Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
Encyclopedia
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is located at 901 Amherst Street, Winchester, Virginia
. The Museum interprets the art, history, and culture of the great valley for which it is named. This regional museum complex includes a historic house dating to the 18th century, six acres of spectacular gardens, and a museum designed by internationally recognized architect Michael Graves
. The museum is open year-round, and the house and gardens are open March through November. All are open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday; closed Mondays and major holidays. An admission fee is charged.
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is dedicated to the art, history, and culture of the Shenandoah Valley
. The MSV complex consists of three main components:
in 1744. His son Robert Wood constructed the central portion of the Glen Burnie Historic House in the 1790s. The house’s ownership passed through several generations of Wood and then Glass families until Julian Wood Glass Jr. (1910–1992), acquired it in 1955. Julian Wood Glass Jr. was the last descendent of James Wood to live in the Glen Burnie Historic House.
Beginning in 1959, and aided by R. Lee Taylor, Glass transformed the house into a country estate, and fashioned the Glen Burnie Gardens. Glass created the Glass-Glen Burnie Foundation prior to his death in 1992, and entrusted the Foundation to open the site to the public as a museum. The Glen Burnie Historic House & Gardens opened to the public in 1998.
Today, the house is presented as it was furnished by Julian Wood Glass Jr. The interior of the house is decorated with fine furniture, decorative arts, and paintings from such artists as Pompeo Batoni
, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Martin Johnson Heade
, Rembrandt Peale
, Severin Roesen
, and George Romney
. Other objects include a tall case-clock by Goldsmith Chandlee, constructed circa 1795 and the largest collection of works by the Winchester artist Edward Caledon Bruce (1825–1900). Docent-led tours of the house are offered from March through November.
The house is located on the National Register of Historic Places
and the Virginia Landmarks Register
.
The six acres of gardens surrounding the Glen Burnie Historic House were created beginning in 1956 and evolved over the latter half of the 20th century. Today the museum maintains this living collection in a manner that is sympathetic to the garden creators’ vision for this landscape.
The museum gardens invite discovery and support formal entertaining. Outstanding aspects of the collection include two crab apple Allées, the majestic Grand Allée, and the intimate Pleached Allée. Boxwood plantings factor highly in the landscape and were used to create a Parterre Garden and Knot Garden; the museum is in the process of a boxwood rejuvenation project to revive these and other boxwood plantings throughout the site.
The gardens also contain significant Rose Gardens that contain nearly four hundred fifty individual plants. The Perennial Garden presents flowers planted in mirroring patterns, with varieties of dahlias providing fall interest.
The Vegetable Garden is also interesting, and is planted in a formal pattern that changes annually. Finally, the living collection also includes trout in the Water Garden pond, and Chinese Geese who hold court near the natural stream on site.
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley was designed by architect Michael Graves
and opened to the public in 2005. The Museum contains four main galleries:
, John Constable
, John Singleton Copley
, Jasper Francis Cropsey
, Thomas Gainsborough
, Francesco Guardi
, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Gilbert Stuart
, and James Whistler
; as well as fine examples of 18th and 19th century European furniture and American Federal-period furniture from the shop of John and Thomas Seymour.
in Greensburg, PA.
Previous exhibitions have included Civil War maps by Jed Hotchkiss, paintings by Henri Matisse
, Pablo Picasso
, Garnet Jex
, and Pierre Daura; photographs from National Geographic, Shenandoah National Park
, the O. Winston Link Museum
and of Elvis Presley
; a selection of paintings from the Berger Collection at the Denver Art Museum
; jewelry, dulcimers, and Valley quilts and chairs.
Winchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
. The Museum interprets the art, history, and culture of the great valley for which it is named. This regional museum complex includes a historic house dating to the 18th century, six acres of spectacular gardens, and a museum designed by internationally recognized architect Michael Graves
Michael Graves
Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....
