“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in your life.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
As the days get shorter towards the Winter Solstice, we all await that moment when the spirit of Christmas fills our hearts. Sometimes we wonder if it will ever arrive. If it does not accompany the music, now starting at Halloween, or the decorating, now beginning on Thanksgiving before half-time, then when?
Beautiful jewel tree
Poinsettias in Exhibition Hall of the Main Conservatory
Yet it does arrive – sometimes inconceivably, improbably, and often unexpectedly, through a kind act, a heartfelt note on a Christmas card, or a loved one’s laughter. These small things can flip the Christmas switch, bringing that warm, glowing, holiday feeling. Grand gestures aren’t too grand to bring the magic either. Someone conjuring up a big Christmas surprise is as joyful as a starry sleigh ride with Santa.
“A Longwood Christmas” has both the small and grand gestures – the unseen hours of dedication bring the splendor. A literal switch may light up the Longwood night, but the gift of beauty brings the feeling. Look around while visiting. There are smiles everywhere, reflecting spirits lifted by the magic of nature meeting art.
Amaryllis
Words fail when walking into the Main Conservatory with its splendid floral Christmas trees, now mirrored by those in the incredible new West Conservatory.
Splendid fountain greeting at the Main Conservatory entrance
Beautiful camellias were in bloom
Don’t miss the exquisite Orchid House, the original vision of founder Pierre Samuel du Pont and his wife Alice, in the Main Conservatory near the exit to the Waterlily Court, Cascade Garden, and West Conservatory.
Waterlily Court
The Longwood holiday tradition, which has delighted its Kennett Square neighbors and world travelers, was a gift from Pierre du Pont. In 1906, Pierre saved Peirce’s Park, a former family farm beloved by locals that featured two beautiful allées of trees, which visitors to Longwood Gardens can still enjoy today. Inspired by his travels to gardens in France, Italy, and England, and visits to great exhibitions, Pierre gradually created beautiful gardens on the grounds. Pierre was a generous philanthropist who paid for the construction of nearly half of the public schools in Delaware at the time. Du Pont cousins Henry and Alfred, donated the incredible Winterthur Museum, Garden, & Library, magnificent year-round and especially during the holidays, and the Nemours Estate, in Wilmington, also festive at holiday time. These generous gifts are gems of the scenic Brandywine Valley.
Christmas trees amidst the Steinway piano and organ console in the Ballroom celebrate the accomplishments and creativity of local arts organizations:
Handmade felt ornaments
Stunning floral trees and blooms in the West Conservatory:
What’s wonderful about Longwood Gardens, and bears repeating at Christmas, is that generations of family members can visit together. “A Longwood Christmas” will delight everyone – couples, families, and solo travelers who won’t feel alone with a cup of warm cocoa on a merrily lit winter night. Thank you, as always, to the dedicated staff.
Snapdragon charm
Magnificent trees in the Music Room:
Enjoy “Winter Wonder,” which began January 16th and spring ahead with “Longwood Gardens: Spring Symphony”. Save the date for “A Longwood Christmas,” starting on November 21st.
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach.”
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Often, we experience and hear similar stories from others that children enjoy playing with the embellishments of Christmas – making art with bows, creating collages, and stacking present boxes -more so than exploring the more costly gifts. Their playfulness is a celebration.
In Gerald Charles Dickens’ performance of A Christmas Carol, his pared-down, one-man interpretation of the beloved story reminds the audience that his great-great-grandfather’s words are a gift. There are no lavish stage settings or fancy props. Instead, Mr. Dickens plays with the gift, reinventing it to present it anew to the audience. In early December of 2025, on his USA Farewell Tour at Two River Theater, sponsored by The Historic Village at Allaire, in a Q&A Gerald warmly shared that he “feels a theatrical connection with Dickens, which allows for versatility and interpretation…” After being on the road performing this and other Dickens works for thirty-two years, Mr. Dickens wants to spend more time with family, but his cousin’s son may pick up the mantle.
Mr. Dickens conveys the warmth and charm of the kindest and best of Dickens characters.
A heartwarming anecdote is Gerald’s sweet memory of the first time that he discovered A Christmas Carol. In a scene straight out of a Dickens novel, five-year-old Gerald was celebrating Christmas with all his family. The little cousins got into a big bed to listen while a family member read the story to them.
Mr. Dickens explained some historical context of the novella. Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at the height of the Industrial Revolution. Once a child worker himself after his father was sent to debtors’ prison, and as a man of deep faith, Charles Dickens was concerned that the workers’ children would have no education and become a lost generation. Rather than lecture people, Dickens hoped that his moving tale would connect with audiences and convince them to care about England’s many Tiny Tims.
Charles Dickens created the beloved novella in six weeks of intensive writing. Published on December 19, 1843, the first edition sold out by Christmas Eve. Meticulous about the book cover’s quality and illustrations, Dickens did not make as much money as he might have, but his message of “reformation and redemption,” as Gerald described it in a YouTube interview, resonated. By 1844, the novella had gone through 13 printings and is still a bestseller. His original handwritten copy is at The Morgan Library & Museum, where the Renoir drawings are on exhibit until February 8th.
Regarding films of the story, Mr. Dickens enjoys the Muppets version with Michael Caine, because it uses more of the narration as does his play; he also favors the George C. Scott and Alistair Sims films. Regarding Charles Dickens’ biographers, Gerald prefers the books of Clair Tomalin, Edgar Johnson, and the biography by his great-great-grandfather’s friend John Foster. Those interested in more may follow Gerald’s charming blog, On the Road with Gerald Dickens. Gerald Charles Dickens is also the author of two books My Life on the Road with A Christmas Carol and Dickens and Staplehurst: A Biography of a Rail Crash. (What was refreshing and likable is that Mr. Dickens only mentioned his books once in passing.) Everyone can also enjoy interviews with him via YouTube.
The elegant, state-of-the-art Two River Theater from Facebook, which notes events like Shakespeare’s As You Like It, with student performers, premiering January 24th.
Gerald’s great-great-grandfather, with whom he also shares a family resemblance, toured across the United States twice and received warm welcomes. His first trip was for writing inspiration and to promote the idea of an international copyright, because his books were routinely published outside of England without credit. On the second trip, he read from his works, which included A Christmas Carol, and acted some of its roles.
Daryl O’Connell, Allaire Director of Development, served as emcee
A Christmas Carol festivals are held throughout England. Here in the US, Mr. Dickens has performed AChristmas Carol in fundraisers for The Historic Village at Allaire, in Farmingdale, New Jersey. (Industrialist and philanthropist James Allaire, a contemporary of Charles Dickens, founded the village, now a nonprofit living history museum, in 1822.) Further south, for fifty-two years, the Galveston Historical Foundation has hosted “Dickens on the Strand” on the first weekend in December (4th-6th in 2026). This Texan celebration of AChristmas Carol has always had a Dickens family member present; it may be possible to see Gerald Charles Dickens as a speaker, though his US performances ended December 15th. Hearing the inside story of family members warmly exchanging thoughts on their “Dickens on the Strand” experiences was fun to hear.
The scenic village grounds host events from April through December – visitors and new members are welcome!
Charles Dickens’ words have passed through the generations in his family and created the bond of a unique, shared experience. For those traveling to, or living in the UK, Mr. Dickens and his brother Ian are starting a “Dickens House Party Weekend” at The Royal, where Dickens stayed in 1838 while writing “David Copperfield,” on the Isle of Wight, February 27th-March 1st. The Dickens Fellowship, which is supported by Gerald and other family members, has chapters around the world and offers a connection for admirers of Charles Dickens. With the Dickens family’s dedication, A Christmas Carol is a gift from the past that delights us in the present and will continue to do so in the future.
Ms. O’Connell and two members of the dedicated team of staff and volunteers of Allaire Village with fundraising Christmas bears from the General Store – definitely more fun to play with than wrapping paper!
I like a painting which makes me want to stroll in it. ”Pierre-Auguste Renoir
“View of a Park,” ca. 1885-90, watercolor, The Morgan Library
Step into the eternal spring of Renoir in a new exhibition of his drawings at The Morgan Library and Museum. November brings its own kind of beauty, but the dappled Impressionist light of Renoir’s art is a joyfully irresistible invitation.
The Morgan Library exhibition is an incredible opportunity to enjoy Renoir’s rarely displayed drawings and see the process for several of his great works. The exhibition with the artist’s drawings and paintings in two large galleries features works from museums and private collections around the world. Visitors receive an overview in the room adjoining the galleries that includes two filmed interviews with Renoir from 1915 and 1920. The size of the exhibition is ideal for enjoying his art in pen and ink, pencil, chalk, pastels, watercolor, oil, and even plaster.
“Portrait of a Girl,” 1879, pastel, The Albertine Museum, Vienna
Renoir is an artist whom we all think we know, but the meticulously curated exhibition offered new insights, not just revisits to his beloved works. Some of these prompted more research into Renoir’s life and art.
