years later, following Yone’s invitation, Leonie and Isamu moved to Chigasaki, Japan, where Isamu grew up in a house with a garden by the sea while his mother supported them with teaching. By that time, his father had begun a relationship with another woman. When Isamu was 14, Leonie sent him to the US to attend a progressive school in Rolling Prairie, Indiana, while she remained in Japan with his half-sister. The school founder and a host family in La Porte, Indiana befriended Isamu, and he later graduated from the local high school. Though his childhood was far from traditional and included the disappointment of a distant father, Leonie encouraged his artistic talent and was a devoted mother.

Excelling as a student, Isamu enrolled in pre-med studies at Columbia University. Once introduced to sculpture, he had such a natural ability that he pursued art exclusively. Ironically, his skill was so incredible that it held him back initially, his work criticized for being too perfect. With a Guggenheim Fellowship that funded an apprenticeship with the Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi in Paris, Isamu’s work became more personal, which freed him from previous criticism. Interestingly, both sculptors had no mutual language in common except art, but understood each other perfectly, a welcome experience after Isamu’s fraught apprenticeship with Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore. Perhaps reflecting a longing for the father whom he never truly knew, or asserting a new identity, Isamu dropped his mother’s surname “Gilmour” and took “Noguchi” when he became publicly known as an artist. Incredibly, widespread recognition did not occur until Isamu was in his early 40’s. Unfortunately, when traveling to Japan as an artist, Isamu learned that his father did not want him to use the Noguchi surname. On Isamu’s last visit to Japan, while his father was still alive, he did not contact him.

“Childhood,” rough-hewn with a smooth heart, Noguchi Museum

Worldwide travels over six decades as a working artist included friendships with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo in Mexico and Arshile Gorky and Willem de Kooning in the US, Greenwich Village neighbors, and collaborations in Japan and Italy. His global works include architecture, perhaps most meaningfully, his design for the Peace Bridges at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, one symbolizing the past and the other, the future. To his disappointment, his design for the main memorial could not be accepted because he was American.

While maintaining a studio in the village of Mure on the island of Shikoku in Japan, where he received inspiration from the Zen gardens, he fell in love with the beautiful actress and singer Yoshiko Yamaguchi (known in the US as “Shirley Yamaguchi”) whom he married in 1951. An anecdote in the museum’s excellent film shares that Isamu wanted the worldly Yoshiko, who worked with Akira Kurosawa and US filmmakers, to wear a kimono at home. She found these uncomfortable, so he designed her a type of pantsuit that had the look of a kimono, but offered more modern comfort. Clothing styles aside, they spent several happy years together in Japan. Sadly, upon their return to the United States for professional reasons, their careers drove them apart.

One account that may best describe the complexity of Isamu’s life was his noble impulse to join fellow Japanese-Americans during their internment in World War II. Living in New York, and not on the West Coast, Isamu, whose name means “courage” in Japanese, was free from this but volunteered to go with the thought of teaching art to boost spirits and develop talent as Brancusi had done for him. The day after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Ginger Rogers, who had commissioned him to create a bust of her, invited Isamu to her home for an initial sitting. He stayed on the grounds for a month as a guest in a studio she had made for him. Isamu finished the movie star’s sculpted portrait in pink marble while living in the Poston, Arizona internment camp on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. During this time he wrote two letters to Ms. Rogers about the work’s progress. As The Washington Post notes, his work may have come to the dancer’s attention through his set designs for the Martha Graham Dance Company where his sister, Alies Gilmour, was a dancer. Despite his good intentions, Isamu found that he had little in common with the farmers, shopkeepers, and laborers in the camp and asked to leave, a process which took several months. One detainee recalled how Isamu would wander out into the desert alone to collect wood to carve. Ginger Rogers treasured her Noguchi portrait, which was a centerpiece in her home until she died, and now is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

“White Sun” 1966, Firestone Library, Princeton University, one of the artist’s favorite sculptures

The Noguchi Museum, New York City

Art at its best is transporting like incredible music, film, or literature that takes us out of ourselves and into the world of the artist’s imagination. As someone who experimented throughout his life by expressing different styles and working with a range of materials (marble, basalt, ceramics, steel, cement, paper, wood, aluminum), Mr. Noguchi risked failure and experienced rejection, but his striving makes the successes soar in a way that defies time and space. Ideal, then, that the complementary works of Spanish sculptor Jorge Palacios, are presently on view along with Mr. Noguchi’s in the latter’s museum in Long Island City, Queens.

