For the first time I have taken a second look at an exhibit in a different museum.

Last year I saw HIDE/SEEK twice at the National Portrait Gallery. Today I experienced HIDE/SEEK at the Tacoma Art Museum.  This viewing was a completely different experience for many reasons.  Many of the well known pieces were on view in Tacoma; some were replaced with similar work, an adjustment clearly presented by the museum with a small reproduction of the original work accompanying the wall text.  Eakin’s, Hartley and Warhol were all on display again, there were different Demuth and O’Keeffe paintings shown and I did not see Keith Haring’s work (the brochure says one is at Tacoma) or Annie Leibovitz’s photograph of Ellen DeGeneres.  This re-arrangement of the pieces, in a chronological order versus a thematic one did draw my attention to Minor White’s work and Grant Wood’s Arnold Comes of Age.

The most interesting charge as far as the pieces displayed was Untitled (Portrait of Ross in L.A.)by Felix Gonzalez-Torres.

(Photo of a museum visitor interacting with untitled (Portrait of Ross in LA) by Félix González-Torres photo credit Molly Robert via Smithsonian Mag)

My image of the same piece from Tacoma Art Museum

I don’t want to sound as if I am putting down the Portrait Gallery, I love the museum and thought that the exhibit they displayed was great. The controversy surrounding the exhibit however seemed to permeate my viewing at the Portrait Gallery, it led to the space being filled with people on both visits. Anyone who has spent time in a crowded gallery understands how hard it can be to really see the individual pieces much less understand the overall conversation presented. Tacoma, with only a few visitors allowed for more time to reflect on the works and see the emotion connected with the exhibit that I had missed before.

And yes, Tacoma had A Fire in My Belly playing – some people watched it, others decided not to. Guess what, the world did not end.

Last semester was crazy to say the least; I had two fairly hard classes, a lot going on at work, my family in Vermont was hit hard by Irene, my grandfather’s health has been getting worse and all along there was a possibly of a move to Seattle, a life changing event which did occur this month. STRESS. To say I do not deal well with stress is an understatement, as a result very little other than what had to be done, got done. This can be seen very clearly by looking the fact that were no blog posts.

A couple really great things did happen, one I was part of a study group which I LOVED and two my class started to organize group trips to museums. Since I am taking this spring off from school I will miss out on the trips, but I am going to try to help my study group from afar. I have (they are currently in storage) two brand new art history text books and my flash card set ready for emails and Facebook postings, but why wait? I have my first two flash cards ready.

The two I have selected are Winslow Homer’s Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) and Mary Cassatt’s Boating Party. These two paintings have several things in common; both are part of the permanent collection at the National Gallery of Art, they feature a small sail boat and were painted by American artists at the end of the 19^th Century. Each also uses the canvas edge to cut the sail, a cropping style which shows the influence of photography and the idea of capturing a precise instant in time.

Starting with Breezing Up, painted in 1873 to 1876 Homer has depicted a bright sunny day.  The wind fills the sails of the Gloucester, pushing the small boat through the water. A gentle balance is at play along the horizon line, wind risks toppling the boat and silhouetting the young boys against the sky. Against the background, entering from the opposite frame edge is a large sail boat.

Breezing Up (A Fair Wind) © National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

The cropping of the boats sail creates a sharp diagonal line guiding the eye to the boats riders. This focus on the riders, who are both relaxed and at the mercy of the water and wind is a great representation of Homer’s work. The painting is about man’s interaction with nature and a representation of what was distinctly American. Painted at a time when America was looking to form its own artistic identity Homer’s work can only be American.

He does use light and create an image of a single moment of time, both influences of impressionism, yet he was never an impressionist painter. Mary Cassatt on the other hand was part of the Paris art world, connected with the impressionist painters.

The Boating Party painted in 1893 to 1984 illustrates two key elements of Cassatt’s oeuvre, relationships between mother and child and the influence of Japanese prints. Scholars have discussed at length the reasons why Cassatt painted so many mother and child paintings, given that she never was a mother herself. To me the most logical reason that has been presented is that as a proper woman it was one of the few subject matters which she had access to. Unlike her contemporary male painters she did not have access to the brothels and bars of Paris for inspiration.

