The Reynolda House Museum of American Art is an art museum located in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

. Built in 1917 by

Katharine Smith Reynolds Katharine Smith Reynolds (November 17, 1880 – May 23, 1924), later Katharine Smith Johnston, was the wife of tobacco Business magnate, tycoon R. J. Reynolds and a philanthropist who designed the Reynolda House estate. Early life Katharine Smi ...

and her husband

R. J. Reynolds Richard Joshua Reynolds (July 20, 1850 – July 29, 1918) was an American businessman and founder of the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. The son of a tobacco farmer and major slaveowner, he worked for his father and attended Emory & Henry Col ...

, founder of the

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded by namesake R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the largest tobacco company in the United States. The company is a w ...

, it displays a collection of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

ranging from the colonial period to the modern era. The house originally occupied the center of a estate. It opened to the public as an institution dedicated to the arts and education in 1965, and as an art museum in 1967.

History

Design and construction began in 1912 and lasted until the end of 1917. Charles Barton Keen, who had gained success designing homes in Pennsylvania and New York, was the architect of not only the main house, but also the village on the estate that included a church, stables, and a school. Katharine Reynolds was very involved with the design of Reynolda, and some of her correspondence with Keen survives. The family finally moved in December 1917, but R. J. Reynolds was ill with pancreatic cancer and was not able to enjoy his new home. He died July 29, 1918. Reynolda was the home of two generations of the Reynolds family. In 1935, Mary Reynolds Babcock, the elder daughter, acquired the estate. She and her husband Charles Babcock used the house as their vacation home until 1948, when they moved permanently to Reynolda. The property remained in the family for nearly 50 years. The museum restored its rooms and furnishings to reflect the periods when the family lived there. The iconic green

Ludowici Ludowici may refer to: * Ludowici, Georgia, a town * Ludowici Well Pavilion, a historic site * Ludowici Roof Tile Ludowici Roof Tile, LLC., based in New Lexington, Ohio, is an American manufacturer of clay roof tiles, floor tiles, and wall clad ...

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

tile roof influenced many other prominent homes and architecture around Winston-Salem. Reynolda became affiliated with

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

in 2002.

Features

Reynolda House circa 1915 Winston Salem North Carolina

Located on Reynolda Road, a large portion of Reynolda can be explored on foot. In addition to the house, 28 of the original thirty buildings remain. To the west lie the restored formal gardens with Japanese

cryptomeria ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a monotypic genus of conifer in the cypress family Cupressaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeria japonica'' ( syn. ''Cupressus japonica'' L.f.). It is considered to be endemic to Japan, ...

and weeping cherry trees. The lake behind the house ("Lake Katharine") has reverted to wetlands which provide a home for a variety of wildlife. Many of the buildings in the village are occupied by boutiques, shops, and restaurants. A short walk across the dam leads from the village to

, which was built on land donated from the grounds of Reynolda House to the college by Mary and Charles Babcock. A French restaurant, La Chaudiere, once occupied the family's former boiler room, but closed in the 1990s.

Permanent collection

Reynolda House Museum of American Art houses a permanent collection of American art and sculpture from three centuries. The artists featured in the collection include Mary Cassatt, Frederic Church, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O'Keeffe, and Gilbert Stuart. Most of the pieces are displayed throughout the historic house.

Selected collection highlights

File:Gilbert Stuart Mrs Harrison Gray Otis.jpg,

Gilbert Stuart Gilbert Stuart ( Stewart; December 3, 1755 – July 9, 1828) was an American painter born in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-k ...

, ''Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis'', 1809 File:Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch Edward Hicks.jpeg,

Edward Hicks Edward Hicks (April 4, 1780 – August 23, 1849) was an American folk painter and distinguished Christian minister of the Society of Friends (a.k.a. "Quakers"). He became a notable Quaker because of his paintings. Biography Early li ...

, ''Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch'', c. 1826-30 File:Home in the Woods 1847 Thomas Cole.jpeg,

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848) was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for hi ...

, ''Home in the Woods'', 1847 File:Frederic Edwin Church, The Andes of Ecuador, c. 1855, HAA.jpg,

Frederic Church Frederic Edwin Church (May 4, 1826 – April 7, 1900) was an American landscape painter born in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a central figure in the Hudson River School of American landscape painters, best known for painting large landscapes, ...

, ''

The Andes of Ecuador ''The Andes of Ecuador'' is an 1855 oil painting by Frederic Edwin Church, the premier American landscape painter of the time. It is the most significant result of his 1853 trip to South America,Ayers, 17–19 where he would travel again in 1857 ...

'', 1855 File:Worthington Whittredge in His Tenth Street Studio.jpeg,

Emanuel Leutze Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (May 24, 1816July 18, 1868) was a German-born American history painter, best known for his 1851 painting '' Washington Crossing the Delaware''. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Biography Leutze w ...