Noguchi Museum banners

Jorge Palacios sculpture “Link” at Flatiron Plaza North, sponsored by Noguchi Museum

Second floor museum gallery with view to Akari light sculptures

Second floor museum gallery

At The Noguchi Museum, which the sculptor founded and helped plan, many of the National Medal of Arts recipient’s sculptures relate to time. The Zen Garden, rooted in a serenity that stands outside of time, is beautiful and enjoyed by visitors. One can also admire it from the staircase exit on the second floor as well as from eye level. Flowing water, important to Isamu, creates serenity with the fountain. Central, too, was the artist’s relationship to the material, including an almost spiritual connection to natural elements like wood, clay, and stone, describing carving as a “process of listening,” a quote from his obituary in The New York Times.

There is so much to take in at the museum that it calls for at least a second visit. Everyone will find pieces that stand out. The impermanent works with their interplay with light, water, and nature, appealed to me most on this first visit, perhaps because they are so novel. The beautiful trees are interwoven with Mr. Noguchi’s art.

Zen Garden

View into the garden

Partial garden view from upstairs

The museum’s film about his life features interviews with people who knew Isamu, including a befriended half-brother, and that is also worth a revisit to see in its entirety. A common touching thread in the interviews was that being American and Japanese in the era when Isamu Noguchi grew up, and later, as a citizen of the world, were both often lonely paths for the artist. By living in New York City, however, he returned not to another place, but a home with fellow artists and kindred spirits in the realization of the life he had imagined for himself.

Akari light sculptures

Going up the stairs, where you will find the film, and entering into the world of Akari light was a heavenly surprise. These lamp creations use “electrical light as a sculptural element”. For those interested in reading more about his life, Mr. Noguchi wrote an autobiography Isamu Noguchi: A Sculptor’s World with a foreward by his close friend architect R. Buckminster Fuller. This is available at the museum and on Amazon, which is on order and calls for an Isamu Noguchi 2.0 revisit in “Writing New Jersey Life” and #FridayReads. There is, however, momentum with things, and better to post an introduction before the flurry of the holidays and the Akari and Palacios exhibitions end on January 27th.

“The Kite” stainless steel and reminiscent of “Bolt of Lightning,” 1984, Philadelphia, in honor of Benjamin Franklin. Mr. Noguchi’s plans were on hold for years until a 1979 retrospective of his work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art renewed interest in his art.

Whether visiting as a family, a couple, or on one’s own, and there were one and all, the Long Island City museum is a delight. There is a pleasant café with a select, good menu including coffee and beverages. You can reach the museum by public transportation or car. For those driving, there is street parking, and someone kindly suggested finding parking in a nearby store lot, which you did not read here, but a good faith purchase will put you in good standing. The Socrates Sculpture Park across the street has a free exhibit through March 10th. A blocks up is a new, charming neighborhood place, Flor de Azalea Café, which has some Wifi in a pinch, and thank you to the museum staff for mentioning it.

For travelers, Isamu’s former Japanese studio is now The Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum Japan. Other notable public works include the UNESCO Gardens in Paris, the Billy Rose Sculpture Garden in Jerusalem as well as works throughout the United States pictured in the online gallery of The Noguchi Museum in Queens.

The nearby Socrates Sculpture Park

Socrates Sculpture Park views

Backpack book exchange

The Letter

As the museum notes, “The Letter” is a “mural relief” in magnesite, once again displaying Isamu Noguchi’s versatility as a sculptor. The post office has a display case sharing information about what we might call a “3-D mural”. There is a wonderful atmosphere in places that preserve their treasures. Both their appreciation that they are such and their pride in them emanates in a generous spirit. The US Post Office itself released stamps of Isamu Noguchi’s works in 2004, which are still in use.

Under the New Deal, the Public Works of Art Project that brought about “The Letter” and through which it came to my attention, aimed to give work to artists in the Great Depression and existed under the supervision of the US Treasury’s Section of Painting and Sculpture. The intent was for the art to reach as many people as possible, which brought the commissioned artists to the WPA’s newly constructed post offices throughout the country to share their work for the public’s benefit.

