Don't Be Late! Hurry For Final Days of the High Museum's Informative 'Cross Country' Exhibition

Maynard Dixon "Tardy, Randsburg, California" on view in "Cross Country" at the High

Readers in Atlanta, there's still time!

Well, four days remain. Don't be late like me with this review post!

Now through Sunday, locals and visitors can still make it to the High Museum of Art for a look at the winter-spring exhibition "Cross Country: The Power of Place In American Art, 1915-1950."

The exhibition -- which I enjoyed during its media day but then failed to write-up until now -- is worth a special trip to Midtown.

Edward Hopper's "Light at Two Lights"

Guests embark on an artistic journey through rural America of the early 20th Century with peeks by region including the South, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and West (the image atop this post features the westernmost point in the exhibition).

Artists captured the space between thriving American cities with insightful and often touching looks at farming, hunting, horsemanship and the sprawling landscapes on which countless "real life" or plain scenes unfolded.

As noted in an early 2016 post, and according to the High's press release, "['Cross Country'] builds upon an exhibition of 67 artworks organized by the Brandywine River Museum of Art." Atlanta visitors are treated to more than 200 works including 70+ from the High's permanent collection. 

Exhibition catalog w/140+ images.

The galleries for this show include a mix of brand name American artists and several lesser known photographers and painters. In the months since spending a morning with the art, I've enjoyed learning more detail on each work and artist through the 208-page catalog that bears the title of the smaller Brandywine exhibition, "Rural Modern: American Art Beyond The City." 

Sidebar: I purchase/read many exhibition catalogs only to quickly sell them, but "Rural Modern" is one that will remain in my library for its 140+ glossy color illustrations and accompanying text. Great read!

Listed here, and dropped in as images for this post, are some of the "must see" artists and artworks from "Cross Country" on view through May 7:

• N.C. Wyeth's In a Dream I Meet General Washington
• Georgia O'Keeffe's vivid Lake George - Autumn and the wintry rural Barn With Snow
• Edward Hopper's nautical Light at Two Lights 
• Jacob Lawrence's Firewood #55 on loan from the Smithsonian 

  

  Andrew Wyeth's "Black Hunter"

• Andrew Wyeth's tempera on panel portrait Black Hunter (right)
• Patsy Santo's End of the Trail portraying a deer shot dead by a hunter
• Paul Sample's Tardy, Randsburg, California with a young student running to his rural school (see top of this post)
• Maynard Dixon's monumental Southwestern landscape Red Butte with Mountain Men (see below -- gorgeous!)
• Thomas Hart Benton's Tobacco Sorters on loan from Crystal Bridges 
• Grandma Moses' folksy and sweet Bringing in the Maple Sugar
• Grant Wood's Appraisal which may provide one answer to the ageless riddle "why did the chicken cross the road?"

It was also fun getting reacquainted with Hale Woodruff's Talladega Murals now back in the High after a multi-year cross-country field trip of their own following the museum's restoration work (a project I was privileged to help publicize in 2012-13). These six massive canvases are themselves worth a special trip to the museum. 

Get over to the High if you can and enjoy "Cross Country." You'll be glad you did!

Images via WikiArt and High.org

Maynard Dixon's "Red Butte with Mountain Men"

Jacob Lawrence's "Firewood #55"

Grandma Moses' "Bringing in the Maple Sugar"

Georgia O'Keeffe's "Lake George - Autumn"

Georgia O'Keeffe's "Barn with Snow"

Grant Wood's "Appraisal"

N.C. Wyeth's "In a Dream I Meet General Washington"

Murray Olderman and The Draw of Sport

From a recent request for a review copy (thanks, Fantagraphics P.R.), I recently perused the new hardback book "The Draw of Sport" by Murray Olderman.

On its pages readers find nearly 120 illustrations Olderman created in the author's decades-spanning sports journalism career that started when the student newspaper at his undergrad alma matter Mizzou published one of his cartoons.

He went on to draw thousands of works of art inspired by countless experiences in the sports box on assignment from newspapers and the wire service for which he eventually managed sports coverage.

Readers learn Olderman's aspirations to write and illustrate sports began during his youth when his father brought home newspapers filled with sports cartoons in the days before photography and technology came to dominate athletic coverage.

