The Songs of the Fifty States: Tennessee

(What is "The Songs of the Fifty States"?)

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Gilbert Gaul, Southern Landscape.  Late 19th century.

Tennessee!

Size: 109,247 km² (36th)

2013 Population: 6,495,978 (17th)

Statehood: 1796 (16th). Seceded 1861; Readmitted 1866.

American Human Development Index: 4.22 (43rd)

Art Mecca: Tennessee's several urban centers seem blessed with good art museums.  Here's a list.

The biggest fish in the pond seems to be the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.  If you don't believe me, just ask Cameron Kitchin, who raves "As one of the largest and most innovative art museums in the American South, the Brooks is recognized nationally for the museum’s innovative educational programs, continual community outreach, and world-class art collection."  And he ought to know a thing or two about the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, being its director and all.

The Membro (that's what ~I~ would call it; people seem to go with "The Brooks") divides its collection into Painting and Sculpture plus Decorative Arts and Design, Works on Paper, Ancient Art, and African Art. The canvas collection "highlights Italian Renaissance and Baroque as well as British, French Impressionists, and 20th century artists." They use a Canaletto as their marquee piece, which -- since there are plenty of Canalettos floating around, and he is generally regarded as terrific but not exactly earth-shaking -- calls into question Mr. Kitchin's use of the word "world-class." Looking into the details settles the matter: what we have here is a rock-solid regional collection with an appropriately enthusiastic executive caretaker.

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Michael 5000's Tennessee

First Visited: May 25, 1994 (22nd)
Most Recently Visited: May 13, 2003 (44th)

First Run In: n/a
Best Run: n/a

Have Admired the Visual Arts In: No.
Have Geohashed In: No.
Have Slept Overnight In: No.

Counties Visited: 10/95 (34th (tie))
% Complete: 10.5% (46th)

Mrs. 5000's Counties Visited: 33/95 (9th)
% Complete: 34.7% (24th)
Mrs.5000 First Visited: Unknown
Mrs.5000 Most Recently Visited: May 13, 2003 

Atlas of All Roads Travelled

Plans and Aspirations

It's hard to imagine getting back to Tennessee anytime soon.

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round One: Kupka v. Lam!

Frantisek Kupka
1871 - 1957
Czech; worked in France

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Wilfredo Lam
1902 - 1982
Cuban; worked in France

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Vote for the artist of your choice! Votes go in the comments. Commentary and links to additional work are welcome. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Infinite Art Tournament, First Elimination Round #27/64

Faceoff #1: Ghiberti v. Houdon

Lorenzo Ghiberti
1378 - 1455
Florentine

Tied with Domenico Ghirlandaio in a June 2013 First-Round match.
Lost to the colorful Raoul Dufy in his second Round 1 match.

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Jean-Antoine Houdon
1741-1828
French

Lost to American Edward Hopper in Round 1.

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Faceoff #2: Hunt v. Jawlensky

William Holman Hunt
1827 - 1910
British

Lost to Ingres in Round 1.

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Alexei von Jawlensky
1864 - 1941
Russian; worked in Germany

Beaten by Alexander Ivanov in Round 1.

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Vote for the two artists of your choice! Votes generally go in the comments, but have been known to arrive by email, by postcard, or in a sealed envelope.

Please note that you may vote only once in each face-off.  Opining that both of the artists in one of the two face-offs is superior to the other is fine, but casting your votes for two artists in the same face-off is not permissible.

The Wednesday Post

What's Up Down South?
cooler in concept than in practice

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...in which we find out what's happening these days at the sites of last week's boring postcards!

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Hollywood By The Sea in Florida is one of the more prominent tourist areas in the state. 

Hollywood, Florida, still exists.  It is a city of about 140,000.

The beach is generally considered nice.  People seem to like the boardwalk, which is jocularly styled "The Broadwalk." 

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FLORIDA PELICANS
Often called the "Flying Suitcases."

Florida Pelicans still exist.  I have been unable to confirm that anyone other than the creator of this postcard ever called them "Flying Suitcases."  An actual flying suitcase, of course, looks like this:

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HOW'S THINGS UP NORTH?

Dolphins in Florida still exist.  They still taunt humans from more temperate climates with mocking cries of "How's Things Up North?"

For a price, one may get back at them by entering a pool or penned-off area, swimming right up to them, and asking "how's things in captivity, fish-boy?" Our blog Shakespearean recently swam with dolphins in the Sunshine State, and reports unsurprisingly that "it was cooler in concept than in practice, and cooler in concept when 18 than when 45."