. The museum is open year-round, and the house and gardens are open March through November. All are open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday; closed Mondays and major holidays. An admission fee is charged.
The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is dedicated to the art, history, and culture of the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
. The MSV complex consists of three main components:
The House
The Glen Burnie Historic House traces its history to surveyor James Wood (?-1759), who settled this land in the early 18th century and donated portions of his land to establish the city of Winchester, VirginiaWinchester, Virginia
Winchester is an independent city located in the northwestern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the USA. The city's population was 26,203 according to the 2010 Census...
in 1744. His son Robert Wood constructed the central portion of the Glen Burnie Historic House in the 1790s. The house’s ownership passed through several generations of Wood and then Glass families until Julian Wood Glass Jr. (1910–1992), acquired it in 1955. Julian Wood Glass Jr. was the last descendent of James Wood to live in the Glen Burnie Historic House.
Beginning in 1959, and aided by R. Lee Taylor, Glass transformed the house into a country estate, and fashioned the Glen Burnie Gardens. Glass created the Glass-Glen Burnie Foundation prior to his death in 1992, and entrusted the Foundation to open the site to the public as a museum. The Glen Burnie Historic House & Gardens opened to the public in 1998.
Today, the house is presented as it was furnished by Julian Wood Glass Jr. The interior of the house is decorated with fine furniture, decorative arts, and paintings from such artists as Pompeo Batoni
Pompeo Batoni
Pompeo Girolamo Batoni was an Italian painter whose style incorporated elements of the French Rococo, Bolognese classicism, and nascent Neoclassicism.-Biography:He was born in Lucca, the son of a goldsmith, Paolino Batoni...
, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, Martin Johnson Heade
Martin Johnson Heade
Martin Johnson Heade was a prolific American painter known for his salt marsh landscapes, seascapes, portraits of tropical birds, and still lifes...
, Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale
Rembrandt Peale was an American artist and museum keeper. A prolific portrait painter, he was especially acclaimed for his likenesses of presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson...
, Severin Roesen
Severin Roesen
Severin Roesen is a painter known for his abundant fruit and flower still lifes and is today recognized as one of the major American still-life painters of the mid-nineteenth century.-Life:...
, and George Romney
George Romney (painter)
George Romney was an English portrait painter. He was the most fashionable artist of his day, painting many leading society figures - including his artistic muse, Emma Hamilton, mistress of Lord Nelson....
. Other objects include a tall case-clock by Goldsmith Chandlee, constructed circa 1795 and the largest collection of works by the Winchester artist Edward Caledon Bruce (1825–1900). Docent-led tours of the house are offered from March through November.
The house is located on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and the Virginia Landmarks Register
Virginia Landmarks Register
The Virginia Landmarks Register is a list of historic properties in the state of Virginia. The state's official list of important historic sites, it was created in 1966. The Register serves the same purpose as the National Register of Historic Places...
.
The Gardens
The museum gardens invite discovery and support formal entertaining. Outstanding aspects of the collection include two crab apple Allées, the majestic Grand Allée, and the intimate Pleached Allée. Boxwood plantings factor highly in the landscape and were used to create a Parterre Garden and Knot Garden; the museum is in the process of a boxwood rejuvenation project to revive these and other boxwood plantings throughout the site.
The gardens also contain significant Rose Gardens that contain nearly four hundred fifty individual plants. The Perennial Garden presents flowers planted in mirroring patterns, with varieties of dahlias providing fall interest.
The Vegetable Garden is also interesting, and is planted in a formal pattern that changes annually. Finally, the living collection also includes trout in the Water Garden pond, and Chinese Geese who hold court near the natural stream on site.
