For those who missed it, and for those wanting to see it again, here is "The Life and Death of Vincent Van Gogh" presented by 60 Minutes, produced by David Browning featuring Morley Safer.

This report tells of the research of two Pulitzer prize winning authors who believe Vincent Van Gogh did not commit suicide but helped cover up the truth that he had been shot by some boys out hunting. Morley Safer advises that if these authors are right, they may well "upend art history."

Each of these three videos are embedded on our site from Sixty Minutes' website and each is accompanied with a brief commercial. For greater enjoyment, please utilize the expand screen icon at the bottom of each segment's viewing screen.

Not far from where Arkansas' borders intersect with Missouri and Oklahoma is the home of America's newest fine art museum. From the Walton Trust, the Crystal Bridges Museum blends an eclectic chronology across the full spectrum of American Art, with an appealing Southern accent.

Among their "Southern" offerings of note are Thomas Hart Benton's Ploughing it Under done in 1934. This painting portrays the sweltering and disappointing labors of the sharecropping South during the depths of racism and the great depression.

Harry Sternberg offers his 1944 Portrait of Thomas Hart Benton epitomizing a southern stereotyped barefooted overall'd southern gent with slicked back hair strumming a guitar next to a smoking southern chimney rising from a riverside shack as a steaming locomotive passes, adding its whistle and rhythm of the rails. This image isn't just a stunning visually, you can almost listen to it.

Thomas Hart Benton is Missouri's greatest painter and a genius of American regionalism. Crystal Bridges, just miles down the road from the Missouri border, has done well to feature his work.

And even the urban sophistication of Andy Warhol has been seduced by the South, as Crystal Bridges presents his portrait of Dolly Parton, the queen of Country Music from neighboring Tennessee.

Reminding visitors of our Native American past is a work by noted American portraitist Charles Bird King 1785–1862 entitled Ottoe Half Chief from 1822.

Charles Bird King was commissioned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to paint portraits of Native American delegates coming to Washington, D.C. Although today these portraits offer a dignified and honorable view of Native American leaders, the regrettable fact remains that these portraits were commissioned in the belief that these leaders and the cultures they represented would not be around much longer.

New England. He was known for his depicting artifacts relating to his subjects lives, such as his famed portrait of silversmith patriot Paul Revere holding a tea pot.

Certain to become a favorite at the Crystal Bridges Museum is Charles Willson Peale's portrait of General George Washington. Charles Willson Peale was a saddle maker who went bankrupt when his loyalist customers learned he was a member of the Sons of Liberty. Having a talent for painting, he studied with John Singleton Copley among others. Washington posed for Charles Willson Peale seven times from which Peale created 60 portraits of Washington. During the Revolution, he served as a Captain in the Pennsylvania Militia and saw action in several battles. He painted during the war, doing portraits of officers, including General Washington.

his work. Today he is known for his paintings of barnyard fowl and wild birds. Above, his The Life of a Hunter: A Tight Fix, exhibits artistic attention to detail as well as drama or humor (depending on how this scene played out.)

Another Hudson River painter at Crystal Bridges is Asher Brown Durand 1796 - 1886. He was known for his detailed rocks, trees, and foliage, all of which he believed to be a "representation of the work of God in the visible Creation." His painting above, Kindred Spirits shows fellow artist Thomas Cole and poet William Cullen Bryant in the Catskills and was given by the artist in tribute to Thomas Cole upon his death in 1848. William Cullen Bryant's daughter donated the painting to the New York Public Library in 1904 which sold it through Sothebys in 2005 to Alice Walton.

Perhaps nothing is more akin to the American Spirit than the paintings of Norman Rockwell, especially this one of Rosie the Riveter, 1943. This painting done during World War II shows American resolve, inventiveness, strength and determination amid the challenges and difficulties of War. Rockwell's image of Rosie catches her during a lunch brake, sandwich in hand with her riveting gun resting on her lap, ready for the remainder of her shift. Behind her, the wind waved shades of Old Glory.

Rockwell is one of America's best known artists for his images of the true Americana.

He shied from no issue, and went to great lengths to capture the real American story within an image. At Bodega Bay Heritage Gallery, we hold Rockwell in high reverence due to his associations with some of our gallery's featured artists, Clyde Forsythe and Sam Hyde Harris.

Sacramento's favorite artist is represented at the Crystal Bridges Museum. California's Wayne Thiebaud's Supine Woman of 1963 runs counter to the emergence of women's rights after World War II. It is true that after the war, "Rosie the Riveter" lost her factory job and was supposed to return to the confines of the kitchen and be content with a career of homemaking. But Theibaud seems to be saying although this may have been the expectation for post war women, they didn't like it. This supine woman, passively and indifferently lying on her back has her face up, hiding a growing determination for upward mobility. She may be on her back in this image, but she doesn't seem to be content to remain there long.

We look forward to a time when we may visit the Crystal Bridges Museum. The small group of paintings shown in this article are but a sampling from the museum's advanced publicity. If you're headed anywhere near NW Arkansas, please make certain to include a visit (and give us a report).

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The Walt Disney Family Museum
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The WDFM tells Walt's story from his early days through the creation of his famed "Mouse Factory" and the Magic Kingdom. Displays superbly present pre-computerized animation, explaining the artistic, technical, and imaginative processes, Well Worth a Visit!