There is so much to see and do in Cooperstown. Everyone is familiar with the Hall of Fame, but have you heard of the Fenimore Art Museum?
Located overlooking Otsego Lake, this museum is known for its American Folk Art and North American Indian Art. It also has a large collection of memorabilia from author James Fenimore Cooper.
I’m far from an art critic, but I do appreciate paintings, photography and other art forms. Since you can’t be there right now, I will take you on a mini tour of the things I enjoyed most.
Rooster pictures and artwork are all over my house. I believe this would make a handsome addition to my collection. It’s one of a pair of roosters made by Edmund Brown, a Vermont cabinetmaker in 1900; as part of a merry-go-round he built and took around to the local county fairs.
This would also look nice in my house. By Yasuo Kuniyoshi in 1923.
I could find a spot for these weathervanes as well.
Speaking of weathervanes…Isn’t this locomotive weathervane cool? Also an unidentified maker, from 1860; this is made of sheet zinc, brass rod, iron pipes and bars. It’s said to have been originally located atop a railroad station in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Lion Hooked Rug made from cotton and wool, is part of a collection from the Zorach family, unidentified maker, 1914. William Zorach was a sea captain from Maine. By 1923, he had hooked rugs covering the floors of all thirteen rooms in his house. I’ve also made hooked rugs; they are currently covering and leaning against the walls in my attic!
One of the special exhibitions was artist Len F. Tantillo. I love his paintings. He currently lives in upstate New York, with his studio located in Rensselaer County.
Check out how close the train is to the sidewalk! This is from the 1930’s when life was difficult for many. Yet, Washington Street, in Syracuse was very busy. Sixty-eight times a day the trains of New York Central Railroad passed within a few feet of the busy storefronts. The trains began running in 1839 and did not end until 1936. In the 1930’s there was never a time day or night, when there wasn’t a train on the street.
Washington Street, 1993, 1996
Acrylic on Canvas
The other work I really liked was…
The Old Erie Canal, 1987
There was so much more to see and I just got lost in the experience and didn’t take any pictures of Dorothea Lange’s America…Haunting pictures of grim times in black and white of poverty and depression.
But in the world of color, can you just imagine how beautiful this was in person outside the museum?
Headwaters of the Susquehanna River flowing into Otsego Lake.
All of this and still there was more on this day 5 of our adventure. Up next…
The Farmer’s Museum just down the road. Here is a sneak peak…
See you next time!
