TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cover Story: Touch of the Classic

Currently Showing/Coming Soon

First Saturday Tour

Saturday Speaker Series

Out in the Gardens: Ornamental Grasses

Tips from Kip: Composting

Emily on Education

Voices from the Archives:
Clayton McFerrin

From the Library

Featured Artist:
Charles Keck

Featured Artwork:
Il Porcellino

Did You Know?

Worth the Trip

How They Saw It Then

From the Vaults

Worth Quoting

Norton Information

A Touch of the Classic:
New Works on Display at the Norton

Thus, ordering all that prudence could provide,
I clothe my shoulders with a lion’s hide
And yellow spoils; then, on my bending back,
The welcome load of my death father take;
While on my better hand Ascanius hung,
And with unequal paces tripp’d along.
Virgil, The Aeneid (trans. by John Dryden)

Those words from Virgil’s epic poem, The Aeneid, inspired an intriguing and delicately balanced sculpture by French neoclassical artist Pierre Lepautre: Aeneas Carrying His Father, Anchises, and Leading by the Hand His Son, Ascanius. It’s currently on view in the Olla Podrida Gallery as one of three sculptures celebrating Greco-Roman mythology, which went on permanent display in August.

Virgil saw his poem as an attempt to supply the Roman Empire with an epic worthy of comparison to The Iliad and The Odyssey. He began it with the famous phrase, “I sing of arms and the man . . .” and goes on to link the foundation of Rome to the tragic fall of Troy. In so doing, he makes Romans heirs of the heroic Trojans and builders of an equally famous city.

In the poem, the Greeks set Troy ablaze. A vision of the dead Trojan hero, Hector, appears to Aeneas and urges him to escape the destruction and to found a new and even greater city at another Mediterranean location. Aeneas flees Troy, carrying his father, Anchises, on his back and leading his son, Ascanius, by the hand, but accidentally losing his wife, Creusus. He takes what remains of the Trojan fleet and undergoes a series of adventures, culminating in the eventual defeat of the Latins and the establishment of Rome.

Pierre Lepautre (1659 – 1744) was born to a family of artists. After winning the Prix de Rome and studying in the Eternal City, he returned to Paris in 1701 to create bas-reliefs and sculptures for the royal chapel at Versailles. In addition, he was known for the Faune au chevreau, which became part of the ornamentation of the gardens at Château de Marly, and sculptures including Atalante, Saint Ambrose, Saint Gregory, and a retable serving as a monumental gateway to the Église Saint-Eustache, which depicts the assumption of St. Agnes.

Lepautre began work on the sculpture of Aeneas in Rome. After its completion it gained so much renown throughout France that collectors snapped up numerous reductions of the original work. Previously on display in the Norton’s library, the work has been in storage for the past three years as the library underwent remodeling. Its neoclassical style as well as its classical subject makes it a suitable companion to Calypso Calling Heaven and Earth to Witness Her Sincere Affection to Ulysses by Angelica Kauffmann, which went on view in Olla Podrida Gallery several months ago.

Another classically inspired piece we’ve returned to display, Duet, pairs a satyr and a faun in a musically oriented manner. Its sculptor, the German-American A.A. Weinman (1870 – 1952), was drawn to Greco-Roman subjects, such as satyrs, who were the deities of the countryside (and the patron spirit of farmers and shepherds), and this child-like version of a faun. Fauns and satyrs were often associated with music, which both calmed beasts and excited love.

Born in Karlsruhe, Germany, Weinman arrived in the U.S. at the age of 10, and soon began the study of sculpture at the Cooper Union, an independent arts college in New York City. After studying with sculptors Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Philip Martiny, he became an assistant to Daniel Chester French and helped work on the statue in the Lincoln Memorial. Later, as an independent sculptor, Weinman contributed architectural friezes to the U.S. Supreme Court Building and produced monumental work such as the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in New York and the statue of Abraham Lincoln in Hodgenville, Kentucky. Eventually, he became well known as both an architectural sculptor and a medalist, providing the designs for the Mercury dime and the “Walking Liberty” half-dollar.