“Self-Portrait,” 1879, oil, Musee d’Orsay, Paris
Renoir as a decorative artist
Renoir, who was from a family of artisans, originally studied decorative arts and saw himself as a craftsman, not an artist. “To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.” One of seven children, Pierre-Auguste spent his first few years in Limoges, known for its porcelain and high-end leather goods industries. Around the time of his birth in 1841 and during early childhood, there were riots among the poor workers. (Limoges was the city of the first consolidated French workers’ union in 1895.) When Renoir was a small boy, his family moved to Paris, so his father, a tailor, might find work. Renoir apprenticed at a porcelain factory and was highly skilled at painting decorative flowers. Clearly talented, he got a permit to sketch at the Louvre, which was near his home. Having saved a bit, Renoir took night classes at the Ecoles Beaux-Arts (School of Fine Arts) and painting lessons with Swiss-born Charles Gleyere, who had studied with renowned Neoclassical portrait artist Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. Renoir surprised his serious teacher by sharing, “If painting were not a pleasure to me I should certainly not do it”.
“The Milliner,” ca. 1879, The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
Renoir joined Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Berthe Morisot, Edgar Degas, and Alfred Sisley, among others, as part of the Anonymous Society of Painters for an independent art exhibition in 1874. The studio owner, Gaspard-Félix Tournachon, known as “Nadar,” a caricaturist, journalist, and photographer, was also an outlier known for taking the first aerial photograph from a hot-air balloon. The artists exhibited outside the established Salon, which was the annual show of the Academie des Beaux-Arts (Academy of Fine Arts). For the Salon, a jury selected the works that the public would see. Following the exhibition, the group’s name came from Claude Monet’s “Impression, Sunrise” and a critic’s comment that it was indeed only an impression, an unfinished painting.
“Boating Couple,” 1880-81, smaller pastel work for “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
After a period of creating sketches as a young artist and student, Renoir adopted the “spontaneous painting” of his fellow Impressionists and began his work directly on canvas. Like the other Impressionists, whose works were originally rejected by the artistic establishment, Renoir enjoyed plein air painting, or outdoor painting “in the open air,” which captured natural light. An innovation with the production of the paints allowed for this, and Renoir and his peers made full use of the opportunity. They often painted with, and influenced, each other.
“Harvest,” ca. 1885, watercolor, white opaque watercolor, graphite, and varnish (unusually), Musee d’Orsay, Paris
“Impressionism” captured the artists’ “snapshot” style and brushstrokes. In addition to natural light, they favored the use of bright colors, another result of improved paints, and did not varnish their works, which was done for a formal look. Such techniques lent themselves to painting nature and the countryside.
“Landscape,” 1899, watercolor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Regarding subject matter, Renoir painted working-class subjects as well as wealthy patrons, which is how he met his wife, Aline Victorine Charigot, depicted in the portrait below. Aline was working as a dressmaker when Renoir approached her to model for him. When they married, Aline was 20, and he was 38. After 18 years as a painter and 25 years of working in the arts, Renoir had reached career stability, which suggests a strikingly long and difficult trajectory to success.
Aline sitting for “Young Woman in a Blue Dress,” ca. 1885-86, watercolor with opaque watercolor, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Renoir also earned income as an illustrator. Some illustrations were for stories, others reproduced his paintings, like “Dance in the Country” and “Dancing Couple”/“Dance at Bougival” in which Aline was the model for both.
Book illustration
Study for “Dance in the Country, 1883, graphite, Musee d’Orsay, Paris
“Dancers (Bougival)” or “Dance in the Country,” 1883, oil, Musee d’Orsay, Paris
Aline and Pierre-Auguste had three sons who all had careers in the arts: Pierre, an actor, Jean, a celebrated filmmaker; and Claude, a ceramic artist. Renoir’s family was a great source of his happiness, and they were often subjects in his paintings. Aline modeled for “Luncheon of the Boating Party,” most notably, and her cousin and the family’s nanny, Gabrielle Renard, was a frequent model for Renoir, too. Before Aline, Renoir had a relationship with Lisa Trehot, another model, with whom he had a daughter, Jeanne, whom he supported. Despite Renoir’s happiness with Aline, he had affairs during the marriage. Four years before Renoir’s death, Aline passed away after a hospital visit to Jean, who was badly injured in WWI, as was his brother Pierre.
Sketch for “Gabrielle and Jean,” 1895, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
“Gabrielle and Jean,” 1895, oil, Musee de l’Organerie, Paris
Chalk sketch of “Jean in the Arms of Gabrielle,” 1895-96, possibly reworking “Gabrielle and Jean” (exhibition note), Collection Foundation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny, Switzerland
“Child with an Apple” or “Gabrielle, Jean, and a Young Girl with an Apple,” ca. 1905, Collection of Leone Cettolin Dauberville
“Madeleine Adam,” 1887, pastel and graphite, Collection of Diane B. Wilsey
Division among the Impressionists
The founding members of Impressionism remained close for years. They supported each other’s work, exhibited their art together, and looked out for each other, including each other’s families. A falling out occurred over the Dreyfus affair. As a quick history refresher, between 1894 and 1906, the guilt or innocence of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish army captain, divided then predominantly Catholic France. Captain Dreyfus, tried twice and found guilty of espionage, was eventually exonerated. Camille Pisarro, who was Jewish and a Dreyfusard, along with Monet, supported the captain, and Edgar Degas, an anti-Dreyfusard, who was anti-Semitic, did not, which is not to suggest that the national division was about religion and not politics. In Renoir, My Father, Jean attributed his father’s artistic divergence from Pissarro to differing artistic and political views. In Growing Up with the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet, based on the journals of the then-teenaged daughter of Pierre-Auguste’s dear friend Berthe Morisot, Julie wrote about Renoir and his family, with whom she first stayed at 16 after her mother died. (The diary was first edited and published in 1987 by Rosalind De Boland Roberts and Jane Roberts; the latter became a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres, or ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters,’ France’s top honor, in 2011. In 2017, Jane Roberts edited a second, revised edition with 472 footnotes.) Julie, who had often posed for Renoir and was clearly fond of him, noted that he sometimes shared the less generous anti-Dreyfusard opinions of the time. Renoir, however, stayed close to his Jewish sister-in-law, Blanche-Marie Blanc, and later attended the funeral of Pissarro, whereas Degas did not.
“Portrait of Camille Pissarro,” ca. 1893-94, charcoal, Dallas Museum of Art, Wendy and Emery Reves Collection
Having escaped from poverty, Renoir may have resented that he initially relied on Jewish patrons for exhibitions and commissions. Renoir’s early Jewish patrons supported his talent and influenced his early artistic direction. His portraits of these patrons, and especially those of their children, were beautiful. Greater success offered Renoir new commissions and travel around Europe and North Africa, where he saw the art of Raphael, Velázquez, and Rubens; this influenced his style, making it more classical in later years. He remained friends with the Jewish art dealers, Alexandre Bernheim-Jeune and his sons Joseph and Gaston, who curated 16 of his exhibitions. Barbara Ehrlich White, PhD., who wrote Renoir, An Intimate Biography (2017) and Renoir: HisLife, Art, and Letters (1984), and also became a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2014, attests that Renoir was the Renoir whom the public knew: warm, sociable, and kind. He loved being around people, which his art reflects. Dr. White based her opinion on her review of 3,000 of his letters, 452 of which were previously unpublished.
A mournful Berthe Morisot, which Renoir sketched after the death of her husband Eugene Manet for a painting memorializing her after her own passing
Renoir’s paintings were one of the first to delight me as a child, not only for their beauty, but for their joy. He depicts children with such sweetness, which helps young viewers connect with his work. This issue concerning Renoir was mentioned on one exhibit label, as far as I noted, out of more than one hundred. It stayed with me, however, and I read more about it. At this point, I leave Renoir’s legacy in this regard to art historians, but I thought that I should mention it.
The artist overcomes arthritis
“The pain passes, but the beauty remains.” Admirably, Renoir continued to paint despite having crippling and painful rheumatoid arthritis, which began when he was 50. In his late 60s, Renoir and his family moved to Cagnes-sur-Mer on the French Riviera for the warmer climate.
“Girls Putting Flowers in Their Hats,” 1894, oil, private collection
“Young Woman Seated,” 1909, oil, The Art Institute of Chicago/Admin. by Musee d’Orsay. Renoir strove for a luminous quality in his later work.
During this time, Renoir was in pain, especially when he tried to sleep, and he became progressively disabled. He did, however, paint more than 400 works, including the masterpiece, “The Great Bathers,” which is in the exhibition along with sketches, and influenced Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. His family and assistants placed his painter’s palette on the arm of his wheelchair and his canvas on a rolling easel. Incredibly, Renoir’s paintings became lighter and more joyful.
The film and newsreel interviews in the exhibition show the deformed joints in Renoir’s hands. Brushes were not strapped to his hands as sometimes noted, but they had to be placed into them. These interview clips were fascinating to watch, and though film was an early art form, Renoir charmed by periodically turning to the camera with a smile.
An arthritic Renoir, painting, [public domain]
On the day of his passing at 78, having painted for several hours, Renoir told his studio assistant, “I think I’m beginning to learn something about it.”
Enjoy seeing “Renoir Drawings” at The Morgan Library, which also offers detailed information about these works on their website, through February 8th.
“Sing a New Song: The Psalms in Medieval Art and Life“
The illustrated Bibles, many from The Morgan Library’s own collection, are exquisitely beautiful. As the exhibition notes, the Book of Psalms, the most popular book of the Bible, is known as Tehillum, or “Praises,” in Hebrew, and King David is credited as the primary author. The exhibition begins with King David’s composition of the Psalms, or “songs accompanied by stringed instruments” from the Greek “psalmos”.
