Hunter Museum of American Art

The Hunter Museum, comprised of three adjoined buildings, lies atop a bluff along the Tennessee River in downtown Chattanooga and focuses on American art. We didn't have a lot of time to visit the museum so we first viewed the special exhibit, "Between the States: Photographs of the American Civil War from the George Eastman House Collection".

Powerful.

The exhibit displayed more than 100 facsimiles of photographs taken during the Civil War. From portraits of soldiers to candid snapshots of after battle scenes, the images brought history to the forefront. No photography was allowed in the gallery, but seeing a body and then an arm lying on the ground creates its own visual record in my mind. The exhibit runs through August 28th, so it is nearing its end at the Hunter Museum. If you're in the Chattanooga, try to visit. Elsewhere, I would suggest looking for the exhibit or other Civil War photographs from the Eastman Collection. The images can lead to a new perspective on the Civil War.



Lights in the Mansion

Afterwards, we quickly perused a exhibit featuring work in different mediums by Beverly Semmes and then walked to the Faxon-Hunter mansion. The mansion built in 1905 was the original home of the museum. Other buildings were later constructed for the art museum, but the mansion remains the central display to the outside world. In many ways, with the old home's grand scale and elegance, the structure rivals, perhaps even exceeds, the beauty of the older American works found within.

Much of the museum we did not see since it closed at 5. If Sandra and I return to Chattanooga, I believe we both would like to explore it further. For more information about the Hunter Museum, visit their website. it's an interesting find in southeast Tennessee.