TGIT. Gabriel is ending his first week of school today - his stressful 12-hour week - and we're all looking forward to relaxing the rest of the weekend. On Friday, we will hang out at home. Julia will go to Sugar Magnolia for lunch and pick us up a Redbox movie. Saturday, it's off to Beaufort - bagels, Oops, Bay Street galleries, the park, Five Guys, grocery shopping. You know where I'll be Super Bowl Sunday late afternoon and evening, and Monday is a big day for Julia.
This will be my last month of writing briefly (and hopefully, interestingly) about an American masterpiece. For the months of March and April, I will focus on Mexican masterpieces. And then May and June, I'll switch to another country. Today's work of art is a sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.
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| Adams Memorial |
You can see the Adams Memorial in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington D.C.
Saint-Gaudens was born in mid-19th century Ireland before moving to New York City with his family before he was one year old. In his late teens, he moved abroad and studied classical art and architecture in Paris and Rome and then moved back to the U.S. His first major commission as a sculptor was 1881's "Admiral Farragut," which still stands in NYC's Madison Square Park. Using bronze, the artist was able to fluidly portray the human form; there was no stiffness, just naturalistic modeling. This would also mark Saint-Gaudens' first collaboration with the architect Stanford White, who designed the granite base; the two would collaborate often and became lifelong friends. After this work, Saint-Gaudens received numerous commissions, including bronze monuments of Abraham Lincoln, Sherman, Colonel Robert G. Shaw (the character Matthew Broderick played in Glory), and other American heroes; many of these works featured settings designed by White and architect Charles McKim. Saint-Gaudens began to master various techniques: sculpture-in-the-round, bas-reliefs, relief portraits.
Writer Henry Adams' wife, Clover, committed suicide in 1885 after ingesting the chemicals used in developing photographs. Adams called upon Saint-Gaudens to create a sculpture of her, a work that would visualize the idea of "nirvana," the state of being free of, beyond suffering. This work would be ambiguous, the figure neither female or male, cloaked, shrouded, inscrutably expressionless in the face of a great something - be it happiness, transcendence, sadness, grief. The work was hugely popular and much-visited upon its unveiling, but neither Adams nor Saint-Gauden acknowledged it (despite the location) as a memorial of everlasting grief. Adams did study various images from Buddhist and Christian iconography for the memorial, especially the Sibyls in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel; Adams had studied Buddhism on a trip to Japan in 1886 and had suggested it as a direction for Saint-Gaudens. Stanford White created the setting for the piece.
Late in life, Saint-Gaudens moved to Cornish, New Hampshire and, along with Maxfield Perish, Thomas Dewing and others, founded a community of artists. He resided there until his death in 1907.
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| Admiral Farragut |
This week's film releases:
- Big Miracle You've seen the previews. John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore trying to rescue the whales from the solidifying Arctic Circle ice. Looks sentimental and sweet, supposedly based on a true story, which usually means the filmmakers have made up or transmogrified 75% of it. Still, the early reviews are good.
- The Woman in Black Daniel Radcliffe is getting notices for his performance in this old-school period chiller about a young lawyer sent to a decrepit Gothic mansion in a remote English village, haunted by the titular specter. Critics are praising the movie's classic scares and art direction. Ciaran Hinds and Oscar nominee Janet McTeer co-star.
- The Innkeepers Another creepfest in thrillers, one with even better reviews. A star-less (the only big name here is Kelly McGillis - yes, that Kelly McGillis), low-key, well-directed tale about a haunted Connecticut hotel - a real-life place, the Yankee Pedlar Inn. Two part-time employees bring a video camera and try to document the hauntings of the hotel, which is in its last weekend before closing; there's none of the handheld camera stuff, which is a relief. It's supposed to be scary and with a great use of place.
- W.E. The Madonna movie. Critics are having a good time trashing it for its portentousness and silliness, but almost all admit that it looks great. Remember the character Guy Pearce played in The King's Speech, King Edward VIII? Remember too, that, he had an American mistress whom he abdicated the throne for (ceding the way for Colin Firth's stutterer)? This is about Edward and his mistress. There's present day stuff too, involving Abbie Cornish as a woman fascinated with the long-ago royal couple.
- Chronicle Never heard of this one? Me neither. But it too is getting excellent early reviews (what a weekend at the movies!) as a sort-of Cloverfield-meets-Heroes. Found footage involving three teens who discover they have superpowers. Sounds generic but the critics like it; the filmmaking is supposed to be dynamic and fresh. The only cast member I'm at all familiar with is Michael Jordan (no, no, no), recently so superb on Parenthood and Friday Night Lights.
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| The Innkeepers |
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