Dear Art Lover,
I hope that you do not mind these
“flashbacks.” There is so much I have
wanted to share with you over these past several months, but life just kept
going full speed. However, my home in
Italia is not ready yet. Sadly, my
future landlord’s wife died from cancer several weeks ago. So, you might imagine that he did not have an
enjoyable summer and, of course, repairing a house was not a priority. As I wait in LimboLand, with few art-making
tools with me, I write.
During my travels this summer around the USA, I stopped in the familiar town of Winona, Minnesota. My Aunt Carole was anxious to show me an amazing new museum and we had a wonderful time there, before joining up with my Uncle Alan for lunch and more visitations. This museum is called the Minnesota Marine Art Museum [MMAM]. You may find them at http://www.mmam.org
There is such a lovely layout of the grounds along the Mississippi River that includes lots of xeriscaping plants. We passed a student classroom being fully utilized, as well as the obligatory gift shop. This gift shop featured more original local art than most I have ever seen and if I had not been luggage-challenged already, I would have bought some art.
The museum inside is spacious with cozy colors and even a reading area that is not segregated from the art, as is often the case with most museums. And they are taking care of their surprisingly good collection with tastefully done safe doors. I say surprisingly because my godparents raised their family in this town and I have spent many a summer as a youth coming to Winona. We never imagined the city hosting an art museum of this caliber.
While they have changing exhibitions (such as The Wood Engravings of Winslow Homer), I include only one artwork from them in this blog post. They appear to be focusing on American and some European artists and, naturally, a water-based theme. But let us face it: That hardly narrows the subject matter a lot!
And since [George] Washington Crossing the Delaware was touted as the pride and joy of the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, I included several snapshots of it here. Oh, and pardon the crooked images. I was lucky to have safely broken the rules this many times. The George Washington painting is one of several versions floating around in the universe and therefore must have had a very public appeal. So, without further ado, here are some of the paintings that most appealed to me.
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The Brook, 1894, Daniel Ridgway Knight [pardon reflections]
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Water Lilies, 1917, Edward Henry Potthast
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Water Lilies [detail], 1917, Edward Henry Potthast [reminds me of J. Sorolla]
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Formerly exhibited in the West Wing of the White
House: Washington Crossing The Delaware 1851,
Emanuel Leutze
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Formerly exhibited in the West Wing of the White
House: Washington Crossing The Delaware 1851,
Emanuel Leutze
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Washington Crossing The Delaware [detail] 1851,
Emanuel Leutze
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I am not above taking a donation. Even five bucks is a help, if you enjoy what you read about and see in my images here on this blog. Thank you. [You may make a donation via the PayPal links on the side bar on the blog site: http://artbyborsheim.blogspot.com ]
Peace,
Kelly
~ Kelly Borsheim, sculptor,
painter, writer, teacher
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| Winslow Homer, 1873 |
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Little Caldwell’s Island, 1940, Andrew Wyeth
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The Warning, 2007, Jamie Wyeth
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The Warning [detail], 2007, Jamie Wyeth
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William Frederick de Haas, 1879
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| Vincent Van Gogh, 1882: unexpected! |
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Alfred Stevens, 1884, from Belgium
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