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May 2009, vol.2, issue 5 A publication of the R. W. Norton Art Gallery |
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REMINDERS:
To visit the R. W. Norton Art Gallery website, go to http://www.rwnaf.org/.
The next First Saturday Tour, Lousisiana Journeys, is at 2 p.m. on May 2, 2009.
Paint the Parks will run through May 3, 2009.
The new exhibition The Stars and Stripes: Fabric of the American Spirit opens May 12, 2009 and will run through July 26, 2009.
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Around the Gallery
Editor
Kristi Kohl
Contributors
Everl Adair
Gary D. Ford
Jennifer DeFratis
Kip DeHart
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FEATURED ARTIST: Ruth Lewelling Gray
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FEATURED ARTWORK: Belle Grove in Ruin by Felix Kelly
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FROM THE VAULTS: Staffordshire Pottery
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In 1714, the French founded the flourishing settlement of Natchitoches in northwest Louisiana, yet it would be another 120 years before settlers moved only 70 miles to the north. Why the delay? A monster known as the Great Raft of the Red River. The Raft was a massive log jam 160 miles long. Actually composed of a series of rafts, the blockage was impassable, so thick in places that men rode horses over it not realizing there was water below them. Why did the Red River develop such a tremendous blockage when other rivers did not? One of the chief reasons was that the current was extremely slow compared to rivers like the Ohio and the Mississippi. This was because of the maze of connecting waterways that drained water off from the river. By 1800, it moved at less than one mile per hour, barely fast enough to dislodge even a small snag of timber.
In April of 1805, Dr. John Sibley, a Natchitoches resident, wrote to President Thomas Jefferson describing the problem. Intrigued, Jefferson sent an expedition headed by Thomas Freeman and Dr. Peter Custis to explore the region the next year. Freeman wrote “…that it was absolutely impracticable to pass the great raft in boats of any kind” and “…as no hope can be entertained of the great raft being ever removed.” The government threw up its hands and the raft continued to grow.
As settlers began moving into southwest Arkansas in 1818, they clamored for better access to the rest of the country. The Congressional representative from the Arkansas Territory in 1828, Ambrose H. Sevier, pushed for the removal of the Great Raft. He convinced Congress to appropriate $25,000 for the Army to study the situation. The Army’s final report declared, “the clearing of Red River is all but impossible.”
It was an opportune moment for a man of vision. Henry Miller Shreve, son of a Revolutionary War colonel, was born in 1785. In 1788, the elder Shreve took his wife and six children to settle in western Pennsylvania near where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers flowed into the Ohio. When he was 13, his father died and Henry went to work loading cargo on the river. At 21, he had saved enough money to buy his own keelboat. By 1811, he had a flourishing business, but once he saw Fulton’s new invention, knew the future lay in steamboats. He and his partner built one of their own design and delivered goods to a besieged New Orleans in 1812, earning the lifelong gratitude of Andrew Jackson and escaping initial prosecution for breaking the Fulton-Livingston steamboat monopoly. Shreve stayed to fight personally in the Battle of New Orleans, then returned to business, building a new steamboat of his own design that would become the model for all western river steamboats. He was not yet 30.
In 1826 at the age of 41, he was appointed Superintendent of Western River Improvements. Blockages were a problem on all rivers, so Shreve designed his own snagboat and by 1832 had cleared all obstructions on the Ohio and Mississippi. That same year, General Charles Gratiot, chief engineer of the U.S. Army, wrote to him for suggestions on “opening short canals and deepening bayous with a view to effect a passage around the raft.” Shreve replied that he could remove the Great Raft with less time, effort and money than it would take to excavate new channels. Gratiot gave him the $21,663 left over from the army’s study and told him to get started.