“The Letter” in context with a display case (right)

Haddon Heights still charms on a rainy day

Halloween spirit in Haddon Heights

Out and about in friendly Haddon Heights with thanks for the cafe and dining friends’ permission

Town clock, Haddon Heights

Named to honor Algonquin chief and meeting place of New Jersey legislature, historic site, Haddonfield

Cabana Water Ice, Haddon Heights

Halloween spirit, Haddon Heights

Returning to South Jersey, picturesque Haddon Heights where “The Letter” floats timelessly, shares a scenic beauty with Haddonfield and Haddon Township, all the namesakes of Elizabeth Haddon. An English-born Quaker, she sailed to the Colonies alone to begin the settlement of a large area of land in Southern Jersey, southeastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware, bought by her father who had envisioned a peaceful new start for Quakers, unwelcome in England at that time. Too ill to make the journey, his dream was realized by Elizabeth and his name carried on with “Haddon’s Field” where she and her minister husband created a beautiful home and helped to establish the Quaker community. Their courtship, brought to the public’s attention by Lydia Marie Child, a writer and abolitionist who authored the Thanksgiving poem “Over the River and Through the Wood” that became the popular Christmas song, inspired Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to write “Elizabeth,” part of a long poem “Tales of a Wayside Inn”.

Elizabeth Haddon had a shared world view with fellow Quaker Sarah Norris, who renamed her establishment “The Indian King” in gratitude to the “Sachem” in Algonquin, the elder or chief of the Unlachtigo Lenape, the southernmost of the three Lenape tribes in the state. With their knowledge of survival skills, the Lenape, particularly Sachem Ockanickon, were responsible for keeping the Quakers alive through their first winters. Later, when that generosity was not reciprocated, Sarah called her establishment “The Indian King” in gratitude and posted a highly visible sign as a reminder to the settlement of its debt to the Lenape. It was here at the Indian King Tavern that the New Jersey legislature read the Declaration of Independence into the minutes in 1776, and New Jersey became a state on September 20, 1777, with the changing of “colony” to “state” in its Constitution. On this site, the legislature adopted the Great Seal with the cornucopia for the bounty of the Garden State, designed by a Swiss-born artist Pierre Eugene Du Sumitiere.

In the Empire State, the path to find Isamu Noguchi’s works in the New York City he loved started with chats with people uptown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park to midtown to downtown in Manhattan. These began with directions when the iPhone map app slowed with the number of photos, which led to the delightful surprise of fireworks downtown and the Diwali Festival. There was the added warmth of Long Island City, people smiling on the streets, leafy parks, roses and flowers growing skyward through garden gates, and Halloween decorations set up early in happy anticipation. Queens visits were welcome excursions in my Manhattan shoebox apartment days and still are. Being able to dine anywhere in the world in Astoria and shop working my way out from Broadway, especially at the holidays, was a Saturday well spent. Thank you to all the gracious navigators along the way and the staff at the Noguchi Museum.

(Sources: Noguchi Museum, “Central Park: A Template of Beauty”, WashingtonPost.com, pcf.city.hiroshima.jp, Princeton.edu, Rockefellercenter.com, Haddonfield history: @kathleenhelen15, now @kathleenlevey, 2015, theartstory.org, muse.jhu.edu/article/686375/, nytimes.com, summarylevins.com, IndianKingfriends.org, njwomenshistory.org, Avalon.law.yale.edu, A-Z Quotes, Wiki)

Sunken Garden at the former Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza, downtown

Fireworks, Festival of Lights, South Street Seaport

Diwali Festival, Southstreet Seaport

Noguchi’s “Landscape of the Clouds,” 666 Fifth Avenue

“Unidentified Object,” 1979, basalt sculpture created in Shikoku, Japan, at the Met and Central Park

“Red Cube,” 1968, downtown

Jorge Palacios sculpture “Link” with a view of the Empire State Building

Long Island City, Queens

“Bolt of Lightning,” a tribute to Ben Franklin and a welcome to Philadelphia (The Noguchi Museum)

“Frankly Norman: A Sketch”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On August 26, 2018

In Art, Culture, Travel

“I paint life as I would like it to be.” Norman Rockwell

Who could seem more different than Frank Sinatra and Norman Rockwell? On the surface, one might think “Fly Me to the Moon” as a song to capture their disparate public images. Both, however, were iconic artists of the twentieth century dedicated to excellence in their work, and each told stories in his own medium. At the annual New Jersey Festival of Balloons each July, when the balloons launch at dawn to Frank’s “Come Fly with Me,” his incredible voice soars along with them, still resonant with life, fresh like a Norman Rockwell “snapshot”. What seems effortless is always the result of dedication.

