April 10, 2022
CRYSTAL BRIDGES MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
600 Museum Way, Bentonville, AR 72712
“Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is a museum of American art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The museum, founded by Alice Walton and designed by Moshe Safdie, officially opened on 11 November 2011. It offers free public admission.” – Wikipedia
Everything about this museum is amazing. I’m not sure the word museum does justice to this experience. Set in a hilly, wooded park there are both indoor and outdoor collections to thrill any art lover. The museum’s building has a unique design that ambles alongside and over a creek, possibly a spring. The museum’s collection spans Early American to Modern to Contemporary art, and I enjoyed pieces in each of the areas. Outside, beside the Dale Chihuly piece, I really liked the Narcissus Garden, consisting of nearly 900 mirrored balls floating on a small pond, which was very active due to the high winds of the afternoon. Another feature of the property is the Bachman-Wilson House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Details of my house tour are in a separate post.
I spent about 3 hours wandering both inside and outside the museum and could have spent even more time, especially outside. Considering there was no admission charge, this was a wonderful place to visit.
Rosie The Riveter; 1943; Normal Rockwell; Oil on Canvas
George Washington; ca. 1780-1782; Charles Wilson Peale; Oil on canvas
Portrait of Alexander Hamilton; 1792; John Trumbull; Oil on canvas. I was amused that the paintings descriptions says, "Alexander Hamilton--first Secretary of the Treasury and star of the 2015 Broadway musical--..." How many other Broadway stars have portraits?
Winter Scene in Brooklyn; 1820; Francis Guy; Oil on canvas.
Neon Sculpture; 1969-1971; Dale Chihuly & James Carpenter; Hand-blown colored glass, neon, argon, and electrical components.
Abstraction; Modeled 1946, cast ca. 1979-1980; Georgia O'Keeffe; White-lacquered bronze. I'm sure the sculpture is pure white, but it is near the Chihuly piece in the previous picture and therefore reflects the reddish light.
Loved these: Boy Eating Berries (Oil on Paperboard), Boy Smoking (Oil on panel), and Boy at the Dentist (Oil on paperboard); No date; Joseph Decker. "These amusing, if not strange, portraits depict boys doing common activities. Using painter's palettes instead of on a traditional, material--like canvas, Joseph Decker transformed the board's thumbhole into the boy's mouth."
Free; modeled in 1876, carved after 1876; Otto Braun; Basswood
Rooster; ca. 1897; Gustav A. Dentzel; Basswood.
A French Music Hall; 1906; Everett Shinn; Oil on canvas.
Nocturne, The Solent; 1866; James McNeill Whistler; Oil on canvas.
Sappho; modeled 18662, carved 1867; William Wetmore Story; Marble.
Wisteria Table Lamp; ca. 1905-1906; Clara Driscoll of Tiffany Studios; Leaded Favrile glass and bronze.
Depression Bread Line; 1991; George Segal; Plaster, wood, metal, and acrylic paint. I immediately recognized this sculpture as a bronze cast of this original plaster sculpture marks the Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Trois noirs sur un rouge; 1968; Alexander Calder; Painted sheet metal. Calder is the artist credited with "inventing" the mobile.
Azure Icicle Chandelier; 2016; Dale Chihuly; Blown glass and steel.
Eagle; 2003; Luis Alfonso Jimenez; Polychrome fiberglass.
Silver Upper White River; 2015; Maya Lin; Recycled silver. Lin also designed the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Stone City Landscape; 1936; Marvin Cone; Oil on canvas. When I first saw this piece I thought it might be a Grant Wood piece, but recognized the artist's name as a person who worked closely with Wood in Iowa.
42nd Street (Times Square); 1936; Theodore Roszak; Oil on canvas.
Blackwell's Island; 1928; Edward Hopper; Oil on canvas.
Reclining Woman; ca. 1938-1941; Jackson Pollock; Oil on canvas.
Excerpt (suprematist evasion); 2003; Julie Mehretu; Ink and acrylic on canvas.
Portrait of a Florentine Nobleman; 2018; Kehinde Wiley; Oil on linen. When I first saw this painting I knew the artist had to be the same who painted Obama's Presidential Portrait, and I was correct.
LOVE; 1966-1999; Robert Indiana; Cor-Ten steel.
Turquoise Reeds and Ozark Fiori; 2012; Dale Chihuly; Blown glass.
Maman; 1999; Louise Bourgeois; Bronze, stainless steel, and marble.
Narcissus Garden; 1966-present; Yayoi Kusama; Stainless steel.
Narcissus Garden; 1966-present; Yayoi Kusama; Stainless steel.
Narcissus Garden; 1966-present; Yayoi Kusama; Stainless steel.
Stella; 2007, cast 2009; Andre Harvey; Bronze
Three People on Four Benches; 1979; George Segal; Bronze figures with white patina, aluminum benches, and paint.