Louisa May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott (November 29, 1832 – March 6, 1888) was an American novelist, short story writer and poet best known as the author of the novel Little Women (1868). Alcott's family suffered from financial difficulties, and while she worked to help support the family from an early age, she also sought an outlet in writing. She began to receive critical success for her writing in the 1860s. Published in 1868, Little Women is set in the Alcott family home, Orchard House, in Concord, Massachusetts, and is loosely based on Alcott's childhood experiences with her three sisters, Abigail May Alcott Nieriker, Elizabeth Sewall Alcott, and Anna Alcott Pratt. The novel was well-received at the time and is still a popular children's novel today. It has been adapted to film several times.

Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women (2019) that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author's alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig's take, the beloved story of the March sisters - four young women each determined to live life on her own terms -- is both timeless and timely. Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

George Cukor directed this classic adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's sentimental novel with a shimmering lavishness that is a prime example of the classic Hollywood (1933). The story concerns the lives of four New England sisters -- Jo (Katharine Hepburn), Amy (Joan Bennett), Meg (Frances Dee), and Beth (Jean Parker) -- during the time of the Civil War. Jo desires to leave home to become a writer, but decides to stay to help the family. But Meg announces her plans to get married, so Jo leaves for New York City. As she settles down to a writing career, she meets Professor Fritz Bhaer (Paul Lukas), who helps her with her work. While Jo is away, Amy falls in love and marries Jo's old flame Laurie Laurence (Douglass Montgomery). But Jo is forced to return to New England when she discovers Beth is dying. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Alcott was an abolitionist and a feminist and remained unmarried throughout her life. She died from a stroke, two days after her father died, in Boston on March 6, 1888.

prov·e·nance

Detail "Portrait of a Man in a Red Coat"​ Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633 - Photograph by Dan Morgan for Sotheby's in 1998

prov·e·nance

Published on July 27, 2019 

Dan Morgan Reports

"Portrait of a Man in a Red Coat" - Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633

There is a long history of this painting, and I am happy and proud to have been one of the few lucky people in the world to have handled it by the edges of the oval, without the frame, with my bare hands. I nervously placed the masterpiece, on this easel, for the Old Masters Department of Sotheby's NY, in January1998.

I had only been working, as one of several of the auction house's catalog photographers, for a few weeks. I was summoned to Sotheby's paintings studio. The piece was just consigned for auction, and we had to get a good shot of it, before it was trotted around the morning news programs. Imagine my delight, seeing this painting the very next morning on the Today show, and my photo in the NY Times, announcing the acquisition.

I shot it with an 8x10 camera I had never used before, loading 8"x10" film sheets, individually, into several film holders, so I could shoot a range of exposures. I was a nervous wreck, but the process became "old hat" to me after a few months. "Orange Marilyn" by Andy Warhol (link below) was just one of the many important works of art that lay ahead for me. The painting broke records for the sale of an old masters painting, going for over six million dollars.

The provenance:

Sir Philip John William Miles, 2nd Baronet (1825–88), Leigh Court, Somerset; by descent to his eldest daughter, Alice Catherine Miles, wife of Lt. Colonel Gerard Vivian Ames, of the Hyde, 

Herfordshire; by descent to their son, Captain Lionel Gerard Ames (born 1889) [Vicars Brothers, London, 1929; The Howard Young Galleries, New York, 1930].

David Loew, Beverly Hills [Findlay Gallery, New York, 1954].

Amon G. Carter Sr., Fort Worth, Texas, from 1954, and by descent to his third wife, Minnie Meacham Smith (sale Sotheby’s, New York, 30 January 1998, no. 18).

Dr. Alfred Bader, on behalf of Otto Naumann Ltd., New York, 1999.

The Bellagio Gallery of Fine Arts, Las Vegas, 1999 (sale, Christie’s, New York, 26 January 2001, no. 81 - Noortman Master Paintings, Maastricht, until 2008. From whom acquired by the present owner in 2008.

This article features a remarkable brush with greatness in the form of my brother's photography of a valuable Rembrandt. He shared the story with us in July - in a conversation with our brother (Greg) and during my High School reunion weekend in Lakewood, Ohio. 

 

Note: The Rembrandt went for over $6 million and the Warhol Marilyn went for more than $17 million in 1998.

Women of STEAM

Women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) BI NGO game developed for Neuwoehner High School (Special School District of Saint Louis) in 2019 features some key leaders in historic milestones.

Sam Falls at Laumeier

Laumeier welcomes artist Sam Falls this Saturday morning hosted by Curator Dana Turkovic at the Aronson Fine Arts Center on August 24, 2019. I came to the COFFEE + CONVERSATION  with one question for the artist in mind. (Maybe I will ask it. Maybe the answer will be apparent.) My question: What brings you more joy: the art of creating your work or the business of presenting it?