“King David as Psalmist” (instrument), 1408-10, by Lorenzo (Piero di Giovanni)
During the Middle Ages, psalters, or books with the 150 psalms, were initially the clergy’s prayerbooks. These promoted literacy and the study of Latin. Priests, monks, friars, and nuns had to recite all the psalms daily. The Book of Hours, customized psalters, were most popular among lay people, or non-clergy. The faithful looked to these prayers for hope, comfort, celebration, and forgiveness. Children had their own psalters, or primers, from which they learned to read.
“[St.] Jerome in His Study,” Book of Hours, in Latin, ca. 1440-50, Fastolf Master, England
Glossa ordinaria (Standard Gloss), the complete Bible with the writings of Saints Jerome and Augustine, intellectuals and scholars of the Church, before 1480, The Morgan Library, open to Psalm I: “Blessed is the man.”
“Tree of Jesse” and “Annunciation,” depicting “David as Ancestor of Christ,” Book of Hours in Latin and French, Robert Boyvin, ca. 1495-1593, France
The exhibition concludes with Sir Thomas More’s Book of Hours and Psalter. Visitors can see his handwritten notes in Latin, which are moving to see. As a brief historical note, Sir Thomas More, the respected and beloved clergyman, lawyer, statesman, and humanist, served as the Lord Chancellor to King Henry VIII. Sir Thomas refused to recognize Henry as Head of the Church, a move intended to facilitate the king’s annulment from Catherine of Aragon, and to break with the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Clement VII. Imprisoned in the Tower of London for well over a year, Sir Thomas was executed and later canonized as a saint. Today, some people may know him from the word “utopia,” which came from his sociological and political satire of the same name; this writing was somewhat out of character, though his motives were always honorable. Below: “To think my most enemies my best friends….,” final verses of “A Godly Meditation,” Francois Regnualt, Book of Hours. 1530, Paris/Franz Birckman, Psalter, 1522, noted below.
For more detail on this period and the beautiful exhibition, enjoy visiting upstairs in the Engelhard Gallery through January 4th, or finding the book in the gift shop.
Other treasures on exhibit are:
From “Lisa Yuskavage: Drawings”
“William Shakespeare, Seated,” 1881, marble, William Wetmore Story, permanent collection
John Pierpont “Jack” Morgan, Jr., ca. 1930 by Fayer of London and Vienna, permanent collection
“Bust of Anne Tracy Morgan,” philanthropist and youngest daughter of J.P. Morgan, bronze, 1937, by Malvina Hoffman, permanent collection
Enjoy seeing the beautiful Gilded Age mansion, designed by premier architect Charles McKim of McKim, Mead & White, and appreciating the breathtaking library. Time did not allow for a revisit this time, but that will be the perfect excuse to return and fully appreciate the 2024 renovations, which everyone can appreciate. Free admission for everyone is available Friday evenings from 5-7 p.m.. College students with IDs may enjoy free admission the first Sunday of each month with a reservation. Fellowships and internships are available at times for college students, and for NYC university students, there is a college ambassador program. There are a a number of teen programs (writing challenge, summer reading, and drawing) and teacher resources.
The Morgan is wheelchair accessible and offers wheelchairs and walkers. Additionally, discounted tickets are available. (Kindly call (212) 685-0008 or email visitorservices@themorgan.orgwith questions regarding any accommodations.) If visitors plan a longer day at the library, there is an inviting café.
“Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth’s lips spoken without sound.”
– Edwin Curran
Tulips dance to their own music in the spring at Longwood Gardens, which is a prelude to the beauty to come. “Longwood Reimagined” shares a new West Conservatory with a Bonsai Courtyard and a Cascade Garden, which makes it dazzling for new visitors and delightful for returning ones. If the melodic bells of the charming Chimes Tower did not return garden-goers to some sense of reality, everyone would be hard-pressed to say what day it was, much less what time. Though it only takes a few hours to visit the gardens, the experience has the transporting feeling of a vacation. While writing this, images of sunlit flower petals and the fragrance of the stargazer lilies in the Main Conservatory come to mind. Nothing that one could write would top the flowers. The photos will do the talking on this spring stroll with more to come since the gardens are wonderful year-round.
Stunning Cattleya orchids
An endearing aspect of Longwood Gardens is its intergenerational appeal; it is not unusual to see three if not four generations enjoying the beauty together. On this trip, families were visiting during the spring break, happily spending time as a family and having lovely flowers in their family photos.
Lovely lilies in the elegant Lord & Burnham-designed Main Conservatory
Music fills the grounds daily throughout the spring, summer, and fall, a complement to the serene water sounds throughout the gardens. The impressive fountains have their own showcase with jets of water synchronized to music, which begins May 5th. The traditional Illuminated Fountain Performances with synchronized, light-filled jets of water, start this year with a Taylor Swift-themed show, which will delight her fans. Fireworks & Fountains Shows begin July 3rd. Longwood Gardens has a Summer Performance Series that offers every genre of music and entertainment: carillon, classical, pop, folk, and country music, ballet, and comedy. The “flowers bloom in the spring” with Gilbert & Sullivan’sThe Mikado performed by the Savoy Company May 30th and 31st.
Landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand designed the new West Conservatory with a Mediterranean-style landscape. Architecture firm Weiss/Manfredi designed the conservatory.
Bonsai garden sneak peek
A glimpse of the cascade garden designed by the “father of modern landscape design,” Brazilian Roberto Burle Marx
Timed tickets and the spaciousness of the gardens allow large number of visitors without anyone feeling too crowded. Surrounded by beauty, everyone’s mood is usually generous regarding photo-taking and interacting.
The 200-acre grounds are accessible with mostly paved paths. Electric scooters and wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There are mobile and print-friendly maps available with suggested routes. A Sensory Tip sheet is available for visitors with autism. Tickets are best reserved ahead for this popular destination. The cost of tickets depends on the season and weekday vs. weekend. Youth (5-18) pay less than adults and children four and under have free admission. Discounts for military, veterans, college students, seniors, SNAP EBT and PA ACCESS cardholders are available. Though there is no re-admission, the purchase of two-day passes offers a 10% discount for travelers who are staying in the beautiful Brandywine Valley.
The talented horticulturists, focused and hard-working, while visitors mill around them, bring this dream to life. Thank you to them and the friendly staff and volunteers.
“…when I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived…will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?”
For any reader of “The Diary of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank or one of its several noteworthy versions, “Anne Frank The Exhibition” at the Center for Jewish History pays respectful tribute to Anne Frank and her memory.
A knowledge of Anne’s brief life of 16 years, 1929-1945, humanizes the vast numbers lost in the Holocaust. The exhibition introduces visitors to Anne and her family with a collection of photographs and the family’s personal effects. Curated with dedication by Ronald Leopold, executive director of the Anne Frank House, and the Center for Jewish History staff, this brings the experience of her namesake Amsterdam museum to New York City. The exhibition places the Frank family in the framework of the time and shows how they and their fellow Jews lost their freedom, and many, their lives, with a rapid and chilling progression.
Commemorated by many on World Book Day, April 23rd, Anne’s diary is still read by students across the country, with an estimated 30 million readers worldwide and Anne’s original Dutch words translated into more than 75 other languages. Her incredible spirit is what struck me most after re-reading Anne’s diary following a visit to the exhibition. Many passages touch the heart – Anne was already what she wanted to be: a writer. Anne’s observations are insightful and often hilarious, which a reader might not expect going into this.
Anne received the diary for her 13th birthday, June 12, 1942, when she led a comfortable and relatively carefree life in Amsterdam after moving there from Germany at age five. Otto Frank had relocated his family from their home in Frankfurt, Germany due to the rise of the Nazis and antisemitism. Anne referred to her diary as “Kitty,” the name of a character from the popular novels of Cissy van Marxveldt that Anne enjoyed. Kitty became a friend to whom Anne wrote letters filled with her innermost thoughts.
Though social and popular, Anne found that she could not find genuine intimacy with her friends, being unable “to talk about anything but everyday things…We don’t seem to get any closer, and that’s the problem….”. Anne relied even more on her confidences with Kitty after the family went into hiding in the attic of the Opetka pectin factory that her father had managed.
Otto Frank, a former lieutenant with the Imperial German Army who received an Iron Cross for heroism in World War I, had tried to get his family out of the Netherlands as he had Germany. Not being Dutch citizens complicated matters, and with the help of some of his employees, he prepared a hiding place for them in the attic above his factory office. The Franks moved into “The Secret Annex,” as they called it, on July 6, 1942. Otto’s colleague Hermann van Pels, his wife Auguste and their son Peter, known as the “van Daans,” and Auguste as “Petronella” in Anne’s diary, joined them a week later. A kind man, Otto Frank thought they had room to help one more. Dentist Fritz Pfeffer, whom Anne refers to as “Albert Dussel,” joined them in November 1942. They remained together until August 4, 1944, when someone, still not known with certainty, betrayed them all to the Nazis.