I was intrigued by "The Draw of Sports" since it seemed if Olderman wrote and created images from the 1940s to recent years, he probably met an Olympian or two with some stories to share.

Jesse Owens appears in the cover art for this new book, and in the text describing the Owens portrait that Olderman sketched for a Games-centric magazine spread, readers learn Olderman perhaps also drew Olympians Jim Thorpe, Paavo Nurmi, Charley Paddock, Harrison Dillard and Bob Mathias on a special assignment tied to the 1952 Games.

The format for "The Draw of Sport" is consistent: Even pages feature a few paragraphs the author scribed from his memories of athlete encounters and interviews, with a matching cartoon on the facing odd page. Owens appears in the middle of Olderman's A to Z list book-ended by Atlanta Braves home run king Hank Aaron and 1932 Olympian Babe Zaharias.

"[In 1954] I actually met Jesse Owens at a luncheon at Toots Shor's on 52nd Street in Manhattan, the favorite sports hangout in the city," wrote Olderman on his Owens descriptor. "[He] was doing motivational speaking by then after varied ways trying to capitalize on his Olympic glory. I don't remember what company he was plugging, but do recall the staccato cadence of his speech."

Olderman described similar "I was in the room with ..." or "when I spoke to ..." Olympian encounters that pop up a few times in "The Draw of Sport" on narrative/illustration pairs for Muhammad Ali, Jean-Claude Killy, Jim Thorpe and Zaharias.

Olympic basketball's Ann Meyer (1976 -- appearing in a spread featuring her pro baseball husband Don Drysdale), Bill Russell (1956 in Melbourne) as well as 1960 team alternate John Havlicek also made the cut.

The Games appear in a handful of other narratives, but mostly to provide context on Olderman's reporting assignments rather than specific Olympians.

Kareem Abdul-Jabar, for instance, appears in "The Draw of Sport" for his basketball feats, but Olderman's illustration of the black boycott of the 1968 Games -- in which Abdul-Jabar participated before his NBA career -- did not show up on first glance (I found the rings illustration at left on MurrayOlderman.com and, later, on one of the section dividers in the new book).

Piecing together notes from the introduction and a few cartoon descriptions, it seems Olderman perhaps only touched the Games remotely in 1952, 1956 and 1960 but later traveled to the Olympics in 1968, which he described with some detail.

"Let's just say I had an edge on my American colleagues covering the Winter Games at Grenoble, where my focus was on Alpine events and a dashing young Frenchman who was swooping to a covey of gold medals," wrote Olderman of Killy. "[His] English was nil then [and] the interviews were conducted only in French.

"I was fairly fluent and could follow his explanations of navigating through the fog that embraced the slalom and downhill runs ... and passed them along to Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times, the only other scribe who bothered to come out to the Olympic site."

While Olderman's work and collection are impressive, I was slightly let down that so few five-ringed athletes -- an only two female Olympians -- are in "The Draw of Sport."

With only a handful of Team USA athletes celebrated (and only one French gold medal skier), I was left wondering how Olderman reported on, say, Bruce Jenner in Montreal, or Olga Korbut and Nadia Comenici's gymnastic feats, or any of the legendary performances in Los Angeles 1984 (the only post-1960s Olympiad mentioned by Olderman was a vague reference to seeing Michael Jordan play for The Dream Team in 1992).

But then, by the 1970s fewer newspapers illustrated their sports coverage with hand-drawn art, perhaps explaining, if only indirectly, the absence of these later Olympic heroes.

In his editorial role, Olderman founded the Jim Thorpe Trophy presentation to top professional football players, paying homage to the 1912 Olympian who later excelled in multiple pro sports. The book's Thorpe tribute correctly references part of Thorpe's gold medal feats only to incorrectly state his "medal" (singular) was stripped (Thorpe won then lost then received again posthumously gold medals -- plural -- in decathlon and pentathlon).

But this is a forgivable error for a sports cartoon legend who was approaching his 95th birthday as "The Draw of Sport" was going to press.

I encourage sports fans old and young to get a dose of history through reading this Olderman collection. The cartoons provide a broad roundup of sports feats from the 20th century, and the author's stories bring them to life. A video from his grad school alma matter follows this post for more background on this sports writer and artist.

