The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
(aka The Tiffany Museum)
445 North Park Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407)
645-5311
AT A GLANCE: Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art
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Date of Visit:
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Saturday, August 12,
2017
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Parking
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Free street .parking
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Amount of time needed
to peruse exhibits:
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45 minutes.
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Amount of time needed
for gift shop
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45 minutes
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Dress code
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Winter Park, Florida
is an upscale town. Where what you
want, but note that you may feel conspicuous wearing shorts, flip flops and a
tank top.
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Be sure to…..
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Wander the quaint
streets of Winter Park
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Nearby/other
establishments to visit
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·
Mennello Museum of American Art
http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/mennello-museum-of-modern-art.html |
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Walkability, general
downtown area / amount of traffic
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Winter Park is a
walkable town, but a car or other transportation is needed to get there.
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Safety, in terms of
type and number of crimes committed in general area
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Generally safe. Practice the normal precautions of stowing
your valuables out of sight and locking your car, even at an upscale place
like Winter Park.
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W
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e
took the opportunity on Saturday to visit a stunning and exquisite museum: the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American
Art located in Winter Park, Florida. Why
this photo from last week’s visit to Madame Tussauds Museum depicting Audrey
Hepburn from the movie “Breakfast at Tiffany’s?” Because the Morse Museum is known familiarly
as the Tiffany Museum and its interior is every bit as delightful as this photo
suggests.
Winter
Park is an artsy town, home to botanical gardens, sculpture gardens, and
museums. But, not just any museum is
located here. The largest collection of
Tiffany glass and pottery in the world is housed at the Charles Hosmer Morse
Museum of American Art. I’m not
exaggerating; Wikipedia says it too:
“The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of
American Art houses the most comprehensive collection of the works of Louis
Comfort Tiffany found anywhere, a
major collection of American art
pottery, and fine collections of
late-19th- and early-20th-century American paintings, graphics and the decorative
arts. It is located in Winter Park,
Florida, USA.”
If
Wikipedia says it, then it must be true (tongue-in-check).
Who
is Charles Hosmer Morse? How and why did
he acquire so many art pieces created by Louis Comfort Tiffany? Why locate a museum in Winter Park? The first and last question is the
easiest: Morse (1833 – 1921) was a wealthy
businessman, and one of the first settlers in Winter Park, Florida. The museum was established by his
granddaughter Jeannette in 1942, and is named is his honor. According to the Morse Museum, in 1957 the
first director of the museum heard that Tiffany’s estate in Long Island, New
York had suffered a devastating fire. Jeannette was an accomplished amateur
artist and had a great affinity for works of art, and wanted to salvage what
the fire didn’t destroy. It was
Jeannette, not Charles, who ended up purchasing what became one of the most
comprehensive collections of Tiffany stained glass.
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The Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, aka the Tiffany Museum
No words are needed when it comes to visiting a Tiffany Museum. The following several photos are
from various works displayed in the museum.  |
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A sketch book, “practice”
glass, and tools of the trade. Go
ahead and touch the colored glasses to
appreciate the distinct textures. |
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Gift
Shop
The
gift shop at the Morse Museum is among my favorites. It’s not only stunning; I consider it to be
“complete,” except for its web presence.
Sadly, visiting the website http://www.morsemuseum.org/museum-shop shows us
that online shopping is not available.
As
I entered, I wondered what should be included in a gift shop that is affiliated
with Tiffany art. For starters, I wanted
to see:
- Stained glass items for sale
- Affordable items
- Unique items
- High end items
- A SALE section
- Books
o Tiffany
o Tiffany’s contemporaries
o Art history from the late 1800s to the 1930s (Louis Comfort Tiffany lived from 1848 –
1933)
o Stained glass
§ History of
§ How to
o Art, in general
o Age-specific books
Unbelievably,
that’s exactly what I found, plus more.
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This employee seemed to be standing
guard over the gift shop. I’m not
certain what her job was, so don’t be put off by thinking someone will stand
over you as you browse. Don’t worry,
they won’t.
Deb, who was working the register,
asked me what I was doing. Admittedly, I
go a bit crazy photographing gift shops, taking upwards of 100 photos, and this
one at the Morse Museum had many beautiful items to see and experience. Recently, I discovered that some shops get
nervous when I start photographing.
Kathy wasn’t. I told her about
the “Meet Me in the Gift Shop” blog, and gave her my card and a refrigerator
magnet. We chatted, and I remarked on
the unique quality of the items for sale.
She replied that one of the functions of a gift shop employee is to
window-shop downtown Winter Park, to ensure that what the museum sells is not
sold at other stores. Kathy revealed
that it wasn’t for snobbery purchases; it was because the Morse Museum didn’t
want to take business away from the local shops. Getting paid to window shop? I could do that in an instance.
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I can check Art books and age-specific books from my expected list. The doggie photo is for my landlord, Michael, who has two doxies at home.  |
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| Art accessories are a fun gift, and the Morse
Museum gift shop offers opportunities.
This is the perfect gift shop is you have an artistic person to buy for. I like how this selection of inks and pens make a great combination gift. | |||||
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Stained glass for sale
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The pedestrian
jewelry displayed on the counters are affordable and uniquely creative
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Remember: the good stuff is under glass, usually by the
register.
