AddThis Print

Posts in: Monticello, the House

November 30, 2010

A Cheshire Cat moment

by Chad

This eerie picture is from one of my favorite memories of working at Monticello, when we were just starting the Monticello Explorer in late 2003.more »

Posted in: Architecture, Monticello, the House Comments (2) Share

July 23, 2010

Back in the 1920s, when the nascent Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation (my current employer, now called the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc., and not to be confused with the Monticello Association or the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association) was trying to scrape together the cash to purchase Monticello from Jefferson Monroe Levy, they found themselves a little short. So they conceived a cunning plan, of course – they woulmore »

Posted in: Monticello, the House, Research, A Summary View Add a comment Share

October 1, 2009

The artist speaks: SFMOMA murals of Monticello and Mount Vernon

by Eric Johnson

In February, we discussed recently unveiled murals of Monticello and Mount Vernon by artist Kerry Marshall in the atrium of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. In this video, Marshall discusses the murals and his use of games and puzzles to point out the hidden aspects and challenges inherent in interpreting the founders today. more »

Posted in: Jefferson Today, Monticello, the House Add a comment Share

August 20, 2009

Life Masks and Hearths

by Anna Berkes

Two articles with TJ/Monticello content in the latest issue of Early American Life: "The Faces of a Generation," by Audrey J. Wolfe, about sculptor John Browere (who did a near-deadly life mask of Jefferson - there's a rather horrifying description of the proceedings by granddaughter Virginia here) more »

Posted in: Food and drink, Monticello, the House, Research, A Summary View, Thomas Jefferson Add a comment Share

June 26, 2009

Sublime

by Anna Berkes

It would be gilding the lily somewhat for me to try to talk too much about this, so I'll just say that author/artist Maira Kalman visited Monticello and captured the experience in one of her trademark picture-essay blog entries, entitled "Time Wastes Too Fast." It is, in the words of one commenter, "sublime." And the comments on her entry (379 and counting) are the most remarkable outpouring of emotion about Jefferson that I've ever seen. You must see this thing.more »

Posted in: Monticello, the House, A Summary View, Thomas Jefferson, Visiting Monticello Add a comment Share

June 26, 2009

"Time wastes too fast" - Maira Kalman on Jefferson and Monticello

by Chad

Maira Kalman's depiction of Jefferson's Alcove Bed

In her latest piece for the New York Times, Maira Kalman presents a moving and funny homage to Jefferson and Monticello following a recent visit to Charlottesville. Reader reaction has been very positive. Over 250 comments posted were in under 24 hours, with many including references to past and planned tours of Jefferson's mountaintop home. more »

Posted in: Jefferson Today, Monticello, the House, Thomas Jefferson Add a comment Share

May 28, 2009

All John Soane All the Time

by Anna Berkes

The 2008 issue of Furniture History: The Journal of the Furniture History Society is All John Soane All the Time, with “A Catalogue of the Furniture in Sir John Soane’s Museum,” as well as several articles on John Soane and his furniture. Who's John Soane, you say, and what's he got to do with Thomas Jefferson? And I say: well, architecture, neoclassicism...something like that. All I know is, Curatorial wants me to buy lots of books on John Soane, and I do whatever they tell me.* Anyway, here's a panoramicmore »

Posted in: Monticello, the House, A Summary View Add a comment Share

May 18, 2009

It's raining Campeachy Chairs

by Anna Berkes

This month's Magazine Antiques features an article by Cybèle Gontar on Campeachy (Campeche) chairs - the article is heavy on the TJ content. Campeachy chairs, for those who may be unfamiliar with them, are curious low-slung neo-something pieces of furniture, of which Jefferson was inordinately fond and owned several. Sitting in one shifts your center of gravity in such a way that they are right tricky to get out of.more »

Posted in: Monticello, the House, A Summary View, Thomas Jefferson Add a comment Share

February 24, 2009

New murals challenge presidential legacies

by LAN

Recently unveiled murals of Monticello and Mount Vernon at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art capture the contradiction found in two slave-owning founders of American freedom. Created by artist Kerry Marshall, the murals depict the presidents' homes in vivid color but a closer look reveals the figures of slaves hidden among the whimsical landscapes.more »

Posted in: Jefferson Today, Monticello, the House, Plantation and Slavery, Thomas Jefferson Add a comment Share

February 23, 2009

Gardens and Names and Bedhangings

by Anna Berkes

In the latest issue of Early American Life is an article by once-and-future ICJS fellow Andrea Wulf, "The Brother Gardeners," described thusly: A mutual love of plants drew American John Bartram and Englishman Peter Collinson into a long-term partnership that changed the face of European gardening. (I assume this is a very-much condensed overview of Andrea's book of the same name.) more »