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New Orleans
Not Merely a Destination, It's an Experience!
Over 350-years-old, New Orleans is one of those unique cities where the preservation of tradition and appreciation of history have been prioritized. Institutions like the French Market and Café Du Monde have stood the test of time.
While the skyline of the Central Business District has changed and technological advances of modern commerce now prevail, New Orleans continues to rely on the Mississippi River and the many ships that dock in its port. Throughout its rich history, the city has been an important shipping center and port of entry.
Some streets of New Orleans are drastically different today than they were just decades ago, but many beautiful landmarks have survived the wrecking ball and evaded "progress." In the Vieux Carré (French Quarter), demolition of historic buildings is even prohibited.
With the winds of change, though, some structures haven't fared so well. The elegant St. Charles Hotel, once owned by Dinkler Hotels, was razed years ago.
Formerly the Palace d'Armes around which New Orleans was built, Jackson Square is now one of the most prominent focal points in the Vieux Carré. Named in honor of General Andrew Jackson following the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, the beautiful park, reminiscent of the Place des Vosges in Paris, was designed by Louis H. Pilie. A centerpiece of the beautifully landscaped grounds is the Clark Mills sculpture of Andrew Jackson astride his spirited steed. The pose, in which Jackson is tipping his hat, is said to have been created at the insistence of the Baroness de Pontalba (with whom Jackson had been rumored to have had an affair) in response to the hero's failure to tip his hat to her!
Key Jackson Square structures include St. Louis Cathedral, the Presbytère, Cabildo and Pontalba Buildings.
St. Louis Cathedral, the oldest active cathedral in the nation, dates to 1794. Visitors will especially want to take note of the wonderful ceiling and altar murals painted by Erasme Humbrecht in the early 1870s. St. Anthony's Garden, located behind the cathedral, was a popular duelling site where men often settled their differences in affaires d'honneur with pistols or colichemarde.
The Presbytère (built in 1724 as a monastery) and the Cabildo (site of the Louisiana Purchase signing) both flank the St. Louis Cathedral, and are now integral parts of the Louisiana State Museum.
Built opposite each other at Jackson Square are the Pontalba Buildings, the oldest apartment buildings in the United States. Erected on land inherited from her wealthy father Don André Almonester y Rojas, the apartments cost the Baroness de Pontalba a sum of $300,000 (an astounding amount of money in 1849).
The French Market stretches several blocks from Jackson Square to Barracks Street. Its present group of buildings dates to 1813, and the architecture is representative of the various countries that have controlled Louisiana, including Spain, France and England. The first building, constructed in 1771, was destroyed by a hurricane in 1812. French Market staples include fresh shrimp, crab, crawfish and Cajun seasonings. Highlights of the market are Café du Monde (circa 1862) and the 101-year-old, family-owned Central Grocery (where shoppers can indulge in the Old World-style grocery store's trademark muffulettas with olive salad or stock up on Italian, French, Greek and Spanish delicacies, imported olive oils and regional sauces).
At 514 Chartres Street, tourists can peruse the fascinating displays of the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. Located in an 1823 apothecary shop once belonging to Louis Joseph Dufilho Jr., the country's first licensed pharmacist, the museum's exhibits include herbal remedies, bloodletting instruments and archaic pharmaceuticals.
A final recommended stop for history buffs and musicologists is the Old U. S. Mint at 400 Esplanade Avenue. Serving as a mint from 1837 to 1909 with only a brief hiatus during the Civil War, the building is now part of the Louisiana State Museum, housing the New Orleans Jazz Collection and the much talked about Storyville exhibit of paintings.
As expected, some artists have recorded songs about the events that transpired during and after the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina. Disgruntled over the federal response to storm victims, Virgin Records' Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals recorded "Black Rain" on the 2006 multi-disk project Both Sides of the Gun. In addition to making political and social statements, other musicians have donated a portion of their CD sales to Katrina-related causes. Such is the case of Harry Connick Jr. who recorded "All These People" with gospel singer Kim Burrell. All proceeds from the sale of the song benefit New Orleans Musicians' Village.
