TABLE OF CONTENTS The Norton Then and Now 1 Around the Gallery 3 I Remember the Difficult Times... A Publication of the R.W. Norton Art Gallery Currently Showing 4 The Norton - Then and Now: In the Library 4 A Look at Changes in 2013 and a Glance into 2014 First Saturday Tour 5 Coming Soon 5 The past year saw quite a few changes at the Norton; 2013 introduced a Roman emperor to the galleries, displayed our affinity for color both inside and out, and re-organized the American Still Lifes Exhibit 5 collection into a trip through time, to name a few. As those of you who visit regularly know, the Norton has been celebrated in the past for its western art (with a small “w”), In the Gardens 6 especially the large collections of works by Frederic Remington and Charles Marion January 2014, vol. 6, issue 1 issue 6, vol. January 2014, Around the Gallery the Around Russell. Yet, as our permanent collection has grown, we’ve chosen instead to emphasize Tips from Kip 6 the development of Western art (with a very big “W”), from its origins among the th 7 Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, to the diversity of 20 -century Modernism. Rather than Voices from the Archives isolate genres, we’ve chosen to gather together paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and From the Permanent Collection 8 other artifacts that reflect a particular period. As an American museum, we ground ourselves firmly at home by setting up our central galleries as “Visions of America”, Worth Quoting 8 choosing iconographic images and quotes that reflect both how others have seen America and how we’ve seen ourselves. Among its fascinating pieces is a 1756 map of French possessions in the New World printed by Sebastian Longchamps, formerly the AT A GLANCE: amanuensis of Voltaire. This is an apropos, metaphysical wink from the Enlightenment Gallery website philosophers to the country that would be founded on their ideals. Also present is the http://www.rwnaf.org Revere Bell, a 900-lb. church bell crafted during the early days of the American Republic in the foundry established by Paul Revere and his sons. First Saturday Tour: “Rattling Down the Ages”: The World of Bronze Moving toward the North Wing, visitors can explore the progression in Western art to 4 January, 2:00 p.m. which America is heir, beginning with the “Origins of Western Art Gallery”, featuring Now Showing Septimius Severus, the Roman emperor mentioned earlier. Other antiquities in the gallery Environmental Impact come from the Mediterranean region, including a nearly 3,000-year-old Luristan sword Through 2 February (part of the Persian Empire). Also present, the better than 4,000-year-old Egyptian Christmas in Word & Image Exhibition Through 23 February artifacts and the relatively young Roman mosaic, at only 1,500-years-old. Next up is our “Candle in the Dark: The Art of the Medieval World Gallery”, which holds our 14th- Coming Soon Guys and Dolls Tour century Book of Hours, on special occasions. Another artifact, which relates to a 1 February, 2:00 p.m. medieval event that has re-engaged public interest in the wake of Dan Brown’s popular Voices from the Archives: books, is the Processus contra Templarios, a limited edition reproduction, recently Ben Melton released by the Vatican, containing the records from the trial of the Knights Templar that U.S. Army, Vietnam War led to the destruction of their order. From the medieval world, we move to the “From Renaissance to Enlightenment Gallery” where our newly AROUND THE GALLERY cleaned and repaired 16th-century tapestries hold pride of CONTRIBUTORS Everl Adair, place. The two colorful tapestries on display have been Dir. of Research & Rare Collections recently returned to the Norton after almost half a year of Kip Dehart, intense cleansing. Another highlight is both portraiture and Landscape Designer landscape art from the Golden Age of the Dutch Old Gary D. Ford, Pilgrim Masters. Striking Neo-Classical works by Fragonard, Staff Writer Canaletto Kauffmann, and Canaletto round out the display. And then 1 The Norton - Then and Now (cont’d) you can pass through our special gallery for little ones, the “Fairy Tale Gallery”, pausing to pet Wilbur’s nose for luck (think Charlotte’s Web). Also take a gander at the new “bookstands” devised for the sculptures, and head into “A Century of Turmoil: Europe in the 19th Century Gallery”. The speed of change picks up as this gallery demonstrates, leaping from the tradition of Neo-Classical academic painting to the rebellion of the Romantics. Then it extends to the breakthroughs of the Barbizon School and the iconoclastic innovation of the Impressionists. And finally, visitors can take a “The Journey to Modernism” in the gallery so named, exploring the