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(4.5)
This extraordinary collection is not to be missed. It exceeds all the most unique museum experiences.
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National Museum of American Illustration
The National Museum of American Illustration (NMAI) was founded in 1998 by Judy A. G. Cutler and Laurence S. Cutler, to house their art collection from the 'Golden Age of American Illustration.' The Museum venue is Vernon Court (1898), a French chateau mansion from the 'Gilded Age,' designed by Carrere & Hastings, architects of other notable buildings such as the NY Public Library, the US Senate Office Buildings, Lord Duveen's New York Galleries, and the Henry Clay Frick Collection. The three acre grounds were inspired by Henry VIII's gardens for Anne Boleyn at Hampton Court Palace. An adjacent three acres, designed by the first American landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted will be restored and revitalized into The Frederick Law Olmsted Park, along with a Memorial Arch designed by and in honor of Louis I. Kahn, America's greatest architect of the last half of the 20th century. The NMAI exhibits and interprets its unique collection of original art works in order to preserve this rich and significant part of American heritage. These art works include many of the milestone pieces created by artists/illustrators such as Maxfield Parrish, Charles Dana Gibson, Howard Pyle ('Father of American Illustration'), Norman Rockwell, NC Wyeth, Jessie Willcox Smith, JC Leyendecker and many other greats. The works were originally created to be reproduced in magazines, as posters, in advertisements, on print products (fine art prints and the like), and in book illustrations. In addition to their technical execution, the context in which they were created and the purpose of their commission remains a poignant bookmark in history. With an ever-increasing recognition of illustration as a meaningful part of the fine arts spectrum, these works have earned a lofty role in art history.
It is required that both individuals and groups make advance reservations in order to visit the NMAI. Individuals are often appended to tour groups (15 persons or more). VIP tours are also offered with a four-person minimum. Because of the national significance of the iconic American art in this collection, all visitors are required to register on site. The tour is launched in the Treillage Loggia at the Museum Entrance. A brief lecture on the architecture, interiors, and gardens is given, and then a summary of the significance of illustration within its proper context in the fine arts spectrum. Visitors are guided on the ground floor to view the paintings while passing through the Loggia into the Grand Salon, Petit Salon, Ballroom or Marble Hall, and into the Rose Garden Loggia (five or six galleries for 1-1½ hrs elapsed time). The tour de force of the Collection are the eighteen 10 foot high Maxfield Parrish murals. The tour continues into the former kitchen and servants lounge on the lower level which serves today as a well-appointed Museum Shop and a soon to be opened, café. No photography is permitted inside the mansion.
To visit this Museum is a truly unique experience which not only exposes the visitors to a most elegant and beautiful 'Gilded Age' mansion, but simultaneously to the most significant masterpieces of illustration art in the nation. We would have to agree with famous glass artist, Dale Chihuly, who proclaimed it "the best museum experience of my life." The American Imagist Collection has been assembled over nearly forty years and is the most impressive of such collections. We particularly noticed that the art works are hung in scale with each other, in front of bookcases, mirrors, and elaborate architectural media. The Collection is the largest private collection of Norman Rockwell, the largest of Maxfield Parrish, JC Leyendecker, and one of the largest of NC Wyeth, Charles Dana Gibson, and those great women illustrators, the Red Rose Girls (Smith, Green, and Oakley). Having this great art, which manifests poignant moments of our history and significant icons of our culture, presented in such a splendid setting, showcased its beauty and grandeur in a way that could truly be absorbed and appreciated. The Museum has taken preserving its history beyond its walls seriously, too, for the marvelously restored gardens have attracted garden clubs from as far away as western Canada. Every aspect of this exquisite experience is so well done, so superbly placed, selected, framed and restored. Each object, be it art, decorative arts, furniture or sculpture, is clearly loved and the passion for art and architecture is obvious. This will be one of the highlights of your visit to Newport.
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