The exhibition recreates the Secret Annex and the historical backdrop that led to the Franks’ seclusion. Visitors first immerse themselves in the lives of the Franks and then move on to the events that led to their retreat from the world. For those also fortunate enough to have visited the Anne Frank House, this exhibition underscores and refreshes that experience. Post-pandemic, visitors may have an even greater respect for the resilience of the Franks for having lived so long in such a confining way. The emotional repercussions of this resonate throughout Anne’s accounts. Going through adolescence (ages 13-15) in a fishbowl with scrutinizing adults was difficult for her, in combination with the claustrophobia they all felt. Yet Anne remained optimistic, “I’m blessed with many things: happiness, a cheerful disposition and strength…I feel liberation drawing near, I feel the beauty of nature and the goodness of people around me….:
One of their two lifelines was the Dutch friends who helped them: Miep Gies, Otto’s secretary, brought food and supplies and delivered mail for the group. She and Bep Voskuijl, the young secretary, helped Margot and Anne continue their studies by using their names to enroll in correspondence courses. Johan Voskuijl, Bep’s father and the warehouse manager, built the bookcase that ingeniously hid the entrance to the attic; Johannes Kleiman and Victor Kugler, Otto’s friends, helped run the office and bring supplies. Jan Gies, Miep’s husband, who fought in the Resistance, had connections that helped them operate in the attic.
Anne was deeply grateful to them: “It’s amazing how much these generous and unselfish people [the Dutch] do, risking their own lives to help and save others. The best example of this is our own helpers, who have managed to pull us through so far and will hopefully bring us safely to shore, because otherwise they’ll find themselves sharing the fate of those they’re trying to protect. Never have they uttered a single word about the burden we must be, never have they complained that we’re too much trouble….”
Anne admired their friends and the fighting spirit of the Dutch, “…my first wish after the war is to become a Dutch citizen. I love the Dutch, I love this country, I love the language, and I want to work here.” Under the harsh conditions and deprivation of war, unfortunately antisemitism surfaced towards the end of the war in the Netherlands. Though Anne was disappointed, she did not lose her love for her adopted country, and their Dutch helpers remained kind and loyal.
The other lifeline for Anne and those in hiding with her was the BBC Radio. BBC sponsored Radio Oranje, which allowed Queen Wilhelmina, living in exile in London, to reach her subjects who were under Nazi occupation. In a March 1944 speech on Radio Oranje, Dutch Education Minister Gerrit Bolkestein, also exiled in London, encouraged the public to keep diaries, letters, and any records from the war as evidence. His words inspired Anne to revise her diary for publication. Fifteen-year-old Anne, who had matured as a writer, began to edit the work that she had started at 13.
Younger readers may learn about Anne through a National Geographic Kids edition with helpful timelines and definitions, various picture books, and a more recent, vibrantly illustrated “Anne Frank’s Diary The Graphic Adaptation” (2018), though guided reading with parents is a suggestion. According to the Anne Frank House, there are two editions of the diary itself. Anne’s original diary, begun at 13, is version A, Anne Frank’s Diary, and she referred to her later version, which she began editing, version B, as The Secret Annex. Helpers Miep Bies and Bep found and saved Anne’s writings, which included some of her fairytales and short stories. After they heard that Anne had died, Miep gave Anne’s writing to her father. In 1947, Otto Frank published “Het Achterhuis” (“The Secret Annex),” five years after Anne’s death. He added some of Anne’s original diary entries and fictional work; he left out an entry in which Anne criticized his marriage out of respect for his wife. The first English version was “The Diary of a Young Girl,” often referred to as “The Diary of Anne Frank,” published in 1952. In 1986, a “scientific” edition included Anne’s two versions with her editorial changes. (What I read or re-read was “The Definitive Edition Anne Frank The Diary of a Young Girl.”) Anne’s book has inspired a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Frances Goodrich, Belleville-Nutley, NJ, and her husband Albert Maurice Hackett, NYC, movies, including anime and animation, and dramatic series with a recent one about Miep Gies, several of which the exhibition notes along with displaying one of the three Oscars for the 1959 Hollywood film version.
As Alexandra Zapruder share in the National Geographic Kids account of Anne’s life, there are other well-known diary accounts by Jews were in hiding, notably by: Otto Wolf, who hid in a forest with his parents; Peter Feigl, who hid in France with the aid of a Catholic, a Quaker, and a Protestant, and ultimately moved to the US; Yitskhok Rudashevski, who lived in a Lithuanian ghetto; Mirian Korber, a Romanian living in the Ukraine who later became a doctor, and siblings Peter Ginz and Eva Ginzova, who lived in the Terezin ghetto in German-occupied Czechoslovakia; Peter died, but Eva lived on to become an artist. Many students have read Elie Wiesel’s moving “Night” about his experiences with his father in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. What may not be as familiar is“Fighter” (2000),a touching documentary by Amir Bar-Lev about Czech war hero Jan Wiener and writer Arnost Lustig. The Jewish aviator and the concentration camp survivor retrace Jan’s journey from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia to England where he became a pilot with the Czechoslovak 311th Bomber Squad RAF.
“Anne Frank The Exhibition” is only at the Center for Jewish History through October 31st. Seeing the exhibition takes about an hour. For the reasonably priced tickets, please reserve online. Hours are Sunday-Thursday 9:30 a.m. till 7:30 p.m. and Fridays 9:30 a.m. till 3:30 p.m. Closed on Saturdays. The exhibition contains historic documents and items sensitive to the light, so photography is prohibited except for the press. Allow extra time for a security check at the entrance. The security presence around and in the museum conveys the commitment of the administration and staff.
During these beautiful spring days, Holocaust accounts of those remembered on Yam HaShoah, April 24th, and on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27th, may seem distant. To remember them, however, is to show our compassion. To honor them is to go forward without repeating the mistakes of the past.
In a 1970s snapshot, our family lived in a New Jersey suburb that was as much Jewish as it was Christian at the time. The only cultural divide was a short-lived debate of whether or not to have Christmas trees or menorahs in public schools during the holidays. Ultimately, I believe “go for it” was the decision with decorations for all. By the time Adam Sandler’s “The Chanukah Song” and “Seinfeld” became popular in the ‘90s, which brought everyone even closer together through laughter, the brief debate was a distant memory.
With our surname “Levey,” which is Irish and perhaps once spelled “Leavey,” I sometimes got “Happy Holiday” cards given by classmates from whom I received communion at a Catholic girls’ school. The mix-up was sweetly funny but reflected genuine consideration, and I appreciate it when anyone wishes me well. If people sometimes probed, I followed my parents’ respectful cue of not clarifying our religion out of consideration for our Jewish neighbors.
The playful could become serious. Our father, who had started out struggling as a Depression-era child in Northeastern Pennsylvania, worked incredibly hard and eventually traveled internationally on business. He often went to Beirut, the “Paris of the Middle East,” as it was known, one of his favorite places for its beauty, the people, and its cosmopolitan atmosphere. Around 1970, worldwide hijackings began to rise. As tensions began in Beirut before the war in 1975, travel became dangerous. Though it may be difficult to believe, flight attendants at the time either held or collected the passports of passengers with Jewish-sounding surnames to expedite hostage-taking for potential hijackers. The attendants likely did this upon instruction in the hope of sparing the rest of the passengers and crew. Whether they were US-owned airlines or international, I do not recall, but on one flight, an attendant held my father’s passport. He did not identify himself as a Christian and did not ask for the return of his passport.
When our father came home, he shared this with our mother in an understated way while he unpacked. I was in junior high, old enough to understand what this meant, and though I was worried about him, I admired his courage. He did not mention if the bystanders on the flight questioned this practice. Though we never discussed his decision, I imagine that in the moment, he thought what he taught us, “There but for the grace of God go I.” When flight attendants held his passport for a second time, his response was the same. Mercifully for us, the US banned travel to Beirut, which ended his trips there, though he followed the news with concern for friends and former colleagues.
Though I do not have answers or definitive thoughts on hatred or unkindness towards any people, from teaching, I do know that bullying often starts small. Every teacher knows that even a hint of bullying must be addressed immediately, or it may spread, perhaps even virally, through social media or aided by the passivity of others. The ideal is an environment that encourages kindness, empathy, and connection, so students are self-aware regarding their behavior and its potential effect on others. Students who learn to look out for each other as classmates will one day make great neighbors and want to contribute to their communities.
Going back to an early life lesson, on some Saturdays, our father used to take my brother and me to his office downtown in New York City, which was exciting. We would play with the adding machines while he worked. On the way to or from his office, we would stop by the World Trade Center to check the construction progress from a cavernous hole to a marvel of engineering. On those stops, our father used to impart his hard-won wisdom. One observation that resonates the most is, “In life, you have to decide, are you going to build or are you going to tear down?” For all of us, this remains a fundamental life question.
Visitors receive a warm welcome at the Emily Dickinson Museumin Amherst and enjoy guided tours with Dickinson scholars. The museum has photos and exhibits that make it ideal for children and classes to tour. The Homestead, where Emily grew up, the Evergreens next door, where her brother Austin, his wife Susan, and their three children lived, and the carriage house are prominent features of the scenic grounds. Spacious and charming, The Homestead, a National Historic Landmark owned by Amherst College, underwent a restoration in 2022 based on descriptions from Emily’s letters and meticulous historical research about the family. The Evergreens, which had remained in the Dickinson family, eventually merged with The Homestead through the trust of Martha Dickinson Bianchi, Emily Dickinson’s niece, a poet, novelist, and editor of her aunt’s work, and the college.
