Our

husbands had birthdays a couple of days apart in July, so

Marquita and I concocted an outing. We wanted it to be a

surprise, so I resorted to an old trick.

I don't tell Dave where

we're going, but I say, "Hugh's going and he's

counting on you to come along. Besides, you always enjoy

his company."

Meanwhile, Marquita's

saying the same thing to Hugh about Dave.

Anyhow, we packed the old

boys into the car, and until we arrived they did not know

that our destination was Hogansville and The

International Art Museum of Re-Creations.

"The Museum of the 100

Paintings That Never Traveled," says their flier.

The paintings, filling a

former furniture store at 203 E. Main, are reproductions

of many of the world's great works of art.

Now both our friends and we

have done some traveling in Europe, and have ogled the

originals of some of these pieces in museums there.

Marquita is an artist by training and instinct. I'm one

of those who say, "I don't know much about art, but

I know what I like." I should probably say, "I

like what I know," since familiarity is often key to

my artistic sophistication.

We both knew that a gallery

of reproductions could be a disaster. It was not. It was

an extraordinarily delightful experience, and we do not

hesitate to recommend it.

Jacques Harvey is a gifted

artist who began his career copying old masters for

clients willing to pay (and rather well) for ersatz art

that looks like the original. After all, the originals

reside in the world's great galleries and are not for

sale at any price.

Eventually, if I recall

correctly what we were told by the docent on duty, Harvey

bought back some of his better pieces, painted many more,

and engaged other major international artists to do the

same. The result is a permanent exhibition in a simple

two-level gallery in Hogansville, augmented occasionally

Imagine Leonardo's Mona

Lisa, Renoir's The Boating Party, Rembrandt's The Night

Watch, Picasso's Guernica, and van Gogh's Sunflowers in

one gallery. And only 30 miles from home.

They're all there. So is

Dali's massive Crucifixion, the one in bright clear light

in which the viewer looks down at the top of Jesus' head.

Breughel's The Wedding

Feast is there, a treasure of images inviting long

perusal.

Grant Wood's American

Gothic is included, and so is Millet's The Gleaners. Miro

is represented, and Mary Cassatt and Alfred Sisley and

Manet and Degas. There are several modern works whose

creators I don't recall, a few requiring long study

before you realize exactly what it is you are seeing.

And in an adjacent alcove,

propped against the wall, are still lifes that make such

exquisite use of light that you can hardly believe they

are simply paint on canvas. The white grapes in one

appeared almost transparent and near bursting with

moisture. Most of the paintings are elaborately framed,

like those we've seen in European museums. And most are

approximately the same dimensions as the originals. A

notable exception is The Night Watch, but then it is

nearly mural-sized in its permanent home in Amsterdam's

Rijksmuseum.

Harvey and his

collaborators used an astonishingly similar technique in

copying the originals too, whether in oil, tempura, or

water color. The pointillism is "real" and some

oils even have a crackled canvas effect like that seen in

paintings like Rembrandt's Self-Portrait.

Most are so well done that,

without the original alongside to compare stroke for

stroke, I don't know that the average person would see

the difference. Marquita observed that she wished she'd

had such an exhibit to show her art students.

Harvey's work is not all

perfect. American Gothic is just not right, and Mona

looked really "off" to me too. She appears to

be sneering, and when I saw her in the Louvre, I thought

her expression was unreadable.

The International Art

Museum of Re-Creation is itself a work in progress.

Only one copy of a guide

was available when we were there, with promises of

publication. And I wish they were on the Internet, but

last time I looked, they had not made it yet.

The knowledgeable docent

who welcomed us moved here recently from Boston to return

to her mid-Georgia roots, never dreaming she'd find work

in her field of art and museum management. She was a

serendipitous find for Harvey as well.

Later we strolled up and

down Main and admired the recent transformation of

Hogansville, a village fast becoming a destination,

drawing people to the antique shops that now fill nearly

every former retail store in the downtown.

In addition, the renovated

old Grand Hotel is open as a bed and breakfast, and has a

tea room and sweet shop, a wonderful overnight

getaway spot.

Despite the lure of Gaby's

Cafe & Bistro and several other eateries, of course

we took the guys to Hogan's Heroes for dinner. That was

our first meal at the hugely popular restaurant, and one

of the best I've had in forever.

The day was splendid, and

for the birthday guys, I think it took some of the sting

out of getting older. Marquita and I heard no complaints.

The museum has generous

hours, but may change them soon, so better call first:

706-637-8030; fax 770-637-9500; e-mail

[email protected]. Admission "donation" is

$4.50 for adults, with discounts for kids and groups.

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