Collaboration could lead to more Twain shows

Mark Twain paid Bermuda the highest complement when he compared it to heaven and now we can get a glimpse into why he found it to be so.

Masterworks has partnered with The Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut to bring a unique exhibition — Ever The Twain Shall Meet — to the island which opens this evening. 

Among the items brought here from Mark Twain House is the Clemens family picnic basket which no doubt saw plenty of use during his balmy summers on the island. Other items include his trademark cigars and pen and inkwell not to mention a selection of photos and postcards showing the legendary author on his favourite island. 

The partnership was formed when Governor George Fergusson visited Mark Twain House last year and put them in contact with Masterworks. Some 13 exhibits will be donated to the exhibition while Masterworks will include elements from its own collection. 

Curator at Mark Twain House, Patti Philippon told the Bermuda Sun: “We have some very personal objects belonging to Twain. There is one of his shirts that had been custom made for him in Italy in about 1904. The picnic basket is a really fun piece it is a wicker basket that they had purchased most likely in London and it is filled with a wonderful assortment of pieces from dishware to tins and there are some great pieces of silverware with a hotel’s name on them which is quite fun — they might have stolen it from a hotel. It’s a nice piece to send to Bermuda because you think of Twain spending his time down there in the warmth and enjoying picnicking outside which he did talk about.”

Executive director Cindy Lovell said she hoped that the current exhibition could lead to more collaborations in Bermuda in the future. “Mark Twain loved the island so much and chose Bermuda as the only place he could go and relax. The story we tell in Hartford was a very busy time in his life and he needed to escape once in a while and again to relax. So in that sense it is like the yin and the yang of Mark Twain and it is a perfect partnership for Hartford and Bermuda. Mark Twain he is a n endless and a fascinating subject our exhibitions rotate here continually because there is just so much to say and you need more opportunities to say it — so we hope this could lead to more programmes and exhibitions and events.”

Never The Twain Shall Meet opens tonight at 5:30pm while Lovell will give a talk on January 20 at 5:30pm ($15). Another exhibition will open alongside it called A Tale of Two Cities about Hamilton and St George’s.