VOLUME XXXII The Historic New Orleans NUMBER 4 Collection Quarterly FALL 2015 Shop online at www.hnoc.org/shop ROLLAND GOLDEN: Art of Recovery EVENT CALENDAR EXHIBITIONS & TOURS CONCERTS IN THE COURTYARD All exhibitions are free unless noted otherwise. The fall concert series will feature Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue (September), Banu Gibson (October), and Little Freddie King (November). CURRENT Fridays, September 18, October 16, and November 20, 6–8 p.m.; doors open at 5:30 p.m. From Winnfield to Washington: The Life and 533 Royal Street Career of Huey P. Long $10 admission; free for THNOC members Through October 11, 2015 Williams Gallery, 533 Royal Street SCREENING OF ALL THE KING’S MEN Join us for a free screening of this 1949 classic as part of our programming for the It’s Only Natural: Flora and Fauna in Louisiana exhibition From Winnfield to Washington: The Life and Career of Huey P. Long. One of Decorative Arts the show’s curators, Amanda McFillen, will introduce the film. Through November 28, 2015 Saturday, September 19, 2–4 p.m. Boyd Cruise Gallery, 410 Chartres Street Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street Curators will lead walk-throughs of the exhibition every Tuesday, noon–1 p.m., through November 24. Free The Katrina Decade: Images of an Altered City FINE PRINT BOOK CLUB SESSIONS Through January 9, 2016 Join photographer David G. Spielman for a fascinating discussion about THNOC’s latest title, The Katrina Decade: Images of an Altered City. Lunch will be provided. All participants Laura Simon Nelson Galleries, are expected to have read the book prior to the meeting. 400 Chartres Street Friday, September 25, and Saturday, September 26, noon–2 p.m. Rolland Golden’s Hurricane Katrina Series: 533 Royal Street A Selection $15 for those who register before September 19, $25 for those who register September 19 or Through January 16, 2016 later. Registration is required. Please call (504) 523-4662 or email [email protected]. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street TEXTILE DOCUMENTARY SCREENING PERMANENT Coton Jaune—Acadian Brown Cotton: A Cajun Love Story documents the history of handspun Acadian cotton blankets and the women who made them. After the screening, Louisiana History Galleries the filmmakers and other scholars will lead a discussion of Acadian weaving traditions. 533 Royal Street Saturday, October 17, 9:30 a.m.–noon Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Free; reservations are recommended; please contact [email protected] or (504) 523-4662. The Williams Residence Tour THNOC Architectural Tour LES COMÉDIENS FRANÇAIS LECTURE 533 Royal Street In commemoration of Louis XIV on the 300th anniversary of his death, this annual event Tuesday–Saturday, 10 and 11 a.m., 2 and 3 p.m. will take the form of a musical journey honoring the Sun King. Narrated by THNOC curator Sunday, 11 a.m., 2 and 3 p.m Howard Margot, the concert will feature musicians Daniel Lelchuk, Joseph Meyer, Jaren Philleo of Lyrica Baroque, and harpsichordist Pierre Queval. $5 per person Groups of eight or more should call (504) 598-7145 Monday, November 16, 6–7:30 p.m. for reservations or visit www.hnoc.org. Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street Free; reservations are required; please call (504) 523-4662. UPCOMING LECTURE AND BOOK SIGNING An Architect and His City: Henry Howard’s Nicholas J. Meis will discuss his book New Orleans Hurricanes from the Start, coauthored New Orleans, 1837–1884 with David F. Bastian, which examines the development and effects of major storms November 18, 2015–April 3, 2016 throughout New Orleans history. This event is being presented in conjunction with the Williams Gallery, 533 Royal Street exhibition The Katrina Decade: Images of an Altered City. Saturday, November 21, 2–4 p.m. At Home and at War: New Orleans, 1914–1919 December 9, 2015–May 7, 2016 533 Royal Street Free Williams Research Center, 410 Chartres Street GENERAL HOURS 533 Royal Street Williams Gallery, Louisiana History Galleries, Shop, and Tours Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; Sunday, 10:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. 400 and 410 Chartres Street Williams Research Center, Boyd Cruise Gallery, and Laura Simon Nelson Galleries Tuesday–Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. D The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly ON THE COVER: The Spirit Returns 2007; acrylic on canvas by Rolland Golden, painter The Historic New Orleans Collection, acquisition made possible by the Diana Helis Henry Art Fund of The Helis Foundation, 2008.0109.11; joint ownership with the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Sydney and Walda Besthoff Fund, 2007.113.10 CONTENTS ON VIEW/ 2 Two exhibitions chronicle the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in different ways. An Architect and His City sketches a portrait of New Orleans during the highs FROM THE DIRECTOR and lows