A classical subject also inspired our third sculpture, the newly purchased Ariadne by Hans Schuler. Known as “the Monument Maker”, Schuler was the first American sculptor to win a Gold Medal at the Paris Salon (1901). Though born in Alsace-Lorraine (part of present-day France, but then a German territory), Schuler came to America as a child and trained at the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Rinehart School of Sculpture. After graduating, he studied at the Académie Julian in France before returning to America to rise as one of the leading sculptors in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area. Between monumental pieces honoring such notables as President James Buchanan and Johns Hopkins, Schuler also created lovely free-standing sculptures like Ariadne.

According to Greek myth, Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, fell in love with Theseus, the young Greek hero who had come to defeat the Minotaur and end the tribute of seven youths and seven maidens demanded of his father’s kingdom. Using information gained from Daedalus, architect of the Labyrinth, Ariadne helped Theseus defeat the Minotaur and afterward eloped with him. Unfortunately, he abandoned her on the island of Naxos, the situation in which Schuler places her in his sculpture. From there, the Greek myths diverge, with three different endings to Ariadne’s story. According to one tradition, the goddess Artemis, angered that the two lovers had profaned a sacred grotto, kills Ariadne on the island as she gives birth to twin sons. In the second version, the god Dionysius forces Theseus to abandon Ariadne, and she kills herself. In the third and happiest version, the hero rather heartlessly abandons her, but Dionysius, entranced by her beauty, marries her and makes her immortal, setting her marriage crown among the stars. This is the version celebrated in another work in the Norton’s permanent collection; a copy of Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne (Bacchus was the Roman name for Dionysius) used for educational purposes. (For more information, see our February 2010 newsletter.)

--E.A.

Currently Showing

Ansel Adams: The Masterworks
August 17- December 31, 2010

The special exhibit, Ansel Adams: The Masterworks Ansel Adams: The Masterworks, on view throughout the rest of the year, highlights forty-eight images of the California photographer, who spent his life capturing on film images of the American landscape. “Before his death in 1984, Adams selected seventy-five photographs that he considered his best work. This exhibit represents about two-thirds of that selection called ‘The Museum Set’,” comments Jerry Bloomer, director of public relations and secretary of the board.

The photographs, from the collection of The Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding, California, are framed, gelatin silver prints of landscapes from Hawaii to Massachusetts. With his artist’s eye, his camera as canvas, and light itself for paint, Adams portrayed scenes of natural grandeur, whether soaring or subtle in size and beauty. He also remained in charge of each step of his photographic process, even spending hours in the dark room printing his own pictures, including his famous Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California, also in this exhibit.

The Works of Reggie McLeroy
August 21 - September 19, 2010

On view through September 19, The Works of Reggie McLeroy celebrates the eclectic vision of this Ruston, Louisiana artist, who is also a high school English teacher and assistant basketball coach. In watercolor, pencil, and pen and ink McLeroy reveals his love for the outdoors in wildlife portrayals of deer, fish, fowl, and other fauna.

Other works include his sports montages (including his portrayal of legendary coach Eddie Robinson of Grambling State University) and his cartoon panels of “Lil Daddy.” An African-American youngster wearing a big cap turned backwards and extra-large athletic shoes, “Lil Daddy” spouts positive philosophies on life and responsibility.

Coming Soon

The Norton Christmas Exhibition
December 8, 2010 - January 2, 2011

For centuries, artists, writers, and scholars have commemorated the story of Christianity in paintings, sculptures, prints, and books. This Christmas season the R.W. Norton Art Gallery celebrates the original meaning of these hol(y)days with an exhibition of religious artworks and manuscripts from the medieval period through the 19th century. Never-before-seen works from the Norton vault will be on display, but at the heart of the exhibition we are pleased to present the Norton’s 14th century illuminated manuscript, a beautiful book of hours with a 700-year history. So join us at the Norton to observe a holiday devoted not to commerce, but to the eternal hope of “peace on earth, good will to men”.