Images via Fantagraphics and MurrayOlderman.com

One Year To Find Passion. Connected.

A few of my Olympic buddies and I seem to be in similar boats with regards to the upcoming Winter Olympiad.

One year from now the world will gather in PyeongChang for the 2018 opening ceremony, and some of us are not yet sure we'll be there. 

Rio 2016 really did a number on me, an unexpected, unwelcome and unprecedented turn for my Olympic fandom of three decades. I know the passion is still in there, but for some reason the Brazil Games experience left that passion girding its loins, reluctant to return.

Fortunately, some online updates and a recent U.S. Olympic Committee media call, and a holiday peek at some Korean maps, proved there's still a five-ringed pulse in this blogger. 

Just after Christmas, at a destination bookstore in Oklahoma City, I spent some time studying Korea in the travel section. Driving in Asia seems daunting at first glance, but then since navigating the Italian alleys around Torino in 2006, a trek from Seoul to South Korea's eastern coast seems doable.

During the call with Olympians Mikaela Shiffrin, Elana Meyers Taylor and the 2018 Team USA Chief of Sports Performance Alan Ashley held Monday, it was good to hear the athletes' determination and passion as they described their personal journeys to PyeongChang in progress. Ashley described his recent visit to the Olympic host region and positive observations of the Korean staff and volunteers working hard to welcome visitors. 

On the call I asked the status of USA House planning, which remains in progress, and the extent to which the athletes on the call valued access to past house venues. Meyers Taylor's answer and talking about her experiences in the Sochi USA House with family members got me interested in the prospect of a future visit in Korea.

"It's huge to have a home away from home, a place to relax," said Meyers Taylor. "My father and husband had a great time there [in Sochi]." 

The scene with Meyers Taylor and her family rang a bell. She was kind enough to pose for a photo during the Russia Games experience three years ago. 

Today I glanced at several sections of the PyeongChang website and YouTube Channel for the first time in several months. The schedule is helpful. Some of the venues intrigue me -- I have yet to experience an Olympic biathlon finish line, and checking out Olympic ski jumping (as in 2014) could be fun. 

The "Coastal Cluster" in Gangneung looks like it may be in close proximity to some interesting waterfront architecture.

The theme of the host organizers -- "Passion. Connected." (with periods for emphasis) -- got me to thinking about connect the dots to revive my love of the Games. 

Only time will tell how and when I'll come around and commit to the Korean Olympic experience. Anyone else considering options? What's inspiring you, or holding you back? Please share. Additional connectedness for 2018 is certainly welcome. 

Top images via PyeongChang 2018 website and SI.com, respectively. 

Notes RE: Dr. Sammy Lee

Sad weekend news: Olympic diving champion Dr. Sammy Lee died in California at age 96, as reported by the LA Times.

I shared a fun, albeit brief, conversation with Lee at USA House in London during the 2012 Games. On an evening that included several Olympians visiting the house, including Shannon Miller and Prince Albert of Monaco, I spotted Lee attentively watching Olympic diving live on the monitors.  

Seated on a plush couch arranged in the center of the venue's main room, Lee explained he had returned to USA House from an afternoon diving preliminary, citing he was exhausted from the commute across the pond.

I don't recall the questions posed to him -- likely centered around his coaching with Greg Louganis at Seoul 1988 (see video) -- trying to ask only during breaks in the on-screen diving action, but his response after about my third question stuck with me.

He nodded off mid-sentence.

Later in the evening, as the night's gathering was winding down and visitors made their way outdoors to await hotel transportation, Lee spotted me and apologized for dozing. We spoke about the divers on screen and that was pretty much it.

Reading the online tributes to his decades-long career, I regret not being better versed in Lee's credentials -- would like to have asked more about 1948 and 1952, coaching later athletes, his role (if any) with LA84, and his contributions to other Olympic bids, including LA2024, which Tweeted the organization's condolences on Lee's passing.

One of the Tweet responses was a follower's suggestion that an LA2024 venue bear the name "Sammy Lee Aquatics Center." I kinda like the sound of that.