Frank and Norman at the studio (eBay.com)

Norman Perceval Rockwell and Francis Albert Sinatra met in at Norman’s studio in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1971, when Frank sat for a portrait commissioned as a gift for his family. The relocated studio is now part of a visit to Norman Rockwell Museum – The Home for American Illustration, one of the highlights on a scenic Berkshires stay.

There’s almost always a New Jersey connection wherever one goes and the same is true of the museum dedicated to Mr. Rockwell’s work in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Norman Rockwell became a tried and true New Englander and the official state artist of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but he grew up in New York City across the Hudson River from Frank’s native Hoboken about twenty-one years earlier. An artist who came on the scene at the end of the Golden Age of Illustration, the period between the late 1800’s and post World War I, Norman was fortunate to start out at a time when talent met with opportunity. New publications in wide circulation were in need of artists. Though famous for his cheerful slices of American life, it may surprise people to know that Norman Rockwell created one of his most beloved paintings “Doctor and the Doll,” 1929, during a difficult time following a divorce. The model is actor Pop Fredericks who appears in a number of Norman’s paintings and often played the role of Ben Franklin and Santa Claus at events.

Norman lived in Stockbridge after moving there from Vermont. People know his lighter depictions of everyday life best from The Saturday Evening Post covers delivered weekly to homes across the United States from 1916 and 1963, which made his work a part of American life for five decades. Those paintings live on in reprint on calendars, greeting cards, and just about everywhere for any holiday. Norman often used local models, including his three sons, and the beautiful Berkshires for inspiration. Stockbridge residents fondly recall seeing him riding his bicycle around town. His 323 Post covers are on display in a room downstairs in the museum. Framed, they fill the four walls in a stunning tribute to Mr. Rockwell’s prolific talent and one can see why whenever his art graced the cover, the magazine had to print an additional 250,000 copies to meet customer demand. This wonderful photo shows him setting one of his models at ease, though he may have been giving direction as he often worked from photographs.

One wall of “The Saturday Evening Post” covers

Another view of the process

On the way to and from vacation – can you guess which is which?

Norman was a talent from the outset, landing a cover and a job at Boy’s Life magazine right out of high school. For years, he also provided art for the annual Boys Scouts of America calendars. His work still is everywhere and can be enjoyed here in New Jersey at Princeton’s historic Nassau Inn where one can view the “Yankee Doodle Mural”. The historic inn is neighbor to cultural resources like the Arts Council of Princeton which one can discover in walking tours through the inn or Discovering Princeton, both also noted as a thank you for longtime social media follows.

Detail from “Yankee Doodle Mural,” Nassau Inn, Princeton

A Norman Rockwell real-life happy ending happened last year in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Years ago, a young man had accidentally damaged a Rockwell painting “Taking a Break” with his pool cue during a game and apologetically purchased the work for $50. Despite the minor flaw, the family enjoyed the painting until it was stolen. Forty years later, authorities recovered it much to the family’s delight. Concerned about security as it was, alas, not painted on a wall, they sold it for a staggering $900,000.

“Triple Self-Portrait,” 1960. The helmet is a symbol of humility. Norman bought it from a Parisian antiques dealer. Thinking himself clever for getting a deal, turned out that it was a contemporary dress French fireman’s helmet.

Noted for conveying charm through humor, both Norman and Francis would likely have enjoyed the Cherry Hill story. More profoundly, they also shared similar beliefs about freedom and civil rights. This aspect of Frank’s public life is perhaps better known today than Norman’s via documentaries and televised dramas, including Mr. Sinatra’s rise to stardom as a proud Italian-American who kept his surname in the 1940’s despite advice to the contrary. “Sinatra” on the marquee was more than billing.

Star on the sidewalk outside Frank Sinatra’s former home on Monroe Street in Hoboken

Americans may experience name-recognition with Norman Rockwell’s paintings of the Four Freedoms from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Annual Message to Congress of January 6, 1941: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. The speech did not go over as the president had hoped. Hitler’s threat seemed far away to war-weary Americans, but the wide circulation of Norman’s paintings in The Saturday Evening Post in 1943 made the ideas relatable to the public. The paintings later traveled to help sell war bonds, and their civic contribution earned Mr. Rockwell a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Gerald R. Ford. Those in the New York City area, enjoyed seeing the Four Freedoms Exhibit, which includes “The Golden Rule,” at The New-York Historical Society Museum & Library till September 1st. The exhibit is now on tour to The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., the Mémorial de Caen in Normandy, France, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, and finally back home to the Norman Rockwell Museum.