Dana assures a level of approachable intellectual discourse with questions for Sam Falls. She is always impeccably prepared. After all, she is instrumental in bringing the artist here in the first place. I learned the artist is a 35 year old and has two small children at home. I suspect he’s the sort of soft-spoken papa that lets those kids know that the world is a wonderful place to explore. “How has the study of photography informed your work?” Dana poses this question knowing Sam was born in Vermont, lived in San Diego and studied at Reed College (undergraduate) and ICP-Bard (masters) in New York. His response is measured as he tests the mic to make sure he can be heard. “My masters in photography evolved into something different…” His process clearly leverages principles of photo sensitivity but his journey seems to suggest a narrative that is more closely aligned with contemporary art. “I started working with found tires…” In another illustration he says “I started to know what was happening in a piece…” The artist peppers his comments with a sort of quest for "honesty" in his endeavors. Dana prompts him with questions about how he responds to the “abundance in natural surroundings” and his experience meeting Yvette Moody, the park’s master gardener. Two I-beams with inset ceramic tiles placed in the woodland bring Falls work to bear in a monumental contemporary installation that now live as part of the merger of art and nature right here at Laumeier.

Sam Fells is artful in navigating Dana’s queries as he is with those assembled for this event. The group meeting begins in the gallery space and migrates to the woodland installation. Fells was assisted by local ceramic artist Dryden Wells and Laumeier preparator Marty Linson (each an artist in his own right) and the enthusiastic staff at Laumeier (including executive director Lauren Ross). The result is a sort of reception in the woods that could well have had wine and cheese, a string quartet and formal attire. I, for one, infinitely appreciate the “purity” of coffee and lack of pretense. The net-net is a feeling of an experience that is welcoming. Nice job Laumeier!

One guest question evoked lines read from the William Wordsworth poem Tintern Abbey in blank verse from 1778. I decided not to ask my “smart question” after all. I smiled later when in the woods I greeted that Wordsworth fan. (It was a near perfect end-cap to my earlier encounter with ceramic artist Dryden Wells.)  

ARTNET write up on Falls:  

Sam Falls is a contemporary American artist whose boundary-defying work applies artistic processes to natural phenomena. The resulting paintings, prints, sculptures, and videos, often insert organic structures into art and man-made objects into nature. "We change the work by being present, and the work changes us by being present,” the artist’s said. “We are breaking down and being built up, just like every moment." Born in 1984 in San Diego, CA, he received his BFA from Reed College in 2007 and his MFA from the International Center of Photography-Bard in 2010. The artist’s work has been exhibited in spaces such as Metro Pictures, LAXART, and DEPART Foundation in Rome. He lives and works between Hudson, NY and Los Angeles, CA.

Black & White

Black & White is a blended Scotch whisky originally produced by the London-based James Buchanan & Co Ltd.  The brand's motif featuring a black Scottish Terrier and a white West Highland White Terrier (a Scottie and a Westie) was conceived by James Buchanan himself during the 1890s.

Two days in Columbus

Breaktower by Jackie Ferrara at the Columbus Museum of Art

My nephew, Jim Varney, while negotiating a divorce, making quality time with two remarkable kids (Colleen and Lane), and juggling several residential real estate rehabs in Columbus, found a window of time for me, his uncle Wes. I have two passions he is willing to accommodate - golf and fine art.  So, JV is host to Uncle Wes for a quick visit to Columbus, Ohio. We planned to play golf and I left the details to Jim. He did not disappoint. From the airport I loaded my clubs and a small overnight suitcase into his Kia Soul and we were off to the course at Cook’s Creek on Tuesday July 9.

Cook's Creek has proven to be one of Ohio’s best courses. It won CBUS Top Picks Best Public Golf Course for 2 years in a row (2017 & 2018). Bordered by the Little Walnut Creek and the Scioto River, the golf course is challenging yet fair. Cook's Creek features elevated tee boxes, bent grass tees, large forgiving fairways and rolling hills. Each hole provides a unique experience and layout. 

Perfect weather and a memorable round completed by middle afternoon left plenty of time for a cameo at Gallo’s for a Black & Blue burger, cole slaw (for me) and an order of wings and a slice of pizza for Jim. JV remembers a time when this watering hole was a trigger for more than a fair share of cocktails. The waitress even recalls his drink of preference (double Stoli with ice on the side). Alcohol is not in Jim’s program for more than a year now. We reflect on the exquisite timing of a late morning t-time on a Tuesday at Cook’s Creek while they battle challenges of maintaining the course recovering from heavy water and some sort of fungus trying to eat away at the front nine.

Golf is an option for day 2 of my visit but an audible involving the Columbus Museum of Art can include an early dismissal from summer school for Lane which is a break for the excited third grader. It’s a plan. The museum The Columbus Museum of Art, located in downtown Columbus, Ohio was formed in 1878. It is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting American and European modern and contemporary art along with folk art, glass gart, and photography.

As we arrived, I was thrilled to see sculpture by Alexander Calder, Aristide Maillol, George Rickey, Kenneth Snelson and Jackie Ferrara even before we walked inside the museum. Inside this beautiful haven of art, I spotted a sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein. Inside the collection included representative works by some of my favorites like Jackson Pollock, Jean Dubuffet, George Bellows, Dale Chihuly and Chiam Gross. An exhibition retrospective representing the lifetime work of Columbus born water color artist and educator Alice Shille (1869-1955) was a joyful bonus.

