Left, Frank Lloyd Wright house at Crystal Bridges Exterior Back Sunset. Bottom, Living space to foyer at Crystal Bridges. Photos by Nancy Nolan Photography.
magnificently manicured nature trails. According to the museum’s publications, Crystal Bridges is the first new museum dedicated to American art in more than a generation. The exquisite art collection, which is presented chronologically, spans five centuries of American art, featuring masterpieces from Colonial times through today. Visitors can see how American art has changed significantly from its early beginnings when artists were heavily influenced by European masterpieces. The collection includes such famous artists as Mary Cassatt, John Singer Sargent and William Merritt Chase to more wellknown modern names as Georgia O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell and Ray Lichtenstein. A recent exhibit showcased the pop art of the iconoclastic Andy Warhol. Architecturally, the museum is a dramatic and awe-inspiring wonder. Situated at the base of a natural ravine, it was designed to be a complement and a counterpoint to the lush landscape. Moshie Safdie, a native of Haifa, Israel, and an award-winning versatile architect, was Alice’s choice to design her dream museum. Safdie let the environment influence and guide his design plan. The landscape surrounds the rectangular and semicircular shape of the buildings, giving the impression of giant hard-backed turtles at the first surprising glance. He also used a complementary mix of materials: poured concrete for the walls, red cedar trim, brushed steel railings, soaring pine beams. It is easy to imagine the arched copper roof of the bridges as geological formations. OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2016 ionOklahoma 71