One Hour at The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

MUSEUM GUIDE | CABANA TRAVEL | CABANA MAGAZINE

In this series, we travel the world's great museums - large and small - through the eyes and minds of selected curators, asking: if you only had an hour to spare, what would you see? This week, Mindy Neustifter Besaw talks Sara Pierdonà through seven magnificent objects at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

INTERVIEW BY SARA PIERDONÀ | CABANA TRAVEL |  11 OCTOBER 2024

Exterior view of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. © CBMO Creative.

Located in the wild heart of America, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a treasure trove of masterpieces off the typical beaten track and thus, in its own way, a pilgrimage destination. The wood and glass structure, designed by Moshe Safdie to blend in with its natural surroundings, features a series of pavilions nestled around two ponds fed by streams and forest trails.

Founder Alice Walton offered Durand's Kindred Spirits and Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter from her personal collection at the opening of the museum. The heiress's passion for art began early: legend has it that when she was only 10 she sacrificed five weeks of her pocket money to buy a Picasso print.

Since mid-September, an exquisitely, authentically North American exhibition has been on display in the Crystal Bridges Museum; Knowing the West presents more than 120 works (including textiles, baskets, paintings, pottery, sculpture, beadwork, saddles, and prints), the curation of which aim to give a broader and more inclusive representation of what was historically considered ‘the West’ of North America.

Nellie Two Bear Gates (Iháƞktȟuƞwaƞna Dakhóta, Standing Rock Reservation, 1854-1935) Suitcase, 1880-1910. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MN. Photo: Minneapolis Institute of Art. Currently on show at "Knowing the West".

Nellie Two Bear Gates (Iháƞktȟuƞwaƞna Dakhóta, Standing Rock Reservation, 1854-1935) - Suitcase, 1880-1910

"This luggage is a stunning piece of Native American craftsmanship, both for the exceptionality of its making and its almost-perfect state of preservation. It is one of my favorite pieces. The woman who embroidered it entirely in beads (as a gift for her sister) was probably not thinking of practical use, but of embellishing an object that, being typically Western, must have had some sort of exotic appeal. The doctor bag is decorated on both sides with scenes from everyday life. It is, for the contemporary observer, an excellent example of cultural contamination."

Asher B. Durand, Kindred Spirits, 1849, oil on canvas. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.

Asher B. Durand, Kindred Spirits

"This painting fits very well with the identity of the museum - both with its values and meanings, and with its architecture. Moshe Safdie's structure in fact, built of concrete and cedar (with copper roofs), provides views of the surrounding landscape, which is the Ozark forest. The location is quite impressive, as the museum is built inside a ravine and is completely surrounded by trees. We are in the centre of the nation, in a place remote from recognised art hubs, which is also why nature has become one of the themes intrinsically associated with us.

"Kindred Spirits is one of the collection's most recognisable and treasured paintings. Landscape painting has a centuries-old history and tells you more about a people than you would think at first glance - and this is perhaps especially true in the case of the United States. Portrayed (and forced to share their importance on canvas with trees, rocks and sky) are nature-poets William Cullen Bryant (with his hat in his hand) and Thomas Cole (with a portfolio tucked under his arm). Kindred Spirits was painted in memory of the latter, who had recently died but was already recognized as the founder emeritus of American landscape painting."

Dave (later recorded as David Drake), Twenty-Five Gallon Four-Handled Stoneware Jar, 1858, stoneware with alkaline glaze. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. 

David Drake, Twenty-Four Gallon Jar

"This was one of the first pieces to be acquired, hence its sentimental value. But the intensity of the story hidden behind such a seemingly simple piece is quickly explained: David Drake is obviously to be credited with great technical skills, but it is his beautiful and intelligent verses that move. A ceramist and poet, Drake was born into slavery in the Edgefield District of South Carolina in 1801.

"Despite South Carolina’s passage of the Negro Act of 1740, which prohibited people who were enslaved from learning to read and write (among other freedoms), Drake also wrote a poem near the rim: A very Large Jar which has 4 handles / pack it full of fresh meats then light candles. The stanzas tell of the purpose of the jar as a tool for meat preservation—the candles are wax that was used to seal and preserve the food inside. This striking work offers an entry point to thinking about other potters and artists whose names we no longer know today."

Maxfield Parrish, The Lantern Bearers, 1908, oil on canvas mounted on board. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas © Dwight Primiano.

Maxfield Parrish, Lantern Bearers

"Lantern Bearers is the iconic painting that visitors ask us about as soon as they enter the museum - and in some cases what they make their way here for. There is something hypnotic and mysterious about the light of the lanterns, which mingles with that of the moon. The composition has something theatrical – and that is what makes Parrish's work recognisable and captivating.

"Parrish finished the painting in 1908, while under his first and only exclusive contract as an illustrator for Collier’s magazine, a popular source of news reporting and fiction writing for 19nth-century Americans. Parrish first encountered the clown characters, or pierrots, in Europe on a painting trip with his father. They are often dressed in white costume and typically perform in pantomime productions. The blue paint is reverently known as “Parrish Blue.” It contains pigment made from pure lapis lazuli (a deep blue stone). Parrish applied several layers of varnish to his painting to saturate the colors and make them appear more luminous."

Toshiko Takaezu, Various stoneware and porcelain forms from the 1970s - 1990s. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, Purchased with the Fund for Craft. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.

Toshiko Takaezu, Various Forms

"The museum's programme aims to expand the decorative arts sector and with this in mind, Jen Padgett, Curator of Craft, has been welcomed to the team, who will evaluate acquisitions for different media, including glass, wood, ceramic and fibre. These exceptional works by Toshiko Takaezu are some of the first new artworks to come into the collection under this particular focus.

"Takaezu thinks of her forms as three-dimensional paintings. Fascinated by the unpredictability of the glazes during the firing process, and the analogy with natural processes, Takaezu creates groups with purposely contrasting shapes and colours that establish an interesting dialectic. The works also have a sound component, because they contain an object inside – but we don't know what, being sealed or having only a tiny opening!"

Kerry James Marshall, Our Town, 1995, acrylic and collage on canvas. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.

Kerry James Marshall, Our Town

This painting tends to attract attention naturally, for its grandeur and then for its liveliness. Portrayed in almost life-size, two children run amok in an housing development that on the surface seems beautiful and idyllic, but in reality is dilapidated and is run-down (there are graffiti and ribbons on trees implying war or tragedy, mixed in with manicured lawns).

The latent question is: for whom does the American myth really exist? Marshall deliberately emphasises blackness of skin to affirm and celebrate African-American identity. I have heard the artist himself talk about how he loved to visit museums as a child, but was mystified by the absence of black people included in the works.

Miranda (Diné (Navajo), act. 19th century) Serape, ca. 1892 Commercial wool yarn and commercial cotton string. The Crane Collection at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, currently on show at "Knowing the West"

Miranda (Diné (Navajo), act. 19thcentury) - Serape, ca. 1892

All the blankets in the Knowing the West exhibition were made by the Navajo people. The Navajo women were specialised in weaving and known throughout the country for their exceptional skills, to the point that the trade in their blankets had a spotty distribution among the various tribes and a ubiquitous role in daily life (although they were generally too prized and delicate for horseback riding). At a glance, their dating is done on the basis of the colours used: red, black and earth colours were present from the beginning, when the pattern was a classic zig zag, while the introduction of new dyes (and new representations with which to emphasise them) is indicative of a more modern era. In this case we are in possession of a precise date (because the fabric was sold at the Chicago World Fair) and also the name of the weaver who worked on it (even if it is difficult to establish whether this is a westernisation or the real name).