The Museum
Michael Graves
Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....
and opened to the public in 2005. The Museum contains four main galleries:
The Shenandoah Valley Gallery
The broad sweep of Valley prehistory and history is explored in the museum's large Shenandoah Valley Gallery. A number of different exhibition techniques are used here, including multi-media presentations, interactive elements, images, maps, dioramas, and display of decorative arts. Objects on display include furniture, fraktur, silver and other metals, baskets, textiles, paintings, folk art, long rifles, and ceramics, for which the Valley is famous.The Julian Wood Glass Jr. Gallery
Presents the private collection of one of the most significant collectors in the Valley. On display in the Julian Wood Glass Jr. Gallery are paintings and drawings by such recognized artists as William Merritt ChaseWilliam Merritt Chase
William Merritt Chase was an American painter known as an exponent of Impressionism and as a teacher. He is also responsible for establishing the Chase School, which later would become Parsons The New School for Design.- Early life and training :He was born in Williamsburg , Indiana, to the family...
, John Constable
John Constable
John Constable was an English Romantic painter. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for his landscape paintings of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home—now known as "Constable Country"—which he invested with an intensity of affection...
, John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley
John Singleton Copley was an American painter, born presumably in Boston, Massachusetts, and a son of Richard and Mary Singleton Copley, both Irish. He is famous for his portrait paintings of important figures in colonial New England, depicting in particular middle-class subjects...
, Jasper Francis Cropsey
Jasper Francis Cropsey
Jasper Francis Cropsey was an important American landscape artist of the Hudson River School.-Biography:Cropsey was born on his father Jacob Rezeau Cropsey's farm in Rossville on Staten Island, New York, the oldest of eight children. As a young boy, Cropsey had recurring periods of poor health....
, Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
, Francesco Guardi
Francesco Guardi
Francesco Lazzaro Guardi was a Venetian painter of veduta, a member of the Venetian School. He is considered to be among the last practitioners, along with his brothers, of the classic Venetian school of painting....
, Sir Thomas Lawrence, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island.Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists...
, and James Whistler
James Whistler
James Whistler is the name of:* James Abbott McNeill Whistler , American-born, British-based artist, known for the painting colloquially known as Whistler's Mother...
; as well as fine examples of 18th and 19th century European furniture and American Federal-period furniture from the shop of John and Thomas Seymour.
The R. Lee Taylor Miniatures Gallery
This gallery presents an outstanding collection of furnished miniature houses and rooms by R. Lee Taylor (1924–2000), who worked with Julian Wood Glass Jr. to create the Glen Burnie Gardens. At the time of his death, Taylor had assembled fourteen completely furnished rooms and houses. On display are five houses and four rooms by R. Lee Taylor showcaseing the work of more than seventy-five miniatures artisans. Also on display are four shadowboxes by the late Valley miniatures artist William P. Massey, who created his work between the 1930s to 1940s.The Changing Exhibition Gallery
Several temporary exhibitions are presented throughout the year. Currently on view is "American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting", through January 23, 2011. The exhibit was developed and toured by the Westmoreland Museum of American ArtWestmoreland Museum of American Art
The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is an art museum in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, devoted to American art, with a particular concentration on the art of southwestern Pennsylvania....
in Greensburg, PA.
Previous exhibitions have included Civil War maps by Jed Hotchkiss, paintings by Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, Garnet Jex
Garnet Jex
Garnet W. Jex was an American artist and historian. Born in Kent, Ohio, he moved with his family to Washington, D.C., at the age of four. He remained in the Washington area until his death....
, and Pierre Daura; photographs from National Geographic, Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park
Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U.S. state of Virginia. This national park is long and narrow, with the broad Shenandoah River and valley on the west side, and the rolling hills of the Virginia Piedmont on the east...
, the O. Winston Link Museum
O. Winston Link Museum
thumb|250px|[[Norfolk & Western Railway]]'s [[Roanoke, Virginia]] depotThe O. Winston Link Museum is a museum dedicated to the photography of O...
and of Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
; a selection of paintings from the Berger Collection at the Denver Art Museum
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center.It is known for its collection of American Indian art,and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 68,000 works from across the world....
; jewelry, dulcimers, and Valley quilts and chairs.