Museum Monday: The Telfair Academy
Written by Katelyn Myrick. Photo by Katelyn Myrick.
The Telfair Academy is the last of the Telfair Museum trio. This museum features American and European works of art in a renovated mansion. The artworks range from paintings, works on paper, sculpture, and decorative arts from the periods of the 19th to 20th centuries and cover three stories. This former mansion was designed by William Jay and was built in a Neoclassical Regency style in 1819.
Prior to this build, it was the home and office of James Wright a prominent governmental figure in Savannah’s history. Alexander Telfair commissioned the house from an upcoming architect from England William Jay. He was brought to Savannah to oversee the building of the now Owens–Thomas House & Slave Quarters. In 1875, Alexander’s sister Mary gave the house and furnishings to the Georgia Historical Society and it was then turned into a museum. It was opened to the public in 1886 after being remodeled and added on by German-born artist Carl Brandt with assists from New York architect Detlef Lienau and Savannah architect Augustus Schwab. A lot of the permanent collection that exist today is thanks to American artist Gari Melchers who during his time on the board of trustees from 1906-1916 purchased a large amount of works of art from well-known artists.
The original rooms from the time of Alexander Telfair have been preserved and are the immediate rooms a visitor will see when walking in. Before discussing the main gallery, we must mention the first encounter visitors get before entering the museum. This is of course the four-columned portico and five limestone sculptures. Each of these 7-foot-tall sculptures gives you a sense of the art that can be found in this museum with each portraying master artists including Michelangelo, Phidias, Rubens, Rembrandt and Raphael.
The main gallery spaces are the additions that were made in 1886 which include the Rotunda Gallery space and the Sculpture Gallery on the bottom floor. The Rotunda which is breathtakingly spacious and a perfect recreation of an English salon holds magnificently large paintings. If you look high enough, there are four murals that Brandt created each depicting ancient artists of the four primary art forms including: Painter Apelles of Kos, Architect Ictinus or Iktinus, Sculptor Praxiteles of Athens and Printmaker Albrecht Dürer.
Moving down the stairs to the sculpture gallery, this space holds both sculptures and paintings with recreations of significant sculptures from Europe. While the sculptures are Greco-Roman recreations the paintings are from more recent years from the 20th century, some of which include Childe Hassam’s “Brooklyn Bridge in Winter” and Robert Henri’s “La Madrileñita.”
On the top floor were the bedrooms of Alexander Telfair and his family. They were later renovated to be gallery spaces blocking up fireplaces and any other areas of the wall that would obstruct the hanging of art. Today these galleries include permanent collection hangings as well as temporary gallery exhibitions.
If you’re interested in reveling in ancient works of art and stepping back in time, take a visit to the Telfair Academy. If you’re interested in visiting the Telfair Academy check out their website here.