The Homestead sits atop a knoll that has a stunning view of Amherst, which Emily took in each day from her bedroom window. In Emily’s lifetime, she had the run of 14 acres of land, eleven of which extended across the street. On the three acres surrounding The Homestead were an orchard, a peony garden, lilac bushes, a vegetable garden, a grape trellis, a honeysuckle arbor, a barn, and a “summer house covered in roses” (penn.museum). Emily’s avid love of gardening came from her mother, Emily Norcross Dickinson. Her brother Austin’s interest in landscape design was so keen that he engaged Frederick Law Olmsted, known best as the co-creator of Central Park, to improve Amherst Town Commons.
The Federal style Homestead, 1813
The Homestead, which features a conservatory, reopened in 2022
The Evergreens, 1856: “Italianate domestic architecture” (emilydickinsonmuseum.org)
A trip to the museum brings alive the relatable human aspects of a genius and the life that formed her. Emily Dickinson was a devoted and loving daughter, sister, sister-in-law, and aunt who owned a Newfoundland dog named “Carlo,” a gift from her father that she named after a dog in Jane Eyre. Emily loved gardening and was an amateur naturalist. Her mind was so focused on poetry that she wrote on the back of recipes, scraps of paper, and envelopes as she carried out her domestic duties during the day. Envelopes were handy as Emily was a faithful correspondent who wrote an estimated 1,000 letters and often included pressed flowers or bouquets from her garden with her letters: “My friends are my Estate” (archive.emilydickinson.org). She had a mischievous sense of humor conveyed through the wit of those letters and poems. Lest her observations seem too sharp, sweet blooming roses on her bedroom wallpaper are familiar to many a girl and woman. Though not a churchgoer in later years, Emily was a person of faith, perhaps influenced by the Transcendentalism of her time, reflected in her poems:
The Brain – is wider than the Sky –
For – put them side by side –
The one the other will contain
With ease – and you – beside –
The Brain is deeper than the sea –
For – hold them – Blue to Blue –
The one the other will absorb –
As sponges – Buckets – do –
The Brain is just the weight of God –
For – Heft them – Pound for Pound –
And they will differ – if they do-
As Syllable from Sound –
As Joyce Carol Oates, the lauded writer, the Roger S. Berlind ’52 Professor of the Humanities at Princeton University, and a delightful public speaker notes in her introduction to The Essential Emily Dickinson, Emily gave voice to readers’ interior lives, the hopes, thoughts, and doubts most everyone explores. As Ms. Oates conveys, Emily was a “great poet of inwardness, of that indefinable region of the soul in which we are, in a sense, all one,” which is one reason her poems resonate worldwide. With pensive reflection and few references to news or events, Emily’s poems stand outside of time. Ms. Oates describes Emily’s lyric poems as “revolutionary,” departing from the traditionally structured poems of her time, sometimes even inverting sentence structure in a playful adaptation of the rules of Latin grammar.
Ms. Dickinson’s poems often stand outside of a setting as well, “scenelessness” (Monica Cooper, classicalpoets.org):
Summer laid her simple Hat
On its boundless Shelf –
Unobserved – a Ribbon slipts,
Snatch it for yourself.
Summer laid her supple Glove
In its sylvan Drawer –
Wheresoe-er, or was she –
The demand of Awe?
Biographical overview
Emily, her brother Austin, and sister Lavinia
Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, was a well-educated woman and used this in her poetry. Born at The Dickinson Homestead, she was the middle sibling between older brother Austin and younger sister Lavinia or “Vinnie” in a closely knit family. Her grandfather, Samuel Fowler Dickinson, built the stately home, the first brick one in Amherst. He was a prominent attorney and a founder of Amherst College. Emily lived at The Homestead for most of her 55 years with fifteen spent at another house in town after Samuel had overextended himself financially to support the fledgling Amherst College. Some historians view his son Edward, Emily’s father, as being frugal and stern, which perhaps he was. He grew up, however, as the eldest in a family of nine, saw his family’s finances fold, and rebuilt his immediate family’s fortune enough so that he could repurchase the lost Dickinson Homestead. Edward had his daughters formally educated in an era when many girls received only tutoring at home. He married Emily Norcross, a well-educated woman, though “shy and retiring”.
As a girl, Emily studied for seven years at Amherst Academy, where her love of nature flourished with studies in botany. She created a herbarium, a collection of pressed plant specimens, with more than 400 types of plants. Visitors will see replicas of some pages on the tour. At the academy, Emily also studied composition, Latin, geology, and astronomy and had access to lectures at Amherst College.
A 17-year-old Emily tested and placed in the middle of three levels at Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary in nearby South Hadley and might have graduated in two years. She found it confining, however, perhaps due to its strict Calvinism at the time and left after one year. Emily favored the sciences over religious studies, which did not align with the revival of Calvinism throughout Massachusetts (The Guardian):
“Faith” is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see –
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.
Emily, 16, whose hair was reportedly red in childhood, and later auburn; her eyes were a dark hazel
One fun tidbit from the tour is that Emily’s father gave her mother a book on housekeeping as a wedding gift. Mrs. Dickinson took this to heart and, though the family could afford servants, she and the girls did all the housework for 25 years. Emily’s work flourished upon the engagement of a housekeeper.
The petite genius who often dressed in white wrote at a tiny desk in her bedroom and kept her poems in packets, “fascicles,” sometimes sewn together. Enjoy hearing details about her bedroom’s restoration on the museum’s YouTube channel.
Around 1860, when Emily was 30, she began withdrawing from public life. Some speculate that her reclusiveness was due to an eye condition. Her work became more prolific, so it is possible that she did not want interruptions. Regardless of the reason, she continued to read poetry, novels of her time, the Bible, The Springfield Republican, a highly regarded newspaper, and The Atlantic Monthly. With her family, Emily traveled to see family in Massachusetts and went on trips to Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
The circle of Emily’s immediate family grew with Austin’s marriage to Emily’s friend from Amherst Academy, Susan Huntington Gilbert, the greatest recipient of Emily’s poems and a helpful critic. Some scholars believe that Emily’s feelings towards Susan extended beyond friendship. Emily was a doting aunt to Susan and Austin’s children Edward (“Ned”), Martha (“Mattie”), and Thomas Gilbert (“Gib”). One of her pastimes as a fun aunt was lowering gingerbread on the sly from her bedroom window to her nephews, niece, and their friends.
In middle age, she and her sister Lavinia, who kept the house running, cared for their mother, who was partially paralyzed after a stroke, with the help of their maid Margaret Maher. Mrs. Dickinson resided in a room adjoining Emily’s. (Their father had died suddenly while away from home when Emily was 43 which left the family grief-stricken twice over, not having had the opportunity to say goodbye.) Though Emily and her mother were not close, Emily reportedly never complained about caring for her for seven years and spoke of her with great affection.
Egyptian lotus at the Talcott Greenhouse
After the death of Emily’s beloved nephew Gib, 8, from typhoid fever and the loss of a friend and one-time suitor Judge Otis Philips Lord some months later, Emily’s health began to decline. She died a few years later at 55 from Bright’s disease, which was a catch-all for unknown causes.
Publication
Of the nearly 1,800 poems Emily wrote, only ten were published in Emily’s lifetime, anonymously and likely without her approval. The lack of publication may be a combination of factors: Emily’s reserve, her father’s conservative views on women and publication, and discouragement from a friend and correspondent, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, an editor of The Atlantic Monthly. Emily had read his letter to young writers in the magazine and submitted four poems to him. Thomas did not recognize her genius and discouraged her, but they continued to correspond and eventually met.
After Emily’s death, Lavinia found hundreds of her sister’s untitled, numbered poems in a bedroom drawer. More kept turning up on scraps and the backs of various household papers which revealed Emily’s discipline and dedication to her writing. Lavinia sought to have her sister’s poems published, but grief and a fractious division within the family resulted in a heavily edited publication by an Amherst College professor’s wife, Mary Loomis Todd, who had insinuated herself into the Dickinson family, and Thomas Wentworth Higginson. As co-editors, the two “corrected” Emily’s poems to reflect the poetic style of the Victorian era. The first time Emily’s poems appeared in print as she wrote them was in a 1955 edition from Harvard University Press edited by R.W. Franklin, the Director of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.
For a list of noteworthy publications of Emily’s poems, kindly visit the museum’s page.
A 2016 definitive edition of Emily poems by Cristanne Miller, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Edward H. Butler Professor of Literature, University of Buffalo, an Emily Dickinson scholar who also edited and wrote several other books on the poet
The enigmatic Emily Dickinson loved riddles, and it is a joy to explore the meaning of her intricate poems. One of the museum’s exhibits demonstrates how Ms. Dickinson’s poems often had alternate words in the margins. One wonders if, rather than being “unfinished,” in the mind of a gifted gardener, Emily’s poems were organic: ever-growing and ever-changing. Though her thoughts about publishing seemed ambivalent, publishing a poem defines it at least for the readers. Given the private nature of Emily’s writing, her sophisticated use of sound is another impressive aspect of her poetry.
