Saturday, April 10, 2010

Roadtrip,Chattanooga

This past Thursday we took a day trip to Chattanooga, home of the "Choo Choo", Tennessee Aquarium, MoonPies, Walnut St. Bridge, and The Hunter Museum of American Art. Walked the bridge (despite the threatening clouds), bought some MoonPies for the ride home (thumbs-up for new peanut butter flavor), but spent most of the afternoon at the Hunter and the surrounding neighborhood. The museum is located in the Bluff View Arts District, scenically perched on a rock cliff 80 ft. above the Tennessee River. The collection is outstanding, ( thanks for the suggestion Clayton), you can preview it here. The following are just two of the many works I studied at length, (family patience was appreciated).

Thomas Hart Benton,"The Wreck Of Ole '97", 1943, egg tempera on masonite, 28x44, fantastic color and narrative.

This painting is a mystery, date and artist are unknown, they gave it the title of "Oh!". What is going on here?, the scale of the basket items are whack, the men in the background, with the coordinating arm gestures, are involved in some sort of incident, I love it.


Top: The Hunter Museum, original mansion on the right, new wing on the left.
Bottom: View of the Hunter from the Walnut St Bridge. I have more photos on Flickr