Boating Party © National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Many of the painters during this period were influenced by Japanese woodblock prints, and Japanese art in general. Cassatt shows this influence in her flat areas of color. These segments show brush strokes and slight variations in color, but ultimately are seen as a blue block of the water, a yellow flat shape of the boat and the black clothing of the rower. Aside from the dark clothing of the male figure, the vibrant colors express the mode of the boating party members. While the male figures relationship to the mother and child is not clear, the mother and child’s gaze would suggest that there is a close relationship between the three.

Much as the positioning of the horizon in Homer’s Breezing Up drew attention to the young boys and the vast world they were exploring, Cassatt’s barely visible horizon places the viewer close into a private moment. The lines created by the sail, the boats curved hull and the rower all focus the eye on the child. While Homer was expressing the relationship of man with nature, Cassatt is showing the joyous relationship between individuals. It is a painting of human interaction.

So – what did I miss my art history friends?

I am sure it is not a surprise that I found something I love on Flavorwire. Once again I have been catching up on the feed and found the photography of Jason Powell. Combining old photographs and current locations is something that I would love to try and add to his work the fact that many of the landmarks I have been to and I am in love.

Looking Into the Past: Newsies, US Capitol. Original image taken by Lewis Wickes Hine in April of 1912, courtesy of the Library of Congress. Jason E. Powell

Jason has included the history of the places and events captured (it is educational) making this more than just a simple what can I do with my camera page.  Honestly, check out his webpage, very cool stuff.

The exhibit Gauguin – Maker of Myth at the National Gallery of Art was the real driving force behind the May afternoon I spent visiting the museums in DC. The exhibit closed on June 5th and I really wanted to see it while it was on display.

If John Singer Sargent’s Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose is my first love – innocent and sweet – then Paul Gauguin’s The Sacred Mountain is a love based on pure attraction. It was that painting that I wrote my first art analysis on so many years ago when I took my first art history class. The assignment was to simple, visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art and pick any piece to write a formal analysis of. Out of all the work available to me in the museum it was Gauguin’s colors that attracted me to this canvas.

Paul Gauguin, The Sacred Mountain (Parahi Te Marae), 1892© Philadelphia Museum of Art

At that point in time I knew nothing of Gauguin’s personal history or even what any of this other pieces were like, but I loved the painting. I have since learned about the artists personal life and I cannot say that the guy was all that great, nor is he that different then many other artists. My opinions about his work have never been as strong as say Susan Burns’ are, but some of his work I do not like. Until I personally experienced the Breton culture I did not understand the charm that his work from that period of his life captured. Also, other than the Philadelphia piece, I have spent little time looking at his works in person and this exhibit was the perfect opportunity to do just that.

It has been over 30 years since there has been a display of his work this size in the United States, and with nearly 120 pieces on view his evolution as an artist is clear. The exhibit organized around the theme of Myths, the works were divided into Personal Myths, Breton Myths, Tropical Myths and Sacred Myths. An arrangement which provided visitors with  an idea of Gauguin’s evolution as a painter. The exhibit expressed the connection to artistic styles which were growing in the art world at the time. You cannot help to see Pissarro, Cezanne’s influence and nor can you over look the effect his friendship with Van Gogh had on his art. Looking at the pieces from the “Breton Myths”, you can see the canvas showing through the paint. He did not apply the paint as evenly to the canvas and as his style evolved the canvas was covered more evenly. I also saw a change in the modeling he used, making the “Tropical Myths” feel more refined in some manner.

The task of showing all this to the public and to do well required incredible cooperation by museums from around the world. Truthfully, the museum geek part of me thinks that this fact was one of the things that made this exhibit remarkable. Standing in Washington D.C. the visitor was able to see pieces from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York and the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh – only a few feet from each other. I wish I had written down all the museums which sent a piece, potentially a very predominate piece, from their collection to this display. In fact my love from Philadelphia hung in the exhibit as well, and once again it drew me in.

