The Hunter Museum of American Art

The Hunter Museum of American Art located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is really a suprisingly wonderful experience. Before I had been to the museum, I thought that it would be very small based on the size of the city of Chattanooga. I thought it would have a nice, small collection, but I was definately in for a great suprise when I pulled up to the museum. The museum is very interesting on the exterior. It is a very modern building attached to a historical mansion. The look of the building is unique, and reflects the collections inside completely. It was an different way for a building to look, but it works in a strange way for the hunter museum. It is a historic mansion made of brick and white corinthian columns surrounding the outside connected to a modern building made of metal and glass, a combination you don't see everyday, but one that was intriguing. walking from the parking lot to the museum you are greeted with many sculptures that are spaced around the front entrance of the museum furthering the intriguing and lovely first impression of the museum.

Once inside the friendly staff told us their reccomendations for where to start the collection. The collection is made up of only American art and runs from the colonial period through present, it runs in an organized fashion seperating colonial through 19th century art in the historic mansion while late 19th through present day is housed in the modern day building creating an interesting dynamic and giving you a good idea about the art and where it may have been housed for the colonial period. The historic mansion portion housed a great collection of early american art in such a beautiful space. You walk up the stairs which gives you an odd transition from modern day to going back in time. Everything changes including the smell, and you feel as though you've stepped back in time, especially on a slow day like we went, where no one else was in the room with us. This collection housed some great early American art, some examples which were very typical of their time, and beautiful by great artists who are very famous.

Down the staircase we started at the other portion of the building, the modern side. This collection housed the 20th century American art. The collection starts at the early 20th century with some great examples by Ashcan artists and impressionistic styles of early american art. As you move along the collection the years you are looking at increase and give you a sense of moving through history. you start to see paintings by artists from the Stieglitz circle, the Harlem Renaissance, Regionalism, early abstraction, abstract expressionism, neo-dada, pop art, contemporary. The history of American art just begins right before your eyes leading you to the current day. It was very exciting and a wonderful collection wth examples that fit the period teaching the visitor about the history of painting and the new styles that came along throughout the centuries of America.

Also in the museum there was a great exhibit on glass art. This was an extremely beautiful exhibit that had some amazing works of glass. The colors and sculpture were truly amazing. The museum housed some very talented glass artists works and exhibited them beautifully. My favorite of the glass works was a larger than life size dress reclining. This was remarkable. The dress was so convincing with the folds of drapery and the weight that was portrayed. It was beautiful and captivating, a must see in the collection.

The Hunter Museum of American Art is truly a great museum and a wonderful way to see and learn about American art. The collections progress in a great way that allows you to see history unfold before your eyes. It houses great artists such as Thomas Cole, Winslow Homer, Mary Cassatt, John Marin, Robert Henri, Thomas Hart Benton, Reginald Marsh, Marsden Hartley, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. This museum is a great experience and I would reccommend a visit. Everything about it was wonderful even capping off the visit with a trip to the gift store was fun. The gift store contained some really nice items including beautiful jewelery and books on many of the artists from the collection. It was a great experience.