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The Poe Museum Blog

Enchanting Paintings Revealed at Poe Museum

Painting by Chris Ludke

If you have visited the Poe Museum in Richmond recently, you might have noticed artists busily working at their easels throughout the garden. Over the course of the past month, these artists have been painting, sketching, and photographing the Poe Museum’s legendary Enchanted Garden for the a new exhibit and fundraiser opening next week on May 22 at the Museum. Painting the Enchanted Garden will feature new artwork by artists including Brenda Bickerstaff-Stanley, Randall Graham, Linda Hollett-Bazouzi, Julia Lesnichy, Chris Ludke, Jean Miller, Mac Paulett, Mary Pedini, Jamie Phillips, Carol Mathews Ray, Christaphora Robeers, and Mike Steele.

Since the paintings are still being produced for inclusion in the show, we have only been able to share with the public photographs of the artists at work in our garden. Now, however, we are beginning to receive the finished works. The above painting by Chris Ludke features a view of the garden as seen between the Elizabeth Arnold Poe Memorial Building and the garden wall. The below watercolor and collage by Carol Mathews Ray capture the effect of mid-day sunlight in the Enchanted Garden. If you look closely at the collage, you will also see that the artist has included a clipping of the verses of Poe’s poem “To One in Paradise” that inspired the garden plan.

While I was writing this post, Mary Pedini dropped off her painting pictured below, which she entitled “The Fountain.”

Below are more photographs of works in progress. You can be among the first to see and purchase the finished works at the May Unhappy Hour on May 22 from 6-9 P.M. The event will feature live music by Lost Boys, games, a cash bar, and a talk by Morwenna Rae, the Curator of Dr. Johnson’s House in London.

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Poe’s Love of Gardens Inspires Artists

In honor of the Garden Club of Virginia’s upcoming restoration of the Edgar Allan Poe Museum’s legendary Enchanted Garden, the Poe Museum has invited artists to paint, photograph, and sketch the garden for an upcoming exhibit Painting the Enchanted Garden, which will open on Thursday, May 22 and continue until July 20. While countless artists have illustrated Poe’s melancholy poetry and tales of terror, few have represented Poe’s works celebrating the beauty of landscape gardens, and this will be the first exhibit focusing on the living garden designed in 1921 as a recreation of the gardens described in Poe’s stories and poems. The exhibit will feature new artwork by Brenda Bickerstaff-Stanley, Randall Graham, Linda Hollett-Bazouzi, Julia Lesnichy, Chris Ludke, Jean Miller, Mac Paulett, Mary Pedini, Jamie Phillips, Christaphora Robeers, and Mike Steele.

About the Poe Museum’s Enchanted Garden

Master of the Macabre. Inventor of the Detective Story. Gardener? Yes, Edgar Allan Poe loved gardens and wrote about them in both poetry and prose. The Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia modeled its garden after those Poe described in his works and even went so far as to plant most of the flowers Poe mentions in his works. Many of the bricks in the garden paths and walls were salvaged from the buildings in which Poe lived and worked. This year, the Garden Club of Virginia is restoring the Museum’s 93-year-old Enchanted Garden to its original beauty, and you can witness the transformation.

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Vincent Price Visits the Poe Museum

You never know who you will meet at the Poe Museum. Since it opened in 1922, it has welcomed some of the world’s leading authors, artists, and actors. Thirty-nine years ago, in February 1975, the actor Vincent Price visited the Museum, where he was treated to a lunch in his honor. A horror film legend, Price starred in several adaptations of Poe’s works, including “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” and “Tales of Terror.”

The February 11, 1975 issue of the Richmond News Leader reported that, in addition to visiting the Poe Museum, Price gave a lecture and dramatic reading at the Women’s Club where he drew “loud applause for his readings of such Poe classics as ‘The Raven.’”

The reporter Joy Propert describes Price during his visit as “conservatively dressed in a dark suit, light blue shirt and a red and blue paisley tie.” Of his appearance, Propert adds, “Price has carefully waved gray hair and a small mustache that seem appropriate for a voice that can change instantly from dulcet to sinister tones.” Price is quoted as telling the Women’s Club, “I love playing the villain…It’s boring playing good men.”

