Thursday on Telfair Square

The Telfair Academy in Savannah, Georgia (shown above in a vintage 1940s/50s image), is one of my favorite museums, even though it may not boast the largest or most prestigious collection. What I love about it is the building that houses these art treasures. Walking in, you feel like you are stepping back in time, and halfway expect a few of the masters to be popping out from one of the galleries. From the Telfair website:

Telfair Museums is the oldest public art museum in the South. The legacy of one visionary Savannahian, it was founded in 1883 through the bequest of prominent local philanthropist Mary Telfair, who left her home and its furnishings to the Georgia Historical Society to be opened as a museum. Designed by British architectural prodigy William Jay in the neoclassical Regency style, the Telfair Academy is a former mansion built from 1818-1819 for Alexander Telfair, son of Revolutionary War patriot and Georgia governor Edward Telfair. In 1875, Alexander’s sister Mary – heir to the family fortune and last to bear the Telfair name – bequeathed the house and its furnishings to the Georgia Historical Society to be opened as a museum. After significant renovation by German-born architect Detlef Lienau, whose adaptations included the addition of the Sculpture Gallery and the Rotunda, the building opened to the public in 1886 as the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The shot below is from February 24, 1955, when admission was free from 10am-5pm:



Flash forward to April 1979:



Any interest in seeing the Victorian Dress exhibit?



My first shot of the Academy is from March 2005:



…and my most recent, which just happened to hit the Golden Hour, circa November 2016:



Not sure why, but this is one of my favorite paintings at the Academy:



It is called “Calme Blanc,” by Raoul du Gardier, circa 1900-1909. Below is an interior shot of the Academy:



Nearby, also in Telfair Square, is the Trinity Methodist Church, built in 1848. This image is from April 1979:



How it looked during my June 2013 visit:



…and an interior shot from November 2016:



It’s been over five years since I last visited Savannah. I think I’m about due for a return trip.

See more Savannah, Georgia, photos at my main website.

The Bird Girl

John Berendt's "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" did an excellent job of weaving fact and fiction to create a compelling character study that firmly put Savannah, Georgia on the map of top tourist destinations. On the cover of the infamous bestseller is Jack Leigh's photograph of The Bird Girl, a sculpture made in 1936 by Sylvia Shaw Judson.



A family in Savannah purchased one of the four copies that Judson made and placed it in the family's burial plot in Bonaventure Cemetery. Once the book hit the bestseller list, apparently the tourist traffic to the plot caused the family to remove the statue. It didn't matter...people (including me) still visited the plot. Do you think I make a decent substitute?

The statue was put on display at the Telfair Academy Art Museum, also in Savannah. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed.



In 2014, the Bird Girl was moved next door to the Jepsen Center for the Arts.



For whatever reason, photos are now allowed.





Taking a closer look, you can see the little holes in the "dishes" that the Bird Girl holds, allowing water to flow out when it fills. Originally, it was designed to be a fountain.





More Savannah photos at my main website.

Laocoön and His Sons at Disneyland

This sculpture has been something that has caught my eye each time I have visited Club 33. Residing in the main dining room, "Laocoön and His Sons" is not something that you just look at casually. The look of agony on Laocoön's face begs to be noticed. This is the first photo I took of it back in September 2007. Little did I know that nine years later I would have a very interesting story to piece together.

Flash forward to my most recent dinner at the Club, and our wonderful waitress Angela told us the backstory. The original statue was unearthed in Rome in 1506 and then placed on public display in the Vatican, where it still resides today. When it was excavated, there were a number of pieces missing from the statue. Angela told us that both Raphael and Michelangelo created what they thought his missing arms might look like, but that Michelangelo's interpretation won out.



At this point, my memory started humming. I remembered that I had seen another copy of this statue somewhere. Sure enough, just one month before I had seen it in Savannah at the Telfair Museum.



Carl Brandt, the Telfair's first director, traveled to Europe in 1883 to purchase works of art for the museum's collection. While there, he commissioned this plaster cast of the Roman sculpture dating from early in the first century AD. A vintage Telfair publication describes it:

"As priest of Apollo, Laocoön was commissioned by the Trojans to offer a bullock to Neptune. During the sacrifice two enormous serpents issued from the sea and attached his two sons, who stood next to the altar. The father attempted to defend his sons, but the serpents falling upon him, he died in greatest agony from their venomous bites."