Great Masters of Cuban Art: 1800-1958
March 6 - June 5, 2011

This is an exhibition of stunning visual appeal and historical interest. The 85 paintings make up a document of more than a century of Cuban history and art. Most importantly, the exhibit is the visual record of a land famous for its beauty and fertility as well as a culture renowned for its vibrant artistic, literary and musical heritage.

Le Grand Boulevard, Paris
Childe Hassam

The tour will pause at paintings by Asher Durand, an early Hudson River School artist; George Inness, whose career spanned much of the 19th century; floral beauties of Martin Johnson Heade; portraits of L.M.D. Guillaume; landscapes of Rosa Bonheur; art of the American West by Charles M. Russell and Frederic Remington; and many more, including Childe Hassam, who worked in the broken brush strokes of Impressionism.

What are broken brushstrokes? What’s scumbling? What’s short? What’s en plein aire? Visitors on the tour will learn such phrases that define how artists work.

“How do I remove tarnish from silver? Who can I find to repair a chip in a ceramic vase? Where do I store great-grandmother’s quilts?”

Such questions are best left to a conservator like Susie Seborg of Southern Arts Conservation, LLC of Baton Rouge. She’ll answer them on September 18 when she presents “The Conservator Says,” this month’s edition of the museum’s Saturday Speaker Series.

“There’ll be some fun examples of hair-raising, challenging treatments that I have witnessed or helped perform as well,” Seborg promises. Some of those examples might come from her experience in conservation after Hurricane Katrina. A 2006 graduate of State University of New York at Buffalo with a degree in art conservation, Seborg set up shop in Baton Rouge in February of 2007. One of her major tasks was to conserve more than 720 African artifacts from a collection of Southern University at New Orleans.

Seborg will discuss the differences between conservation and restoration, tell how a conservator is trained, and relate a brief history of her field. She’ll also discuss the care of collections, and describe treatment of common problems.

--G.F.

Before you look up for color in our trees this fall, look down in September at the beauty of our ornamental grasses. They grace our forty acres of botanical gardens and grounds with hues from amber to umber to match the coming colors of autumn leaves. Stroll through our Southwest Garden and down along our shady trails to the pond, and you’ll see at least twelve varieties of ornamental grasses.

Many compare them to foxtails, but I like to think of them as flower fountains, in the way they soar towards the sky, then fall like graceful sprays of water. Ironically, ornamental grasses are great plants for drought-prone areas like northwest Louisiana. They thrive in our rain-scarce September, so we don’t have to worry much about watering.

One of our most breathtaking of ornamental grasses, Purple Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum “Rubrum”), grows at least three feet tall and often much higher. It forms a full bush with bronze-purple foliage and seed heads in burgundy tones. Many of us on the garden staff also like Purple Fountain Grass for another reason. Its bronze and purple hues nearly match those of LSU, so the plant serves as our own garden pompoms for the Tigers.

I think you’ll share our love of another ornamental grass, Hamlin 12, or P. alopecuroides. It grows compact in dark green and gold, and is great to add form and fullness to a small landscape.

Meanwhile our Chinese pennisetum grasses add rich, golden tones to match other autumnal colors. Our large grounds provide ample space for Chinese pennisetum. It grows five feet high and wide, so you’ll need room in your landscape for the grass.

Our ornamental grasses begin blooming in summer. Then, like other, mellow fall colors, they turn from green to gold to brown as the calendar turns past October. As winter arrives we cut them back or pull them to replace with new plantings.

To cut back or replant is always a decision the individual gardener makes with these plants. Here in USDA Zone 8, ornamental grasses straddle the classification fence between perennial and annual. If you grow them, you’ll just have to see if yours will renew themselves each spring, or if you’ll have to pull and re-plant.

Ornamental grasses add texture and dimension to our landscape. They make dramatic, sweeping statements—sort of the Shakespeare of plants that trod the stage of seasons, then make their exit as winter arrives.

September is a great time to see them. Come with your camera in early morning or late afternoon. With graceful plumes and feathery texture of ornamental grasses, the backlighting and soft light of low sun makes for beautiful pictures. We also urge you to share your images of our gardens with others. Go to R.W. Norton Art Gallery on Facebook, click on the “Photos” tab, and upload your pictures of images from our gardens.