When asked about Poe, Price tells the reporter, “He was born with a demon called genius, and his poems show an inner despair in much the same way as some contemporary art.”

The raven that appears in the above photo with Price is still at the Poe Museum.

In honor of Price’s 100th birthday in 2011, the Poe Museum hosted a special exhibit in honor of the man who introduced generations of audiences to Poe’s works through the medium of film.

Vincent Price Life Mask

Above is a life mask of Vincent Price from the Poe Museum’s collection. The Museum also holds several posters for Vincent Price’s Poe movies and related items like this Vincent Price figurine.

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Poe’s Birthday Bash Promises 12 Hours of Poe Fun

On January 18, 2014 from noon to midnight, the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia will celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s 205th birthday with twelve straight hours of Poe-themed fun for the whole family. Included in the day will be dramatic readings, living history, a mock trial of the murderer from Poe’s story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” and even interpretive dance inspired by Poe’s stories and poems. Authors Jeff Abugel (Edgar Allan Poe’s Petersburg), Trish Foxwell (A Visitor’s Guide to the Literary South), and contributors to the new anthology Virginia is For Mysteries will be here to sign and discuss their latest books. There will also be live music and appearances by Poe impersonators as well as walking tours of Poe sites in the neighborhood. Don’t forget about the birthday cake. Guests get all this for just $5 for the day.

The day kicks off with Edgar Allan Poe and his friend Frances Osgood reading their flirtatious love poetry to each other. In the Museum’s Exhibit Building, you’ll get to see a new exhibit about Poe’s love poetry including the original manuscript for his essay about Frances Osgood and a letter by Osgood herself. Here is a tentative schedule for the day:

Noon: Event Begins, Edgar Poe and Frances Osgood mingle with guests
12:00 (Ongoing until 8:00) Abigail Larson Trunk Show
12:30 Poetry Reading: Edgar Allan Poe and Frances Osgood read their love poetry to each other
1:00 Tour: Walking Tour of Poe’s Shockoe Bottom
1:30 Dance: “Poe in Motion”
2:00 Live Music by Classical Revolutions
2:30 “The Tell-Tale Heart” with Jamie Ebersole
3:00 Performance of “Hop-Frog”
Tour: Tour of Poe Museum
Book Signing: Virginia is for Mysteries (until 6 P.M.)
(CASH BAR OPENS)
3:30 Live Music
5:00 Tour: Poe’s Church Hill
5:30 Dance: “Poe in Motion”
6:00 Cake Cutting
Silent Auction Ends
Jeffrey Abugel speaks about Poe’s Petersburg
6:30 “The Tell-Tale Heart” with Jamie Ebersole
7:00 Tour of Poe Museum
7:30 Live Music
9:00 Performance: “The Conqueror Worm” by Amber Edens
9:15 – 11:45pm Live Entertainment
Midnight: Toast to Poe in the Poe Shrine

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Poe Museum Thanks Its Members

The Poe Museum greatly appreciates the support of its many members, so, as a way of saying thanks, the museum will host a weekend of activities for its members only. On November 16 and 17, Poe Museum members can take special tours of Poe sites that are not regularly open to the public, and they will have a chance to search for evidence of paranormal activity in the Poe Museum.

The weekend kicks off Saturday, November 16 at noon with a tour of Monumental Church (pictured above), the church Poe attended as a boy with his foster parents John and Frances Allan. Members will have the opportunity to sit in the Allan family pew where Poe would have sat, and they will learn about the dark origins of this memorial built on the site of the 1811 Richmond Theater Fire.

Then, on November 16 from 8 P.M. until midnight, Poe Museum members can participate in a special members-only paranormal investigation of the Poe Museum, where the apparition of a young boy is said to appear in the garden. Investigators Spirited History will lead the investigation and provide the equipment. They have investigated the site before and claim to have collected a great deal of evidence that something paranormal occupies the garden.

Finally, on Sunday, November 17 at 1 P.M., members are invited to attend a special tour of the Hiram Haines Coffee House (pictured above) in Petersburg, where Poe is said to have spent his honeymoon. The owner, Jeff Abugel (author of Edgar Allan Poe’s Petersburg), will take the group on a special tour of the rooms Poe and his wife would have occupied during their stay. Afterwards, Poe Museum docent Alyson Taylor-White will provide a walking tour of Petersburg historic sites Poe would have seen during his visit.