The birthplace of jazz (the musical genre many regard as the only artform to originate in the USA), New Orleans is home to a variety of musical styles including Zydeco, Cajun, Delta blues and gospel. It's no wonder the city has produced renowned musicians like Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson and Fats Domino.
Additionally, it comes as no surprise that the Big Easy has inspired many songwriters and become the subject of a slew of songs. The result is an anthology of tunes that vary from tender and romantic to comical and carefree to sensual and downright steamy.
Bessie Smith, the "Empress of the Blues," recorded "New Orleans Hop Scop Blues" in 1930, and singer Billie Holiday (accompanied by jazz great Louis Armstrong) recorded "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans" for the 1947 film New Orleans, but a number of Crescent City songs have been recorded of late.
Southern rocker Edwin McCain included his self-penned "Ghosts of Jackson Square" on his 1999 Lava/Atlantic release Messenger. Two-time Grammy winning Christian artist Ashley Cleveland sang about a "big dream girl" who ultimately left the city riding a "Bus Named Desire." "Fancy," a song about a young woman who prostitutes herself to escape poverty in the "outskirts of New Orleans," became a hit for country diva Reba McEntyre. Nashville singer-songwriter Marcus Hummon, whose songs have become major hits for other artists including the platinum-selling Dixie Chicks, recorded "French Quarter Re-run" in which he proclaims to "Julianna" that ". . . in the Quarter love is a re-run." Even Atlanta singer and vocal coach to the stars Jan Smith couldn't resist a "N'Awlins" song on her 1996 Rogue release. Non Stop Thrill included "Baptized in New Orleans," an infectious number written by Michael Lunn and Laura Kissinger.
Asked to define jazz, Louis Armstrong once said,
"If you have to ask what it is, you'll never know."
Awaken Your Creativity
Apparently there is something in the water in New Orleans that spawns and nurtures creativity and fosters self-expression. After all, the city has given birth to many great writers, musicians and artists including jazz greats Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton; gospel recording artist Mahalia Jackson; R&B legend Fats Domino; Grammy winners Aaron Neville and Harry Connick Jr.; actress, comedian and Emmy-winning talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres; playwright, director, producer and actor, Tyler Perry; Emmy-winning actor John Larroquette; and, best-selling novelist Anne Rice.
Additionally, a legion of transient artists, authors, poets and playwrights have found the Bohemian ambience of the Vieux Carré much to their liking. Elements of New Orleans are evident in some of their greatest works.
Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) resided in the French Quarter for a number of years, and it was from real-life people and firsthand experiences there that he molded fictional characters and crafted some of his best plays, short stories and poems, including A Streeetcar Named Desire, Suddenly Last Summer, Vieux Carré, "Angel in the Alcove," "Hard Candy," "The Lady of Larkspur Lotion" and "Crepe de Chine."
In an interview with journalist Don Lee Keith, Williams once stated, "Writers are, as you know, the purest in spirit of all vagabonds. Especially young writers, those whose creative shapes have not yet been molded by their muses. They have trouble staying still. I did. And it isn't by chance, I think, that so many end up here in New Orleans, for short stays, at least. Then they go somewhere else and bide their time until their New Orleans seed begins to sprout. Meanwhile, this place just waits for more of them to come and go. And they do."
Nobel and Pulitzer laureate William Faulkner spent a great deal of time in New Orleans, and the Big Easy is referred to in his Absalom, Absalom! as "that city foreign and paradoxical, with its atmosphere at once fatal and languorous, at once feminine and steelhard..."
From the rhythmic beat of life in the French Quarter to the city's cultural distinctiveness and eccentricities, New Orleans continues to provide material with which the avant-garde can create compelling written works, produce intricate, improvisatory jazz arrangements and employ various media and techniques to dramatically render blank canvases and shapeless clay into grand masterpieces.