Perhaps there is an irony in writing a travel piece about someone known as a recluse, but as our guide, Brenna shared, that term may be misleading for someone who had the run of a large working farm and gardens. Emily Dickinson lived a full life on her terms and was sociable within her world. Many of her poems concern death, which was all around her. She lost cousins at an early age, lived through the Civil War, and saw people pass away from fevers or illnesses easily remedied today. (The average lifespan in 1860 was 39.4 years.) Emily’s most prolific writing period was 1855-1865. Though she never directly references the Civil War, it impacts her work. At the very least, the act of creativity in writing and gardening, is life-affirming. Though there were hardships for the family, as there were for many in those years, the cheer of The Homestead belies this.
Emily once wrote to a friend, “If we love flowers, are we not born again every day?” A curator for the New York Botanic Garden’s “Emily Dickinson’s Garden: The Poetry of Flowers” (2010) shared this in a PBS interview on YouTube and the wonderful realization of Emily’s that pressed flowers, like poems about them, live on. Enjoy a virtual tour of Emily’s garden from the NYBG exhibition.
Though Emily Dickinson could explore the depths of the soul, she shared that soul’s resilience:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –
And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –
I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,
It asked a crumb – of me.
Emily composed a poem for “Thanksgiving Day,” which is shared somewhat from the viewpoint of an outsider but conveys that our thanks are never sufficient:
…Not a mention whose small Pebble
Wrinkled any Sea,
Unto such, were such Assembly,
‘Twere “Thanksgiving day”
Children often initially read or hear “A Bird Came Down the Wall,” but the first that resonated with me was one I read as a teen:
The Souls Selects her own Society –
Then – shuts the Door –
To her divine Majority –
Present no more –
Unmoved – she notes the Chariots –
pausing –
At her low Gate –
Unmoved – an Emperor kneeling
Upon her Mat –
I’ve known her – from ample nation –
Choose One –
Then – close the Valves of her attention –
Like Stone.
Gardening
Emily’s renown was as a gardener, and gardening offered her a world of metaphor for her poetry. A striking feature of the street view of Emily’s home is the sparkling glass of the conservatory in which she grew ferns and flowers year-round. In a greenhouse that her father had built for his daughters, Emily grew gardenias, carnations, jasmine, fuchsia, and heliotropes. She often used those flowers like violets, one of her favorites, in baking, another pastime.
Of Emily’s gardens, her niece Martha recalled “a mass of meandering blooms” composed of “daffodils, hyacinths, chrysanthemums, marigolds, peonies, bleeding heart and lilies…and Greville roses” (nytimes.com).
As an insight into Emily Dickinson’s gardening life, readers may enjoy the gloriously illustrated and detailed Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life by Marta McCall, Chatham, NJ, who teaches at the New York Botanic Garden and was the 2018 gardener in residence at the Emily Dickinson Museum. Bought this with good intentions as a reference for this post, but it will be a cozy winter read in anticipation of spring.
Baking
Emily won second place in a baking competition with her “Indian loaf and rye bread” (tastingtable.com) and enjoyed baking for her family, friends, and neighbors. The home-baked gifts sometimes included edible flowers from her garden. The Homestead had three types of grapes, and the family made jams and wine. Emily’s popular gingerbread recipe is on innumerable blogs as well as the museum’s website. As a fun addition to the Thanksgiving meal, I added this:
Emily Dickinson’s Recipe for Gingerbread:
1 quart flour 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup cream 1 tablespoon ginger 1 teaspoon soda 1 teaspoon salt Make up with molasses (a little more than a cup is about right)
Cream the butter and mix with lightly whipped cream. Sift dry ingredients together and combine with the other ingredients. The dough is stiff and needs to be pressed into whatever pan you choose. A round or small square pan is suitable. Bake at 350 degrees for 20–25 minutes. (The recipe is via the nybg.com blog with the addition of a simple icing with confectioner’s sugar and edible violets. Enjoy making more of Emily’s recipes via novelist Emily Temple on Literary Hub.)
Since Emily’s grandfather co-founded Amherst College, this will include a brief pitch made in gratitude for the Five College (Amherst College, Smith College, Mt. Holyoke College, the University of Massachusetts, and Hampshire College) experience. A free bus takes students around to each school. When this started about the time of my senior year at Smith College, it led to the discovery of brilliant foreign films with friends at the Amherst Cinema, views of the golden autumn and pumpkin-laden fields of South Hadley on visits to a friend at Mt. Holyoke, and later her graduation at the hillside amphitheater, the music of Rimsky-Korsakov played by the Moscow Philharmonic at UMass concert hall (now the Frederick C. Tillis Performing Arts Center, part of the Randolph W. Bromery Center for the Arts), and “Plan 9 from Outer Space” and other horror classics at a fun Halloween festival at Hampshire College. All these experiences of the arts were as rich as any in New York City and made affordable to students in the days before ride shares allowed for the ease of off-campus trips and travel to Boston.
A later spontaneous trip to Amherst, which was to have included the Emily Dickinson Museum, began with Amherst College’s Beneski Museum of Natural History with its incredible dinosaur fossils. As it turned out, planning to visit the popular museum is advised. The museum is open March-December, Wednesday-Sunday 10-5 with last admission is at 4 p.m.. A key suggestion is to purchase tickets online before the trip, an invaluable tip from tripadvisor.com reviews. The Evergreens, newly restored, and its former carriage house, now under construction as a welcome center, should reopen in the spring, which is all the more reason for another visit as well as to enjoy the gardens. Enjoy updates by subscribing to the newsletter and following the museum’s social media.
Sincere thanks to the charming and scholarly Brenna who was a wonderful guide. Anything on point is a credit to Brenna, any detours, hopefully, few, are mine.
A view of the beautiful trees on the museum grounds and the carriage house construction
Donations and items from the shop support the museum: Emily Dickinson Museum Shop. Join the free online party on December 10th for Emily Dickinson’s birthday (in-person is sold out!) and a virtual tour. As Frommer’s Travel Guide notes, Dickinson enthusiasts may also enjoy a tour of the Houghton Dickinson Room at Harvard University’s Houghton Dickinson Library, which features Ms. Dickinson’s writing desk, books from the family library, and other original items of the home.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Beautiful tree on the Amherst Town Common, such nice people there
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.
“Summer Thinking” by Seward Johnson The welcoming committee 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.
“The Awakening” by Seward JohnsonAnother view of “The Awakening”Japanese cherry blossomsThe orchard in full bloom“Put Yourself in the Picture” by Roberto Lugo“Captured” by Seward Johnson with a woman reading his daughter’s book of poetry (June 2023)“Captured” (June 2023)“Constellation” by James Barton“Crossing Paths” by Seward Johnson
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.
Detail from “Stainless Girl”
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.”
Cecelia Joyce and Seward from the exhibition
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 Centerin 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)Daylily (earlier visit)“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 TownshipOne 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)Garden tulipJapanese snowball shrub and redbud treeCamelliaBamboo Yulan magnolia Fall splendor (2015)
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.
Lotuses (June 2023)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 28th.
On May 5th, “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.
Greeter at Rat’s (2021)
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 17th. 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.
(June 2023)
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)
“Seward Johnson’s Invitation to Grounds for Sculpture” @ 2024 Kathleen Helen Levey. All rights reserved.
“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” Theodore Roethke
Wandering under sunlit cherry blossoms is the hallmark of spring’s “Cherry Blossomland” in Branch Brook Park and one of life’s great pleasures. The dance of spring in the blossoms, tremulous and dainty in the breeze, signals the end of winter as much as the arrival of the blooms. So delicate, the white blossoms look like snowflakes on branches, spring having pranked winter with miraculous perseverance. On Easter Sunday, in a harmonious convergence with Purim and Ramadan, and the festive afterglow of Holi, families, couples, photographers, and worldwide visitors strolled throughout the nearly four-mile park. All were smiling, most grinning, blissed out by the breathtaking beauty and the great gift of enjoying life fully again.
Dancing snowflakes Exquisite blossoms
Wonderful year-round, the park’s atmosphere is especially so in the spring. The park is a blossom-lover’s dream with all types of cherry trees: single blossom, double blossom, and weeping. Though selfies are the fashion, part of the fun in cherry blossom season is trading iPhones and cameras to capture happy moments. Young auteurs giving directions while photographing their parents were charming, even holding up hands for “framing” on this and an earlier visit. One, about 5 or 6, was reluctant to return the phone to parental amateurs in a hilarious and affectionate back and forth. Stay long enough, or better yet, visit often, and experience the second flowering of Branch Brook Park: blushing brides before blooms, proud young adults in caps and gowns, adorable children dressed for First Communion, lovely girls in Quince dresses, graceful women in saris and salwar kameez, and smartly dressed families in their holiday best, all posing in blossom-laden photos as everyone passes through the park with a rhythm that mirrors the flow of the Branch Brook after which it takes its name. Those dedicated to the park like the Branch Brook Park Alliance know how a shared love of beauty can bring people together.