“Freedom from Want”

Setting for “Freedom from Want”: staff dining room at Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge

A painting of which both the artist and the museum is proud, “The Problem We All Live With”, 1963, is a story version of the experience of Ruby Bridges, reflective of social issues in Mr. Rockwell’s work in the 1960’s, also in the New York exhibit.

On exhibit at the museum through October 29th is “Keepers of the Flame: Parrish, Wyeth, Rockwell and the Narrative Tradition” featuring works by Maxfield Parrish and Andrew Wyeth in addition to those of Norman Rockwell. The museum also has fun events like visits from former Rockwell models, a history of hand-drawn animation from Mickey Mouse to Tom and Jerry to The Flintstones, children’s events, and lectures by the museum curators, all of which you can find via Twitter: @NRockwellMuseum.

Mr. Rockwell remembered at the Red Lion Inn

Thank you to the delightful and knowledgeable docent at the Norman Rockwell Museum for the studio tour and the fun tidbit about Frank Sinatra. Mr. Sinatra had good company in John Wayne, whose portrait the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center commissioned, and Bob Hope, Jack Benny, and Gary Cooper, years earlier. A fun anecdote about Gary Cooper from the Post writers is that he was a model for a May 1930 cover for his film “The Texan,” not a portrait but a painting-story about a cowboy actor having make-up applied on the set. Mr. Cooper, a friend of Frank Sinatra’s in the small world of Hollywood, was not only conscientious but nice to everyone on the staff and crew even as he was becoming a household name. As to where the painting is now, it could be in the collection of avid Rockwell admirer Steven Speilberg, who lived as a child in Haddon Township, New Jersey, and was one of the significant supporters behind the new museum that had outgrown the one in town due to the artist’s popularity.

Berkshire view from the studio near the Housatonic River

The museum has dedicated talented volunteers who are part of the vibrant Stockbridge community, one of whom recently performed from Shakespeare at the Red Lion Inn. For more information on this Blue Star Museum that welcomes active military members and their families, also visit: www.nrm.org. The museum photos are from a trip last summer, but we look forward to our next Berkshire visit.

(Sources: nrm.org, saturdayeveningpost.com, nyhistory.org, mccall.com, history.com, totallyhistory.com, https://sinatrafamily.com/forum/showthread.php/46529-Norman-Rockwell-s-portrait-of-Frank-Sinatra, Wiki)

Stockbridge former firehouse featured in “The New American LaFrance is Here!” a popular ad in 1971 for ATO, Inc. American-LaFrance Fire engines.

Brooks Robinson of the Baltimore Orioles

Frank Sinatra Park, Hoboken, with a spectacular view of “New York, New York,” an outdoor amphitheater for concerts, and a playing field in the “home of baseball”.

Studio with a copy of “The Golden Rule,” 1961. The original hangs in the United Nations when not on loan.

“The Marriage License,” 1954

Summer lilacs, Stockbridge

“‘Work Lovingly Done’: Two Exhibitions at The Clark”

By Kathleen Helen Levey

On July 14, 2018

In Art, Culture, Travel, US History

The Clark Art Institute viewed from one of its mountain trails.

The Clark Art Institute, nestled in the Berkshires in Williamstown, Massachusetts, has four summer exhibitions: “Women Artists in Paris, 1850-1900,” “The Art of Iron,” “A City Transformed: Photographs of Paris, 1850-1900,” and “Jennifer Steinkamp: Blind Eye,” the first two shared here from a June visit.

“Women Artists in Paris, 1850-1900”

Each of the featured 33 female artists has her story, but striking similarities run throughout those, primarily, each woman’s commitment in relocating to the Parisian artistic epicenter to develop her talent and to connect with other artists. In 1857, the School of Fine Arts (Ecole des Beaux-Arts) opened its doors to women, creating an unprecedented opportunity. Whether the women were students at the school or protégés of great artists as Berthe Morisot was of Camille Corot, their collective style had a profound influence on Realism, Impressionism, and later, Symbolism.

