Art And History

Yesterday we decided to be a little touristy, and bone up on our culture. It was a bit exhausting, and yet, we are enriched.

First up we went to the new Edward Hopper exhibit at the National Gallery. This was a lead-up to an opera we'll be seeing at the Clarice Smith Center, which is based on some of Hopper's paintings.

The exhibit was laid out pretty well, following a chronological format and each room centered on a general theme or period. It was definitely popular, with a long line just to get in!

The paintings were full of rich colors on saturated canvases. We saw many examples of Hopper's most common themes - isolation and the space that exists between people, even when they are in the same room. His paintings never portray action. Instead they take place before or after something has happened, leaving us to decide what the action was or will be. My favorite was a work I hadn't seen before called "New York Movie". While the audience enjoys the film, a lovely usherette stands in an alcove, contemplating something that we can only guess at.

After that we checked out the National Building Museum. It wasn't nearly as interesting as we'd hoped, although there was a pretty good exhibit on the changes various parts of DC have gone through over the years.

We took a break for a few beers, and then joined Stef. Her gift for ScottE's birthday was a walking tour about the assassination of Lincoln. It was actually very interesting, and our guide painted a vivid picture of the evening's events, including the conspiracy to murder not one, but four members of the administration. I was particularly riveted during the discussion of the attempted murder of Secretary of State Seward.

It was all great fun, but we are definitely tired today!

On a side note - if you haven't heard, apparently Dumbledore was gay. I did NOT see that coming. I need to fine-tune my gaydar!

Pleasant Surprise

While on our recent trip to Puerto Rico, our gracious hosts suggested that as a part of our day trip to Poncé (the island's second-largest city) we check out the art museum there. Sounds like fun, why not?

Well imagine our surprise at what a great little museum this was.

First of all, the museum had a traveling exhibition on Rodin - only my favorite sculptor ever! The exhibit included all kinds of treasures, including some models for The Gates of Hell as well as some for his famous Burghers of Calais. Such a treat!

But then we see the big surprise - Fredrick Lord Leighton's original painting of Flaming June. This work is one that ScottE and I have admired for years (a print hangs in our bedroom). To see it up close and in person was astonishing. The sumptuous colors and sensuous curves were intoxicating. Truly a masterpiece. And it's tucked away in a Puerto Rican museum of all places! (Imagine that the museum's founder, Luis Ferré, bought the piece for only $6,000.

The upper floor of the museum is also nothing to sneeze at. This little place has works from a lot of other famous painters too - Rubens, Velazquez, El Greco and van Dyck. The museum is laid out in a pleasing format of several circular galleries.

All this, and the building itself was designed by Edward Durell Stone, the same man who was the architect for the Kennedy Center, the National Geographic building, and the MoMA in New York.

So should you find yourself on the Caribbean isle of Puerto Rico, do yourself a favor, and check out this little treasure of the south. You won't be disappointed!

Life of Leisure

After a stressful few months at work, it was high time I had a little vacation. After all, I've been to Nice and the Isles of Greece, but I've never been to me. (OK, the first part isn't true, but you get the point.)

So I began my extended weekend with one my favorite "me time" activities - going to an art museum. Although it may not be as big and flashy as other museums in the country, the National Gallery of Art has one major thing going for it...it's free! And they usually manage to score some good traveling exhibitions. I still revel in the memory of the Art Nouveau exhibit several years ago.

My main reason for going was to check out the new exhibit called "Cezanne in Provence." It focuses on Cezanne's work when he returned from Paris near the turn of the century. Filled with the urge towards Impressionism that he gained from his friend Seurat, Cezanne painted a lot of landscapes in bright blues, oranges and greens.

The exhibit on the whole was not bad, although nothing to write home about. A few paintings did strike me, like his well-detailed view of a grove of pine trees. But my favorite was a huge portrait of the artist's father. It features a few nice touches. The father sits in a chair, reading a newspaper. But rather than paint him reading his favorite conservative paper (think Washington Times), Cezanne instead changed the title to a liberal paper that his own friends read. Naughty! Also, behind the father was a small still life painting. Remarkably, it was a painting that Cezanne did - and the museum had that painting hanging right next to the portrait. A little connection like that was cool - quite a few people around me were tickled.

Speaking of which, the crowds! I was surprised to see so many on a non-holiday-time Monday. In fact, the Mall was swarming with people. I hung my head, and realized - tourist season has begun. Run for the hills!


In the lower level of the museum, they had an exhibition featuring some of John Audobon's bird paintings. They were extraordinary! Much more interesting than the Cezanne exhibit, actually. The colors and detail were quite striking - particularly for birds like the Flamingo or the Scarlet Ibis. My favorite name though, was of course the Great American Cock. Need I say more?

In the east wing, the museum had an exhibit on Dadaism. How to describe Dada...well let's start with this simple article from Wikipedia. To quote:

"Deliberate irrationality, the rejection of the prevailing standards in art, disillusionment, cynicism, nonsense, chance and randomness characterize Dada."

This all came about as a reaction to World War I.

I'd like to say that the exhibit was shocking, moving, or some other powerful emotion. But it felt like it was so unsurprising in this day and age. I think someone interested in that historical period would find more meaning. For me, I was wishing they had the Egyptian exhibit again.

I ended my afternoon with a jaunt over to Capitol Q to try their barbecue. Watch for a forthcoming review to be posted on ScottE's blog!

Tonight - it's episode 3 for The Amazing Race. Who will be eliminated? My money's on the old and the incompetent. (That would be Fran & Barry.)