Weeping cherry blossom tree
Branch Brook Park in spring reflects the worldwide celebration of the blooms. Japanese cherry blossom festivals honor each stage of the blossom, which is reflective of life’s rites of passage with a reverence for nature that is intertwined with both Shintoism and Bhuddism. “Sakura” means not only “cherry blossom,” but symbolizes renewal. The blossoms’ brief bloom is bittersweet, reminding admirers to appreciate the fleeting flowering beauty and nature’s imperfection. How this philosophy of “wabi-sabi” (greatly condensed), which is from Zen Buddhism, manifests itself in everyday life in Japan is that family, friends, students, and co-workers gather in the tradition of “hanami,” which means flower-viewing, or what Americans might call picnicking, to appreciate the blossoms. In Japan, school begins in April and collective childhood back-to-school memories are replete with falling petals much like many Americans associate crunching leaves with the start of school. Hanami in Branch Brook Park translates into the annual “Bloomfest” and a new Cherry Blossom Welcome Center that is scheduled to open this fall.
Pink and white blossom confection
Olmsted and Branch Brook Park history
A map of the L-shaped park of 360 acres shows its three main sections, the North, Middle, and the South with a picturesque extension in Belleville, which makes the park nearly four miles long. Branch Brook is a tributary of the Passaic River and the park includes a reservoir, a lake, ponds, streams, and the Second River in the Belleville extension. With the liveliness of the present-day park, it seems hard to believe that it is the oldest county park in the country.
Branch Brook Park reflects a history of generosity. Civil War volunteers trained in what was Camp Frelinghuysen on the former land of the Newark Aqueduct Board. The Ballantine Family gifted 32 acres, Z.M. Keene, William A. Righter, and Messrs. Heller, collectively, 50 acres, and the Newark Common Council, 60 acres. In 1924, Harmon Washington Hendricks, an industrialist from a prominent philanthropic Jewish family which dates back to the late 1700’s, bequeathed his family home and the 23 acres along the Second River, the former site of the Hendricks Copper Mill. The adjacent Hendricks Field Golf Course, upgraded in 2018, also has cherry trees.
Regarding the park design, requested by the Newark Park Commission, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and Calvert Vaux, well-known for Central Park (1858), envisioned a bucolic Branch Brook Park (1867) with their trademark naturalism that includes extensive rolling hills, stately tree clusters, waterways, and inviting paths. Landscape architects John Bogart and Nathan F. Barrett designed a plan with an ornamental or “romantic” style (1895), but it was the Olmsted Brothers, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., and his half-brother, John Charles Olmsted, who created the park keeping the garden-like style of Bogart and Barrett around the reservoir.
The cherry blossoms adorn the design. Branch Brook Park boasts the largest collection of cherry blossoms in the country, though the picturesque spring wonder of Washington, DC’s Tidal Basin, a gift of cherry trees from Japan in 1912, receives an applause-worthy note as do the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. In 1927, Caroline Bamberger Fuld, who was the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Germany, brought 2,000-2,050 cherry trees of many varieties from Japan. A lovely detail of this story is that she nurtured the cherry blossom trees on her own nearby Orange, New Jersey estate to ensure their survival before having them planted in the park.
Caroline Bamberger Fuld (Photo: Jewish Women’s Archive) A magnificent gift 🌸
Caroline was the sister of Bamberger and Co. department store founder Louis Bamberger and the wife of Felix Fuld, another founder. After Felix passed away in January 1929, Louis sold the business to R.H. Macy & Co. a few months before the stock market crash. (Louis Bamberger gave the company’s 236 long-term employees, or “co-workers” as he called them, $1 million after the sale. Ideal bosses, he and Felix Fuld provided on-site health care, a cafeteria, a music club, a library, and classes offered through Rutgers University.) After her husband’s death, Ms. Fuld, along with Louis, carried on her husband’s generosity. Both Caroline and Louis are known today for co-founding the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, which created a place for independent thought and research and gave new lives to many Jewish mathematicians in the 1930’s who needed to leave Europe.
Visual poetry
The original 2,000+ gift of Ms. Fuld has increased to approximately 5,200 (some sources note more) with 18 varieties with the help of the Alliance and Essex County Parks and Recreation, both of which have added more trees, preserved trees, and restored historical and architectural treasures. Various sources note that not only does the park have the most blossoming cherry trees in the country, but the greatest variety. Regarding the undertaking of planting the initial trees from Ms. Fuld, the National Park Service credits the Olmsted Brothers with returning and giving the trees a tiered-slope placement so park-goers could appreciate the blooms more completely. For those who prefer an immersive cherry blossom experience, the Belleville extension has the most densely planted blooms, which is also a wondrous experience for enjoying the light fragrance. A note here to underscore the park signs which have increasingly larger letters each year; please do not touch the trees so others may enjoy their beauty.
Architectural details
As Branch Brook Park Alliance notes, most of the “centennial” structures, those over 100 years old, are the work of the distinguished Carrere and Hastings, the most notable being the Beaux-arts Ballantine Gate, 1898. (The gates lead to the also noteworthy architecture of the Forest Hills section of Newark, where Newark Porchfest brings fun and music each fall.) There are also some Art Deco gems and the distinctive lion sculptures by Karl Bitter at the reservoir. The lions, donated by the Prudential Insurance Company from their former office building, are nicknamed “Art” and “Pat” after former Prudential CEO Art Ryan and his wife Pat, also park supporters. Prudential arranged for the planting of twenty-four cherry trees as a memorial to Kiyofumi Sakaguchi. Other elegant tributes include the Patricia A. Chambers Cherry Grove, the Althea Gibson Tennis Center and statue by Thomas Jay Warren, the Roberto Clemente Fields and statue, a Felix Mendelssohn bust, a prize won by the United Singers of Newark in 1903, and a bust of Frederick Law Olmsted, also by Thomas Jay Warren, to note a few. While setting out to write about cherry blossoms, this has turned to a reflection on generosity, which are essentially one and the same in Branch Brook Park.
Beaux-arts Ballantine Gates by Carrere, 1898, and Hastings, restored by Essex County Restoration and Open Space Fund (2020) Art Deco Bridge, Belleville extension (2016) Blooms and Art Deco BridgeOne of the two 7-foot-tall limestone Prudential lions, 1901, by sculptor Karl Bitter at the reservoir with the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in the background (2018) Althea Gibson by Thomas Jay Warren (2018)Althea Gibson Tennis Center, which looks like a Tiffany window (2016). Louis Comfort Tiffany, a name appearing at the Newark Museum of Art, went to school and trained early on as a painter in NJ, another case for the maxim “all roads lead to New Jersey”. Roberto Clemente statue by Roberto Clemente Field, Lake Street and Bloomfield Avenue, 2012, by Susan Wagner, a slightly smaller scale version (8 feet) of her Clemente statue at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Made possible through private donors, Verizon, and PSE&G. Erie Bridge (2014)Frederick Law Olmsted bust at the reservoir (2022)
Peak blooms are usually between the second and third weeks of April which means a welcome return trip for fans of the wonderful Newark St. Patrick’s Day Parade. For blossom viewing, driving is an option to see these sights and the blossoms, though there are wheelchair-friendly trails. Light rail lines and buses also travel to the park. For the definitive history of Branch Brook Park, please visit the Alliance. Other park features include the Prudential Concert Grove near the lions and reservoir, a roller skating rink and basketball courts near the cathedral basilica, baseball fields, bocce courts, which will return when the new center opens, a playground in the Belleville extension (“excellent” as rated by peals of laughter) and the Alliance’s cherry blossom live cam for anyone who cannot make the trip (yet) along with their Bloomwatch, which is also informative about the variety of cherry blossom blooms, on social media. Though the Rutgers Master Gardeners and many other organizations volunteer to help keep the park beautiful, the Alliance always welcomes more volunteers.
Pathway in Southern Division by the cathedral (2022 in this section) Lake in Southern Division by Roller Rink Beautiful rainbow
Cathedral Basilica of the
Sacred Heart
Standing majestically on the park’s horizon is the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, graceful with its French Gothic Revival style (1898-1954). Both a National and a New Jersey Historic Site, the fifth largest cathedral in the nation is approximately 45,000 square feet, about the size of Westminster Abbey in London, and draws tourists as well as parishioners for its beautiful architecture. In 1995, Pope John Paul II conferred the title of “minor basilica” upon the cathedral, the highest recognition given to a cathedral with special significance.
Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart (2022)(2022)
Viewing the cathedral and the cherry blossoms was one of our early family traditions as Vailsburg, Newark residents, which brings to mind one special person among many, our grandmother, remembered in “Arriving Home to Sweetness”. Another early memory was seeing the first spring light shining through a window while hearing the voice of Newark’s Sarah Vaughan* from the records of “The Divine One” played often by our father fan. Newarker Whitney Houston was the great vocal artist of my generation, recalled in a visit to the former Grammy Museum at the Prudential Center, which is still home to the New Jersey Devils and the Seton Hall Pirates. The Newark Museum of Art, with its incredible collection, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), which now hosts the annual Sarah Vaughan Vocal Competition, and the Newark Library, which is a beautiful building and an excellent research resource, are also nearby.
New Jersey Center for the Performing Arts “The Cuppah” by Gianni Toso, Newark Museum of Art Beaux-art, Tiffany & Co. , 1900, Newark. Belonged to the [Thomas and Mina] Edison, West Orange. An appreciative Martin Brodeur in “The Salute” to fans, 2015, by Jon Krawczyk outside Prudential Center (2019). The statue’s stand contains a fans’ time capsule of Brodeur memorabilia. Partial view of the magnificent “The Mural,” 2007, by ambidextrous sports artist Tom Mosser. Commissioned by the NJ Devils, at 200’ x 30′ it is one of the largest indoor sports mural in the country. Pictured here are Martin Brodeur, Ritchie Regan, and boxers among many celebrated state athletes and icons. Left to right: Ken Daneyko, Tony Meola, Terry Dehere, Althea Gibson
Note: News 12 New Jersey recently reported that Newark artists Rorshachbrand, Robert Ramone and Andre Leon, have created a new, beautiful mural honoring Newark and New Jersey musical artists that will inspire performers as they take the stage at the Prudential Center.