--K.D.

It’s hard to think of winter gardening chores when it’s still summer in September. Soon, however, as autumn leaves drift down and other plants wither at winter’s approach, it’ll be time to rake, prune and mow. Those limbs, clippings and other garden debris need a new home, which means it’s time to prepare for a compost pile.

That’s a nice name for the place where your landscape leavings (and other things) re-invent themselves to help grow next year’s garden. Compost aids clay soil in draining, sandy soil in retaining moisture, and plants in general to grow greener, fuller, taller.

Unless you simply want to toss garden wastes into an unsightly heap, truly a “pile,” consider a neater container. Probably the most inexpensive and durable of compost containers is one made of a circular wire-mesh, a term that, to us in Louisiana, usually means chicken wire.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Pliers
2. 10 feet of galvanized chicken wire, 36 inches wide.
3. Four wooden or metal posts about four feet tall.
4. Heavy wire for ties.
5. Hammer
6. Work gloves.

Here’s how you’ll build it:

1. To provide edges that won’t cut or pierce your hands, fold back three to four inches of each end of the chicken wire.
2. Stand up the chicken wire where you want your compost to go. If you want to toss in other matter, such as food scraps, you’ll want to locate it away from your residence and garden traffic paths.
3. Attach the ends of the chicken wire and tie with heavy wire ties you’ve cut into ties.
4. Place the wood or metal posts just inside the wire. Be sure they’re rooted firmly in the ground.

You’ll want to mix an equal amount of green matter that’s high in nitrogen, such as grass clippings, vegetable and fruit scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags and manure from farm animals, with carbon-rich brown debris such as dry leaves, sawdust, straw, and wood chips. Chop or shred into pieces no larger than two inches.

Once you have a good pile going, turn it once a week so that air flows around it, and material moves from outside of the pile to the inside to help decomposition.

Your compost should be dark brown, with a nice, earthy smell to it. If you sniff a rotten odor your compost is too wet and lacks oxygen. An ammonia scent signals excess nitrogen. Too much dry or woody material will cause your pile not to heat up. Finally, if it attracts flies and rodents, turn vegetable and fruit scraps beneath the surface.

Your finished compost should be dark and crumbly, with a pleasant, earthy aroma. Use it as mulch or mix it into your planting beds. If the pieces are still too coarse, incorporate it into your next compost pile.

Usually a compost pile is finished after two to six months. Starting it now will give you rich material for next year’s flowers.

--K.D.

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Once a group arrived, Jen led them on tours that rambled through our twenty-four galleries. Through the art on display, they discovered a wide range of subjects including sculpture, cowboys, American history, and Louisiana folk tales. Each tour carried evocative titles such as “Colorful Creations” and “Guys and Dolls.” They also learned by doing. Education activities included tessellations (or decorating in mosaics), paper cutting (in the style of Henri Matisse), symmetry projects, tissue paper butterflies, original “brands” for horses in the style of the Old West, and Model Magic sculptures. Two special groups attended one day a week for a consecutive seven-week period. Wendy Garcia, Director of Lighthouse School-Based Programs, headed up our 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday group, while Tammeshia Bolden, program coordinator for Lighthouse Community-Based Programs, brought youngsters each Wednesday morning. Although we loved hosting groups that came only once, we noticed that those who visited often enjoyed even more enriching experiences. Over the seven-week period, Jen and I developed a rapport with the children. In turn, they were able to connect with our staff members and became familiar and comfortable with our routines, procedures, and expectations. We were able to gear tours and activities to their attention spans and abilities. Many children offered warm smiles and huge hugs as they left each day. Their departing comments were delightful.

One little girl declared, “I love the museum! I want to bring my family and I can show them around!”

A boy of elementary school age stopped, looked me in the face and remarked, “I thought coming to the museum was going to be boring.”

“Well?” How are you feeling now?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s fun! It’s definitely not boring!” he responded.

We believe our first summer of TEAM events was quite successful. We’ll reflect on specific aspects, implement needed changes and build an even better program for next year.

--E.M.

