The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum St. Louis

CLOSED FOLLOWING A DESTRUCTIVE FIRE

3524 Russell Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63104
314-282-0234
Admission is free and there is free parking on the street.

kmuseumstl@aol.com

Established in 2015

True to the founder's philosophy this museum is housed in an old church building.  It was built in 1908 in south St. Louis for a Christian Science congregation and then later used for thirty years by a Baptist church. It had been empty for awhile when purchased for the museum. 

The St. Louis museum is one of thirteen Karpeles museums and the most recently established. 

This plaque tells us about the founder. 

 Relatively speaking, this is a small museum, basically housed in this one room. The manuscript cases are permanently scattered throughout the room.  

Every few months the exhibit in the museum changes.  Mr. Karpeles owns so many manuscripts that so far his museums have not seen any exhibits repeated.  The current exhibit, Early Baseball, is one of particular interest to the baseball-loving St. Louis community. 

Each manuscript is in a case with an explanatory poster above the case such as this one below. (Unfortunately all the glass (thus glare) makes it difficult to get fully-clear photos.) 

This 1921 document is newer but perhaps "the most significant document in baseball history."

 This 1859 pre-Civil War document is rare and important. 

Below is Babe Ruth's final playing contract signed in 1935 with the Boston Braves team. 

  
This is the oldest surviving score card. It was printed in 1866 by Pecks and Snyder's Sporting Goods, allowing for the first time for fans to keep score with some bit of ease. This particular card, 48 pages long, includes scoring from the mid-1870's. This score card is particularly rare because it includes scoring of pre-National League professional teams. 

 The museum also has a limited number of artifacts.   

The museum's director adds posters and other items to include with the manuscripts in the exhibits. 

Each exhibit includes life-size cutouts such as these below. 

Although the exhibit on the Wright Brothers is here and gone, the cutouts remain with a poster about them. 

There are also cutouts of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain from prior exhibits. 

In the picture above you might have noticed the glass doors that go into a little room. This room features items pertaining to St. Louis and Missouri history.  Local groups may also exhibit their historical items there. It is currently between exhibits.

Off to the left of the exhibit hall is a small room with another exhibit space. 

Their current exhibit happens to coincide with the baseball theme of the museum exhibit. 

Looking at these pictures, posters, and articles, certainly was a walk down memory lane! 

  This The Sporting News is from 1948. 

Below are two of the great announcers in St. Louis that are recognized in the exhibit. 

1945 advertisement

 Another old ad. 

The second floor of the building is the original sanctuary with an added chancel.  The room has great acoustics and can be used for concerts and other events. 

Did you notice the ships above? The museums also display some non-manuscript items owned by Mr. Karpeles including these historic naval vessels and examples of errors made at U.S. Mint in the stamping of coins. This is a model of the constitution with a Titanic model set behind it. 

Side windows in the sanctuary. 

The museum opens at 10:00 a.m. so we gathered for breakfast beforehand at Uncle Bill's Pancakes, famous for their breakfast menu, serving breakfast 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

Yummy Potato pancakes served German-style with applesauce. 

And a little bit of Christmas as you enter! 

Comments:  This is definitely one of the smallest museums we have toured.  It is laid out well and easy to see all.  

We enjoyed this museum, especially the baseball fanatics among us. The exhibit included some really fun historical items.  The informative posters were great for learning what you were looking at.

The museum only deals with one subject at a time so this is one museum where an interested visitor should check out "what's showing" before going.  A new exhibit is starting about January 5 and it includes manuscripts from Russia from during the period of Alexander I, emperor of Russia from 1801-1825.  

The Media History Foundation exhibit may or may not coordinate with the manuscript exhibit. 

The museum is a work in progress still.  We spent quite a bit of time talking to the director about future plans for the building as they improve portions of it.  Currently there is no heat in the main exhibit area and it was quite cool in there when we were there. The Media room is heated.

Because of the size of the room, I suggest you call ahead to see if there are field-trips scheduled.  Most of the groups that visit are senior citizen groups but the 18 steps that must be taken to enter the building certainly discourages some from coming.  A few school groups also visit. 

What can you say about Uncle Bill's Pancake and Dinner House?  Yummy!  A great breakfast menu but they also have sandwiches and dinners. We would definitely go back! 

St, Louis Art Museum

1 Fine Arts Drive - Forest Park
St. Louis, MO 63110
Admission to museum and parking are free.  Sometimes admission fees for a special exhibit. 

http://www.slam.org/

Founded in 1881.

This art museum began in 1881 in downtown St. Louis and was associated with Washington University. After the 1904 World's Fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the museum moved to the Palace of Fine Arts, built for the fair from 1902 to 1903. This building is the only permanent structure built for the Fair. In 2013 a large expansion project was completed. 

The museum sits in Forest Park.  The view from the Art Museum down Art Hill to the Emerson Grand Basin, refurbished about ten years ago, is a favorite view in the park. 