Authors, published and unpublished, will find that the milieu of New Orleans is satisfactorily conducive to learning and creating. One of the greatest assets to the city's literary world is the Pirate's Alley Faulkner Society, Inc. Located at 624 Pirate's Alley, Faulkner's former residence, the non-profit organization sponsors the Words & Music festival, hosts "Meet the Author" signing parties and holds the annual William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition. In partnership with the Louisiana State Museum, the organization also presents My New Orleans, a series comprised of monthly events emphasizing the myriad characteristics that define the Big Easy.
The music industry in New Orleans hardly rivals that of New York's famed Tin Pan Alley or Nashville's Music Row, but opportunities abound for performers and composers. Some music clubs feature open mic performances, providing vocalists and musicians environments in which they can showcase their talent. These clubs also offer songwriters a chance to meet, share ideas and forge collaborations.
Aspiring musicians are especially encouraged to experience bona fide New Orleans jazz at Preservation Hall. Whether you're a student majoring in music, a budding performer or an avid fan, Preservation Hall is a "must see." Situated just three blocks from the Mississippi River at 726 St. Peter Street, the hall was founded by Allan and Sandra Jaffe to provide a venue in which New Orleans musicians can perform and preserve their own brand of jazz, a fading art . . even in the Big Easy.
Offering a clean, family-friendly setting, Preservation Hall welcomes all ages and prohibits smoking and drinking on the premises. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band performs regularly, and the hall also features concerts by other local artists.
Click the above image to request a free Official Louisiana Tour Guide.
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Rick Olivier/Courtesy of Preservation Hall
For visual artists, the Crescent City is an ideal locale for filling sketchbooks, plein air painting and taking photographs. Its colorful people, magnificent architecture and historical gems ensure that there is never a shortage of potential subjects. Of great benefit to the Big Easy's artistic community is the New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts located at 5256 Magazine Street. The Academy is an artist's atelier for students of all levels, offering courses in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography and art history. Figure painters and sculptors are able to enhance their skills and gain a greater understanding of anatomy by working with live models. Weather permitting, landscape oil painting classes are even taught outdoors in places like Audubon Park. The Academy also boasts a gallery in which students display their completed works for sale to the general public.
If you have a creative side, New Orleans is sure to provide many sources of inspiration and valuable educational experiences. Regardless of your field of interest, you are bound to find others of similar bent with which you can mingle and network to perfect your craft or advance an emerging career. For individuals who perceive themselves as lacking artistic gifts or abilities, a visit to New Orleans could potentially stimulate the senses, stir the imagination and prompt one to delve into avocations once thought too challenging and complex. The city might even unmask your alter ego as it did with Thomas Lanier Williams (aka Tennessee Williams)!
Jazz Up Your Collection
Antiques, unique collectibles and art are abundant in New Orleans. Shops and galleries throughout the city brim with fine furniture, exquisite objets d'art and bric-a-brac. While tourists are apt to casually shop and buy impulsively without considering a dealer's reputation or the quality of the merchandise, it goes without saying that connoisseurs with a keen eye and years of buying experience know where to search in the Big Easy for additions to their collections. Royal Street in the Vieux Carré and six-mile-long Magazine Street are essential to any collector's itinerary.
This "rare, important and monumental" Newcomb high-glazed vase was produced in 1902. Signed and dated by the artist, Marie DeHoa LeBlanc, the 12 1/2" piece recently set a world record auction price for Newcomb Pottery, fetching $108,400 at the November 18-19, 2006 Fall Estates Auction of the New Orleans Auction Galleries.
Courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries, Inc.
(Author's Note: Newcomb Pottery is among the hottest commodities of New Orleans origin. Between 1895 and 1940, some 70,000 pieces were created. Handthrown by male potters, the pottery was decorated by female artists at H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College, making each piece a one-of-a-kind work of art. Today, Newcomb pottery rarely sells for less than four figures!)