Photo via Olympic.org

Great Book And Brooklyn Exhibition

During an impromptu 24 hours in New York last month, I enjoyed a brief opportunity to revisit the Brooklyn Museum for the first time since 1996.

The draw? In addition to longstanding curiosity about Georgia O'Keefe's 1949 canvas "Brooklyn Bridge" and other permanent collection works, I was enticed by online promotion of the current exhibition "Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to Present" organized by returning guest curator and author Gail Buckland.

Georgia O'Keeffe,
via Brooklyn Museum Shop

On site I learned that Buckland also created a beautiful new book -- in her words, via one of several email exchanges, "... not a catalogue but a self-contained trade book of the same title" -- featuring the 230 or so images credited to 170 photographers.

Both the exhibition and book include images from several A-listers not necessarily know for their still camera work, such as Andy Warhol, Stanley Kubrick and Leni Riefenstahl.

The museum displays, arranged in four galleries divided by a small exhibition-centric gift shop, are organized across eight themes like the chapters of the 300-page volume published by Knopf (with thanks to the author, a review copy arrived at my door not long after we established contact; thanks also to the museum for a review ticket).

Thomas Pelham Curtis,
via Brooklyn Museum

Looking back, it's certain I did not follow the suggested flow of the exhibition, quickly skipping to the Olympic section. It impressed me several photographs snapped at the first modern Olympiad at Athens in 1896 appear steps from images of Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Rare images captured by members of the first Team USA, and Buckland's wall-text pointing out early cameras used at the first Games, set up a theme described later in this exhibition section: The Olympics are the place at which the latest photo technology is often introduced.

It was fun to spot Sonja Henie skating on a frozen lake in St. Moritz, stills from Riefenstahl's "Olympia" (specifically, elements of an album the filmmaker presented to Adolf Hitler), the original negative of Bob Beamon's record-breaking long jump, and an action shot captured a millisecond before Greg Louganis' head made contact with a Seoul diving board. Buckland's hand-picked images in this five-ringed section, and across most other sections of the exhibition, include more than 60 Olympians or Games-related participants.

Carl Yarbrough, via Getty Images

Most breathtaking? Carl Yarbrough's mid-crash image of an airborne Hermann Maier competing in Nagano.

Most famous: Neil Leifer's overhead and ringside images of Muhammad Ali (see below).

One of the largest images on view is from London 2012's beach volleyball venue. The photographer, Donald Miralle, lined up center court just beneath a painter at his easel on the far side of the outdoor grandstand.

By chance, in the press room following Rio 2016's beach volleyball competition, I secured a photograph of the painting by that artist, whose name is Spens. For those who look closely at the images below, some may notice the canvas has grey speck, perhaps representing Miralle in the purple field atop the media seating area (in the photograph, Spens is visible above the window at center):

Donald Miralle, via Brooklyn Museum

Spens, photographed by Wolaver

Buckland's assorted selections reminded me of familiar sports images while introducing new material. I spotted fresh-to-my-eyes photos of Michael Jordan, Carl Lewis, Jesse Owens, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Gabby Douglas and Dorothy Hamill.

Annie Leibovitz,
via ArtNet.com

Though a Leibovitz image of an Olympic and NBA star appeared (see left), I was surprised that none of the photographer's 1996 Olympic images made the cut. Readers of this blog may recall my half-day on set with Leibovitz in Colorado Springs detailed in this 2008 post.

My hunch -- that some of these sponsor-commissioned works may no longer be Leibovitz's to contribute -- was sort of affirmed in an email exchange with Buckland.

"I do know and like Annie's Atlanta Olympic photographs," wrote Buckland. "With her, there is always many to choose from but she isn't always ready to let an author pick his or her favorite. Saying that, I always loved this picture of Magic Johnson and so do the people visiting the show. I am very pleased that I had permission (with some difficulty) being allowed to reproduce it and exhibit it."

In the book I appreciated Buckland's inclusion of a "Technology Timeline by Nigel Russell" in which the history of sports photography is summarized by decade or year from the earliest image-capturing methods to digital works captured by drone-mounted lenses. Another handy appendix titled "The Beginnings of Sports Photography" takes readers from the first known sports portrait (featuring a posed tennis player) to high-speed action images as technology and the artistry of camera work advanced.

