-
Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art
The Rhode Island School of
Design Museum in Providence, Rhode Island is associated with the
Rhode Island School of Design, and was started as early as 1877;
today the 20th biggest art museum in the nation. The museum houses
many types of artworks, that have come here from across the globe,
and include, the Americas, Egypt, Europe, ancient Rome and Greece,
Asia and Africa. It also contains many excellent works from Rhode
Island artists, like the 17th century Newport furniture makers,
Townsend and Goddard, as well as 19th century Rhode Island painters
portraitist Gilbert Stuart and Anglo-American impressionist, John
Noble Barlow. It contains the works of many great international and
American painters like Andy Warhol, Picasso, Monet, Paul Revere and
Manet; with more than 80,000 works included in the entire
collection. The works include categories like ancient art, prints,
drawings and photographs, Asian art, costume and textiles,
contemporary art, decorative arts, painting and sculpture. These
collections are filled with a who's who in their fields, with many
exciting and interesting ancient works like a bronze figural
sculpture, an outstanding collection of Roman glass and jewelry,
Greek coins, stone sculpture, mosaics, Greek vases, paintings, an
Etruscan bronze situla or pail, a fifth century BC Greek female head
created in marble, a very rare Hellenistic bronze Aphrodite and
more. The Asian art collections contain prints, ceramics, paintings,
textiles, sculpture and costumes and so much more that it would
behoove you to visit this excellent museum and enjoy perusing the
magnificent collections. Some of the marvelous contemporary artworks
have been created by such notables as Roy Lichtenstein, Robert
Mangold, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Nevelson, Sam Francis, Richard
Serra, Andy Warhol, Larry Rivers and more. There are over 2500 works
of European and American artworks from the medieval age to 1960 and
include works by Hendrick Goltzius, Lippo Memmi, Giovanni Battista
Tiepolo, Georg Vischer and Salomon van Ruysdael and many more. The
marvelous 17th and 18th century paintings and sculptures include
artists like Francisco Collantes, Nicolas Poussin, Angelica Kauffman
and Joshua Reynolds. The early 19th century European art works
include; Hubert Robert, Thomas Lawrence, Joseph Chinard and many
others. Other noted and famous artists represented in this
collection includes Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Paul Cezanne,
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Auguste Rodin, Charles-Henri-Joseph Cordier
and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. The 20th century masters include Pablo
Picasso, Henri Matisse, Raymond Duchamp-Villon and Georges Braque.
American artists included in this gallery include Georgia O'Keefe,
John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, John Singleton Copley, Edward
Mitchell Bannister, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Cole, William Merritt
Chase and Thomas Cole.
-
State House
 The
Rhode Island State House in Providence, Rhode Island and is a
neoclassical structure that contains the state's general assembly
and the offices of the governor, secretary of state, lieutenant
governor and general treasurer; and has been listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. This is the seventh state house that
has been constructed for the capitol, and the second in Providence
after the Old Rhode Island State House. This stately majestic
building was constructed between 1895 and 1904, enjoying a
significant renovation during the late 1990s. This is the structure
that would be used for the US capitol's exterior shots during the
movie, Armistad that was filmed in 1997, and also was used as the
City Hall of Capitol City in the movie made by Disney called
Underdog. The capitol structure is made of 15 million bricks,
327,000 cubic feet of white Georgia marble, and 1,309 short tons of
iron floor beams, with the fourth biggest dome in the nation, which
is a self-supporting marble dome, after St. Peter's Basilica, the
Minnesota State Capitol and the Taj Mahal. The top of the dome is
graced with a gold-covered bronze statue of Independent Man that had
been named, "Hope", and it weighs over 500 pounds, stands 11 feet
tall and is some 278 feet above the ground level. He represents
independence and freedom, which refers to the independent spirit
that led Roger Williams to settle here and begin Providence, which
would eventually become Rhode Island. The Senate chamber sits in the
east wing, while the house is located in the west wing, and the
other spaces include the rotunda, the state room situated in the
south end and the library that is found in the north end. The state
room is used as the entry way into the offices of the governor and
has a full-scale portrait of George Washington created by the Rhode
Island native, Gilbert Stuart; and is used for the governor's press
conferences and bill signings at the capitol. This was also one of
the first structures to use electricity in the state, and is lit
with 109 floodlights and two searchlights in the evening. It would
be one of the first structures in the nation that would use
skylights, with the significant ones being located in the House of
Representatives chamber, the Senate chamber and the state library.
There is quite a bit of carved marble located inside, while over the
tops of the pillared porticoes there are numerous quotations and
historical chronologies of the state. Located in the rotunda area
are statues, battle flags and guns that showcase the state's
military history, and in the center, beneath the dome, is a brass
copy of the state seal.
|
Car Rentals
Providence
The
Henry Lippitt House in Providence, Rhode Island is a museum house
that was constructed by Governor Henry Lippitt in 1865 and based on
a design by Russell Warren; made a National Historic Landmark in
1976. The Lippitt family would donate the estate to Preserve Rhode
Island in 1981, that continues to operate the mansion as a historic
house museum. Henry constructed the house for his wife, Mary Ann
Balch Lippitt and their six children and would be occupied by
numerous generations of Lippitts for the next 114 years. There
wouldn't be many changes made over the century plus period, which
made it easier to be added the list of historic landmarks and is
still a great testament to the excellent craftsmen of the period.
The three story, 20 room house created in the renaissance revival
style with Italian palazzo elements enhanced by marvelous faux
finishes from the walls to the ceilings, with fabulous marble
statues, monogrammed dining service, stained glass windows and
excellently carved woodworks. Visitors to this affluent family
included the famous Professor Alexander Graham Bell, Cole Porter and
Jack Lemmon. The New York Times stated that, "the Governor Henry
Lippitt House Museum is the only intact authentic example of
original 19th century high style Victorian decoration in
Providence."