Though some dealers in New Orleans clearly cater to the affluent, many shopping destinations, particularly antiques malls, "hole in the wall" shops and smaller galleries, feature quality, affordable art and antiques to suit virtually every spending allocation and taste. In any event, the high-end stores merit browsing for education's sake. A familiarity with rare, desirable objects can come in handy in the future when one pores over off-beat shops or evaluates auction consignments.
M. S. Rau Antiques at 630 Royal Street has been in business for nearly a hundred years, and its 30,000 square foot gallery could keep even the most discriminating buyer occupied for hours.
Another Royal Street anchor is Waldhorn & Adler. This family-owned source for fine antique furniture, jewelry, porcelain and silver has occupied the same corner since 1881.
Prospective buyers of rare weapons, coins, currency, books and documents will want to peruse the inventory of James H. Cohen and Sons, Inc. at 437 Royal Street. A French Quarter fixture since 1898, Cohen maintains an excellent selection of ancient, treasure and rare American coins to delight any serious numismatist.
Richard Nowitz/Courtesy of NOMCVB
Magazine Street antiques dealers include La Belle Nouvelle Orleans, a source for architecturals like stained glass, wrought iron fencing, French doors and statuary.
For collectors of art, New Orleans provides an elaborate smorgasbord, ranging from eclectic renderings by street painters to gallery installations containing works by internationally acclaimed artists. The city's Warehouse District (a portion of the Central Business District located near the Mississippi River) has even been labeled "The SoHo of the South."
Cole Pratt Gallery, Ltd., one of New Orleans' premier galleries, bills itself as "A contemporary fine art gallery specializing in the works of Southern artists." Situated in Uptown at the corner of Magazine and Peniston Streets, Cole Pratt's offerings include works by Phil Sandusky, a nationally known artist, New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts teacher and author of New Orleans En Plein Air.
Magazine Street's Anton Haardt Gallery, a specialist in contemporary folk art from the Deep South, is certain to command one's attention. Haardt's repertoire of funky, witty, paradoxical and ambiguous works is representative of some of the region's best known and expressive self-taught artists, including Jimmy Lee Sudduth and the late Reverend Howard Finster.
If the excitement of buying at auction is your forte, be sure to check out Neal Auction Company and New Orleans Auction Galleries. Both auction houses enjoyed record sales in 2006, attracting buyers from far and wide.
Kelly Eppler, Managing Director of New Orleans Auction Galleries at 801 Magazine Street, says New Orleans is without question the destination for serious Southern collectors. His assertion might be correct as evidenced by the auction house's record-breaking year in 2006.
When asked whether Hurricane Katrina might have destroyed important collections and, in turn, increased the value of existing art and antiques in the Gulf region, Eppler replied, "Important paintings and prints were lost in the New Orleans area and along the entire Gulf Coast due to Hurricane Katrina. Nostalgia certainly contributed to our record sales this year, but, as always, significant property brings significant prices."
At its 2006 Fall Estates Auction, New Orleans Auction Galleries sold four sculptures by noted African American artist Richmond Barthé (1901-1989). Head of a Negro Boy brought $37,200, setting a world record for the artist for plaster sculpture. Aquarius, Black Madonna and The Seeker sold for $3,360, $14,400 and $21,000 respectively.
Founded in 1991 by Jean R. Vidos, New Orleans Auction Galleries is one of the top auction houses in the nation. Eppler states, "Because of the wonderful estate property that is referred to us from around the country, we are able to offer a wide variety of furniture, decorative objects and artwork---from 17th-century Europe to 20th-century Louisiana."
While the auction's recent world record prices and stellar sales could, at first glance, intimidate potential bidders of more modest means, Eppler says, "There is something for everyone's budget in each of our sales because we offer large estates in their entirety."
