Today was a free day without seminars or activities other than the late afternoon welcome to us "First Timer Attendees" followed by an ice cream social. Left to my own devices while Jerry chose to hang out in the coach and tinker with the satellite receiver box, I chose to go to the Reynolda House Museum of American Art, where they are hosting the Modern Masters exhibit from the Smithsonian, one of only six venues across the country. I admit to hesitancy about this exhibit because modernism is a stretch for me, but where else would I see this. And while there I could tour the estate of the R J Reynolds family, the tobacco magnate. And Jerry while recovering and now left with only the slight cough has no interest in such museums.
Lest you think that I have made a typo about the estate above, Reynolda is the feminine of Reynolds, conceived by Kathryn. I know when I saw the directions on the GPS I thought Godfrey had slipped a page.
http://www.reynoldahouse.org/index.php After the Vanderbilts, this was much smaller scale, but of great interest none the less. Richard Joshua (RJ) Reynolds, was a very wealthy man the founder of the JRReynolds tobacco company and a very eligible bachelor most of his life; when he was about 60 years old he married Kathryn Smith who was his personal secretary and they were also distant cousins. They had four children and the estate fulfilled her dream of having a house with hills, cattle and flowers all around. It was known as a bungalow estate, but other than the dormers, certain design features, I certainly would not call it a bungalow. However in the day and time 1917 and on through the 30's a bungalow was a popular style. JR however became ill and did not live in the estate very long, dying there; this is becoming a familiar theme about the wealthy men of the era, I think of my Uncle John's grandfather, JR, who also died after building a mansion/estate. It was a self sustaining community with its own dairy, gardens, cattle, school and church. Kathryn administered the estate after JR passed on and kept quite busy on all the details of the estate and the design of the Presbyterian Church and the school. She was no shrinking southern belle; while the estate was being built she oversaw every architectural design and detail. The Reynolda Gardens and Village Shops offer more to see and enjoy.
The permanent art collection through out the home with masterpieces by the Hudson River School, Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Church, was more to my liking than the Modern Artists on exhibit in one of the halls. http://www.albertbierstadt.org/ Bierstadt is a favorite for me and I was reminded how his work fell out of favor for a long time.
Seeing the Modernists http://www.reynoldahouse.org/experience/special/experiencespecial2.php stretched my imagination, as I would stand back, look, then squint and finally coming up close to scrutinize and attempt to digest the explanations. The fully black canvas by one to me was an absolute questionable piece of art, the explanation was it is the absence of color, no kidding and that upon close up view one can discern blue and plum squares. There were three themes: Significant Gestures, Optics and Order and New Images of Man. Well it was different. Can't say I would spend a dime on anything I saw in that exhibit, other than perhaps the iron sculptures and all are beyond any consideration in my budget.
Tomorrow after absorbing all this art, history and culture, I intend to balance with a trip to the massive Goodwill store down the hill from the Rally; when we first saw it we thought it might be Goodwill Headquarters as it is massive and many corporations have home offices here in Winston Salem. In fact it is a Goodwill center with donations accepted and items for sale.