Works in each room revolve around themes like “The Art of Painting,” “The Lives of Women” and “Picturing Childhood”. Themes such as “History and Everyday Heroism” marked departures from traditional subjects for female artists. Some of the artists like the crowd-pleasing Mary Cassatt and Morisot are familiar names today, the equally successful Rosa Bonheur, a Swiss artist, who favored realism in her painterly style, perhaps less so, though she was also the daughter of a well-known artist Oscar-Raymond Bonheur. New for this visitor were the Scandinavian artists like Anna Archer, Denmark, and Elin Danielson-Gambogi and Ellen Thesleff, Finland. Many of the artists continued to paint after returning to their home countries, a number teaching to support new, young artists. Some found encouraging partners in marriage, others discovered that painting was not complementary to domestic life. A common thread is that most of them found a way to continue to do what they loved. For a complete list of the artists, visit Women In Paris.

A successful Danish artist, Anna Archer, lived in the northern artists’ colony Skagen, with her painter-husband Michael. At the time Anna began her career, the Royal Danish Academy did not admit women, which led to her discovery of the works of Vermeer abroad, an influence here in “The Harvesters,” 1905, where she depicts a family.

In the innovative “History and Everyday Heroism,” this military portrait by Eva Gonzales inspired by Edouard Manet’s “The Fife Player of 1866” is striking.

Berthe Moriset, French, Impressionist scenes were often from daily life. Here are her husband and daughter: “The Lesson in the Garden,” 1886.

Mary Cassatt, “The Reader,” 1877:

Elin Danielson-Gambogi, part of the Finnish “painters sisters” generation along with Helen Schjerfbeck, painted “Girl and Kittens in a Summer Landscape,” 1892.

Ellen Thesleff, “Echo,” 1891, in which a young girl finds her voice

Notable American painters were among the group. Elizabeth Nourse, Cinncinati, Ohio, detail from “A Mother,” 1888. The depiction of a working class mother and child was a bold statement at the time.

And self-portrait, 1892.

“Ernesta (Child with Nurse)”, 1894, by Cecelia Beaux, both student and instructor at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

Lilla Cabot Perry, from Boston, Masschusetts and Hancock, New Hampshire: “Open Air Concert,” 1890.

Rosa Bonheur, painted by her partner Anna Elizabeth Klumpke, San Francisco.

“The Art of Iron, Objects from the Musee Le Secq Des Tournelles, Rouen, Normandy”

As the exhibit notes, at a time when many people could not read, ironwork signs for shops had a practical purpose. Pictured in the forefront of the exhibit is “At the Two Fish,” 1750-1800, from Alsace. The details and craftsmanship of these works for everyday raise these works to an artistic level. One person who appreciated this was artist and photographer Jean-Louis Henri Le Secq Destournelles, 1818–1882, who began to collect these often cast aside wrought iron works in Paris. His son Henri continued this, ultimately donating their collection to the city of Rouen in Normandy, France, where they are on display in a former Gothic cathedral converted into a museum.

Both The Clark Art architecture and nature contribute to showcasing the works.

“Work lovingly done is the secret of all order and all happiness.” A few months ago, The Clark posted this wonderful quote by Pierre Renoir that describes fulfillment in art and life. The shared artist’s spirit that transcends gender and life station as seen in “Women Artists in Paris: 1850-1900” and “The Age of Iron” resonates with visitors. For more information, visit The Clark.

Museum Building

Campus reflecting pools outside Clark Center

Museum Building extension

Campus life: outside Manton Research Center

On the way up the hillside

View from artist Thomas Schutte’s Crystal

“Work lovingly done is the secret of all order and all happiness.” Pierre Renoir

(Photo credit: “Apples in a Dish”, The Clark)

The Clark grounds, referred to as the “campus” are beautiful with trails to enjoy as part of the visit. “Women Artists in Paris: 1850-1900” is through September 3rd and “The Age of Iron” is through September 13th. (Sources: Clark Art, Wiki)

Writing New Jersey Life

People and places of New Jersey…with some travels.

Category: Art

Seward Johnson’s Invitation to Grounds for Sculpture

A Holiday Thank You

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

“Christmas in Stockbridge”

“Daisy, Fala, and Wilderstein: Rhinebeck Gems”

“Heart, Mind, and Soul: The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir”

“Imagination: Isamu Noguchi”

“Frankly Norman: A Sketch”

“‘Work Lovingly Done’: Two Exhibitions at The Clark”

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