North Carolina Museum of Art

I visited the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh and was thoroughly impressed. I went with three of my first cousins (once removed; our grandparents were siblings), one of whom volunteers as a docent there and has been singing the praises of this collection to me for many years.

That's Juliette Singleton on the left, and her sister, Mary Willis Cain, is the docent. The other cousin, Mary Anderson, is taking the picture. The painting in the background is by one of my favorites, Richard Diebenkorn. I look forward to seeing many Diebenkorns when I am in California, where he lived and worked.

The museum, which is owned by the people of North Carolina, has a nearly world-class collection. It is a universal survey museum with artifacts from every period of western culture, Egyptian to contemporary "art," plus a fine collection of African sculpture.


They've got a Tintoretto, The Raising of Lazarus.

It's not the best photograph, but of course I wasn't using a flash.

I really liked this picture of the seven-year-old Louis XV, from the workshop of Rigaud, precisely because it pays homage to the iconic painting of this kid's great-grandfather, Louis XIV, by Rigaud himself. And it's super well-painted and preserved. Mary Willis told me that they have a world-class conservation studio on site at the museum. 

This picture by N. C. Wyeth really knocked me out. Scrumptious.

At one point we turned the corner and saw this table and chair set.

I knew they were for sitting in, but they were so tightly placed and looked so clean that it also occured to me that they could be part of the collection. I asked Mary Willis if this was "art," and she said no. I told her that it actually was, but I don't think she heard me.

Something similar happened when we got outside.They've got an outdoor theater with lawn seating, plus a sculpture garden and a neat winding path that I wish I'd gotten a picture of. But right at the entrance to the theater is this random fire hydrant.

And my first impulse was to ask, "Who is that?" But "art" museums will do that to you.

One last word about the building. There are actually two buildings on the site. The east building is the earlier of the two, but the permanent collection is in the west building, which was completed in 2010. I am a fan of modern architure, but I have to say, this thing looks like an aircraft hangar.

But don't let it turn you off. The design has something to do with energy efficiency and allowing natural light into interior, which I have to say was really nice.