I had also photographed it in Savannah back in March 2007, just 6 months before my photo at Club 33 was shot.



My brain continued to engage; if the original was in Rome at the Vatican, I wondered if I had seen it when I visited Rome back in 2004.

BINGO! From September 2004:



From Rome, to Savannah, to Club 33. The circle is complete!

More Daveland photos and fun at my main website.

Savannah Rock 'N Roll Excursion, Pt. 5

All good things must come to an end, and my most recent trip to Savannah is no exception. I was most looking forward to lunch at The Wilkes House. Only open for lunch on weekdays, you can almost be guaranteed at least an hour wait to dine here. They don't take reservations, but that still doesn't deter the herds of people that come here five days a week and form a line stretching down Jones Street.



If you are watching your waist line or attempting to avoid carbs, this is not the place for you. If you are craving comfort food and good old fashioned southern cooking just like grandma used to make, then get to Jones Street as close to 10:30 am as possible so that you can be one of the first guests when the doors open at 11am.

Your meal is served family-style, as if you were attending lunch with a group of friends after church on a Sunday afternoon. The large tables seat about 12, and there are at least twenty tasty items to eat. Just keep passing the dishes around the table so everyone can get some!



Here's a look at what I heaped onto my plate:



After you're done eating, take your dirty dishes back to the washroom before you go. Even President Obama performed this Mrs. Wilkes tradition! And don't even think about whipping out a fancy credit card to pay for your meal; CASH ONLY for this EXTREMELY reasonably priced $18 meal! Pretty much the only meal you will need for the day.

In an attempt to walk off my delicious lunch, I ventured over to the Telfair Art Museum in Telfair Square.



The statues of many famous classical artists grace the exterior of the building, such as Rembrandt & Michelangelo:





One of the wonderful exhibits that was currently on display was that of Preston Russell. He has painted life in the "low country," perfectly capturing both its people and its architecture.



I know I said that lunch at Mrs. Wilkes' could serve as your one meal for the day, but I was on vacation, and eating in Savannah is a rare once-a-year treat for me, so I was not going to let go of my dinner option. A repeat trip to Leoci's served as my final meal of this excursion, and it fit the bill perfectly. A comfortable booth by the window:



A delicious tomato soup starter:



and an out-of-this-world gnocchi for my entrée:



Kudos to Leoci's not only for its delicious food, but for its extremely friendly staff. Although Italian food is not what I normally associate with Savannah, Leoci's does provide a fun atmosphere in which to partake of a tasty meal.

And with that, it was time to catch a plane back to San Diego. I will spare you the details of my trip home. Remember when flying on a plane was a treat and you actually dressed up to do so? Now, it's a pain in the ass and seems to take twice as long, once you add in the additional time for security and the time necessary for botched plane connections.



Oh how I wish I was back in Savannah, starting my day in the dining room of the Hamilton-Turner Inn, eating my Georgia Peach French Toast! Thanks to one of the south's most hospitable cities for yet another memorable visit.

See more Savannah photos on my Savannah web pages.

Traveling Thursdays: Vintage Savannah, Georgia

Anyone who knows me very well knows that it would be a difficult choice for me to make if I had to choose between a week's vacation at Disneyland in Anaheim or historic Savannah, Georgia. Chances are, Savannah would win. Something about the history, hospitality, and haunting of this southern city draws me back to it. This batch of vintage November 1977 shots will be interspersed with a few of my own contemporary photos. These first two show the interior of the Green-Meldrim House in Madison Square. Once occupied by General Sherman during the Civil War, this 1861 Gothic Revival mansion now serves as a museum and special event location.



Here are two exterior views that I shot back in 2007:





Over in Telfair Square, The Telfair Academy reigns supreme as one of the best art galleries in town. If you weren't sure that these photos came from the 1970's, the vehicles definitely give it away. Would you take a historic tour in this van?



Today, the Academy looks a little spiffier:



This painting is one of my favorites in the collection there:



These two 1977 photos show the residences that border Washington Square:





Down the street from Washington Square is the historic Mulberry Inn, once a livery stable and cotton warehouse, and then Coca Cola bottling facility:



See more vintage and contemporary Savannah, Georgia photos on my Savannah web page.