I continue to make an effort to visit all the museum’s in D.C., which can be a challenge because I am finding a new small one all the time and there are constantly exhibits that I want to see at museums I have been to already. I have made it to the National Gallery of Art half-a-dozen times and most recently during Christmas break with Chris and some of his friends. We had no plans as to seeing anything in particular, just a chance for the non-locals to check out Andrew Mellon’s wonderful building.

I have never studied sculpture or even considered studying it, however as it became apparent at the gallery I am drawn to more and more sculpture, and  there are some wonderful pieces in the  collection. My favorite on display in the west building has to be David Triumphant by Thomas Crawford. It is a wonderful combination of  marble and bronze, with fine wires making up the harp strings. A fair amount of time was spent trying to understand where each material ended and the other started.

You can see a full image of the sculpture on the National Gallery web site.

The collections of paintings are great, while a large amount of the work was the gift of Andrew Mellon, the Chester Dale collection is my favorite. Currently it is separated off from the rest of the work in the museum, hopefully it will be mixed in with the other work in the future. The more I learn and as I visit new museums  the more I really like to see work together, I hate the idea of two parts of one item being divided between museums and in this case I would like to have Dale’s collection mixed in with the other pieces in the museum.

From the National Gallery Website - Mary Cassatt The Boating Party, 1893/1894 Chester Dale Collection

His collection includes The Boating Party by Cassatt and Salvador Dalí’s The Sacrament of the Last Supper, two pieces I would not put in the same exhibit. Add to the arrangement work by William Merritt Chase, Van Gogh and Edgar Degas and what you have is a very big mix of styles and artists. A display that I would be interested in Carol Duncan looking at after reading her feelings on the donor memorial in the museum.

The collection is great, I cannot fault the quality of the items that are on display, it is just that the paintings are separated out from the others in the museum. I enjoy walking through the exhibit when I am at the gallery, nearby this time was a really interesting photography exhibit, The Pre-Raphaelite Lens: British Photography and Painting, 1848–1875. Last fall I visited the Truth/Beauty photography exhibit at the Phillips Collection a few times so it was exciting to see some of the same names displayed. I am sorry that it has gone off to Paris and I cannot take a look again, early photography is interesting. It is great to look at the manipulations before Photoshop when photographers used the chemicals, cut negatives and manually adjusted images until they reached their desired photograph. I heard a docent at the Phillips collection stay that one of the early female photographers actually had distorted lenses made to get the effect she wanted.

Prior to this visit I had only been to the east building once, in 2004 to see the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit. Since I  had entered that exhibit through the front doors of the east building I had not seen the awesome underground tunnel of lights that connect the buildings underground.

Villareal Light Sculpture, Multiverse - National Gallery of Art

I took a ton of photographs, most which look the same, if you care to look two more of them are posted on my IgoUgo page. The east building is the home of the modern art and on display while we were their was Arcimboldo, 1526–1593: Nature and Fantasy. The exhibit was one that had been discussed in my Aesthetics class which ended in December and I did want to see it, mostly for the new versions of Arcimboldo’s work like the sculpture.

Winter (After Arcimboldo) by Philip Haas

The 15 foot tall piece is a conversation starter, everyone was having their photo taken with the sculpture and it was probably the reason that the exhibit was so full. While the sculpture was in the main hall the exhibit itself was in a smaller gallery. Up close I could really see how detailed the paintings were, but there were so many people there that it was hard to get up close, add to that the room was boiling hot. I did not spend a lot of time in the exhibit, quickly checking everything out and then explored the rest of the galleries. Which was the best and worst thing. I loved a piece that was on display, but I could not take a photograph of it – or actually I was trying to take a photo of the information label it was not allowed. No photograph means my brain has long forgotten who the artist was, I thought that I had put the name in my phone… no luck. I need to go back soon, Gauguin: Maker of Myth recently opened and it will be on display until June so I will have to see if I can find the missing artist.