We have been wanting to get to Crystal Bridges ever since it opened a few years ago in Bentonville, AR. Well, better late than never.
Here are some of my pictures I took while we were there.
Outside the entrance to Crystal Bridges is this stainless steel tree.
The best "aerial view" of Crystal Bridges I could take (from a landing on the parking garage).
Outside the door of the museum is this bronze, stainless steel, and marble spider.
One of the "bridges" that houses seating for the restaurant Eleven taken from the "bridge" across the water from it.
The other "bridge" looking from the restaurant seating.
Another view of that "bridge".
This is the painting Asher Brown Durand's Kindred Spirits that Alice Walton paid about $35 million dollars in 2005 to exhibit in the museum.
(I didn't know she had paid that much when I was looking at it, but it is truly magnificent.) We heard a docent say that unlike most painting that are painted horizontally to focus on the landscape, this one was painted vertically to emphasize the two men, poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant and landscapist Thomas Cole standing on the ledge. (The painting had been donated to the New York City Library in 1904 and had been there for 100 years. Many people were not happy when the library sold the painting.)
Gilbert Stuart's George Washington, 1797. This is the image that was used for the dollar bill.
George Washington, Charles Willson Peale ca 1780-1782.
Georgia O'Keefe's Jimson Weed, 1936 (Ms. Walton paid $44.4 million for it - the most ever paid for a painting by a woman.) I just love it!
Daylight at Russell's Corners by George Copeland Ault, 1944 (another favorite of mine)
I didn't take a picture of Andy Warhol's Coca Cola bottle, but it is very striking also. (Ms. Walton paid $55 million+ for it.)
This interesting sculpture from recycled silver is the upper portion of the White River, a major waterway that runs for 722 miles through Arkansas and Missouri. The artist is Maya Lin, who is also famous for her design for the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D. C.
This is just a section of a carbon pencil on paper called Elephants by Adonna Khare painted in 2012. The three dimensional quality of the painting is just unbelievable.
A docent told us that a few weeks ago the artist showed up and in a couple of days painted the connecting artwork to the mural.
This piece was downright spooky. It is a self portrait of the artist of what he thinks he will look like in 20 years. It was so realistic and for good reason. The hair on the model is the actual artist's hair - even nose and ear hair. (My picture doesn't show the detail but it looked like he had not shaved for a couple of days.) The glasses are enlarged copies of the glass he currently wears and he had his optometrist make the pair with even his bifocal prescription. The model is made with acrylics and look like if you touched it, it would feel like real skin. The older man sitting on a bench I show a couple of pictures down was not done by the same artist.
This is a painting that was made over an actual silk American flag. Beautiful!
This quilt by Faith Ringgold was commissioned by Oprah Winfrey for Maya Angelou 's 61st birthday. It is acrylic on canvas and painted, dyed, and pieced fabric. It was so beautiful!
The special exhibit currently at Crystal Bridges is called Chihuly: In the Forest. Artist Dale Chihuly has created some beautiful pieces with blown glass. The colors are just outstanding! The pieces will be on exhibit until November 13, 2017.
This was inside one of the exhibit halls. We feel certain it is also one of Chihuly's pieces as it was blown glass.
We also toured the Bachman-Wilson House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is one of the few two story Usonian architecture houses designed and built by Wright. It was originally located along the Millstone River in New Jersey. Repeated threatened by flooding, it was purchased by Crystal Bridges, disassembled piece by piece and rebuilt on the grounds at Crystal Bridges so that it could be preserved. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the house but I took several outside. Wright coined the phrase/term "carport" and this house contained one.
This last picture is one of those artworks you see and love and say, "I could do that!" The outline of the letters for We The People were hole punched in the back ground and then different shoelaces were threaded through the holes and left hanging. The beauty in the piece is all of the different types of shoelaces the artist used. Now I want someone to try it and then send me a picture of your finished work. Okay?
Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has really impacted northwest Arkansas. We were talking to one businessman about how much the area had changed since we had lived in Fayetteville over 30 years ago. He agreed with us but added that what had really changed the area was Crystal Bridges. Not wanting to be insulting, he said it had brought some "culture" to Northwest Arkansas. It is an outstanding collection of American art and the grounds, which are as much of the Crystal Bridges experience as the artwork, are beautifully maintained and preserved. You should allow time to partake of both. Regrettably, we didn't get to walk all the miles of trails, but maybe next time. Crystal Bridges was certainly a highlight of our week in northwest Arkansas.