On April 11, 1833, he began his five year task. Central to it was his snagboat. According to author Leland R. Johnson:
The Heliopolis was actually two steamboats with hulls, each one hundred feet long and twelve feet wide, spaced ten feet apart and connected with strong timbers. A timber bulkhead, covered with quarter-inch sheet iron, was mounted between the two hulls near their bows at the waterline. This bulkhead, commonly known as a “snag-beam”, was the principle innovation in design of the boat . . .The Heliopolis was designed to ram snags head-on, thus bringing to bear the weight of the boat, the power of the engines, and the force of the current to smash snags loose from the riverbed.
The labor force, raised in the area around St. Louis, began with 159 men the first year and grew to over 300 by 1835. Starting at the foot of the Raft at Loggy Bayou, about 20 miles southeast of present-day Bossier City, they cleared 5 miles the first day, 40 the first month. Shreve used raft remnants to dam other outlets so the water was forced down the river, increasing the speed of the current. When operations ceased in June because of the weather, he had cleared 71 miles.
By March of 1834, Shreve had reached the present day site of Shreveport where he eliminated a hazardous 8-mile bend in the river by excavating a new channel and damming off the old section, resulting in the present day Shreve Island. The old river bed runs along East Kings Highway. As he continued to move north, however, the removal became more difficult as the Raft became denser. Still, he was making progress. Sixty miles of obstructions disappeared in 1834 and settlers began moving into the area.
Shreve returned to the Raft for the third time in 1836 and removed 21 more miles. Of 161 miles of the Raft, 152 were gone. He admitted, however, “The last thirty miles . . . has required as much labor as the first 120 miles.” He and his partners established a settlement called Shreve Town on Cane & Bennett’s Bluff. In 1837, Shreve broke up all but the final 440 yards of the Raft and created a new cut-off which shortened the river by 3 miles and made Shreve Town the primary settlement. By now, they were calling it Shreveport. The government, upset over the $311,000 the project had already cost, refused to give him the last of the money needed to finish the job. So Shreve talked an Arkansas bank into providing a final $7,000 and completed the task in 1839. Shreveport became the regional trade center. Shreve himself moved to St. Louis. He lost his job in 1841 and retired to his farm where he died in 1851.
Interestingly enough, clearing the Raft didn’t make the Red as navigable as everyone had hoped. The obstruction had acted as a series of dams, keeping the water in the river artificially high all year. Once it was gone, the river dropped seasonally and boating was only possible a limited part of the year. In the 1970s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began constructing a series of dams in imitation of the Raft, but with locks to let boats through, in order to permit passage up and down the Red River year round. The project was finally completed in 1994.
Everl Adair, Director of Research and Rare Collections
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TIPS FROM KIP: Hydrangeas
From May to June, you will see one of my favorite flowers blooming in the Norton gardens - hydrangeas. This native of China and Japan prefers partial sun, but flourishes best in shade on the north side of buildings with cool, moist soil. The hydrangea grows at a moderate pace and displays a rounded, compact form with thick stems rising from the center. During May and June, the tan, bare winter branches will begin to sprout thick, shiny yellow-green leaves about eight inches long. The large, showy pink, blue or white blooms may last into August.
In their book titled “Identification, Selection, and Use of Southern Plants” (2006), Neil Odenwald and James Turner admire the landscape values of growing hydrangeas. They are shade-tolerant, make excellent cut flowers, and have few plant pests.
Hydrangeas are also fairly easy to maintain. Remember these tips as you enjoy your hydrangeas this month and through summer:
1) Water frequently. Hydrangeas have shallow root systems.
2) Keep them away from large trees that may compete for soil nutrients and moisture.
3) Prune only the nonproductive canes. Otherwise, leave the plants in their natural form.
4) If you want cut flowers, do so immediately after blooming.
5) Uncut blooms will remain on plants for several months. You may also cut them for use in dried arrangements.
When you visit the Norton gardens this month, stroll along Camellia Trail, where our expansive hydrangea beds bring show and color.
