Reynolda House Adventure

About a month ago, some friends and I went to Reynold house to see the art exhibit.  There were a few works that stuck to me such as Chauncey Ryder's Phantom Lake.  A really peaceful work that is just a very surrealistic lake that lies just beyond a small forest.  The painting is at sunset and the colors of the sunset create this really, really nice peaceful mood.  I seriously remember just sitting down on a cushion and just staring at this painting for a good ten minutes and admiring its beauty.  It really was just a place I'd really like to go and just relax.  It's such a nice and peaceful setting that I don't think can ever really be replicated because although it's very simple, it's also very sweet and serene.  It's hard to really describe without actually being able to show the painting on here since I was unable to take a picture of it at the exhibit.

The point is, is that I found a really beautiful painting that really spoke to me.  It made me want to find this nice place and just relax by the lake.  It seemed like a slice of heaven.  I also found what the display said to be spot on about the painting: "...Suggests distinctive balance that he struck between reality and imagination".  It's a place that looks real, but it's only a place that we can really see in our dreams.  

I looked high and low online for a picture of Phantom Lake but could find none.  Instead, I did stumble upon this, which is definitely in the same style as Phantom Lake called Mount Lovewell, near Hillsborough, New Hampshire (1920).

Same sort of peaceful style, really like this guy's way of working with landscapes.  He does a great job at making simple images look beautiful and majestic.  

Another artwork that I really liked was Charlie Rosen's "Beck's Point".  Another sort of surreal landscape painting that encompassed an icy shoreline that looked very barren and bleak.  The opposite of what Phantom Lake is.  It's long winding mountains while waves crashed upon the side seems to send a rather ominous message.  I think what really struck me was that this was the first painting I saw after Phantom Lake and just the stark contrast between the two was pretty insane.  From peace to death.  A place I'd love to go, to a place I would really never want to go. 

Once again, I couldn't find a picture.  Beck's point is not online, but I found a painting similar to it: Floating Ice Winter Morning Delaware River

 Definitely in the same spirit as Beck's point.  Sort of cold and lifeless but at the same time, there is an eery beauty about it.  

The thing about Reynolda House that struck me was not the exhibits, but rather, it was something else.  The actual part of the house that was on display blew my mind.  There is a swimming pool, a bowling alley, a squash court, a shooting gallery, a bar area, an organ, an extremely large living room, sun porches, over ten bedrooms, a pool table, a ping pong room, I mean the list goes on and on.  The vast size of this place was just ridiculous.  It also had about four floors in total, including the attic which had some very creepy old dolls on display that sort of messed with my friends' and I's heads.  

 There were some very nice pieces of art in the main area as well.  There was one of a huge jungle in the foreground and a mountain in the background that was especially impressive.  I was actually able to find this online.    

But just the size of this place, all the furniture and items in this place was just insane to me.  Just when you thought you couldn't find anything else in the house you'd wind up in a whole other area that would take you ten minutes to explore.  We spend at least a good hour and a half just exploring all of the old rooms and pieces of furniture and art work in Reynolda House.  The trip itself turned into a really fun, really nice experience.  I was happy I went.  I was happy that I saw Phantom Lake too, that painting was just so nice to me and I sort of just lost myself in that painting, which was a very nice feeling.

  

Reynolda House is a place that is a must for anyone.  Whether they like art like this or not, I think everyone will find something to appreciate at Reynolda House.