The shuttle via JV’s Kia Soul back to Columbus airport included the addition of the lovely Colleen. The kids are looking forward to an overnight at dad’s place on Slade Avenue. Uncle Wes is going home to Saint Louis. 

Below: Water Color of NYC street scene by Alice Shille and Vinyl paint on paper mounted on canvas by Jean Dubuffet.

Meg & Parker

Meg and Parker Marry June 1, 2019 Nashville, TN

The wedding in Nashville of my incredible niece Megan to Parker Millsap was extraordinary in its simple, sweet, pure, happiness. I was honored to witness the formality of this union. These two are a power couple with an unassuming grace. Meg is the first-born of my youngest brother, Rob (the best) and his wife partner in life Joy. The ceremony and the entire weekend was authentic, folksy and full of memorable moments. I wish them the best life has to offer. They deserve it.  The world revolves around me of course. I would be remise if it didn’t thank my brothers for making my trip to Nashville even more remarkable.

Greg---I cannot thank you enough for sharing your Nashville Rustic Retreat with me and being the most righteous Uber brother. Spending time with Wes (no less), Matt (imagine that) and Ralph LauREN was a bonus too. The Ellen cameo was a treat as well. Loved the amble through Johnny Cash Museum and aimless gaps between events (Canoe trip drop off, Monell’s foodfest, wedding at Fat Bottom’s, shuttle to/from Meg & Parker’s house party and back to the airport).

You are the bee’s knees. P.S. Shout out to Michael.

Dan/Netti---I am so glad we had some quality time in Nashville. Shhhh Don’t tell anyone, but the visit to Cheekwood Estate & Gardens was really great and priceless to me. The 55-acre botanical garden and art museum located on the historic Cheek estate home of Leslie and Mabel Cheek built in 1929 is more than worthy of the $30 Million fundraising drive. I am, however, delighted that your diplomatic “complaint” allowed an additional budgeting for the meal adjacent to the meeting of Santas at McNammera’s Irish Restaurant and Tavern. P.S. Netti,your perceptions and observations bring smiles.  

Rob/Joy---Wow. So much fun. I think it’s probably a good sign that Meg and Parker’s canoe capsized. It is clear they have the talent and love it takes to right the ship. You dear brother, however, have got to stop standing on swivel chairs to make important announcements (even as it is your right as father of the bride). As expected, I got my wish to see you tear-up with pride (again). I can see why you love those dragons. You and Joy have made the job of being favorite uncle a cakewalk. (80% of the job is showing up – and that is never regrettable…always fun).Cheers and Thanks. P.S. Joy…your name is apropos. You are amazing.

PHOTO Credits: (B&W Above) Meg on drums with Parker photo by Melissa Madison Fuller. (Below) l to r Greg, Dan, Wes and Rob photo of Morgan brothers by Annette Morgan. Johnny Cash bust photo by Wesley A Morgan. 

Of course I remember you

Above - Reunion 45th Committee Photo (l to r): Bill Duge, Garry Coch, Jim Spellacy, Leslie Huey Yousko, Deborah Bennet Rush, Chuck Trimble

Nearly a half a century ago;

I made sure to wave and say hello;

In the hallway between art class and math.

We shared ice-time inside the glass;

You were a fan in plain-sight;

Through the glare of Friday night lights.
I snuck into the high school dance;
I saw you there, at a glance.

The world revolved around me in those days;
Now, you're a part of me in so many ways. 

Above photo/image by John Kristofeld

50,000 Words

Megan was assigned 50,000 words.

She took it to mean - well written and not absurd.

She set out to build a structure, a story arc;

Introduction, rising action, make a mark; 

Conflict, resolution, bang and boom.

Struggling, as she did, alone in her room;

She began to tell a tale based on her solitary life;

She never imagined herself somebody’s wife.

Politically correct - a character named Deshaun;

A protagonist on whom she could build upon.

Alas this was not the story she wanted to tell;

Important, but worried she would not tell it well.

Learning takes the ability to teach.

Engaging others she manages to reach.

50,000 words is a daunting task;

With a due date and a grade in a class.

Writer, teacher, human being, activist for social justice;

We all need to excel in a place that becomes us.

Finding motivation in what journalists do;

What, When, Where and Who.

With the heart of an artist, she investigates;

Publication, word-count, deadlines she mitigates;

Background information and facts double checked;

Beatles music in the background. The writer reflects.

Tell a story that will make people feel.

Faith, hope, compassion, do the right thing…Be Real!

A story for sure and for good;

With a silver lining that is understood.

Rock music plays but with a gospel ring;

Parker can play… and boy can he sing.

Megan knows she will follow that sound;

No time wasted waiting around.                                

Megan has a calling of her own --- as grand as it seems:

But today, together, Megan and Parker are building dreams.