**UPDATE**
The tour of Monumental Church has been rescheduled for Saturday, November 23 at noon.

If you are interested in attending any of these events, please RSVP to Amber Edens by emailing amber@poemuseum.org or by calling 888-21-EAPOE. Space is limited, so please reserve your spot today.

If you are not a member or have not renewed your membership, you join today on our website.

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Poe Museum Finally Acquires Old Stone House

After ninety-one years occupying the Old Stone House, the Poe Foundation finally owns the building. On Saturday, October 5, 2013, Anne Geddy Cross (pictured above), President of President of Preservation Virginia, signed the Deed of Gift transferring the house and garden from Preservation Virginia to the Poe Foundation. The Poe Foundation’s Past President Harry Lee Poe and its new President Annemarie Weathers Beebe gratefully accepted the gift. Preservation Virginia’s Director of Preservation Services Louis Malon and the Poe Museum’s Curator Chris Semtner, who have both been coordinating the transfer process over the past few years, were in attendance to witness the event. Before the transfer could take place, an easement was registered with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to protect the house from significant changes that would alter its historic character.

Representing the Ege family, who owned the property from at least 1748 until 1911, Tina Egge, fifth great niece of Jacob Ege (different branches of the family spelled the name differently), the builder of the house, attended the event. Rose Marie Mitchell, who has written a new book about the history of the Old Stone House, spoke and signed copies of her book in the Exhibits Building, which featured a temporary exhibit documenting the history of the house.

The Poe Foundation has owned the rest of the Poe Museum buildings and grounds since the 1920s, so it is fitting that the Old Stone House should finally come under its ownership. Although the enormous gift and the new easement are significant developments for the Poe Foundation, the museum’s visitors will not see a dramatic change in the way the museum operates. They will, however, see some dramatic changes next spring when the major Enchanted Garden restoration project sponsored by the Garden Club of Virginia is underway.

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Poe Museum Observes Anniversary of Poe’s Death

Anyone can celebrate a birthday, but the Poe Museum also celebrates a death day. On October 3, 2013, the Poe Museum in Richmond will observe the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s death (October 7, 1849), with a tribute from Elmira Shelton, the woman to whom Poe was engaged when he died. Debbie Phillips, who has also performed for the museum as Poe’s mother Eliza Poe, returns for a historical interpretation based on years of research into Poe’s last love. After the performance, “Elmira” will stay to mingle with guests. Tours of the museum will explore the themes of death and mourning in Poe’s time. The event will last from 6P.M. until 9 P.M. Refreshments will be available.

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Poe Museum Receives Major Gift

On October 5 at 1 P.M., the Poe Museum will receive the largest gift in its history, a house. The house just happens to be the oldest in Richmond, the Old Stone House. Though we are not exactly certain when it was built, dendrochronology (testing of the tree rings in wood) dates the floorboards to 1754. For over ninety years, the Poe Museum has occupied the house, which remains the property of Preservation Virginia, formerly known as the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, while the other three buildings in the Poe Museum complex belong to the Poe Foundation.

The history of the Old Stone House is a colorful one. From the 1740s until 1911, the property was owned by the Ege family, who were among the first residents of the city. In 1781, one of the residents, Elizabeth Ege Welsh, supposedly saw Benedict Arnold invade and set fire to Richmond from the house. By the 1840s, the house appears in guide books for visitors to the city. Around 1881, the house was rented to R. L. Potter, “The Wheelbarrow Man,” who used it to exhibit an assortment of unusual objects he had collected while pushing a wheelbarrow from New York to California and back. One account says he even displayed a live bear in one of the rooms. In 1894, the house was known as Washington’s Headquarters Antiquarium and Relic Museum, which published a guide book to perpetuate some tall tales about how the house had been built by Powhatan, used as a courthouse by Patrick Henry, and used as George Washington’s headquarters during the American Revolution (though Washington never actually set foot in the city during that war). Some old postcards show the house with a large “Washington’s Headquarters” sign hanging next to the front door.