, ''Worthington Whittredge in His Tenth Street Studio'', 1865 File:Landscape of Provence Alfred Henry Maurer.jpeg,

Alfred Henry Maurer Alfred Henry Maurer (April 21, 1868 – August 4, 1932) was an American modernist painter. He exhibited his work in avant-garde circles internationally and in New York City during the early twentieth century. Highly respected today, his wor ...

, ''Landscape of Provence'', c. 1912-1922

Exhibitions

In 2005, Reynolda House opened the Mary and Charlie Babcock Wing which features a gallery space for traveling exhibitions. There are usually two shows featured in that space every year, one in the fall and one in the spring. There are other exhibitions throughout the year in the Northeast and West Bedrooms in the house.

Past exhibitions

*''Love & Loss '', October 11, 2014 - December 13, 2015 *''Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey'', October 13, 2012 - January 13, 2013 *''Domestic Bliss: Art at Home in Britain and America, 1780-1840'', December 17, 2011 - May 20, 2012 *''Modern Masters from the Smithsonian Art Museum'', October 7, 2011 - December 31, 2011 *''Trains that Passed in the Night: The Photographs of O. Winston Link'', February 19, 2011 - June 19, 2011 *''Virtue, Vice, Wisdom & Folly: The Moralizing Tradition in American Art'', September 18, 2010 - December 31, 2010 *''

William Christenberry William Andrew Christenberry Jr. (November 5, 1936 – November 28, 2016) was an American photographer, painter, sculptor, and teacher who drew inspiration from his childhood in Hale County, Alabama.Christenberry, William (September 28, 2007)Tim ...

: Photographs, 1961-2005'', February 13, 2010 - June 27, 2010 *''The American Expatriates: Cassatt, Sargent, and Whistler'', December 5, 2009 - April 5, 2010 *''Now/Then: A Journey in Collecting Contemporary Art at Wake Forest University'', October 31, 2009 - December 31, 2009 *''The Andes of Ecuador: Science and Spectacle'', September 26, 2009 - September 30, 2010 *''Heroes of Horticulture'', July 31, 2009 - September 27, 2009 *''The Stieglitz Circle: Beyond O'Keeffe'', June 6, 2009 - November 15, 2009 *''Figures in Bronze: Sculpture at Reynolda'', April 14, 2009 - August 30, 2009 *''American Impressions: Selections from the National Academy Museum'', February 28, 2009 - June 28, 2009 *''

Chuck Close Charles Thomas Close (July 5, 1940 – August 19, 2021) was an American painter, visual artist, and photographer who made massive-scale photorealism, photorealist and abstract portraits of himself and others. Close also created photo portraits ...

: The Keith Series'', January 17, 2009 - May 31, 2009 *''Seeing the City: Sloan's New York'', October 4, 2008 - January 4, 2009 *''New World Views: Gifts from Jean Crutchfield and Robert Hobbs'', May 20, 2008 - August 31, 2008 *''Early American Portraits'', May 13, 2008 - March 16, 2009 *''Ancestry and Innovation: African American Art from the American Folk Art Museum'', February 2, 2008 - April 13, 2008 *''Wordplay: Text and Modern Art'', November 13, 2007 - May 4, 2008 *''Wings of Adventure: Smith Reynolds and the Flight of 898 Whiskey'', September 8, 2007 - December 30, 2007 *''A Country Takes Shape'', June 27, 2007 - December 1, 2008 *''The Art of Dance'', April 3, 2007 - September 16, 2007 *''Abstract/Object: Mid-Twentieth Century Art from the Reynolda House Collection'', February 27, 2007 - June 17, 2007 *''Grandma Moses: Grandmother to the Nation'', January 27, 2007 - April 22, 2007 *''Modern Fun! Prints from the '70s and '80s'', October 3, 2006 - January 28, 2007 *''Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close'', August 30, 2006 - December 30, 2006 *''American Watercolors 1880 - 1965'', July 1, 2006 - January 1, 2007 *''Moving Pictures: American Art and Early Film, 1880-1910'', March 10, 2006 - July 16, 2006 *''

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

and

: An Atlantic Conversation'', November 15, 2005 - February 5, 2006 *''Paper, Leather, Wood: Materials and African American Art of the Twentieth Century'', November 15, 2005 - April 16, 2006 *''

Diane Arbus Diane Arbus (; ; March 14, 1923 – July 26, 1971
by

: Family Albums'', September 15, 2005 - December 4, 2005 *''Vanguard Collecting: American Art at Reynolda House'', April 1, 2005 - August 21, 2005

References

External links

* {{authority control Art museums and galleries in North Carolina Houses in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Museums of American art Museums in Winston-Salem, North Carolina Historic house museums in North Carolina Art museums and galleries established in 1967 1967 establishments in North Carolina Former private collections in the United States Reynolds family residences