On May 20, 2006, New Orleans Auction Galleries celebrated its largest auction to date with sales totaling $7.7 million. The Estate of Ray and Martha Ann Samuel included Laundry Day on Lake Pontchartrain Near Mouth of the Tchefuncte River with Steamboat in the Distance, a superb landscape oil on canvas by Marshall Joseph Smith Jr. (1854-1923). A world record price of $555,000 was set for the artist.
Tennessee Williams and A Streetcar Named Desire
In his famous play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams incorporated authentic New Orleans landmarks and fixtures like Galatoire's, Elysian Fields and, of course, the streetcars Cemeteries and Desire. Opening at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to New York's Ethel Barrymore Theatre in December 1947, the original Broadway production cast included Marlon Brando (Stanley Kowalski), Jessica Tandy (Blanche DuBois), Kim Hunter (Stella Kowalski) and Karl Malden (Mitch). The play garnered the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948.
In the motion picture, Vivien Leigh of Gone with the Wind fame played the role of Blanche DuBois, an alcoholic nymphomaniac of sorts whose disillusionment garners her pity by viewers as an atypical damsel in distress.
A Discovery Awaits
Though Native Americans, Spanish explorers and French settlers found the area on which New Orleans sits eons ago, it goes without saying that the Big Easy is uncharted territory for millions of vacationers. Only in New Orleans can one find Southern hospitality wedded with the splendor of a great European metropolis like Paris. In no other locale can pedestrians witness the poignancy and celebration of a jazz funeral. And, in the Crescent City, hungry travelers can enjoy Louisiana's finest authentic Creole and Cajun cuisine (only to learn there really is a difference between the two).
Yes, the Big Easy is a place for discovery. Once there, you are sure to unearth treasures---tangible and intangible souvenirs that will evoke fond memories for a lifetime.
Unquestionably, New Orleans is more than a destination. It's an experience . . . and an unforgettable one at that.
Marlon Brando played the crass and chauvinistic Stanley Kowalski in both the original Broadway production and film.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dan Baum, "The Lost Year: Behind the failure to rebuild," The New Yorker, August 21, 2006.
Kenneth Holditch and Richard Freeman Leavitt, Tennessee Williams and the South (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2002).
Sharon Keating, New Orleans in Photographs (New York: Gramercy Books, 2005).
John R. Kemp, "Bayou Bound," Art & Antiques, Traveling Collector Issue, Volume II, 2002.
Stuart M. Lynn, New Orleans (New York: Bonanza Books, 1949).
Tom Piazza, Why New Orleans Matters (New York: ReganBooks, 2005).
Italo William Ricciuti, New Orleans and Its Envirions: The Domestic Architecture, 1727-1870 (New York, Bonanza Books, 1938).
Robert Santelli, Holly George-Warren and Jim Brown, eds., American Roots Music (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2001).
John Webb, "The Big Easy Does It Again," Art & Antiques, Traveling Collector Issue, 2000.
Marilyn Wood, Trip Builder New Orleans (New York: Trip Builder, Inc., 1998, Rev. 2000).
Bill Wyman, Bill Wyman's Blues Odyssey: A Journey to Music's Heart & Soul (New York: Dorling Kindersley Publishing, Inc., 2001).
"Mitch Landrieu: Uniting Louisiana Behind a Single Desire," Southern Edition. Retrieved January 2007: http://www.southernedition.com
OTHER SOURCES
Electronic mail communication with Carling Dinkler III, Custom Conventions, New Orleans/Las Vegas, on December 19, 2006
Electronic mail communication with Kelly Eppler, New Orleans Auction Galleries, Inc., New Orleans, on December 22, 2006
Electronic mail communication with Renee Maxwell, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, on December 18, 2006
Electronic mail communication with Emily Sneed, Office of Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, Baton Rouge, on behalf of Angele Davis, Louisiana Secretary of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, on October 13, 2006
Electronic mail communication with Andrea Thornton, Hotel Monteleone, New Orleans, on December 21, 2006
Author: Greg Freeman. Published January 15, 2007. Revised September 4, 2008.
