Addison Gallery of American Art — Attraction in Andover

We saw the "Robert Frank and Todd Webb: Across America, 1955" and "A Long Arc, Photography and the American South since 1845" exhibits. The latter was the better of the two. It is organized historically, so you see a very interesting chronological retrospective on the complicated and not necessarily pretty history of the South. The photographs are almost universally spectacular. Spoiler alert, the exhibit emphasizes the negative, of which of course there is a lot. It would have been nice to see more emphasis on the majority of the lives of ordinary people in the South; i.e., when they were not oppressing or being oppressed.... But, all in all, well worth the time. The Frank and Webb exhibit is a lot more frustrating. First, while the photographs are very interesting (you certainly have seen quite a few Frank's, a couple of examples below), a number of them did not seem to have been digitized and printed in a particularly professional manner. More frustratingly, the commentary is resolutely, gratuitously, and in many cases condescendingly focused through the prism of today's identitarian sensibilities on everything that supposedly is awful about America. I suppose that is what one must expect these days from curators at museums that want to be taken seriously by their similarly minded peers. But it gets really tedious, and in many cases is neither justified by the picture nor, it appears, whatever it is Frank or Webb said was going on when they took the pictures. Instead, it reflects what the curators think should be said today about the picture. As only one example, I have attached one picture and...

I had visited the Addison Gallery one time before my recent visit. It is a wonderful small Museum on a beautiful campus. A friend and I were at the Museum to see the current exhibit of Rosamond Purcell. It's an amazing exhibit. I would watch the video before viewing the exhibit to really get a sense of Rosamond's work and career. I personally found it difficult to enjoy my time there due to the acoustics in the museum. It is like a echo chamber. Along with visitors talking very loudly there was a group of young children having a class. The children themselves were just being children but the three adults with them were making no effort to modulate their voices and were practically shouting at them. I mentioned this to the rather unfriendly young woman at the entrance desk. Her colleague in the gift shop across the way heard me and came out to speak with me. She suggested as there is an issue with the acoustics and it is a teaching Museum I call ahead to see if there were going to be any groups visiting. I would suggest doing so if you want to really engage with all of the wonderful art at the Museum. If you would like to have a wonderful meal there's a great Thai restaurant in Andover. Gati Thai Bistro,at 12 Post Office Ave. A small street in downtown Andover. We had not checked the hours. We arrived as the lunch hour was almost finishing at 3:00. They were about to close but they let us in. It's a small intimate space with a lovely atmosphere and very gracious owners. The food was delicious. It was a great way to end...

Host to a unique and very valuable collection of almost entirely-American art, as well as several world-class traveling exhibits, the Addison is top-of-the-line for a small art gallery. Its low traffic and open admission to the public make it an ideal stop for art enthusiasts who happen to be in the area.

However, the staff at the Addison are well aware of the museum's value and do not hesitate to show off how much better they are. Reading a pamphlet guide written by a curator on her collection, one can only help but laugh at her well-intended but incredibly overblown, pseudo-intellectual explanations which replace thought with empty statement.

Amidst works of truly great artists like Georgia O'Keefe and Jackson Pollock, as well as unknown but equally unique and beautiful art, are selections which can only be described as "pretentious." Such is the world of great art, but the Addison tries in vain to rank itself with the likes of MoMA.

The Addison strives to be a world-class museum, and it definitely has an extraordinary collection of intriguing and valuable art, but keep in mind that you're probably not going to want to spend...