 The lobby

 Beautiful galleries

Our main goal in visiting this very large museum was to visit a special exhibit of a work by the daughter of one of our museum muses. 

Amy's original work was on exhibit at the Whitney in NYC before being purchased by a Swiss collector.  It consisted of three 16mm projectors.  This was a digital copy of that original project.  It was projected on a wall in a small private gallery on an upper floor of the museum. 

We were so honored to have the artist, Amy, join us to talk about this work. After having lived in NYC, LA, and Europe, Amy has returned to St. Louis where she co-owns Parapet Real Humans, an art space in the city.  Amy continues to create projects and show her work in NYC, Europe, and elsewhere. 

Following our private viewing we joined Amy and her mother for lunch at Panorama, one of two restaurants in  the Art Museum. 

The menu was great and the food was wonderful. 

Grilled Eggplant Napoleon - Ozark Forest Mushrooms, roasted red peppers, goat-cheese, basil-mint oil

Rocket Salad - Duck confit, mission figs, blue cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, Champagne vinegar

Warm Proscuitto - brie, arugula, tomatoes, bacon jam with caramelized cauliflower with toasted almond and honey drizzle

The Art Museum also houses a cafe.  

The Art Museum is known for its wonderful gift shops.  In addition to the gift shop shown below there is one in the new contemporary wing. 

The collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum contains more than 30,000 art works dating from antiquity to the present and is divided into eleven areas. As many as a half million visitors visit the museum each year.  Below is some of the art pieces found in the museum currently. I photographed these items just to share the wide variety of artworks found in the museum.  In reality, there are many many paintings in the galleries, but only two shown below. These works are in no particular order.
St. Christopher, last quarter 15th century, French, Burgundian or Flemish, limestone.

Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints Christopher, Blaise, Sebastian, and Francis, c.1410-1412, Lorenzo di Nicollo, Italian, tempera and gold leaf on panel

Octagonal Jar with Design of Cherry Trees, Peonies, and Chrysanthemums, early 18th century, Japanese, Arita ware

Siva Nataraja, 12th century, Indian, bronze and iron and two similar pieces

Shell Applique, 1991, Koike Shoko, Japan, stoneware with clay and with metallic glaze

Box with Design of Auspicious Animals, Plants, and Flowers, late 18th-early 19th century, Korean, painted ox horn and lacquer on wood with brass fittings

Bactrian Camel, 8th century, Chinese, earthenware with lead-fluxed glazes over white slip

Votive Stela of Sakyamuni Buddha and Attendant Bodhisattvas, 505, Chinese, limestone with gesso and traces of pigment

Breaking of the Vessels, 1990, Anselem Kiefer, German, lead, iron, glass, copper wire, charcoal, and Aquatec

Basin, mid-14th century, Egypt, brass with silver and gold inlay

Genius of America, 1858, Adolpjhe Yvon, France, oil on canvas

Fragment of Floor Mosaic from the upper level of the House of the Bird Rinceau, room 1, Antioch, Syria, c. 526-540, Byzantine, marble and limestone

  Votives and Personal Religion

Burning Rods, 1984-87, Anselm Kiefer, Germany, oil, acrylic emulsion, and shellac on canvas with lead, copper wire, straw, iron, and ceramic

Fragment of a Sarcophagus, 2nd century, Rome, marble

  Acrobat on Trapeze, 1940, Max Beckmann, Germany, 1940

Amor Caritas, 1898, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Ireland, bronze

A. Y. O. R. (At Your Own Risk) Chair, 1990, Ron Arad, Israel, stainless steel and lead

 Butterfly or Hawk Mask, early 20th century, Bwa, wood, paint, fiber

Chair, c. 1820, Austria, multiple woods and reproduction silk upholstery 

Dish with Handle in the Form of a Bird, 1476-1534, Inca, ceramic with pigment

Head from a Figure, 600-909, Maya, stucco with pigment

Maretta Mizimimah II, 2004, Toots Zynsky, USA, glass threads

Portrait of a Woman, 1873, Edmonia Lewis, marble

Seated Figure, c. 900-300 BC, Olmec, ceramic with pigment

Tapestry Panel, Christ Bearing the Cross, Belgium  

Comments: The St. Louis Art Museum is a well-loved destination in St. Louis.  It is free.  It is in beautiful Forest Park. It is well-organized with a huge variety of art works.  It has wonderful special exhibits.  It has great gift shops.  And great restaurants. 

All of us had been here many times and will return many more times.  The museum is way too large to really see everything in one visit and since it is free, one can easily return time and again to see more art works.  

I highly recommend studying the website before going to see what the museum offers. 

We loved being with the artist and learning how her work came about.  Thank you, Amy, for sharing your talent and your time.  

And the restaurant was great.  The view was beautiful, the menu interesting, and the food delicious.