Monday, March 17, 2014

The Hawthornes Are On A Road Trip.

The Hawthornes are taking a little vacay
and you get to travel along with us.

 Leaving the Outer Banks..

 We stopped in Plymouth and had an unfortunate lunch
consisting of four greasy fried oysters on a bed of wilted lettuces.
But at least I was able to find this little gem of a funeral home -
Toodles!
 Toodle-loo for the perfect send-off!

Made it to New Bern for the first night.

 If you'd like to learn about New Bern,
check out our last trip there.

Second night we made it to Surfside Beach,
just south of Myrtle Beach.

 
 On day 3, we left Surfside and stopped at Brookgreen Gardens, just south of Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina.
 

This land was originally inhabited by the Waccamaw Indians and, in the 1700s, was developed into four rice plantations - Brookgreen, Laurel Hill, Oaks, and Springfield Plantations.

In 1930, philanthropists Archer Milton and Anna Vaughan Hyatt Huntington purchased over 9000 acres of land stretching from the Waccamaw River to the Atlantic Ocean, including the four plantations.

 
In 1923, Anna Hyatt (1876-1973)  married Archer Milton Huntington (1876-1955), one of the wealthiest men in America.  They were married on March 10, their mutual birth date, and called it their "3 in 1 day."  Anna was a prominent American sculptor and one of the most prolific American artists of the 20th century.  By 1912, Hyatt was earning more than $50,000 a year with her sculpture.  Hyatt met Huntington when he commissioned her to design a medal for the Hispanic Society of America.  The above bust of Anna, at age 19, was modeled by her older sister, Harriet.
 
Archer Huntington was a Hispanic scholar, poet, philanthropist, and patron of the arts and humanities.  Anna sculpted this bust of her husband three years after his death.  She made him larger than life, reflecting both his stature and his intellect.

In 1927, Anna developed tuberculosis, and it was the Huntington's search for a healthy winter environment for Anna that brought them to South Carolina. Total cost of the property was $225,000.  The Huntingtons envisioned turning the Brookgreen property into a plant and animal preserve and a sculpture garden to showcase the work of Anna and other American sculptors.

Brookgreen Gardens was Anna's home and studio, and the Huntingtons entertained many famous artists of the day.  Brookgreen Gardens, a cultural institution , was founded to collect, preserve, and exhibit the plants and animals of the Southeast, and to display American figurative sculpture.
Today, Brookgreen's outdoor sculpture collection is considered the finest in the world and was the first devoted entirely to statuary.  More than 1400 works from over 350 world-famous artists are featured in the Gardens. The US Department of the Interior designated the Gardens a National Historic Landmark in 1992.
 
The Garden was designed by Anna Hyatt Huntington in the shape of spread butterfly wings.  Above is one of the original drawings for the sculpture garden.

Enjoy my pictures.










Anna Hyatt Huntington sculpted Diana of the Chase (bronze) in 1922.  The Roman goddess of the hunt has just released her arrow as a hound leaps at her feet.


This is another statue of Diana, sculpted by Paul Howard Manship.


Manship also sculpted this statue of Actaeon.  In case you're rusty with you Greek mythology, Diana was bathing in a woodland pool, surrounded  by her nymphs.  A young hunter, Actaeon, has left his hunting party and unwittingly stumbles upon the nude Diana.  Enraged, Diana splashes water in the intruder's face, saying, "Now go and tell, if you can, that you have seen Diana unapparelled."  Actaeon is immediately turned into a stag.  Terrified, he flees the scene, running through the woods.  His own hounds eventually see Actaeon and his pack now chases him, cheered on by his own huntsmen.  The hounds attack, killing Actaeon.




These beautiful oaks were planted in the 1700s
when this was still a rice plantation.
Spanish moss covers them.

Gilded bronze Dionysius with panther.

Heavy branch being supported.
















A young, recumbent Rosie.















Another work by Manship -  Time and the Fates of Man.
Symbolic of the passage of time, the sundial presents the three Fates:  Clotho, who spun the thread of life;  Lachesis, who measured the thread and determined life direction; and Atropos, who cut the thread of life, causing death.  The entire group is sheltered by the Tree of Life, its branches lush and green over the living and barren at the moment of death.







Another sculpture of a young Rosie with two of her friends.






Ravenel Bridge going into Charleston.



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