Kip Dehart, Landscape Director
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OUT IN THE GARDENS: Bronze Sculptures by Kent Ullberg
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A new animal sculpture, Kent Ullberg’s Ring of Bright Water, has been added to the Norton gardens. The six-foot bronze sculpture depicts two river otters frolicking "in the valley" behind another Ullberg statue, a grizzly bear entitled Waiting for Sockeye. Ring of Bright Water is situated perfectly among a stand of sago palms and beside a new foot bridge that spans one of several streams on the property. Ullberg’s depiction of the river otters demonstrates the animals’ playfulness and social nature. The graceful circular arrangement of the otters displays their musculature and ease of motion through water.
Waiting for Sockeye depicts a 10-foot long bear poised on its belly beside a stream, ready to pounce on its next meal. Our third Ullberg bronze, Canyon Watch, overlooks the gardens from the hill on the southern end. Like the bear, the puma is ready to pounce on its prey. These three bronzes fit perfectly into the our collection of realistic wildlife art, and bring fauna among the flora of our gardens.
Kristi Kohl, Staff Researcher
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VOICES FROM THE ARCHIVES: Arthur R. Bloxom, US Navy
"They served two meals a day. And the only time in my life I’ve ever been hungry was then. They give you a ticket. And you’d go up and you’d stand in that line with all that bunch of sailors, soldiers, and they’d be wound all around through the ship. Just no end. You’d wait. And whenever you’d finally get there, the smell would nearly knock you down. Most of the time it was wienies and sauerkraut and a piece of bread and an orange and they’d punch your ticket. And that was it! The other meal they served was breakfast. It was a slice of toast and an orange. And they’d punch your ticket. That was it."
Arthur R. Bloxom, a sailor aboard the USS Pueblo, comments about the skimpy and unappetizing fare served to 3,000 sailors and soldiers during a 19-day voyage to New Caledonia in 1943. He is among more than 400 men and women from the Shreveport area who graciously gave their time to tell us their life stories of service and sacrifice. We’re preserving those stories as part of our Oral History Project, an ongoing effort to interview members of the World War II generation, along with veterans of subsequent American conflicts. We also want to hear from eyewitnesses and participants in the civil rights struggle, as well as those who shaped the economical and cultural heritage of the city and the nation.
Click here to listen to the audio of the interview with Mr. Bloxom at the Oral History Project website.
If you or someone you know would like to share stories with us, please call (318) 865-4201, or contact ohp@rwnaf.org.
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BEHIND THE SCENES: Walter Hopkins
When I asked Walter Hopkins, long-time employee of the Norton, to give me some information about his position at the museum, he said, “I just do everything!” He was initially hired in 1982 for the museum’s landscaping crew. But since 1997, he has worked tirelessly inside the museum. He proudly cleans, waxes, and buffs all of the floors. He dusts the pedestals, picture frames, and sculptures. In addition to cleaning all of the restrooms, he polishes the woodwork and brass fixtures throughout the building, as well. And that is only about half of his responsibilities! Walter insists, “There is always something to do. I’ve been working here long enough that no one has to tell me what to do.”
Walter has seen many changes at the museum over the years, both inside and outside. However, one thing has remained the same: the museum is sparkling clean. The next time you make your way through the museum, be sure to notice the shiny floors, the dust-free artwork, and the clear glass cases. You can be sure that Walter has carefully and painstakingly cleaned the museum for your pleasure and enjoyment.
Kristi Kohl, Staff Researcher
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FEATURED ARTIST IN THE COLLECTION: Mrs. Ruth Lewelling Gray, Doll Maker
One of the most unique attributes in our museum is the collection of 56 antique dolls dressed in genuine fashions of Louisiana from 1720 -1920. The dolls, ranging in height from 18 to 46 inches, are made of German porcelain bisque heads with jointed kid bodies, and are padded to provide the correct feminine contours for each era. The dolls came from the collection of Mrs. Ruth Lewelling Gray of Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was the labor and love of Mrs. Gray and her associate Ms. Ruth Blumenstiel that made this exhibit unparalleled for its beauty, authenticity, and historical value.
