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127 13 New Freedom, New Work On January 18, 1954, Robert Hunter returned to the Norton Gallery of Art to deliver a eulogy for the man with whom he had worked for so long and so happily. Mentioning Ralph Norton’s approachability, his eager quest for knowledge, and his aversion to publicity, Hunter said, “His very reasonable and down-to-earth philosophy was ‘Why should I miss something?’—and so it is that in these short few years a typical American business leader found out why a Paul Klee could be as beautiful as a Gainsborough; why a sculpture by Jean Arp was as exciting as a Maillol . . . . He never bought a picture because someone said it was good. He had to like it himself.” In February 1954, the first of what would become an annual Norton Memorial Concert was performed at the museum by an invited string quartet. The program included a selection from Ralph Norton’s list of his ten favorite works of chamber music. Among Ann’s papers was a list she had drawn up of “Favorite Movements from Quartets selected by Mr. Norton,” which were mostly the slow movements from quartets by Borodin , Boccherini, Haydn, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Dvořák, Smetana, Debussy, and Ravel. It was presumably from this list that the concert program was selected each year. (If there was any doubt about Ralph’s deeply romantic nature—which, judging from his letters, there is not—these music choices unequivocally confirm it.) Each year thereafter, Ann continued to submit works that her late husband had particularly enjoyed. Ralph’s will was duly probated, and Ann’s share of his fortune made 128 · Part IV. The Journey to the Source: Florida, 1954–1982 public. Her income and trust funds were to be handled by the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Company of Chicago. One aspect of Ralph’s will, however, came as rather a shock to Ann. He did not leave the Barcelona Road house to his wife. He left its contents to her, and the beloved Cadillac car—but he left the house to his four children. The reason was explained to her by her trust lawyer in Chicago, Cecil Bronston. He told her that Ralph did not want her to stay in the house and thought she would not want to stay in it either. It was old-fashioned, not at all in the modern style that was her taste, and it would be filled with memories that she might prefer to leave behind. In the words of the lawyer, “Live in the future as Mr. Norton wanted you to do. Plan and build the new, clean, modern home designed for your particular needs, which Mr. Norton visioned for you and would have planned with you. . . . Do not return to the house again, or even think of it further as a place for you to live. This is what Mr. Norton thought best for you, or he would have devised it to you. You will be paying him the greatest sentiment and respect in honoring the wisdom of his decision.” But in this case Ralph had misread his wife. In spite of Mr. Bronston’s aggressive argument, Ann wasn’t at all sure she wanted to leave the house on Barcelona Road and move into a “clean, modern home.” She was happy where she was. She had a beautiful studio and a garden. “Southern girls like a little land,” her niece Edith observed later. There was room for her mother to stay with her. For a few months she was deeply agitated by the uncertainty of the situation. Would Ralph’s children sell it to her? Would they lease it to her? Would they insist she leave it? Could Ann afford the house if she bought it? It could probably be justified, the lawyer told her, if she sharply reduced the servant load. But while he continued to urge her in strong terms, “give up the premises—now,” Ann continued to stall. (As Ralph had once written to her, “you are very small and very stubborn, but I miss you.”) Her stubbornness paid off. She started out leasing the house from Ralph’s children, but in 1955 she managed to buy it from them at a good price, to her great satisfaction. On the front of the folder containing the lease and sale documents she wrote in triumphal green ink: “1954 I rent this house and finally buy it from children.” While all this...

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