Tim Clayton, via Brooklyn Museum

The book also includes a bit more detail (building upon the wall text in the exhibition) about special approaches to sports photography, such as early underwater and other aquatic imagery.

"Who Shot Sports" remains on view at the Brooklyn Museum through January 8, and I highly recommend a trip to see the exhibition as well as checking out Buckland's book.

Book cover image provided by Brooklyn Museum. Two in-exhibition images below by Nicholas Wolaver.

Neil Leifer, via ArtNet.com

Herb Ritts, via Brooklyn Museum

Leonard Cohen: That's No Way To Say Goodbye

Whoa -- what a week! My brain is still wrapping itself around election news, so my vote for now is to forgo a political post (notes on the president-elect and his victory coming soon).

At the end of a fun client dinner in Orlando on Thursday evening, I read the sad breaking news of Leonard Cohen -- a.k.a. the "godfather of gloom" and the "poet of pessimism" or "the prince of bummers" and composer of "music to slit your wrists to" (according to CTV's obituary) -- who died on Monday in Los Angeles.

Just last week, "Fresh Air" aired a critical review of the poet/singer/songwriter's latest release "You Want It Darker" and, man, it sounds like a Grammy contender (it is dumbfounding Cohen has all sorts of honors but does not have a single Grammy already).

The segment and dissection of some of Cohen's later life lyrics took me back to my introduction to the Canadian during the late 1990's -- at that time my Uncle Scott requested a CD copy of "The Best of Leonard Cohen" (the 1975 greatest hits compilation) and after one listen I was hooked!

Of course, hearing that CD helped me go back with a new appreciation for Cohen's "The Future" and "Waiting for the Miracle" (both aptly chosen for the soundtrack to "Natural Born Killers") and "Everybody Knows" (remade by Concrete Blonde).

When the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic opening ceremony rolled around and k.d. lang performed the heck out of "Hallelujah" there was not a dry eye in the dome, as noted in my post from just hours after the event (the previous year I also wrote about Cohen's literary work of the day). Here's the live Olympic broadcast:

In general, "favorites" are something to avoid, but one of Cohen's songs that made a great impression was "In My Secret Life," discovered in the music collection of my 2010 Winter Olympic apartment landlord (only a few days after the Opening Ceremony performance).

I smile when I'm angry, I cheat and I lie. I do what I have to do to get by. But I know what is wrong, and I know what is right. And I'd die for the truth In My Secret Life.

The simple guitar and storytelling in Cohen's cover of "The Partisan" also stuck with me.

But the Leonard tune that makes me most misty-eyed is "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" -- one of several songs used to describe the better parts of a 13-year long-distance relationship.

Last year, there was an opportunity to experience Leonard Cohen live in concert on his visit to Atlanta. Sadly, it was an event I chose to skip at the last minute, thinking "maybe next time he's in town." The new album release gave me hope that opportunity may come in 2017. Oh, well.

Borrowing from another of his works, "So Long, Marianne" (about which Cohen and his muse shared a remarkable correspondence, according to the Associated Press -- see last few paragraphs of this report), "You left when I told you I was curious. Did I ever say that I was brave? So long, [Leonard]. It's time that we began, to laugh and cry and cry and laugh about it all again."

Photos from various Leonard Cohen fan sites that did not provide attribution to original source material. 

With Her For 24 Years (And Counting)

Photo by Annie Leibovitz

Four years ago, on the approach to election eve, I made time to write about Mitt Romney's Olympic feats and political record that was not right, and too right, for me.

This year, this "rock the ballot" post comes from a first-time early voter, eager to explain more than 24 years of #ImWithHer support for Hillary Clinton.

Somewhere along the way, maybe in the late 1990's, someone (perhaps a character in a film, or a political science professor or friend) suggested folks "should never vote for someone they have not met." This struck me for options are generally very limited for plain folks to shake hands with every candidate, especially at The White House level. 

Good timing and good fortune afforded me not one by three personal interactions with Candidate Clinton, starting on October 30, 1992, when the future first lady Hillary stopped by my alma matter Mankato State University with Minnesota-born former Vice President Walter Mondale. 