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COCOANUT PALM AVENUE IN BEAUTIFUL FLORIDA

There are of course a number of avenues lined by coconut palms in Florida.  It's hard to say which one this is or was, and so it is unclear whether this avenue still exists.  There is, in case you thought of it too, no street actually named "Cocoanut Palm Avenue" in Florida or anywhere else.  There is one "Coconut Palm Avenue," but it's a single block in a working-class neighborhood of San Juan, Texas, and only has half a dozen palm trees at that.

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Golden sands at Hollywood, one of the more prominent beaches in South Florida.

Yeah, we've already covered Hollywood.

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274F - TROPICAL FLORIDA SERIES

Florida's Beautiful Indian River still exists, although it is neither Indian nor a river.  It is a large saltwater lagoon.

"Beautiful" may be a bit of stretch, too.  Recent attention to the "river" tends to run along the lines of this recent NPR report:

Over the past year, record numbers of dolphins, manatees and pelicans have turned up dead in the 150-mile-long estuary that runs along Florida's Atlantic Coast. Bouts of algal blooms have flourished in the waters.

and

In three counties on the lagoon... there are 237,000 septic tanks.  "Do the math. Over 1 million kilograms of nitrogen a year are going toward the Indian River lagoon from septic tanks alone," [a biologist] said.  Crisis or not, there's little political will in Florida to begin requiring communities to move residents off septic tanks.

A vast wetland peninsula that doesn't see the need for last-century standards of sewage treatment: Ladies and gentlemen, the Sunshine State!

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Infinite Art Tournament, Left Bracket Round Three: J. Bruegel v. Boyd!

Jan Bruegel lost to his dad in the First Round, but has since taken three straight to arrive at Round 3; most recently, he took out Arnold Böcklin 9-5.  Today he meets Australia's most successful artist in the Tournament to date, who is 2-1 after an August 2012 loss to Botticelli.  Only one will survive into the semis!  Who has your vote?

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Jan Bruegel (the Elder)
1568 - 1625
Dutch

• Trounced by his father in Round 1.
• Took out Victorian Sir Edward Burne-Jones in a thrilling come-from-behind one-vote victory in First Round Elimination. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Knocked out Agnolo Bronzino in the Left Bracket Second Round.
• Dispatched Arnold Böcklin in Left Bracket Second Round Elimination.

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Arthur Boyd
1920 - 1999
Australian

• Defeated 15th Century Netherlandish master Dieric Bouts in Round 1.
• Snuck by spider-woman Louise Bourgeois by a single vote in Round 2. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!!
• Lost to some guy named Sandro Botticelli in Round 3.

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Vote for the artist of your choice in the comments, or any other way that works for you. Commentary and links to additional work are welcome. Polls open for at least one month past posting.

The Free Box Tapes #7: "NY Jazz"

The seventh Free Box Tape is a mix tape called "NY Jazz," with no additional labeling.  The music fills one side of a 90-minute cassette tape; side B is blank.  

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"NY Jazz," presumably a mix tape.

Sixty-Four Words: This collection of tepid wine-bar numbers captures everything I didn’t like about jazz, back when I didn’t like jazz. This includes a fixation on unnecessarily complex chords, a “smooth” and improbably earnest phrasing of dumb lyrics, and singers performing instrumental solos vocally -- I don’t know the word for it, but I call it “pretending to be a saxophone.” I prefer the blank side.

Disposition: This is an addition to my worthless stock of blank tapes.  This reminds me that, once upon a time, I offered to make everybody mix tapes.  That project seems to have got away from me.

The Infinite Art Tournament, Round FOUR: Giotto v. van Gogh!

With the first weekend of an even-numbered month comes a Fourth Round match.  This time around it's the legendary Florentine master of fresco against the legendary nineteenth century Dutch eccentric!  And as always, we ask the subtly profound question: which one do ya like better?

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Giotto
1267 - 1337
Florentine

• Defeated Giulio Romano in Round 1.
• Snuck by Giorgione in Round 2 by a two-vote spread. YOUR VOTE COUNTS!
• Zipped easily past Alberto Giacometti in Round 3.

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Vincent van Gogh
1853 - 1890
Dutch; worked in France

• Beat up on Hugo van der Goes in Round 1.
• Got past Natalia Gontcharova in Round 2.
• Gave El Greco a real drubbing in Round 3.

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Vote for the artist of your choice in the comments, or any other way that works for you. Commentary and links to additional work are welcome. Fourth-round matches are open for at least three months after posting.