Mrs. Gray, who owned and operated an antique store out of her home, was in the business of making portrait dolls when the Norton family commissioned her in 1947 for an order of 56 antique dolls, with six of them depicting males. The fabric faithful to the time period each doll depicts, Mrs. Gray scoured the country for antique lace, crinoline, and velvets. From a Civil War-era wedding dress, which she found in an attic trunk in Pennsylvania, she re-worked some of its lace for our own 46-inch bride from that era.
Mrs. Gray accumulated box upon box of buttons and bows, feathers and furs, including mink, sable, chinchilla, and ermine tails. She gathered a stockpile of antique flapper feathers including boa and bird of paradise. Meanwhile, Mrs. Blumenstiel researched and made by hand antique jewelry.
Several of the costumes called for wigs. Mrs. Gray made the white wigs for colonial-era dolls from yak hair. For others, she used human hair. Even the shoes are exact. She hand-carved them and covered them with fabric. Each shoe fits each foot perfectly. Nothing on the dolls is interchangeable.
The dolls did not get their own permanent gallery until 1991, when the South Wing opened. Now all 56 antique dolls spanning two hundred years of Louisiana fashion can be seen in a parade of colors, the pinnacle of authenticity, and with the pride of years of hard work. Sadly, Mrs. Gray did not live to see her magnum opus in full display, but her children and grandchildren have since visited the Gallery and been awed and astounded by their mother’s work.
Museum Staff
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FEATURED ARTWORK IN THE COLLECTION: Belle Grove in Ruin by Felix Kelly
For many people around the world, the image of life on the Mississippi is that of the beautiful plantation homes along the river. Obviously one of those was British artist Felix Kelly, who painted as many of them as he managed to encounter, including his haunting scene of Belle Grove near White Castle, Louisiana. Built in 1857, Belle Grove was a triumph of antebellum architecture. The great Louisiana photographer, Clarence John Laughlin, known for his own haunting images of plantation homes which were collected in the book “Ghosts Along the Mississippi” wrote of Belle Grove:
"When completed, its tremendous mass rose on huge brick foundation arches over twelve feet above the surrounding earth, its walls and mantels were plastered and carved by the most expert European craftsmen money could secure, its great flight of brick steps was covered with imported marble, its door knobs and keyhole guards were of silver, its pillars bore Corinthian capitals six feet high but of the utmost refinement . . . Yet it was not heavy, or pompous. It managed somehow, to combine vastness with delicacy; titanic proportions with grace and warmth . . .”
By the time Kelly and Laughlin visited it, Belle Grove was in ruins. But the fascination with these beautiful homes remains with us, whether it’s Tara from “Gone with the Wind” or the real-life Shadows-on-the-Teche.
Everl Adair, Director of Research and Rare Collections
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QUERIES FOR KRISTI
Did the Norton commission Basil Ede to paint the Brown Pelican?
Yes, the Norton commissioned Basil Ede to paint Brown Pelican in February 1977. After some initial observations of the brown pelican in the Florida Keys, Ede commented, “I find the Brown Pelican an inspiration and I can hardly wait to paint him.” Ede knew that the bird was an endangered species as well as the Louisiana State Bird. He took copious notes at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. and sketched numerous pages of the pelican in various positions. In June 1977, Ede wrote, “I was very much taken by the nobility of the bird in its natural habitat and have tried to convey in the picture my feelings about him.” Ede’s painting features a low horizon with a background that conveys the Deep South. Contrasting with Audubon’s pelican portrayals that are compressed to fit the page, Ede’s Brown Pelican is life-size depicting the details of the bird’s feather growth and proving to be a “noble composition.”
If you have an art-related question you would like answered in a future newsletter, submit it by clicking here.