In 1913, the Ege family lost the property, and Granville Valentine purchased the building to save it from destruction. Valentine, in turn, donated it to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, who tried to find someone to rent it. A renter who had intended to use it as an antique store left because the property was being vandalized. Then Archer Jones, owner of the Duplex Envelope Company, approached the APVA with the idea of using the house as a museum of Colonial history. Jones and his wife soon met the Poe collector James Whitty, who wanted to reconstruct the recently demolished office of the Southern Literary Messenger in the junk yard behind the house. In 1921, that idea evolved into using the Messenger bricks and granite to make a Poe Memorial garden in the yard and using the locks, lumber, and hinges from the Messenger building to restore the Old Stone House. The House was then furnished with furniture from Richmond buildings in which Poe lived or worked. In the early years, the APVA charged the Poe Foundation rent for the property, but it eventually allowed the museum to use the house rent-free.

Ninety-one years after the Poe Museum opened, the Old Stone House is still visited by guests from around the world, and the exterior of the house remains virtually unchanged from its appearance recorded in nineteenth century photos. Thanks to Preservation Virginia, this beautiful remnant of Richmond’s Colonial past will finally become a true part of the Poe Museum. The museum has no plans for changes to the structure, which will be protected from significant alterations by an easement with the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

To learn more about the Old Stone House, please visit the Poe Museum or read the forthcoming book about the house by Rosemarie Mitchell.

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Leading Comic Artist will Speak at Poe Museum

Renowned comic artist Michael Golden, whose illustrations for a comic book adaptation of “The Tell-Tale Heart” are featured in the Poe Museum’s current exhibit “Still Beating: ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ Turns 170,” will be visiting the Poe Museum on Thursday, March 14 from 6-10 P.M. for a book signing and a lecture on his career and the art of sequential storytelling. This will be a great opportunity to meet one of the world’s leading comic artists.

Michael Golden is one of the world’s most popular comic artists, having provided artwork for G.I. Joe, The Adventures of Superman, Batman, The Micronauts, and many other groundbreaking series, including The ‘Nam. He is the co-creator of Rogue from the X-Men as well as Bucky O’Hare and Spartan X. He has served as an editor at DC Comics as well as Senior Art Director at Marvel Comics. In addition to continuing to create sequential stories, he also conducts classes in storytelling at venues around the world. The artwork in the Poe Museum’s exhibit, which is among his earliest published work, was printed in Marvel Classics #28 in 1977.

Michael Golden with Art

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Poe’s 204th Birthday Bash Will Be Biggest To Date

The Poe Museum in Richmond’s annual Poe Birthday Bash has been getting bigger and better every year, attracting visitors from around the globe; but this year’s celebration promises to be bigger than ever because it will be celebrating the birthdays of both Edgar Allan Poe and his horror classic “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

On January 19, 2013 from noon to midnight, the Poe Museum will celebrate its biggest Poe Birthday Bash ever to honor both Poe’s 204th birthday and the 170th anniversary of the first printing of his greatest horror story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” with a day of festivities featuring no fewer than six performances, five tours, four historical interpreters, two films, a Poe trivia showdown, and the opening of the first public exhibition of the Museum’s most recently acquired artifact, the coveted first printing of “The Tell-Tale Heart.” In addition to this prized artifact, the exhibit will also feature sixteen original illustrations for comic book adaptations of the story by acclaimed artists Richard Corben and Michael Golden.

What’s Happening at Poe’s Birthday Bash:
Among the activities going on at the Poe Birthday Bash will be a reading of “The Tell-Tale Heart” at twelve-thirty; a walking tour of neighborhood Poe sites at one; a living history performance by Poe’s fiancées Sarah Helen Whitman, Elmira Shelton, and Virginia Clemm Poe at three; birthday cake with Poe’s cousin Dr. Harry Lee Poe at four-thirty; a multilingual reading of “The Raven” at five, a performance of Poe’s works by English actor Tony Parkin at five-thirty; and a candlelight walking tour of neighborhood Poe sites by an actress portraying Poe’s fiancée Sarah Helen Whitman at eight. Guided tours of the museum will be available throughout the day, and live music will be performed after nine. The evening with conclude with an actress portraying Sarah Helen Whitman, who was a devoted Spiritualist, attempting to contact Poe’s spirit at eleven fifteen and a champagne toast to Poe at midnight.