McFerrin: They would come down side of a mountain, a cliff, they had cliffs, you know, on some of those islands and it was pretty high down to the sea. And they would come down in there and they’d be hollering and running, crazy. They drank that sake, that’s a rice liquor. They’d drink that and get kind of high, you know, and they’d smoke a pipe. Had opium in it. They’d get to feeling pretty good and they’d get to hollering; and they’d come down there shooting. They couldn’t hit the side of a barn; they’d be so high, you know.

Mr. McFerrin survived the war and worked for twenty-eight years for Libbey Owens Ford Glass Company. He is among nearly 500 men and women from the Shreveport area who graciously gave their time to tell us their life stories of service and sacrifice. We’re presenting these stories as part of our Oral History Project, an ongoing effort to interview veterans of conflicts from World War II to the present. We also continue to collect interviews from eyewitnesses to the civil rights struggle, pioneers of the energy industries, and those who created “the Shreveport sound” in music.

Click here to view additional photographs and to listen to the audio of the interview with Mr. McFerrin. If you or someone you know would like to share stories with us, please call (318) 865-4201, or contact ohp@rwnaf.org.

--G.F.

John Anderson, my Jo John
We clamb the hill thegither
And mony a canty day, John
We’ve had wi’ ane anither
Now we maun totter down, John
But hand in hand we’ll go
And sleep thegither at the foot,
John Anderson, my jo.

Though born the son of poor tenant farmers, Robert Burns (1759 – 1796) received a relatively good education thanks to the efforts of his parents to send him to John Murdoch’s school in Alloway, Scotland. Yet even while he studied the works of Alexander Pope, Henry Mackenzie, and Laurence Sterne, the young Burns was expected to do hard, physical labor on the family farm, which took a toll on his health throughout his short life. Despite the staunch Protestantism in which he was raised, “Rabbie” turned out to be a bit of a hellion, who loved poetry, women, and drink, largely in that order. Over his short life, he fathered eight illegitimate children with five different women, one of whom eventually married him and produced a legitimate child.

His first love, Nelly Kirkpatrick inspired him to write poetry. Yet soon thereafter, he fathered twins with Jean Armour, who eventually became his wife. However, a rift before their marriage (but not their children’s birth) led him to plan to run away to the West Indies with another lover, Mary Campbell, best known as his “Highland Mary”. After her sudden death and the abrupt success of his first published work, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, he remained in Scotland.

At 27, Burns was famous across Great Britain with poems such as “To a Louse”, “To a Mouse”, and “The Cotter’s Saturday Night”. Critics christened him the “Ploughman Poet” and welcomed him to Edinburgh where he met yet more willing young women (his likenesses indicate that Rabbie was quite the good-looking lad). A relationship with Agnes “Nancy” McLehose produced his classic poem, “Ae Fond Kiss”. Less romantically, he began a collaboration with James Johnson in the five-volume collection of Scottish folk songs known as “The Scots Musical Museum”. Burns himself wrote over 150 songs for it, including the lyrics for what became a Scottish anthem, “Scots, Wha Hae Wi’ Wallace Bled” and “Auld Lang Syne”, the classic sung every New Year’s Eve to mark the passing of the year.

By 1788, Burns, despite his hefty sales, he had gone through almost all the proceeds from his book in a brief 18 months. Consequently, he took work as an Excise Officer in Dumfries, at which time he resumed his relationship with the mother of his children, Jean Armour, whom he finally married. He continued to write, producing a phenomenal number of poems, songs, and letters, including the famous “For a’ that and a’ that”, many of which were influenced by his increasingly radical political views. This was to some degree reflected in his consistent use of the Scottish dialect as he supported Scottish nationalism and human equality.

Unfortunately, this prolific output, along with the strain of his job and maintaining a consistent relationship, took a toll on his health. He apparently had a weak heart stemming from childhood, and it finally gave out in a bout with rheumatic fever on July 21, 1796 when he was only 37. He was buried with full civil and military honors on the same day that his son, Maxwell, was born. A memorial edition of his poems was published to raise money for his wife and children, since Burns himself left them comparatively little.

