点评:Dumbarton Oaks is really at least four things, and arguably more. That is both its strength and its primary drawback from the standpoint of a visitor.
The house itself was the gift of Robert and Mildred Bliss to Harvard University, along with their art collections. Because this was the Bliss's home and because of their tastes in collecting as well as diplomatic accomplishments, the house itself has several parts.
The first, and probably the primary attraction for most visitors, are the extensive gardens, which may come as a surprise to one visiting Washington, DC. According to the website, the garden has been ranked as one of the best in the world. You will want to book ahead for the garden as they only have timed tickets. The cost was a little less than $15.
We liked the gardens, but they felt a little unkempt compared to others we have seen in the US and Canada. Still, they are very nice and fun to walk around.
The second attraction is the museum inside, which is free, and based on the Bliss's own collection. This really has two main parts, a collection of Byzantine Art and one of pre-Columbian art from South America. This second collection is in a well-designed and architecturally interesting addition. The works and their descriptions are all excellent. The Byzantine works had their own interest, but we did not find them as striking. The main house also has a library that is largely roped off, so it is of lesser interest.
There are no guides, or at least there were none during our visit, only security guards.
One feature of the main house is the impressive music room. Unfortunately, the descriptive materials were not that good. One painting on the wall was plainly an El Greco, but the descriptions said little about it. The piano had signed photos by Igor Stravinsky, who must have been a friend but, again, no description and I simply recognized it from photos of Stravinsky elsewhere. They had other autographed photos from musicians or composers, but it was too dim to make out the signatures.
This room is also where meetings were held in 1944 leading up to the formation of the United Nations. I only knew that because we visited with a political science commentator. There was virtually nothing about it. It's still a great room, but it might be worth reading ahead.
And that takes us to what this site needs, which is a dedicated curator who wants to show visitors all of these disparate parts and possibly even tie them together. What is in the roped-off library? There are several empty displays along the way - surely something in the museum could go there. The Blisses donated the property to Harvard in 1940 and perhaps it is not a priority for a university several hundred miles away. Still, this otherwise wonderful site and its visitors deserve a little more.
The moral: Read up, come, and enjoy.
翻译:敦巴顿橡树园至少有四个特点,甚至更多。从游客的角度来看,这既是它的优点,也是它的主要缺点。
这座房子本身是罗伯特和米尔德丽德·布利斯赠送给哈佛大学的礼物,连同他们的艺术收藏品。因为这是布利斯的家,也因为他们的收藏品味和外交成就,所以房子本身有几个部分。
第一个,也是大多数游客的主要景点,是广阔的花园,这可能会让来华盛顿特区旅游的人感到惊讶。根据网站介绍,这座花园被评为世界上最好的花园之一。您需要提前预订花园门票,因为他们只提供定时门票。费用略低于 15 美元。
我们喜欢花园,但与我们在美国和加拿大看到的其他花园相比,它们感觉有点凌乱。不过,它们非常漂亮,走在里面很有趣。
第二个景点是里面的博物馆,它是免费的,以布利斯自己的收藏为基础。这实际上有两个主要部分,一个是拜占庭艺术收藏,另一个是南美洲前哥伦布时期的艺术收藏。第二个收藏是一个设计精良、建筑风格有趣的附加部分。作品及其描述都非常出色。拜占庭作品有其独特的趣味性,但我们并不觉得它们那么引人注目。主楼还有一个图书馆,大部分都被绳索围起来了,所以兴趣不大。
没有导游,或者至少在我们参观期间没有导游,只有保安。
主楼的一个特色是令人印象深刻的音乐室。不幸的是,描述材料并不那么好。墙上的一幅画显然是埃尔·格列柯的作品,但描述中对此只字未提。钢琴上有伊戈尔·斯特拉文斯基的签名照片,他一定是我的朋友,但同样,没有描述,我只是从其他地方的斯特拉文斯基的照片中认出了它。他们还有其他音乐家或作曲家的亲笔签名照片,但光线太暗,看不清签名。
这个房间也是 1944 年联合国成立前举行会议的地方。我之所以知道这一点,是因为我们和一位政治学评论员一起参观了这里。几乎没有关于它的介绍。这仍然是一个很棒的房间,但可能值得提前阅读。
这就引出了这个网站需要什么,即一位敬业的策展人,他想向游客展示所有这些不同的部分,甚至可能将它们联系在一起。用绳索隔开的图书馆里有什么?沿途有几个空的展品——博物馆里肯定有一些东西可以放在那里。布利斯夫妇于 1940 年将这处房产捐赠给了哈佛大学,也许这不是几百英里外的一所大学的优先事项。尽管如此,这个原本很棒的网站和它的游客应该得到更多。
寓意:阅读,来,享受。