I've been entirely delightfully delinquent in my blogging lately, due largely to the fact that I've had no drive at all to sit in front of a keyboard when I have the galleries at my fingertips. I have been visiting about a gallery a day for the past week, and have been enjoying every single second of it. The amazing thing here, is that a lot of the galleries are state funded (read: free) and if they're not, they have this amazing student rate which has completely aided in my budgeting (read: poverty and not budgeting at all) .
As you can see below, I've been taking stealthily awful pictures of the amazing art that I've seen, if only to convince myself that I actually have seen it. Unfortunately, the camera batteries ran out on when I visited the National Womens Art Museum, so some of the amazing pieces there have gone entirely undocumented, and if not for the really cute Girl-Guide badge I picked up there for women's art appreciation, I might not believe I had actually been there.
So, for those of you intending to visit D.C., or those who just want to read my terribly witty account of how many marble steps I've tripped up and which paintings I've sneezed a little too close to.. read on!
*disclaimer - due to the fact that I was only here for a week, I only visited the biggest (though not necessarily the best) - galleries in D.C.. I am sure that there are innumerable independant galleries that have escaped me, and I encourage everyone to go out and find them. And tell me.
The Phillips Collection
Bryan and I went specifically to see the Degas, Sickert and Toulouse - Lautrec collection on view right now, but I've been here before and am always impressed by their permanent collection. They're known specifically for the impressionist works (basically all of them) that are on display, a really thourough collection of Modrian, Picasso, Degas, O'Keefe and Klee. The DSTL Exhibit was excellent, althought I thought it was a little slopping in its curation. I didn't particularily like the way they chose to group the paintings.. something about it made it very stop gap, very bumpy. I understood that the primary focus of the exhibit was to demonstrate the diffusion of the impressionist across Europe... but it felt like the painting had just been thrown up, instead of deliberately hung in deliberate order. Perhaps it was just me. They were really stunning, specifically the collection of Degas' dancers in various incarnations. Definately worth-while. The Collection building (half of it) has just completed construction, and looks amazing. I do prefer the older half, where the regular collection is housed in just a plain brownstone, but the new portion is definately function-oriented. Students do get a discount here. Funny thing was, though we both showed the docent university/college id's.. she gave Bryan a student ticket.. and me a child. Damnit.
Corcoran Gallery of Art
My feelings for the Corcoran are mixed. They have REALLY nice staff, and a really nice building.. But I always feel like it's a little empty in there. I'm not a fan of their regular collection, and the carpet always makes me feel like I'm in a public school boot room in the winter, kind of that industrial crap that gave everyone those weird little bumps at nap time. I don't know - I guess I just think it doesn't add too much. We went on the last day of the Warhol exhibit, which I still loved, and Bryan enjoyed too. They also had a rather strange exhibit on in the Corcoran Students Gallery.. "Fated Objects and Strange Projeny" by Ronald Gonzales. It was a collection of handmade "toys" created from various pieces that the artist had found in his native New York. Including a plastic covered rat. It was odd. They were really neat on first view, and upon futher inspection made me want to vomit. *shrug* It's a little pricey to get in here - 8$ even if you are a student, but it's nice. The security is pretty lax. I touched a Warhol last time I was there. Hehehehe...