--E.A.

on to create three busts for the Hall of Fame For Great Americans: James Madison, Elias Howe, and Patrick Henry. He was also commissioned to sculpt the bust of Harry S. Truman for the U.S. Senate in 1946. The two men were already friends. Earlier, as presiding judge of Jackson County, Missouri, Truman had commissioned Keck to create an equestrianstatue of Andrew Jackson for the county courthouse in Kansas City. Truman like the result so much he kept a replica of the work in his White House office. Keck’s clay model of the Truman bust was converted to marble for its place in the Senate, while a bronze version was made for Truman to place in the White House collection.

Like Saint-Gaudens and A.A. Weinman, Keck also designed coins and medals, including the U.S. Panama-Pacific Exposition gold dollar in 1915, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Tribute to William Barton Rogers medal in 1916, the Vermont Sesquicentennial half dollar in 1927, and the Great Seal of the commonwealth of Virginia in 1931. Probably his most famous work is the Liberty Statue in Rio de Janeiro, presented by the American Chamber of Commerce on the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Brazil. During his lifetime, Keck was widely respected and served as a member of the National Academy of Design, the Architectural League of New York, the Numismatic Society, the American Federation of the Arts, the National Sculpture Society, the National Arts Club, and the Century Association.

--E.A.

Sometime this fall, take a walk through the Norton botanical gardens and meet our friend, Il Porcellino, which means piglet, or little pig. He may look a little large for a piglet, but it’s an affectionate term, like calling a big, burly stevedore “Tiny”. This sculpture is actually a version of a famous piece, Florentine Boar, which itself was a later version of a noted Greek/Hellenistic marble sculpture. Boars figured prominently in Greco-Roman mythology. The poet Ovid stressed their ferocity and almost supernatural powers. Like the pelican, the boar also was used for metaphorical purposes. For instance, it

figures prominently in the story of Venus, or to call her by a proper Greek name, Aphrodite, and her lover, Adonis. One year, when Oeneus, king of Calydon, was making his annual sacrifice to the Olympian gods, he accidentally omitted Artemis, who punished him by sending a huge boar to kill his cattle and destroy his crops. Oeneus sent messengers to gather the greatest hunters in Greece to track down this dangerous beast, promising its pelt and tusks to its slayer. Great hunters came from all the neighboring nations, including such famous names as Theseus, the twins Castor and Polydeuces, Jason, who was later leader of the Argonauts, and, of course, Adonis. Leading the hunt was Oeneus’s son, Meleager. When Meleager was only seven days old, the Fates had appeared to his mother, Althaea, saying her son would live only as long as a certain branch on the hearth remained unburned. Althaea quickly snatched it from the fire, threw water over it, and hid it in a chest.

Oeneus made Meleager the leader of the hunt. When Atalanta, the fierce female hunter, appeared and demanded to hunt with the men, Meleager fell in love with her and assented. His uncles, Althaea’s brothers, and other males of the party protested, but Meleager declared that if Atalanta did not participate, he would cancel the hunt. The party set out and soon confronted the boar. Atalanta landed an arrow behind its ear, but this seemed only to enrage the beast. It evaded the javelins of Jason and Theseus and killed several more hunters, including Adonis. Metaphorically, thereafter, the boar symbolized winter, the season in which it hunts, overcoming summer, represented by the youth and beauty of Adonis.

Eventually, Meleager succeeded in sinking his spear into the boar’s heart. Then, instead of claiming the pelt and tusks for himself, he presented them to Atalanta because she had drawn first blood. His uncles were offended and began a fight with Meleager, who killed them both. Horrified messengers carried word back to the palace where Althaea, in blind anger over the deaths of her brothers, withdrew the branch from the chest and cast it upon the fire. Meleager was still talking regretfully of what had occurred to Atalanta when a sudden burning pain seized him. Within moments, he lay dead. When word reached Althaea of what she had done, she killed herself. So the boar brought tragedy upon those associated with its death.

It has been suggested that this particular pose represents the boar being awakened as the hunting party that eventually kills it draws near. I prefer to think he’s just waking up after a little beauty sleep.

