FEATURE
History and Vitality:
Charleston’s Gibbes Museum of Art

By: PremiereCharleston.com Arts Editor

03/02/2010

Learn more about current & upcoming exhibitions.

Support the Gibbes.

Read an overview of the Gibbes.

See more photos from the Gibbes.

As part of Premiere Charleston’s unending exploration into the finer aspects of Charleston living, we take a look at a true Charleston gem, the Gibbes Museum of Art.  For over 100 years, the Gibbes Museum has existed to “link the art of our past with the art of our future through innovative exhibitions, acquisitions, interpretation and educational programs that preserve and promote of the art of Charleston and the American South.”

Now, at the beginning of its second century, the Gibbes Museum continues to collect and present Southern art from the Colonial period through today, as well as attract important national traveling exhibits.  In a town dedicated to culture, aesthetic beauty and history, you won’t find a truer representation than the Gibbes Museum. 

Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC, Photo by Julia Lynn Photography

I suspect that to an art aficionado reading this article, it would seem that your author is very much preaching to the choir. Of course you appreciate the arts, you probably donate, and you attend openings throughout the year.

So allow me to address the average Goose Creek-ian who doesn’t get to Downtown Charleston as often as he would like, and who visits the Gibbes even less frequently. And, in case you think I am dealing in stereotypes, I am describing myself! Let me describe how my own regular-dude love affair with the Gibbes began.

A couple of years ago, I attended a Charleston Ad Club Christmas gathering held on the second floor of the Gibbes Museum. After 20 minutes or so, I grew weary of trying to wedge my way into the tight cliques of old-timers, and of dodging young up-and-comers on the make. I wanted to bail, yet I had paid $15 to be there. Perhaps I just needed a breather. So I wandered downstairs to the main floor.

 
Meeting Street, ca. 1925 by Alfred Hutty

This was not my first visit to the Gibbes.  I had been there as a tourist in the past, often using the place as a way to beat the 800-degree heat. I had milled around among the crowd, alternately blocking someone else’s view, or waiting for them to get out of my way. I had seen many nice pieces, but never really paused to appreciate them.  It’s a Tuesday night in December, so the floor is deserted except for a bored young attendant and me. I had the run of the place and, for the first time, I could appreciate the works at my own pace. 

Believe me, I am no art maven. I have certainly been to the big museums in the big cities I have visited. Like many regular folk, I have keyed in on a couple of genres. I have always had an affinity for the Impressionists, and for American artists like Edward Hopper or Maxfield Parrish. I can appreciate the passion of someone like Jackson Pollock, even if I have no clue what he was trying to say. 

So, to me, there are many ways to appreciate art. To me, the charm of the Gibbes goes beyond the works on display. Its charm also lies in the way that it so deeply represents local history, beginning with the Colonial period. I have always had an affinity for Colonial arts, whether it is furniture, painting or pottery.  And the actual pieces are less important to me than the context. I imagine the artist, appreciative and in awe of this new land, yet longing for the known life he left behind in Europe.

 
Bombardment of Fort Moultrie, Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, 1964 by Conrad Wise Chapman

Of course, there is much more to the Gibbes than the Colonial period. Throughout the city's history to the present day, the arts scene in Charleston has evolved and remained vital. That vitality is on display with the many contemporary pieces in the Gibbes collection. And the Colonial artistic contributions of Mainly White Guys have expanded to embrace the richness of African American, Caribbean and Native American artists.  And, lest you think this a purely parochial collection of local treasures, the Gibbes Museum also hosts an impressive schedule of important traveling exhibits, as well.

Corene, 1995 by Jonathan Green, American b. 1955

To sum it up, if it has been a while since you visited the Gibbes Museum of Art, or if you have never been (not even on a 6th grade field trip?) you owe it to yourself to make a day of it.  If you have an appreciation for that ephemeral thing known as Life in the Lowcountry, you need to appreciate how it all began.

The Gibbes Museum of Art is located at 135 Meeting St in Downtown Charleston. Open Tues – Sat 10 to 5, Sun 1 to 5.  Admission: Adults $9, Seniors, Students & Military $7, Children 6-12 $5, Members and Children under 6 FREE. For more information, call 843.722.2706 or visit on the web at www.gibbesmuseum.org

• Learn more about current & upcoming exhibitions.
• Support the Gibbes.
• Read an overview of the Gibbes.
• See more photos from the Gibbes.  

 

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