Several thousand fellow students and I listened with interest to Mrs. Clinton in a gymnasium.

As inspiring and forward-thinking as she projected to the crowd, my vote went to Ross Perot in what was my first election experience. 

During Hillary's remarks, my friends Susan Sorenson and Heather White joined me in making our way to the stage, where we attempted a film "selfie" decades before pointing a camera at one's self earned that nickname.

If memory serves me, Susan got a high-five from Hillary while I attempted a close-up photo gone bad. 

Flash forward to winter 1993. Working to make good on their healthcare reform promises, both President and Mrs. Clinton made numerous return trips to Minnesota (then a model state for their ideas), and this guy was on the healthcare beat for the MSU Reporter newspaper.

No photos this time. Instead, my Hillary interaction came in the form of chasing her motorcade all over the Twin Cities, eventually earning a handshake after her appearance on KTSP-TV (my first time donning a press pass). She answered my question about healthcare, leaving me happy and impressed with her plans. 

Unfortunately, those plans did not come to pass and we had to wait two decades for healthcare reform. 

Photo by Simon Bruty/Getty Images

I did not have another opportunity to speak to Mrs. Clinton for nearly 20 years, but over time, her actions started to impress me. In 1995, she was graceful as First Lady helping the bereaved at the Oklahoma City bombing memorial service. 

In 1996, her motorcade passed my assigned zone at the Atlanta Olympic Village, and we saw her (on TV) in the neighboring Olympic Aquatic Center cheering on Team USA (sadly, she had more post-bombing duties in Georgia as well). 

Photo by Paul J. Richards

One of the most interesting photos of Hillary was published just a few days before news about Monica Lewinsky started -- the Clintons appeared dancing in a candid beach vacation photo, and the famous "Tammy Wynette" interview of 1992 seemed like ancient history for about a week. 

If folks asked me in 2000 whether the Clintons would remain married after the Gore:Bush election, my response generally was "no."

Simon & Schuster

As soon as the 1998-99 impeachment process played out, the dust settled, and Hillary announced her run for U.S. Senate, my knee-jerk reaction was that's why they're still married ... she is going to run for president someday. 

Listening to her Grammy-nominated audiobook for "Living History" reinforced these notions. 

Sure enough, she did. We all know how that panned out, with her eventual appointment to Secretary of State. 

I financially supported Mrs. Clinton's run with a modest donation in 2008, only to feel like it jinxed her run!

Which brings me to my most recent interaction with Mrs. Clinton. As noted on this blog post from the eve of Barack Obama's first inauguration, Hillary received honors from The King Center in Atlanta, and during remarks that evening, several speakers seemed to wish for and predict a Clinton For President run in 2016. 

Hearing the likes of the King Family, Ambassador Andrew Young and others praising Clinton sold me again on supporting her, and I have not looked back since. No Bernie for this guy. 

The recent screening of "Michael Moore In Trumpland" only reinforced my perspective: Hillary will make a great 45th president.

Now, some may ask, what about her opponent? I indirectly met Donald Trump as well when a handful of Edelman colleagues invited me to tag along for a Trump real estate event in Atlanta during early 2007. Most of my interaction was with his very smart, friendly and business savvy daughter, Ivanka -- I dig her. Donald was not shaking hands with anyone except potential investors, however, so the closest we got was 10 feet or so, but that was enough for me to surmise what was already my POV from his early days on "The Apprentice."

To wit: He was, and remains, pompous. 

That's obviously putting it lightly given the candidate's ever-growing list of crud. 

The whole scene with Ivanka, Donald, colleagues and I later appeared in the then-glamorous/now-defunct Peach Magazine (that's me with Ivanka and Donald to the left).

Like the magazine, Trump Atlanta plans vaporized once autumn 2008 rolled around, and I don't think the city saw Mr. Trump again until early this year on an election stopover. 

My views on innumerable issues match closely with Hillary's. I voted for her, and think you should, too.

Indulging in one Clinton political fantasy, imagine in Hillary's victory speech her announcement that after all the years of Bill's shenanigans, as part of her acceptance she's decided to announce her intention to divorce (haha -- no more worry over what title to give Bill in office). 

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver except where noted; topmost image by Annie Leibovitz.