Here are some of my pictures I took while we were there.
Outside the entrance to Crystal Bridges is this stainless steel tree.
The best "aerial view" of Crystal Bridges I could take (from a landing on the parking garage).
Outside the door of the museum is this bronze, stainless steel, and marble spider.
One of the "bridges" that houses seating for the restaurant Eleven taken from the "bridge" across the water from it.
The other "bridge" looking from the restaurant seating.
Another view of that "bridge".
This is the painting Asher Brown Durand's Kindred Spirits that Alice Walton paid about $35 million dollars in 2005 to exhibit in the museum.
(I didn't know she had paid that much when I was looking at it, but it is truly magnificent.) We heard a docent say that unlike most painting that are painted horizontally to focus on the landscape, this one was painted vertically to emphasize the two men, poet and journalist William Cullen Bryant and landscapist Thomas Cole standing on the ledge. (The painting had been donated to the New York City Library in 1904 and had been there for 100 years. Many people were not happy when the library sold the painting.)
Gilbert Stuart's George Washington, 1797. This is the image that was used for the dollar bill.
George Washington, Charles Willson Peale ca 1780-1782.
Georgia O'Keefe's Jimson Weed, 1936 (Ms. Walton paid $44.4 million for it - the most ever paid for a painting by a woman.) I just love it!
Daylight at Russell's Corners by George Copeland Ault, 1944 (another favorite of mine)
I didn't take a picture of Andy Warhol's Coca Cola bottle, but it is very striking also. (Ms. Walton paid $55 million+ for it.)
This interesting sculpture from recycled silver is the upper portion of the White River, a major waterway that runs for 722 miles through Arkansas and Missouri. The artist is Maya Lin, who is also famous for her design for the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington, D. C.
This is just a section of a carbon pencil on paper called Elephants by Adonna Khare painted in 2012. The three dimensional quality of the painting is just unbelievable.
A docent told us that a few weeks ago the artist showed up and in a couple of days painted the connecting artwork to the mural.
This piece was downright spooky. It is a self portrait of the artist of what he thinks he will look like in 20 years. It was so realistic and for good reason. The hair on the model is the actual artist's hair - even nose and ear hair. (My picture doesn't show the detail but it looked like he had not shaved for a couple of days.) The glasses are enlarged copies of the glass he currently wears and he had his optometrist make the pair with even his bifocal prescription. The model is made with acrylics and look like if you touched it, it would feel like real skin. The older man sitting on a bench I show a couple of pictures down was not done by the same artist.
This is a painting that was made over an actual silk American flag. Beautiful!
This quilt by Faith Ringgold was commissioned by Oprah Winfrey for Maya Angelou 's 61st birthday. It is acrylic on canvas and painted, dyed, and pieced fabric. It was so beautiful!
The special exhibit currently at Crystal Bridges is called Chihuly: In the Forest. Artist Dale Chihuly has created some beautiful pieces with blown glass. The colors are just outstanding! The pieces will be on exhibit until November 13, 2017.
We also toured the Bachman-Wilson House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is one of the few two story Usonian architecture houses designed and built by Wright. It was originally located along the Millstone River in New Jersey. Repeated threatened by flooding, it was purchased by Crystal Bridges, disassembled piece by piece and rebuilt on the grounds at Crystal Bridges so that it could be preserved. You are not allowed to take pictures inside the house but I took several outside. Wright coined the phrase/term "carport" and this house contained one.
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| from the back - upstairs is the master bedroom, a full bath in the center and another bedroom on the other side - both with their own balconies |
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| the carport - notice no "posts" on the end |
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| One of the trials above the house |
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| View of the house from the Tulip Trail |
Alice Walton's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has really impacted northwest Arkansas. We were talking to one businessman about how much the area had changed since we had lived in Fayetteville over 30 years ago. He agreed with us but added that what had really changed the area was Crystal Bridges. Not wanting to be insulting, he said it had brought some "culture" to Northwest Arkansas. It is an outstanding collection of American art and the grounds, which are as much of the Crystal Bridges experience as the artwork, are beautifully maintained and preserved. You should allow time to partake of both. Regrettably, we didn't get to walk all the miles of trails, but maybe next time. Crystal Bridges was certainly a highlight of our week in northwest Arkansas.
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