Though the original marble sculpture has been lost or destroyed, a 17th century copy was placed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. More popularly, a sculptor named Pietro Tacca made a bronze casting in 1612, changing the base by adding a pool surrounded by plants, snakes, frogs, and turtles. That piece sits in the Marketo Nuovo or New Market—now one of the symbolic sights of Florence, where locals gave it the affectionate name, Il Porcellino. So many thousands of visitors have rubbed his nose for luck that the patina has been completely destroyed; as a result, recently, the statue was replaced by an identical copy while the original has been put away for its preservation. We believe our particular friend was modeled by a G. Benelli in 1856 and then cast by Clemente Papi in 1857. So, the sculpture recently celebrated his 153rd birthday. Happy birthday, little pig.

--E.A.

When we think of Renaissance sculptures, we tend to think of massive pieces like Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise for the Duomo (the cathedral church of Florence), or great (in both meanings of the term) marble pieces by Michelangelo like the David and Moses.

Well, no.

In fact the most popular sculptures in the Renaissance tended to be small bronzes including bas-reliefs, statues, and medals. Part of this was due to the on-going discovery of previously lost classical masterpieces uncovered as Rome and other major cities began to excavate their past. Small-scale bronzes began to be associated with classical antiquity. Most of the resulting works in the 15th and 16th centuries referred to the

glorious Mediterranean past by making copies of subjects from ancient mythology or history, by reproducing utilitarian objects represented in Roman examples, or by creating miniature versions of famous Roman sculptures. For example, the earliest signed and dated bronze of the period is the 1465 equestrian monument of the Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, reduced to a height of 14 ½ inches, by Antonio di Pietro Averlino, also known as Filarete.

Because the actual antiquities were rarely recovered whole, bronze reductions typical of the Renaissance weren’t really simple copies, but re-imagining of how figures might have looked. Probably the best interpreter in this small format was Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi (1460 – 1528), nicknamed Antico. Originally hired as a conservator by the dukes of Gonzaga, he eventually began to translate into bronze the works he located, often altering their compositions along the way. For example, in his Apollo Belvedere, he eliminated the tree truck attached to the figure’s right leg as a structural support. In an interpretation of a Seated Nymph done for Isabella d’Este, he lightened the textile in his figure, added numerous tiny folds, and reconstructed the ancient marble statue’s missing right hand, feet, and head. Trained as a goldsmith, Antico also silvered his figures’ eyes and gilded parts of their clothes, hair, and jewelry.

Another popular “miniaturist” who worked in small bronzes was Antico’s contemporary, Andrea Briosco (1470 – 1532). Nicknamed Riccio for his curly hair, he specialized in bronze bas-reliefs, including works for tombs and churches that were great completely indebted to classical rather than Christian images. Pope Pius II condemned them as “decorated with works so pagan that it does not seem to be a place of worship for Christians but for infidel idolizers of demons”. Undaunted, Riccio also created small bronzes that were hybrid creations of human, animal, and abstract decorative elements. These included numerous satyrs, nymphs, centaurs, and sphinxes.

A third young artist, previously better known as a painter, re-introduced the medal as a new artistic genre. In 1438, Antonio di Puccio Pisano (c. 1380/1395 – 1455), known as Pisanello, had already established himself as a major painter. He was producing works for the Doge of Venice and the Pope when he came to the court of Leonello d’Este, Marquess of Ferrara. There, Pisanello, inspired by ancient coins and late Imperial-minted medallions intended as collectibles, began to develop medals as artworks. In 1439, the Council of Florence commissioned him to strike a commemorative medal of the Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaiologos, in effect making him the inventor of portrait medals and other medallic art. Rather than striking medals like minted coins, Pisanello created them with melted metals as small bronze low-reliefs, requiring the talents of both a painter and a modeler. For him, the medals represented the same artistic creativity as his paintings.

Such medals brought art to more people. Those who were neither aristocratic nor wealthy enough to finance tombs and monuments then were able to nonetheless collect and introduce fine art into their homes.

--E.A.

