RW Norton review / essay: a sample and guide

Rembrandt lighting / Fine Arts Survey, Magnet
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Luminous landscapes by Ansel Adams a luxurious sight at RW Norton Art Foundation

Boulders, rocks, mountain peaks and adobe chapels were among the most frequent subjects of towering American photographer Ansel Adams. The RW Norton Art Foundation Gallery, Shreveport, has an August-to-December exhibit of some 47 Adams prints.

RW Norton Art Foundation, an almost-hidden but huge cultural resource center in Shreveport, is presenting a selection of prints considered by Adams to be his best work.

Students from Caddo Magnet High's fine arts survey class were recently guided through the museum and given a lecture on the life of Adams by Norton educational staffer Jennifer DeFratis.

"Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico," perhaps the most famous photo by Adams, was among the selections. Students learned that such 16" X 20" prints were sold by the photographer for a few hundred dollars during his lifetime, 1902 to 1984. Today the price of such prints may be as high as $600,000, says Wikipedia.

Students were also guided from the North Wing of the extensive museum to the South Wing. There the notebook-carrying teens were shown a selection of photo-realistic landscapes. Most impressive to many was a wall-filling view of the Himalayas by British painter Peter Ellenshaw.

Fine arts survey teacher Robert Trudeau recommends the exhibit and the Norton to all audiences. "The medium-size format of the Ansel Adams - rather than sizable enlargements - was somewhat disappointing to me," he said. "But the luminosity and sensuality of Adams' work remains apparent." He added, "The galleries of the Norton are so well-designed and the paintings and sculptures so well-lighted that it is an unutterable joy to visit the site on Creswell Ave, near Pierremont and Uptown Shopping centers."

Hours of the Norton are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed Mondays and national holidays. Admission is free.

See more at RWNAF.org.