The 22-foot stainless steel “Stanley” aka “The Iron Man” by NJ Devils fan Jon Krawczyk stands in Championship Plaza behind the Pru Center. Children enjoy sitting and playing on his foot and hockey stick in what has become a popular selfie station/photo stop. The artist drove this and “The Salute” across the country from his California studio.Newark Library (2015) which has beautiful murals
Nature’s poetry
Central Park has a plaque with the Theodore Roethke quote note above, “Deep within their roots, all flowers keep the light,” which came up when researching it. (This calls for a visit to another Olmsted gem: “Central Park: A Template of Beauty”.) The renowned poet, who inspired generations of poets, felt a deep connection with nature from the time spent with his father in the elder’s greenhouse workplace where young Theodore observed the nurturing of beauty. After experiencing family tragedies at 14, Theodore struggled, as many young people have following the pandemic, but later found his way by writing poetry. Thematic in his work is the belief that nature has a soul, perhaps being interconnected with his own. Poet Roethke’s view of nature as holding spiritual truth complements the essence of a traditional blossom festival.
A walk in the park with nature’s beauty, fresh air, and a stretch can often make cares drift away like petals on the stream. Nature is a gift, no more so than in spring, when flowers bring joy. In the absence of the poet, deferring here to blossom eloquence.
Looking up in Branch Brook Park (2022)
* (No YouTube ad, hopefully; if so, worth the wait for “I’ve Got the World on a String”.)
“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” Vincent Van Gogh
The National Arts Clubearns a renown for its impressive art, engaging events, and a National Historic Landmark home in Gramercy Park, but its true vibrancy comes from its members. The Club members celebrate, promote, and educate others about the “visual arts, literature, film, architecture, fashion, photography and music” in the warm way of passing along a book that is too good not to share.
“White Roses,” 1914, Philip Leslie Hale
The Club that helps keep the arts alive in the city began in 1898 with Charles Augustus de Kay, the art and literary critic for The New York Times. Mr. de Kay’s goal was to look to American artists for inspiration rather than European, which was traditional at the time, and to encourage public interest in the arts and education in fine arts. With the help of philanthropist Spencer Trask, Mr. de Kay and fellow founding members like Henry Frick purchased the Victorian Gothic Revival mansion of Samuel J. Tilden, 25th governor of New York, for the Club. Governor Tilden, who ended New York City corruption, most notably that of Tammany Hall, had bequeathed his fortune for a citywide New York Public Library. His stately home at 15 Gramercy Park South in the Gramercy Park Historic District was formerly two brownstones joined by a sandstone façade designed by Calvert Vaux, co-creator of Central Park. For the mansion’s exterior, Mr. Vaux used the Aesthetic Movement style that emphasized bringing beauty into all aspects of life, making it the ideal home for the Club. In a 2008 restoration, New York City-Brazilian artist Sergio Rosetti Morosini, active in the conservation of the city’s landmarks, added a bust of Michelangelo above the Club’s entrance. The interior includes magnificent stained-glass panels by artist John LaFarge, who had a studio in Greenwich Village, and a stained-glass dome by Scottish-born artisan Donald McDonald.
“Joyce Carol Oates,” NAC Medal recipient
The building is so elegant and distinctive that filmmakers and television producers have requested it for works like “The Age of Innocence,” “The Manhattan Murder Mystery,” “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1999), “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Billions,” “Gotham,” “Jimmy Choo,” and “Boardwalk Empire”. Even more distinctive is the welcoming of women as members since the Club’s 1898 founding. Historical name dropping of former members includes artistic greats like painters Cecilia Beaux, Frederic Remington, William Merritt Chase, George Bellows, Chen Chi and sculptors Anna Hyatt Huntington, Robert Henri, Daniel Chester French, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
Portrait by Ernest Ludvig Ipsen
With such names, one might mistake the Club as being pretentious, but members are there to share a genuine love of the arts. Crossing the threshold means receiving a friendly greeting not only from other members but long-time staff. The atmosphere is lively for the sociable and serene for artists at work. Dining amidst beautiful artworks, resuming again Tuesday with safety protocols, is another opportunity to connect. Lectures and events cover topics including art, fashion, fragrances, cuisine, dance and movement, film screenings, and concerts featuring jazz, classical, and contemporary music. In the past year, the Club has celebrated its fun traditions virtually with events like this month’s Bonnet Bash hat contest, the holiday concert with the Gramercy Brass Orchestra, the Halloween Gala, and Open House New York.
Membership includes worldwide access to other clubs. Additional membership perks allow access to meeting and event rooms, overnight accommodation, and Gramercy Park, the last private park in Manhattan, all the more relaxing for restricting photography.
A portrait room
Important traditions recognize lifelong contributors to the arts with the National Arts Club Medal and encourage new playwrights with the Kesselring Prize for Playwrighting. Medal recipients, whose portraits adorn the walls, include Anna Sui, Joyce Carol Oates, Frederica von Stade, Patricia Field, Claire Bloom, Ellen Burstyn, Toni Morrison, Nadine Gordimer, Lin Manuel-Miranda, John Turturro, Itzhak Perlman, Ang Lee, Salman Rushdie, Spike Lee, I.M. Pei, Tom Wolfe, Frank McCourt, W.H. Auden, Saul Bellow, Tennessee Williams, Roy Lichtenstein, Philip Roth, Mark Twain, Downing Vaux, Calvert’s son, and more. The Kesselring Prize awarded in honor of Joseph Kesselring, best known for writing “Arsenic and Old Lace,” presently honors playwright Mona Mansour. Selected new artists receive support as Artist Fellows which gives them a membership for one year to enhance their careers.
Portrait room close-up“Gordon Parks,” 1971, by Gloria Swanson
The National Arts Club has carried on gracefully during this past year underscoring the importance of the uplifting to inspire and connect us. Artists, too, are visionaries, who give us pause to reflect. In a place where a love of art, life, people, and the city all flow together, this nonprofit’s extraordinary and newly renovated galleries are free and open to the public daily, 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with reservations presently for safety. Additionally, gallery spaces are available for non-members. (Note: On view as of early 2022: “Art of the Abstract Mark,” Libbie Marks’ collage paintings, the “Will Barnet Student Show,” which welcomes new young artists, “Consequences: A Parlor Game,” which showcases the work of the National Academicians of 2021, and “A Century of American Landscape Art,” some landscape “treasures” from the Club’s permanent collection of more than 600 works of art.) Enjoy exhibition updates and Club news on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, which offers a virtual tour, also available on the NAC website.
“Benny Goodman,” NAC Medal recipient, by fellow medalist and Club member Everett Raymond Kinstler
While living in the city, I had the pleasure of being an affiliate member for a time through an alumnae group, which was an incredible experience. Later, I attended the most welcoming and cordial reception and tour, which included a view of The Players club for the performing arts next door, through another alumni association. A delightful lecture from curators from The Clark Art Institute and French National Heritage for the exhibition “Women in Paris, 1850-1900” marked the occasion of another memorable stop.
“Some Little Talk of Me and Thee There Was,” 1905-1909, by Harry Willson Watrous
On my most recent visit, which fell on Valentine’s Day of last year right before the pandemic began, the Media/Marketing Communications director kindly gave two talented British travel and cuisine writers and myself a morning tour. Such fans of New York City, the couple was here to celebrate his birthday. Having seen a number of the inspirational city sights on other trips, they asked me about a unique and wonderful New York City experience for which the only answer was, “The National Arts Club.” On every visit, I am thrilled by being in the company of people who also value what I love.
Valentine’s Day 2020 was a day of kindnesses, so in keeping with the true nature of the city. Though this valentine meandered en route for a while, it still arrives heartfelt.
(Sources: NAC website and social media, onthesetofnewyork,com,
saxonhenry.com (member), the artstory.org, ny.curbed.com, tripadvisor.com, goodreads.com,
Wiki)
Partial view of the Club’s historic brownstone home (2017) John La Farge stained glass Angelina Jolie portrait Fun on cue Lee O. Lawrie sculpture John La Farge stained glass panels
“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” A Bay State classic
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.
Beautiful detail from The Red Lion InnPopular carriage rides
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 31st 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.
Stockbridge Fire Department Carolers at The Red Lion Inn Santa at the wheel Naumkeag Christmas tree Naumkeag holiday wishing trees Naumkeag Christmas tree Stockbridge Bowl Lake Tanglewood entrance, Lenox A snowy Tanglewood Tanglewood Downtown Lenox De Vries Fine Art, Lenox Shots Cafe, Lenox Snowy, scenic Lenox Merry & bright, Schots Cafe Sweet tree at Cramwell, a former resort, now a spaGreat Barrington Holiday cheer in Great Barrington A view to spring with Norman Rockwell’s “Spring Flowers,” 1969 (WikiArt)