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FOR THE KIDS: Louisiana History and Culture
Bring your family and friends to the Norton this month and discover the vast historical and cultural information about our state. The museum houses many artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana’s rich history and cultural diversity offering a wonderful educational opportunity. They include Joseph Rusling Meeker’s painting entitled Bayou Teche (below right, on display in the Olla Podrida Gallery) and William Henry Buck’s View of Louisiana (below left) and Mississippi Delta (both displayed in the 19th Century Landscape and Lifestyle Gallery).
Born in New Jersey, Meeker served as a Union paymaster on gunboats patrolling the Louisiana swamplands during the Civil War. His tour of duty here left him with a lifelong love for the Southern landscape. Having trained before the war with Asher Durand in the Hudson River School approach, which emphasized grandiose vistas, Meeker afterwards turned toward tonalism, creating smaller moody pieces that evoked the sultry twilight repose of the Southern scenes that inspired him.
A Norwegian emigrant Buck settled in Louisiana around 1860 and began studying under Richard Clague, New Orleans' first major landscapist. Buck quickly grew to appreciate the southern landscape, incorporating dramatic oak trees in his compositions.
Museum Staff
 
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FROM THE VAULTS:Staffordshire Pottery: “Uncle Tom and Little Eva”
Staffordshire pottery originated in the English county of the same name. This county, in the northeast of England, possessed a fine local clay, abundant coal for kilns, and adequate river transportation, making it the center of British pottery production by the mid-17th century. A number of famous factories emerged there, including Minton & Co. and Wedgwood (be sure to see some of the fine Wedgwood on display in the Norton Art Gallery). There were at one time as many as 1,000 pottery factories in Staffordshire, in addition to a thriving cottage trade.
The figurines today known as Staffordshire pottery were created in response to the enormous popularity of the high-end porcelain figures produced by companies like Derby. By 1810, a growing middle class wanted to purchase affordable ceramic figurines to decorate their homes. Various potteries in Staffordshire responded by developing inexpensive earthenware versions of the costly Derby figurines. Highly skilled craftsmen, mostly men, were responsible for the more expensive porcelain pieces collected by the wealthy. The less expensive earthenware figures were produced in the factories by unskilled laborers, mostly women and children, who worked 6 days a week for 12 hours a day. Pieces were painted quickly and freely, giving the figures a folk-art style and rustic charm that, paradoxically, has made them even more popular among many 20th and 21st century collectors than the high end porcelain works.
The earliest of these figurines depicted allegorical figures, biblical scenes, and a rosy version of country life. By the Victorian era, however, people preferred animal forms or celebrities, which included not only real persons like the Royal Family (Queen Victoria was particularly popular), prominent actors, and winning sportsmen, but also fictional characters from popular plays and novels of the day. A surprising true crime genre emerged as well; a series based on an 1838 multiple murder by James B. Rush proved to be a best-seller and including Rush at his trial, the country house where the murder occurred, Rush’s mistress who later became his wife, and a replica of Norwich Castle where he was hanged.
Among the most popular fictional characters were figurines based on Harriet Beecher Stowe’s best-selling novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The first London edition of the book was published in May of 1852 and sold 200,000 copies (approximately 300,000 copies had sold in America) and spurred the anti-slavery movement in England (though England had abolished slavery in 1833, many English people continued to protest and work against slavery in the United States). The most in-demand Staffordshire figure from the novel was that of Uncle Tom with Little Eva standing on his knee. These were usually in the format known as a “Staffordshire flatback” because the back side of the figure was left flat and undecorated in order to stand securely on a mantelpiece against the chimney breast.
Original Staffordshire figures are considered highly collectible today. However, manufacturers have continued to make reproductions of these pieces throughout the 20th century and up to the present time. One way to tell them apart if by the absence of a maker’s mark: while the reproductions usually have a maker’s mark on the bottom of the piece, original Victorian pieces do not.
