Touring Virginia's world of art at VMFA

efarina@midlothianexchange.com

One of the delights of living on the outskirts of Virginia’s capital city is the opportunity to view at one’s convenience the people’s collection of art at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, located off the Boulevard. This week, the VMFA offers a day dedicated to Chesterfield County residents to peruse not only the collections on display with a connection to the Commonwealth, but a peek into the future of the $150 million renovation that will allow ample room for the museum’s 20,000-plus piece collection on Wednesday, March 18. However, if one misses the dedicated day, mark a few days on the calendar to just enjoy the works of art.

Upon walking into the museum’s west-side entrance, the freight elevator converted for pedestrian access, slows down a person’s perception of the modern clock. After all, the art collection is not meant for just a glance of appreciation. Visitors can expect on Chesterfield Day to, “see art from Chesterfield County and see art with ties to Virginia, and some other things,” said VMFA docent Gail Gilmore, a Midlothian resident.

Taking a tour with a docent offers a unique perspective of the museum’s history and art collection. The docent program started in 1966. Currently, 17 active docents live in the northwestern portion of Chesterfield County and an additional 16 emeritus docents, who have served 15 years or more, live in the area. “My husband [Frank] and I started in 1998. They were recruiting a large number of docent at that time. We’ve only been here 11 years, but there are some docents that have been here since 1980,” she said.

“We always knew we enjoyed going to museums and things like that, but we never knew why. Now we can stand in front of a painting now and talk to each other about it for a half hour,” Gilmore said. Docents train September through the end of May every Monday and handle tours during their volunteer time. The volunteers come from Williamsburg, Chesterfield County and surrounding areas.

Gilmore has a favorite piece she likes to show in the Cochrane Gallery, named for patrons Harwood and Louise Cochrane. “There is one in there that is so calm, so placid,” Gilmore said.

However, to begin the tour, a model scale of the museum offers a bird’s eye view of the grounds and future plans for the public space. Surrounding the model are poplar woodcarvings of African American Art from Leslie Garland Bolling, who was a partner in Richmond Stationary Store by day and woodcarver by night.

From the corridor, old-time photos lead towards a modern-day unisex piece that, “seems to make you think,” Gilmore said. However, one quickly rushes back into the 17th century with a ‘larger-than-life’ view of Thomas Dale, the namesake of a county high school. “It was painted around 1607,” Gilmore said. “He arrived here as acting deputy governor and he founded Henricus City.”

The helmet in the background shows that he was a soldier and the cloak of office and the great hat is a display of Dale’s position in society. The museum acquired the painting in 1952. “All the money for the art has been donated by people,” she said explaining the numeric system on the placards next to each work.

Moving on to the Cochrane Gallery, the sculpture of Cleopatra leisurely reclines as her clothing drapes from the statue’s shoulder. “The difference between reality and ability to translate things, you know it isn’t soft, but doesn’t it just look like it … the folds are amazing,” Gilmore explained.

The sculpture was done by an American artist living in Italy. Also in the gallery is a painting from Thomas Hart Benton of Norfolk, Va. Gilmore offers a number of leading questions for visitors to think beyond the visual interpretation such as Benton’s simplified colonial painting with an early century milliner’s hat out of place.

Another painting, “The Abundance of Nature” from artist Severin Rosesen, used to hang in a home in Albemarle County and was acquired in 2002. The artwork is a real draw for classroom tours because of the numerous flowers, fruits and animals popping from the canvas. “We have to drag kids’ from this painting,” she said. “I ask them, ‘Of all these fruits in here, which ones they would like to eat?’ They almost always go for the grapes.”

“The more you stand and look at this the more you see. They get enraptured. This was painted in 1855. Those fruits were not available at the same time ... we take a lot for granted now with access to the world. He didn’t sit down with a vase set up like that. He had to use his imagination,” Gilmore added.

The tour continues to the largest collection of Fabergé Imperial Easter Eggs outside of Russia. Lillian Thomas Pratt, who resided at Chatham Manor located near Fredericksburg, Va., donated the majority of the collection on display. Pratt purchased the Imperial Red Cross Easter Egg in 1933 at a Lord and Taylor auction in New York possibly because of its connection to her Virginia home. It’s one of five eggs in the museum’s collection.

Gilmore explained that American Red Cross founder Clara Barton had assisted physicians at the manor during the Civil War. The red cross connection is probably one reason that caught Pratt’s attention. Gilmore added, in a presentation, that the egg was a gift from Czar Nicholas to his mother in 1915 for her work with the International Red Cross. The “prize” inside was a folding screen of gold and mother of pearl with miniature painted portraits of relatives in nursing uniforms. Behind each painting is silver paper to lighten the reflection of the watercolor paintings on ivory. The inscription on the egg’s central band translates from Russian to state, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

The Lewis Galleries, which houses contemporary art, is currently closed and will open later this spring. Yet, the Mellon Galleries, which display the sporting gallery on one floor and the impressionist masters on the second floor, is open for visitors. The impressionist masters, that are familiar names today, provide a sense of simplistic calm of a by-gone era. Edgar Degas’ bronze statues and the artist’s wax molds provide a permanent connection to the artist. One view’s his fingerprint forever cast in the wax.

The museum offers so many eras and masters of art that one can easily take a few hours to soak up the enriching experience. Free tours will be provided on Wednesday, March 18 at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. as well as an opportunity for lunch from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. or snack from 2:30 until 4 p.m. at the museum’s café. Admission is free to the museum. “We want people to come down here and loiter,” Gilmore said.

For information about the VMFA and its numerous educational and volunteer programs, visit www.vmfa.museum.