Paul Gauguin, Vision of the Sermon (Jacob Wrestling with the Angel), 1888, © National Galleries of Scotland

His colorful paintings are attention grabbing, but what I really enjoyed the most were the carvings and wood cuts. I have a soft spot for wood cuts, printmaking in general so the fact that I could see some of Gauguin’s was a bonus. The real treat for me was that on display from the Musée d’Orsay were the five wood carved pieces that make up Maison du Jouir. This group alone was worth visiting the exhibit to see and that it was available for display is remarkable. I think that the fact that all five pieces are owned by one museum is wonderful to see happen when so often “sets” ended being split between several different museums or collections. The Musèe held four of the pieces which had been purchased for Saint-Pol-Roux since 1952, they were able to complete this set in 1990 when the fifth piece was purchased. To then to lend out these pieces to another museum, across the ocean for several months is another thing all together.

My practical mind believes that if the Musèe was not currently going through an extensive remodel these carvings would not have made their way to Washington D.C., hopefully I am wrong and this is just one example of the how the art world all working together to share with the public. Whatever the reason, I am really glad that they were included in the display, being able to see these in context with the paintings, carvings and sculptural pieces really was amazing. They captured my attention for quite awhile and I went back to look at them again after walking through the entire show. 

I have much more to look into now, the wall text had some information about the idea of foxes as a representation of perversity, which is seen in many of his works. An aspect that I have seen, but did not know of the symbolic connection. The largest area that I want to explore is Gauguin’s ceramics. I never knew that he worked in ceramic, and to be completely honest looking at the pieces in person I think that maybe he should have done more. While the colors he uses in his paintings are wonderful and brilliant, I think the ceramics represent his best work.

Paul Gauguin, Eve, 1890, glazed ceramic © National Gallery of Art

His figure Eve can be seen at the National Gallery of Art, in Gallery 5 of the East building until September.

Links & Sources:

• National Gallery of Art – the pieces in their collection
• The Guide Musèe d’Orsay
• Paul Gauguin – The Complete Works
• Gauguin: Maker of Myth
• Biography

For months I have been trying to get to D.C. for a museum day, but I have had to put school work and general family stuff first while I pushed my way through this semester. With grades posted and my professors comments on my final paper in hand I made it into the city on Friday.  The museum day was help by the fact that the fellows at Smithsonian American Art Museum were presenting their papers on the same day and as someone who will potentially be presenting papers in my future I wanted to experience it from the audience.

Modern Head by Roy Lichtenstein

When I arrived within sight of the museum I  realized how I missed visiting them. Since the lectures started at 1 p.m. I first went to the the Calder’s Portraits: A New Language (yes I know it is officially at the National Portrait Gallery). The exhibit which while small, was spectacular. I have always loved Calder’s work, the mobiles especially and had never had the opportunity to see any of his wire portraits. What he was able to create is remarkable, the pieces are flat, yet not – volume is created through very simple wire twists and full formed images emerge from nothing. Moving around the pieces they would change, suddenly a face would appear, then taking one step further it would disintegrate into lines.  Several articles  that I have read about his work used the phrase “drawing in space”, it is fitting then that many of the pieces include a wire signature.

The exhibit starts with a drawing that Calder made when he was 9, it has him building something with a bunch of tools on the floor around him. Very cute to see and an inspiring way to start the tour.

One of the great things about Calder’s work is how shadows are part of the experience and I was drawn to the shadows these portraits created. The hanging pieces produced shadow shows on the walls and floor that are mesmerizing. I was unable to take photographs myself – it being a temporary exhibit – and have not seen many examples online which highlight this incredible aspect of his work, so you will just have to go see it in person.

Another thing that I found fascinating was the way he represented the hair. On each piece it was slightly different,either curves or wiggled lines, each gave the individual personality. To the curators credit they included some of his preliminary sketches, photographs of the people Calder represented and even a few illustrations by other artists which provided context, as I was not sure what a few of the individual looked like to see how well Calder was able to represent them. Looking at them now it is important to remember that the art world did not look at him as a serious artist when he was producing these pieces – the critics at least. Many saw these as caricature, not art.

