THOM 11 | Fall / Winter 2018

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STORYTELLER The Muse The woman behind that lightning bolt was Charles’ great-aunt Malvina Hoffman, a notable artist and writer in the first half of the 20th century. As a teenager Hoffman studied under Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore. She then moved to Paris and was a student of Auguste Rodin from 1910 to 1914. In 1929 Hoffman was awarded probably the largest commission (and highest payment) in the history of bronze art to create “The Hall of Man”: 104 sculptures depicting “racial types” from around the world that would be featured at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and become a permanent exhibit at the Field Museum of Chicago. On her death in 1966 at age 81, The New York Times ran a front-page obituary celebrating Hoffman as “one of the few women to reach first rank as a sculptor.” Today her works are on display at the Smithsonian, the New-York Historical Society and the Art Institute of Chicago, among many others. A Legacy Lost “Who?” was Didi’s initial response to Charles Hoffman’s story of his great-aunt and her legacy. It was mine as well. How had I not heard of this accomplished sculptor and writer, who traveled around the world and ran with the likes of Henri Matisse, Gertrude Stein, Anna Pavlova and William Faulkner? Posthumously, Malvina Hoffman’s legacy suffered a huge blow when “The Hall of Man” ignited controversy shortly after her death. As the story goes, civil rights activists took offense at the biological notion of race the exhibit suggested and demanded that it be taken down, which the Field Museum did in 1969. But Didi explains that Hoffman was hired not as an ethnographer to depict the “physical identifiers of race” but rather to provide a sample of figures to show humanity in its beautiful variety. According to Didi’s research, the Black Panthers and their affiliates opposed only a hierarchical “Map of Mankind” that accompanied the exhibit and showed white Europeans at the top and aboriginal “primitives” at the bottom. 12
It’s important work, being a storyteller. 13
Page 1 and 2: Volume 6 | issue 2 FALL/WINTER 2018
Page 3 and 4: contents Fall/Winter 2018 86 ARTIST
Page 5 and 6: Start saying “yes” to things th
Page 7 and 8: Written by Stephanie Burt Photograp
Page 9 and 10: it is about proximity, borders. It
Page 11 and 12: ARTIST Curiosity asks, “What is t
Page 13: writing her story, rewriting histor
Page 17 and 18: STORYTELLER Didi took the perspecti
Page 19 and 20: I have always had an affinity for o
Page 21 and 22: EXPLORERS As I make my way through
Page 23 and 24: ARTIST RED HILLS ROVER RALLY The Re
Page 25 and 26: Placemakers Fans of baseball and ba
Page 27 and 28: “Everybody thought downtown Belfa
Page 29: PLACEMAKERS The Shell Oyster Bar, K
Page 35: Thomasville's Best Kept Secret is i
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This summer our creative director,
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“I like walking because it is slo
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CONNECTORS Let’s be honest: It is
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CONNECTORS The flâneur, on foot or
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BLACKWATER TIMBER COMPANY Written b
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CREATORS his own business and help
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CREATORS “It’s Not All Hull”
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THOM 11 | Fall / Winter 2018

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