National Gallery of Art
Yay! Free Gallery! I have to say that this was my favorite gallery. It's divided into two buildings, a West and East building, and the East building is more modern art. I fell in love with this gallery. The West building is all huge rotundas and staircases and gardens and big windows - just stunning. They have Dutch, American, Flemmish, French, Italian rooms, filled with beautiful collections of amazing paintings, Picasso's, Matisse, Degas, Homer, Whistler.. on and on and on. There are stunning, iconic paintings - It seems like every room I walked into there were paintings that I would never see in my lifetime. *Smile* It was amazing. The East building had an INCREDIBLE Dada exhibit, moving through the big cities of Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam.. God, it was amazing. Hannah Hoch, Hans Arp, Man Ray - it was mind blowing! And just as amazing was their regular collection, made up of Pollock, Rothko, Matisse, Warhol, O'Keefe - I was kind of stunned looking, I'm sure. Actually.. I was trying to figure out what this little plaque was for "Sprialling Color" etc etc, and was looking at a rather wide Rothko, backing up.. Until I realised that the plaque was for the entire wall that I was leaning against and had been drawn on by what looked like Crayons. Whoops. At least I didn't pee in Duchamp's urinal.. In the West building they had a huge Cezanne exhibit, which was equally as stunning as the Dada exhibit, although there were a lot of whiney Italian and French people with really tight pants and furs on. Hm. I would recommend a good deal of time to go through this gallery, they take minimun 2 hours for each of the buildings. But it's worth it! And free! Yay! Free! (A little warning - the marble stairs in the West building have been warn down a little, so they have kind of a concave middle. I never knew it was possible to simultaneously fall up, and down, stairs.)
National Museum of Women in the Arts
There are a few really worthwhile pieces in this museum/gallery, and they're SO kind. It's only 3$ for students, and the docents will tell you exactly what you should see, their favorites.. its really nice. The building is an old Masons hall, and it quite beautiful, the sweeping stairways are really impressive. They have a modern room, classical, neoclassical, on and on. Though small, the collections tend to pull some of the best and put them together. Some. I found that some of the pieces were really.. not very good at all, and I had a feeling that they were included just because they were women. Which is sort of dissapointing. On the other hand, they did have pieces by Lee Krasner (Pollocks wife) and Frida Kahlo that I wish could be more widely exhibited. It was a beautiful and quiet, though really regal collection. I suggest it to anyone. Doesn't take a lot of time to go through it, I think that the collection is only 3,000 pieces wide, and a very small portion are on display. Definately worth the time and effort.
So there you have it. Its completely worth visiting just these galleries, if you have no other time to visit others. Most of them are within walking distance of downtown D.C., depending on the weather - but cab drivers provide the best conversation, so don't pass up that option either! Next time I want to do the Textile Museum and the Postal Museum. Yay stamps and rugs!
As you can see below, I've been taking stealthily awful pictures of the amazing art that I've seen, if only to convince myself that I actually have seen it. Unfortunately, the camera batteries ran out on when I visited the National Womens Art Museum, so some of the amazing pieces there have gone entirely undocumented, and if not for the really cute Girl-Guide badge I picked up there for women's art appreciation, I might not believe I had actually been there.
So, for those of you intending to visit D.C., or those who just want to read my terribly witty account of how many marble steps I've tripped up and which paintings I've sneezed a little too close to.. read on!
*disclaimer - due to the fact that I was only here for a week, I only visited the biggest (though not necessarily the best) - galleries in D.C.. I am sure that there are innumerable independant galleries that have escaped me, and I encourage everyone to go out and find them. And tell me.
The Phillips Collection
Bryan and I went specifically to see the Degas, Sickert and Toulouse - Lautrec collection on view right now, but I've been here before and am always impressed by their permanent collection. They're known specifically for the impressionist works (basically all of them) that are on display, a really thourough collection of Modrian, Picasso, Degas, O'Keefe and Klee. The DSTL Exhibit was excellent, althought I thought it was a little slopping in its curation. I didn't particularily like the way they chose to group the paintings.. something about it made it very stop gap, very bumpy. I understood that the primary focus of the exhibit was to demonstrate the diffusion of the impressionist across Europe... but it felt like the painting had just been thrown up, instead of deliberately hung in deliberate order. Perhaps it was just me. They were really stunning, specifically the collection of Degas' dancers in various incarnations. Definately worth-while. The Collection building (half of it) has just completed construction, and looks amazing. I do prefer the older half, where the regular collection is housed in just a plain brownstone, but the new portion is definately function-oriented. Students do get a discount here. Funny thing was, though we both showed the docent university/college id's.. she gave Bryan a student ticket.. and me a child. Damnit.