My two favorite pieces in the exhibit were Untitled (mobile with wire figure of Saul Steinberg) and Helen Wills II. What made the Wills portrait so interesting was the balance and grace that only a few pieces of wire were able to convey. Her tennis racket just centimeters from the ground.

Helen Wills II from Smithsonian.com

The only down side is that the prior issue at the portrait gallery with the Hide/Seek exhibit lead the Calder Foundation to not allow the inclusion of the Aztec Josephine Baker sculpture in this exhibit.  It had been intended to be on display, an unfortunate exclusion considering that one is currently located at the National Gallery of Art a few blocks away. The portrait gallery did include a scale print of the piece and explained why it was not on display. They did nothing to hiding the facts which  lead to its exclusion. Personally I am still trying to figure out who wins in that situation, or more accurately which organization looks worse.

As normal for museum visits I eyed the exhibit’s book as I left, but since my library has more than outgrown its space did not bring it home with me. My new mission is to find out more about the artist Paolo Garretto, his wonderful Josephine Baker collage was included in the exhibit.

I may just have to visit again – anyone interested in checking it out?

Links:

• Washington Post Article
• NPR Bent Propeller Article
• Smithsonian.com Article
• The Calder Foundation

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.

According to the wikipedia page “List of most visited art museums in the world” I have only visited four of the top ten visited art museums. I feel like I have been so many more than that, however even with two visits to London I have only visited one art museum in the city. In contrast last year I visited The Phillips Collection three times and the Smithsonian American Art Museum at least twice. I guess it balances out.

Reading the list is interesting, I have been reading a lot in preparation for my museum class about museums and have been thinking about all the museums, monuments and heritage sites that I have been fortunate enough to visit in my life. With this in mind I have started a new page on this blog to link to these places. Hopefully each year I will add a few more, this year I would like to add to the list Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art both in (get this) Montreal, National Museum of Women in the Arts here in Washington, D.C. and Walters Art Museum in Baltimore. I think I will be able to do it, two in Montreal will be tricky but as I have been once to the city I am not sure that I will get a third trip.

The first artist highlighted in Art Talk is Barbara Hepworth and thanks to Carol one of my fellow readers at GoodReads I found out that her birthday was yesterday. What helped her stand out to me while reading the book was that she was a sculptor and I have not known of many female sculptors.

Barbara Hepworth, Tides I, 1946, Tate ©

Born and raised in England, Hepworth was one of four children and while studying art at the Leeds School of Art meet another English sculptor Henry Moore, who became a lifelong friend. From Leeds she went on to study at the Royal Collage of art in London and then in Italy. She was married twice, both times to artists and had four children, including triplets in 1934. In her interview with Cindy Nemser she said about being a mother and wife;

“I found it was a great inspiration to me. I loved the family and everything to do with them. I loved the environment and the cooking. I used to cook and go in my studio. I had to have methods of working. If I was in the middle of work and the oven burned or the children called for me, I used to make an arrangement with music, records or poetry, so that when I went back to the studio, I pick up where I left off. I enjoyed it, you see; it was part of me. (p.14)”

Her work evolved over time, sometimes completely abstract shapes and at others figures or other forms where apparent. Many of my favorite pieces by her are the circular, curved, hollow shapes. In fact I have discovered that one of her pieces is in the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden here in D.C., a goal for this year is to go see it in person. In fact it has been a while since I visited the Hirshhorn and this may be the excuse I need.

Barbara Hepworth Figure For Landscape, 1960, Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden

She did continue to gain recognition, both in her native England and around the world, one of her pieces is in the United Nations Plaza in New York City (Single Form) and in 1965 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.  On May 20, 1974 she died in a fire at her home, today the house is the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden, part of the Tate museums in England.

Links:

• Barbara Hepworth
• Book on Barbara Hepworth
• National Museum of Women in the Arts