Home Comes the Sailor, Home from the Sea

Where: National Gallery of Art, West Building, Main Floor

When: closing November 25, 2018

I know, I know, I've been timing my visits very close to the deadline lately - this show closes tomorrow.  What with rainy weather, a bad cold and some very busy days at work, my fall has been a season of discontent, at least as far as going to museums is concerned.  My plan is to re-commit myself to getting some culture at mid-day for the rest of 2018!

The marvelous model ship pictured here is from the National Gallery's exhibit on Dutch water paintings.  The 17th century was the Dutch Golden Age, and it was all about the water.  They sailed on it; they skated on it; they fished on it.  And they painted it.

I'll confess that seascapes are not my favorite type of paintings, and naval battles are not my favorite type of seascapes, so the beauty of those offerings was lost on me.  Frankly, I find battle depictions of any sort (text, art) only but so interesting.

Happily, there were also more homely scenes on offer, including one by Hendrick Avercamp, called "A Scene on the Ice."  It looked quite familiar, and I'm pretty sure I saw it in the small show the National Gallery had several years ago on the Dutch Little Ice Age.  The Little Ice Age is the name given to a period of time in the 1600s when it was extraordinarily cold, and the canals froze solidly enough to support all manner of winter sports, including something called kolf, which was a sort of golf/ice hockey hybrid.  Paintings of the Dutch enjoying themselves in their winter finery is much more my cup of tea.

The model ships are very impressive - the one pictured is perhaps the best, but all are worth a look.

Verdict: A good show, although if you like seascapes, you'll like it more than I did.

Who Doesn't Like a God that Likes Dessert?

Where: Sackler Gallery

When: closing November 18, 2018

Go today to see this small display of works from Southeast Asia that demonstrate power.  Water and snakes were both viewed as potent symbols, and both appear here.  Interestingly enough, although snakes often have negative associations in the West, they were viewed as a positive force in South and Southeast Asia.

My favorite piece was the one of Ganesha, pictured here.  He has an elephant head and a belly full of sweets, as he is quite partial to dessert.  He is beloved as a friend of beginnings and remover of obstacles.  He always seems friendly in the representations I've seen, a companionable deity.

Verdict: I believe all of the works on display are from the Sackler's own collection, so I'm hoping I've not seen the last of them.

Japan's Take on the Buddha

Where: Freer Gallery of Art

When: closing November 12, 2018

Today's the last day to see this one-room exhibit on Buddhist art in Japan - it's a lovely (if cold) day here in the DMV, so what better way to spend it than by visiting the Freer?

 The historical Buddha was born in the 5th century BCE.  I don't want to boil Buddhism down to one statement, but what was emphasized in the exhibit was the idea that a middle path between excessive consumption and total austerity is what leads to enlightenment.  There's clearly a political analogy to be made here, but I'll leave that to someone else to broadcast.

Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century, and Japanese religious art is what is on offer in this show.  The fearsome fellow pictured here is the Lord of Burning Desire, and the Freer has helpfully tagged him with a red plaque, indicating that he's one of the "best" items in the room.  The carving and the color of the lotus he's sitting on are first rate.

There's also a discussion of what's inside the statuary.  Many of the pieces are hollow, and sometimes, sacred texts were placed inside, like a sort of reliquary.  I was reminded of the National Gallery's Degas dancer exhibit, which showed she had paint brushes and other items inside.  Not that I'm comparing a paint brush to a sacred text!  Just that they were both inside statutes.

Verdict: Worth a visit - you know the Freer: beautiful things, beautifully arranged.