Tentative Schedule:

12:00 pm: Guided tour. Gift shop sale: select items, up to 50% off! In store only, not valid for online purchases. Ongoing until 4:00 P.M.

12:30 pm: Performance of “the Tell-Tale Heart”

1:00 pm: Lecture on The 170th Anniversary of “the Tell-Tale Heart” by Chris Semtner, Curator of the Poe Museum

2:00 pm: Walking tour of Poe’s Richmond led by Chris Semtner. Guided tour

2:00 pm: Instrumental music inspired by Poe’s poem “The Valley of Unrest” composed and performed by Victor X. Haskins on the trumpet

3:00 pm: Showdown of Poe’s Brides

4:00 pm: Art sale at the bar. Ongoing until 11:00 pm, featuring works by the Clockwork Collective and Abigail Larson. Guided tour

4:30 pm: Cutting of Poe’s Birthday Cake

5:00 pm: Reading of “the Raven” and other poems

5:30 pm: Live from London via telecast, a performance of “the Tell-Tale Heart” and other Poe stories by actor Tony Parkin

6:00 pm: Guided Tour

6:30 pm: Film screening of a 2010 animated short of “the Tell-Tale Heart” directed by Michael Swertfager. Guided tour

7:00 pm: Film screening of a 1928 experimental silent version of “the Fall of the House of Usher” directed by James Sibley Watson and Melville Webber

7:30 pm: Poe Trivia (with Poe Museum merchandise prizes)

8:00 pm: Living History Walking tour of Poe’s Richmond led by Poe’s fiance, the poetess Sarah Helen Whitman.

9:00 pm: Live music by The Blue and the Grey
http://www.facebook.com/TheBlueAndTheGrey

10:00 pm: Reading of “The Black Cat”

10:15 pm: Live music continues

11:15 pm: Living History Seance performed by Sarah Helen Whitman

12:00 am: Champagne toast

Click here for photos from last year’s Poe Birthday Bash.

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New Exhibit Focuses on Poe’s Horror Masterpiece

From January 19 until March 31, 2013, the Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia will feature a special exhibit celebrating the 170th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s horror masterpiece “The Tell-Tale Heart.” Opening on Poe’s birthday, January 19, the exhibit brings together the Poe Museum’s recently acquired first printing of the story and loans of sixteen original drawings for comic book adaptations of the story by acclaimed illustrators Richard Corben and Michael Golden.

Michael Golden is one of the world’s most popular comic artists, having provided artwork for G.I. Joe, The Adventures of Superman, Batman, The Micronauts, and several other series. The artwork in the exhibit, which is among his earliest published work, was printed in Marvel Classics #28 in 1977.

Richard Corben began his career in animation before turning to underground comics. In 1976 he adapted a Robert E. Howard story into what is considered the first graphic novel, Bloodstar. His illustrious career has included work in album covers and movie posters, collaboration on a graphic novel with rock musician and filmmaker Rob Zombie, and an award-winning short film Neverwhere. The artwork on display was printed in Edgar Allan Poe’s Haunt of Horror #2 in 2006. One of the pieces will be an unpublished alternative cover design.

Admission to the exhibit is included in the price of Poe Museum general admission. The January 19 opening will coincide with the Poe Museum’s annual Poe Birthday Bash running from noon to midnight and featuring readings, live music, and a lecture about the legacy of “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

The exhibit was made possible by loans of artwork from the collections of Richard Corben and James Vacca.

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Bring Your Little Poes to Poe’s Pumpkin Patch

It’s that time of year again. You and your kids are looking for fun Halloween activities, and you can’t do much better than Poe’s Pumpkin Patch, an afternoon of Poe-themed fun and games for children eleven and under. The event will take place in the Poe Museum’s garden on Sunday, October 28 from 2-5 P.M. Be sure to dress up for the costume contest and practice your technique for the mummy wrapping contest. Don’t forget to pick up a pumpkin (while supplies last). Make sure your kids grow up weird by taking them to Poe’s Pumpkin Patch!

Event is included in price of Poe Museum general admission. For more information, call the Poe Museum at 804-648-5523.