After watching the temps rise towards the low 100s, after visiting Cottonwood Canyon State Park, we wondered what to do. We saw that the Maryhill Museum of Art (and assumed correctly that it was air conditioned) was just over the border in WA so we drove back through the town of Wasco to Biggs Junction where our hotel was. We picked up coffee and a snack, and then drove over the bridge into WA and six miles to the museum. When we had previously toured Historic Route 30 along the Columbia Gorge, we had read about Samuel Hill the builder. He cursed so much that his name became a substitute for cursing - rather than saying "what the hell are you doing?" people would say "what in Sam Hill are you doing?"
Samuel Hill bought some 5,300 acres along the Columbia in Goldenvale WA and planned a large house and estate. He ended up never living there, instead following the urging of friends made the home into the Maryhill Museum of Art. It is literally in (or near) the middle of nowhere and includes a 4,000 seat outdoor area for concerts, grounds with art and sculpture, the museum and land used for farming and vineyards.
While Patty sat relaxing in the shade, I wandered through the gardens and grounds surrounding the museum. The signs gave a good education about the area.
Here are a couple of photos looking back at Biggs Junction where our motel is.
This is the Sam Hill bridge over the Columbia River connecting Biggs Junction with Goldendale WA.
The observation deck out from the chess exhibit gallery offers a great view of the part of the grounds that have been leased out to farmers and to the Maryhill Vineyard.
Then we headed inside. The museum is renowned for its eclectic collection. One part was a collection of chess sets from around the world going back many centuries.
There are over a hundred sets in the gallery.
There are several other galleries including a large collection of sculptures and drawings by Auguste Rodin, he of the famed sculpture of "The Thinker." Another gallery included works from all nine regions of Native Americans in what is now the USA and Canada.
As I was getting tired, I neglected to take more pictures of the other 20+ galleries, but remember glasswork by Rene Lalique and the Daum Brothers; modern glass art by renowned disciples of Dale Chihuly; and a gallery of items donated by and/or connected to Queen Marie of Romania; she had befriended Samuel Hill and was there for the opening of the Museum in 1926.
Here is some info about her: Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938) was a close friend of Sam Hill who presided over the museum’s dedication ceremony on November 3, 1926. Her visit to the United States was a media sensation and caused a similar buzz in the Columbia River Gorge when she dedicated the yet-unfinished Maryhill Museum of Art as a personal favor. The ceremony attracted a crowd of 2,000, including 400 area schoolchildren and an auto caravan from Portland. Here is a link to a silent newsreel of Queen Marie’s visit.
During the same visit, Marie delivered a cache of artwork and personal artifacts to the museum; today visitors to Maryhill can see paintings, Russian icons and sculptures, along with carved gilt furniture, manuscripts, and the gown Queen Marie wore to the 1896 coronation of her cousins Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, along with a replica of the Queen’s coronation crown, jewelry, silverware, royal regalia and other memorabilia.
Queen Marie of Roumania’s personal art objects and artifacts are among the many collections that make Maryhill Museum unique. In no other museum, in the United States or Europe, is there a collection that documents the dazzling personality and the daring accomplishments of this thoroughly modern queen.
— Linda Brady Tesner, “Maryhill Museum of Art”
Queen Marie of Romania was a descendant of both the Queen of England and the Russian Tsar.
After the museum, we were both spent from the heat, so we headed back to our motel room for some cold drinks and a rest.
Samuel Hill bought some 5,300 acres along the Columbia in Goldenvale WA and planned a large house and estate. He ended up never living there, instead following the urging of friends made the home into the Maryhill Museum of Art. It is literally in (or near) the middle of nowhere and includes a 4,000 seat outdoor area for concerts, grounds with art and sculpture, the museum and land used for farming and vineyards.
While Patty sat relaxing in the shade, I wandered through the gardens and grounds surrounding the museum. The signs gave a good education about the area.
Here are a couple of photos looking back at Biggs Junction where our motel is.
This is the Sam Hill bridge over the Columbia River connecting Biggs Junction with Goldendale WA.
The observation deck out from the chess exhibit gallery offers a great view of the part of the grounds that have been leased out to farmers and to the Maryhill Vineyard.
Then we headed inside. The museum is renowned for its eclectic collection. One part was a collection of chess sets from around the world going back many centuries.
There are over a hundred sets in the gallery.
There are several other galleries including a large collection of sculptures and drawings by Auguste Rodin, he of the famed sculpture of "The Thinker." Another gallery included works from all nine regions of Native Americans in what is now the USA and Canada.
As I was getting tired, I neglected to take more pictures of the other 20+ galleries, but remember glasswork by Rene Lalique and the Daum Brothers; modern glass art by renowned disciples of Dale Chihuly; and a gallery of items donated by and/or connected to Queen Marie of Romania; she had befriended Samuel Hill and was there for the opening of the Museum in 1926.
Here is some info about her: Queen Marie of Romania (1875-1938) was a close friend of Sam Hill who presided over the museum’s dedication ceremony on November 3, 1926. Her visit to the United States was a media sensation and caused a similar buzz in the Columbia River Gorge when she dedicated the yet-unfinished Maryhill Museum of Art as a personal favor. The ceremony attracted a crowd of 2,000, including 400 area schoolchildren and an auto caravan from Portland. Here is a link to a silent newsreel of Queen Marie’s visit.
During the same visit, Marie delivered a cache of artwork and personal artifacts to the museum; today visitors to Maryhill can see paintings, Russian icons and sculptures, along with carved gilt furniture, manuscripts, and the gown Queen Marie wore to the 1896 coronation of her cousins Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra of Russia, along with a replica of the Queen’s coronation crown, jewelry, silverware, royal regalia and other memorabilia.
Queen Marie of Roumania’s personal art objects and artifacts are among the many collections that make Maryhill Museum unique. In no other museum, in the United States or Europe, is there a collection that documents the dazzling personality and the daring accomplishments of this thoroughly modern queen.
— Linda Brady Tesner, “Maryhill Museum of Art”
Queen Marie of Romania was a descendant of both the Queen of England and the Russian Tsar.
After the museum, we were both spent from the heat, so we headed back to our motel room for some cold drinks and a rest.
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