Everl Adair, Director of Research and Rare Collections
 
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WORTH QUOTING:
“I tell my stories by marking pictures. The people who lived around here and made the history of this land are remembered in my paintings. I like that. I’m glad the young people of today can look at my paintings and see how easy and uncomplicated things were when we lived off the land. I wanted to tell them. I paint the story of my people. The things that happened to me and the ones I know. My paintings tell how we worked, played and prayed.”
—Clementine Hunter quoted in Shelby R. Gilley, Painting by Heart: The Life and Art of Clementine Hunter
Note: Further into the interview the author writes, “Hunter ‘marks’ her painting, an appropriate term denoting both an illiterate person’s signature and an artist’s unit of painting and drawing.”
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WORTH THE TRIP: East Bank Art Gallery and Theatre
I recently visited the East Bank Art Gallery and Theatre which are housed in the building of the Bossier City Arts Council in Bossier City. Richard Folmer, artistic director, coordinates the theatre presentations at the East Bank Theatre and directs 2 of the 5 annual shows. He gave me a back-stage tour of the old city hall that now serves as gallery and theatre. Believe it or not, the actors’ dressing rooms are the old jail cells – bars still intact! The theatre seats 100, and the stage can be set for shows “in the round,” “alley,” or “thrust.” Grants and donations helped fund a recent addition that houses the technical director’s workshop, a huge prop and rehearsal room, and a small library of drama-related materials. The next show, opening in May and directed by Mr. Folmer, is Steel Magnolias.
The art gallery features exhibitions of local artists every month. May 4-July 2, the gallery will host an exhibition of the Red River Artists with Disabilities (RRAD). The family of Buddy West, local mural artist who recently passed away, has donated his art materials to Bossier City Arts Council, which in turn will donate them to the Red River Artists with Disabilities. RRAD will host a reception on Monday May 4, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.
East Bank Art Gallery and Theatre: 630 Barksdale Blvd. Bossier City, LA 71111. Hours: Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to Gallery: Free. Ticket prices for Steel Magnolias: $13.00 for Students, Seniors, and Military; $15.00 for Adults. For more information about shows, art exhibits, and education offered through the Bossier Arts Council, call (318) 741-8310 or see www.bossierarts.org.
Kristi Kohl, Staff Researcher
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| EDUCATIONAL TOURS, PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS |
FIRST SATURDAY TOURS
Regularly scheduled tours are offered on the first Saturday of every month at 2:00 p.m. No reservation is required for these First Saturday Tours. Groups of 10 or more are asked to call ahead so preparations may be made to accommodate the group on these particular tours. All tours, like admission to the Gallery, are free to the public. The next First Saturday Tour on May 2, Louisiana Journeys, will explore the colorful history of our state through works of art and antique maps either by Louisianans or depicting Louisiana accompanied by readings from Louisiana writers and historical figures.
GROUP TOURS
Eighteen group tours are offered at the Norton ranging from the 19th Century French Art History Tour to the Cowboy Artists Tour. Group tours are available by appointment year-round for groups of 10-30 and last approximately 45 minutes.
OUTREACH PROGRAM
The purpose of the community Outreach Program is to take art and art education to people through interactive presentations. Community presentations consist of power point presentations to civic groups and schools.
For more information on the programs offered or to schedule a tour or presentation, click here.
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ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
The R.W. Norton Art Foundation is pursuing interviews with those who were involved in America's effort to win World War II, whether in the military or on the home front. Each interview will be digitally recorded by the Gallery to be stored and used for historical purposes, and each interview subject will also be given a copy of this recording to share and preserve his or her memories for family and friends.
If you are interested in participating in or would like more information about the Oral History Project, please click here.
SUGGESTIONS AND IDEAS?
To offer us feedback or to suggest what you’d like to see in upcoming issues, please click here.
GALLERY LOCATION AND HOURS:
4747 Creswell Avenue
Shreveport, LA 71106
318-865-4201
www.rwnaf.org
Tuesday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday 1 - 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays and National Holidays
Copyright © 2009 by R. W. Norton Art Gallery |
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