of the mid-19th century. Off-Site One of the great things about working at a place like The Collection is our variety of activity. Exhibitions close and events come and go, but the horizon is always full with EDUCATION/ 7 new content and fresh ideas. In July we said goodbye to one of our most affecting A suite of new lesson plans connects New exhibitions, Purchased Lives: New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 1808–1865. Orleans to its Spanish heritage. The show garnered critical acclaim, national-news coverage, and our third-highest attendance total ever. More than 1,000 visitors came to see it in its final weekend alone, RESOURCES/ 8 and the comments we received in the exhibition guest book were truly humbling. THNOC to launch a new digital collection As we said goodbye to Purchased Lives, though, we were busy preparing for three new of needlework textiles. exhibitions that opened in late summer. Two of them deal with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, one through the documentary photographs of David G. Spielman. The COMMUNITY/ 10 other features paintings by artist Rolland Golden that we acquired after the storm with On the Job assistance from The Helis Foundation. And, for the first time ever, we mounted a deco- Staff News rative arts exhibition in conjunction with our annual New Orleans Antiques Forum. It’s Recently Retired Only Natural: Flora and Fauna in Louisiana Decorative Arts marks the first multidisci- Become a Member plinary decorative arts show drawn entirely from our own collections, as well as the first exhibition by our curator of decorative arts, Lydia Blackmore. The Antiques Forum On the Scene sold out completely, and we always enjoy bringing together such excellent speakers with Focus on Philanthropy an enthusiastic audience. Donors Though we create a steady stream of events, exhibitions, and publications, some parts of our operation are simply irreplaceable. At the end of June we said goodbye to ACQUISITIONS/ 18 Senior Curator/Historian John T. Magill, who, in addition to serving as resident expert Acquisition Spotlight: an 18th-century on myriad aspects of New Orleans history, formed a huge part of our institutional manuscript exposes France’s contingency memory. I wish John an excellent retirement and thank him on behalf of the entire staff plans for Quebec. for being an invaluable colleague and friend for so many years. —PRISCILLA LAWRENCE Recent Additions ON VIEW EXHIBITION The Katrina Decade: Images Disaster Response of an Altered City Through January 9, 2016 Two shows at The Collection capture artistic and documentary views of the 2005 levee breaches’ aftermath. Laura Simon Nelson Galleries, 400 Chartres Street As New Orleans and the Gulf region observed, in August, the 10th anniversary of Free Hurricane Katrina and the floods that followed, The Collection mounted two exhibi- tions that examine the aftermath of the disaster in strikingly different ways. The Katrina EXHIBITION Decade: Images of an Altered City features stark black-and-white photographs, by David Rolland Golden’s Hurricane G. Spielman, of houses, lots, and structures affected by the storm. Rolland Golden’s Katrina Series: A Selection Hurricane Katrina Series: A Selection presents colorful, expressive artworks from one of Through January 16, 2016 the region’s most acclaimed contemporary painters. Whereas Spielman strives for objec- Williams Research Center, tivity and verisimilitude in his images, Golden’s paintings mine the teeming pathos and 410 Chartres Street vulnerability of the city as it struggled to recover. Free “They’re both based on observation, but David’s work is, certainly by perception and by his own statements, designed to be neutral,” said John H. Lawrence, director of museum programs. “Rolland Golden’s pictures put you in the scene, as it were. Golden was almost like a painting machine following Hurricane Katrina. The subject and the A B 2 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly C D recording of his feelings about it are just an incredible expression of his energy as an artist and his feelings about what happened.” The Katrina Decade grew out of Spielman’s book of the same name, which THNOC published in July, and the Golden paintings’ acquisition was made possible by the Diana Helis Henry Art Fund of The Helis Foundation. THNOC shares joint ownership of the works with the New Orleans Museum of Art. One of the paint- ings was a gift to the two institutions from the artist. Together, the two exhibitions represent the duality of recovery, one experienced by many residents as they worked A. Elysian Fields, Land of the Gods 2006; acrylic on canvas to resolve myriad practical problems while carrying heavy emotional burdens. by Rolland Golden, painter “What [Spielman’s] images can tell us is that although a tremendous amount of acquisition made possible by the Diana Helis recovery has happened in the last 10 years, there is still a lot to go,” Lawrence said.