different directions artists elected to take in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Along your way back to the lobby, take in “The Mind of the Artist Gallery”, which delineates some of the ways artists make decisions and change over time. There you’ll find Rodin’s The Thinker presiding over Charles Schreyvogel’s journey from illustration to impressionism. Witness the meticulous planning that Meissonnier put into each painting; examine the sculptural changes Remington found possible via the lost wax method of bronze casting, and learn why exoticism is in the eye of the beholder. Head toward the South Wing, and, on the way, explore America’s own artistic history via the “Soldiers and Statesmen Gallery” which visits some of the major figures and events in our past, including one of John Adam’s infamous “Midnight Appointments”. Notice also an example of the thought and process put into creating a political cartoon. From there, you can visit “Living in America Gallery” which explores the everyday lives of Americans in paintings, sculptures, and wonderful artifacts that would have seemed very familiar to our great-grandparents. Next door, we’ll revisit that small “w” with the “Inventing the West Gallery”, exploring a little of the reality along with the process by which the myth of “cowboys and Indians” came to be. And you can complete the circle by visiting the greatest iconographers of the American West in the appropriately named “Icon and the Iconographer Gallery”, featuring the January 2014, vol. 6, issue 1 issue 6, vol. January 2014, Around the Gallery the Around works of Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell. Finish off this particular, horseshoe-shaped trip with a visit to the two middle galleries that celebrate “American Art History” with works that date from the early Republic to the dawn of the 20th century, all by American artists. Then, head to the “Louisiana Gallery”, which features artists and scenes from our native state. Recent acquisitions include marvelous works by African-American artists Richmond Barthé and Clementine Hunter. As you look at the art, notice the new setting we’ve created for it. From the neutral shades of its past, the Norton has bloomed into color and design, including richly hued, textured walls A Funeral Clementine Hunter and patterned floors that enhance the art even as they delight the eye. New doorways make it easier to move through the museum, ensuring you don’t miss galleries that were previously “hidden” from the casual visitor and providing splendid sight lines down our corridors. Once you step outside, there’s a whole new world of texture and color to explore in the Norton’s magnificent Botanical Gardens, forty acres featuring a variety of vistas from different ecosystems, all cunningly planned to thrive here in the Ark-La-Tex. Water gardens, outdoor sculpture, charmingly designed seating areas and walkways - the Norton has them all, and there’s always something delightfully new being planted by Kip DeHart, our talented landscape designer. There’s more to come inside as well: in 2014, we’ll begin renovations in our South Wing. While visitor favorites like the Norton’s Rare Firearms Collection and the Gray/Blumenstiel Doll Collection will remain in their usual galleries, other areas will be devoted to America’s first great artistic movement, Hudson River School, and to the wonders of the natural world as seen in still-lifes, landscapes, porcelain, bronze, and glass. So, set aside some time in 2014 and make the Norton a regular stop along your way. As The Gulistan of Saadi wisely declares: If of thy mortal goods thou art bereft, And of thy meager store Two loaves alone to thee are left, Sell one, and with the dole Buy hyacinths to feed thy soul. Better yet, join us at the Norton where we provide hyacinths, metaphysical and actual, free of charge! EA 2 I Remember the Difficult Times... The Norton’s New Oral History Book Debuts With Eyewitness Stories of World War II Identical twins Roy and Ray Buckner fought as infantry platoon squad leaders in the U.S. Marines, leading men into desperate battles to capture one island after another in the Pacific in World War II. Then, fighting for Guam, Ray was severely wounded and lay in a makeshift hospital: a tent on the beach using cots as beds. Day and night Roy kept vigil over Ray, who only grew worse. The front lines were so near this “rear area” that spent rounds whizzed through the tent. Ray grew terrified he would be killed while he lay there, helpless. “I got on the side of the cot where the bullets were coming and told Ray, ‘The next bullet is mine,’” Roy recalled. There he lay with his back shielding his brother, ready to sacrifice his body for the life of his twin.