Natchitoches oozes charm, history, venerable neighborhoods, and its distinct Cane River culture of African-American, Anglo, and French. Residents and visitors amble along brick-paved Front Street in the heart of the National Historic Landmark District, shopping and dining in buildings with second-story balconies and decorated with wrought iron. Across the street pedestrians stroll along the banks of the river, passing anglers testing its waters with fly, lure, and cane pole.

In addition to its lovely setting, I was enchanted with the interior design of the gallery, which utilizes a small amount of space to the greatest possible effect and displays a variety of work in diverse styles and sizes. Neo-realism, abstracts, three-dimensional sculptures and objects of virtue – it can all be found here in highly original pieces by gifted local artists. Besides being a great place to view and purchase art, the Natchitoches Art Guild & Gallery also regularly offers workshops, demonstrations, and other activities, including an annual competition.

As if that weren’t enough, it is surrounded by charming shops and wonderful places to dine. It’s a wonderful place to visit, and bring home art along with memories. You may wish to take a look at www.historicnatchitoches.com for more information.

--E.A.

Despite his law degree, his family expected him to take over his father’s position at court. The young Poquelin, however, had already decided upon a career in the theatre. He struck up a friendship with the famous Italian actor-mime Tiberio Fiorelli, better known by the character he created, Scaramouche, when he came to Paris in 1640. At about the same time, he met a young actress, Madeleine Béjart, with whom he was associated until her death in 1672. In 1643, he formally renounced his father’s hereditary post and chose a life in the “disreputable” theatre instead, choosing the name “Molière” in order to avoid embarrassing his family. Along with Béjart and nine other actors, he founded a troupe, which swiftly went bankrupt, forcing him to serve two terms in debtors’ prison. Undaunted, he formed another company with the Béjarts, which lasted for 13 years. They toured France and eventually acquiring the patronage of the Prince of Conti.

While Molière often acted, his fame as director and playwright grew, as he managed the troupe and produced charming plays utilizing rhythm and mime. In 1658 his farce, Le Docteur amoureux, “The Doctor of Love,” so impressed the king that his brother became the patron of the troupe. From then on, Molière was based in Paris. In 1662, he scored his greatest success with L’Ecole des femmes, “The School for Women”. Critics and rivals attacked him on grounds of irreligion, vulgarity, and immorality. Moliere answered them with a second play, Quarrel of L’Ecole des femmes, which dramatized the controversy by discussing all the issues involved. Most importantly, the new play served to put comedy on an equal footing with tragedy as a literary form for the first time.

Moliere went on to insult and provoke powerful bureaucrats, lawyers, and doctors with such great plays as Tartuffe ou l’Imposteur, Don Juan, and Le Misanthrope. Unfortunately, he had become plagued by a hacking cough which, onstage, he masked as a comic device, making it seem voluntary and exaggerated. Doctors failed to diagnose or treat his condition correctly and it steadily worsened. On January 17, 1673, in the middle of a performance, Moliere was seized by convulsions and died later that night. However, his works have survived him and today remain among the most popular and regularly performed plays throughout the world.

FIRST SATURDAY TOURS
Regularly scheduled tours are offered on the first Saturday of every month at 2 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, Painting Techniques, will be on August 7th at 2 p.m.

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 PowerPoint presentations to civic groups and assisted living facilities.

For more information on the programs offered or to schedule a tour or presentation, click here.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Volunteer placement, whether docent or intern, requires an application followed by an interview, criminal background check, and an orientation/training session. To apply, email jd@rwnaf.org to request an application, or contact our Tour and Special Events Coordinator Jen DeFratis at 318-865-4201, ext. 100.

SATURDAY SPEAKER SERIES
One Saturday each month, the Norton will host a local, regional, or national expert speaking on a variety of subjects in formats ranging from formal presentations to informal seminars to walking tours. Upcoming speakers will cover a broad range of subjects including gardening, popular literature and film, influential historical and cultural figures, musical history and interpretation, and food in art. All events are free to the public. The next Saturday Speaker will be Susie Seborg on September 18th at 2 p,m. She will present The Conservator Says.

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 to 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays and National Holidays

Copyright © 2010 by R. W. Norton Art Gallery