Examples of unique jewelry and funky house furnishings, above (4) photos
I also saw high-end items for sale, such as the Frank Lloyd Wright lamp in the above photo.
SALE items! This shop seems to have all its bases covered.
Although
hard pressed, I would make two changes in this gift shop:
1. Display items to their advantage. The glassware in the photo above is truly
beautiful and exclusive. However, it’s
difficult to appreciate because of the cramped arrangement. The glass affords a look beyond this display
which only adds to the distraction.
2. Create an online presence. I feel that the Morse Museum could expand
their customer base if they had an online gift shop to browse and purchase.
Use
the afternoon to amble through Winter Park.
It’s a small and unique town located just north or Orlando. Wealthy railroad owners built it as a place
to stay during the cold winter months of northern states. Four presidents have visited Winter Park, yet
the town remains down-to-earth, friendly and welcoming.
As called by many, this is the Tiffany
Museum. Most of the streets in Winter
Park are paved using bricks. Make no mistake, though: Winter Park may be quaint and cute, but it’s
also upscale and high-class. Dollar
stores aren’t found here. The best I can
relay this atmosphere is that being in Winter Park feels as though this is a
movie set, because it has an artsy and creative vibe. The following photos help in understanding
this upscale town.
Although this
gorgeaous street corner seems like it should be the welcoming point of Winter
Park, it’s located toward the back edge of the town. This is great landscaping, because it
counts on it’s simplicity. Look
closer. Notice that the fire hydrant
in the bottom left corner is painted to coordinate with the rocks, located in
the bottom right corner. This is a
working fountain, with no coins, gunk, or other oddities in it. People in Winter Park would never think of
throwing trash into it; that’s so gauche.
Winter Park doesn’t have litter.
At all.
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Find this large welcoming park located diagonally from the fountain. I needed to photograph the park in segments because of its size, and it took five photos. I selected the one above to include because, again, it feels as if this is a movie set.
I honestly
wondered what this man was holding. A
tricked-out garbage can lid? A UFO
protype? No, it was some kind of New
Age instrument called a Hang Drum. Once
he started playing, I realized that this is not an instrument for
beginners. Please leave this for the
professionals. Winter Park residents
didn’t object to him being there, but I noticed his coffer was scarce. In his defense, he could have just arrived
and set up.
Here’s what the
Internet has to say about this instrument:
“No, it is not a wok, and it is not an UFO out of the 50´s scifi
movies...It resembles an inverted steel drum, and it sound is somehow
similar yet more tribal and hypnotic, relaxing and serene. The instrument has
a soft, sorrowful, melancholic tone a perfect companion for
emotional and ambient music. Despite its rarity (and price) it's been
embraced by many hippy communities and musicians on the street (sure a great
inversion) and it's quickly become an sensation and new hottest trend
among hand drum players.”
Link: http://coolmusicinstrument.com/hang-no-its-not-ufo-its-one-most-cool-percussion-instruments-ever
The link I
provided has 2-minute video clip of a musician playing it. Close your eyes and imagine yourself
strolling the brick-pave streets of Winter Park. It’s melodic and a bit mesmerizing, and
provided the perfect soundtrack.
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To me, this is
the perfect small town. I live an hour southeast of Winter
Park, but I’d love to have a summer cottage there where I could shop, have
the ladies over for afternoon tea, nap, and shop some more because it’s that
delightful of a town. This is the place to break out the dressy summer outfit
that’s been in the back of the closet for such a long time. Funky, yet tasteful, jewelry is just part
of the ensemble in Winter Park.
Surprisingly, there’s no snubbing those who wear shorts and tank
tops.
Recall that
well-heeled railroad barons created this town so they’d have a warm place to
pass the cold northern winters, hence the exclusivity of some of the
shops. Modern additions include
increased parking, for those of us who aren’t wealthy railroad captains of
industry. Winter Park’s shopping
district illustrates what a walkable town should look and feel like.
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Grab
some lunch after visiting the gift shop.
We headed toward the Parkview Restaurant, located at 136 Park Ave,
Winter Park, Florida, 32789, which is no more than two blocks south of the
Morse Museum. Winter Park offers a
plentitude of restaurants; we selected this one because it didn’t have a line
waiting to be seated. The whole town
seemed to be out at lunch because of the 25 – 30 minute waits at most
restaurants, but it was 2:00 pm.
The
Parkview offers simple, gourmet foods and a comfy atmosphere. The couches are great for people-watching,
but what I like about this photo is the man at the table outside. He was partaking in the Mimosa Flight,
sampling varieties of champagne. It’s
like a beer flight, but done in true Winter Park Style.
Finally,
this part of Orlando offers many quality museums. I’ve included a map to get a spatial
orientation of this area. The small
yellow stars below Winter Park and again north of SeaWorld represent other gift
shops reviewed by “Meet Me in the Gift Shop:
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Mennello Museum
of American Art: http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/mennello-museum-of-modern-art.html
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Orange County
Regional History Center: http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/orange-county-regional-history-museum.html
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Skeleton Museum
(Museum of Osteology): http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/skeleton-museum-museum-of-osteology.html
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Madame Tussaud
Orlando: http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/madame.html
Located further south, between Universal and SeaWorld.
As
you can see, there are many places to visit while in the Orlando area. Enjoy as many as you can, but always find
time to visit Winter Park.
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