Corcoran Gallery of Art
My feelings for the Corcoran are mixed. They have REALLY nice staff, and a really nice building.. But I always feel like it's a little empty in there. I'm not a fan of their regular collection, and the carpet always makes me feel like I'm in a public school boot room in the winter, kind of that industrial crap that gave everyone those weird little bumps at nap time. I don't know - I guess I just think it doesn't add too much. We went on the last day of the Warhol exhibit, which I still loved, and Bryan enjoyed too. They also had a rather strange exhibit on in the Corcoran Students Gallery.. "Fated Objects and Strange Projeny" by Ronald Gonzales. It was a collection of handmade "toys" created from various pieces that the artist had found in his native New York. Including a plastic covered rat. It was odd. They were really neat on first view, and upon futher inspection made me want to vomit. *shrug* It's a little pricey to get in here - 8$ even if you are a student, but it's nice. The security is pretty lax. I touched a Warhol last time I was there. Hehehehe...
National Gallery of Art
Yay! Free Gallery! I have to say that this was my favorite gallery. It's divided into two buildings, a West and East building, and the East building is more modern art. I fell in love with this gallery. The West building is all huge rotundas and staircases and gardens and big windows - just stunning. They have Dutch, American, Flemmish, French, Italian rooms, filled with beautiful collections of amazing paintings, Picasso's, Matisse, Degas, Homer, Whistler.. on and on and on. There are stunning, iconic paintings - It seems like every room I walked into there were paintings that I would never see in my lifetime. *Smile* It was amazing. The East building had an INCREDIBLE Dada exhibit, moving through the big cities of Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam.. God, it was amazing. Hannah Hoch, Hans Arp, Man Ray - it was mind blowing! And just as amazing was their regular collection, made up of Pollock, Rothko, Matisse, Warhol, O'Keefe - I was kind of stunned looking, I'm sure. Actually.. I was trying to figure out what this little plaque was for "Sprialling Color" etc etc, and was looking at a rather wide Rothko, backing up.. Until I realised that the plaque was for the entire wall that I was leaning against and had been drawn on by what looked like Crayons. Whoops. At least I didn't pee in Duchamp's urinal.. In the West building they had a huge Cezanne exhibit, which was equally as stunning as the Dada exhibit, although there were a lot of whiney Italian and French people with really tight pants and furs on. Hm. I would recommend a good deal of time to go through this gallery, they take minimun 2 hours for each of the buildings. But it's worth it! And free! Yay! Free! (A little warning - the marble stairs in the West building have been warn down a little, so they have kind of a concave middle. I never knew it was possible to simultaneously fall up, and down, stairs.)
National Museum of Women in the Arts
There are a few really worthwhile pieces in this museum/gallery, and they're SO kind. It's only 3$ for students, and the docents will tell you exactly what you should see, their favorites.. its really nice. The building is an old Masons hall, and it quite beautiful, the sweeping stairways are really impressive. They have a modern room, classical, neoclassical, on and on. Though small, the collections tend to pull some of the best and put them together. Some. I found that some of the pieces were really.. not very good at all, and I had a feeling that they were included just because they were women. Which is sort of dissapointing. On the other hand, they did have pieces by Lee Krasner (Pollocks wife) and Frida Kahlo that I wish could be more widely exhibited. It was a beautiful and quiet, though really regal collection. I suggest it to anyone. Doesn't take a lot of time to go through it, I think that the collection is only 3,000 pieces wide, and a very small portion are on display. Definately worth the time and effort.
So there you have it. Its completely worth visiting just these galleries, if you have no other time to visit others. Most of them are within walking distance of downtown D.C., depending on the weather - but cab drivers provide the best conversation, so don't pass up that option either! Next time I want to do the Textile Museum and the Postal Museum. Yay stamps and rugs!
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