Atticus Finch as I Prefer to Think of Him

Where: National Portrait Gallery

When: through April 10, 2016

If you want to see a piece that's part of the Portrait Gallery's "Celebrate" series, you have to hop right to it.  The art comes and goes quickly.  It's nice that there's always something new to see, but you run the risk of missing things.  This portrait of actor Gregory Peck is only up for ten days, so if you're a fan, you need to hurry over there, or you'll miss out.

Like the picture of Nancy Reagan that was in this space previously, this representation of an actual person is getting nothing like the attention afforded to Kevin Spacey as Frank Underwood.  I've discussed this phenomenon earlier, so won't travel the same ground again.

Peck's "quiet strength [and] resolve" come through in this painting, which was done in 1991, portraying him in his later years.  Peck, in addition to his many acting roles, was also a strong advocate of gun control and protested against the Vietnam War.

This portrait has an unfinished feel to it - Peck's face is complete, but his jacket and the painting's background look a bit slapdash to me.  Perhaps it's meant to show Peck as the controlled man rising out of the chaos around him?

Verdict: A fine portrait that reminds me of the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird," and not of the book Go Set a Watchman.

Long Time, No Blog

Where: Hirshhorn Museum

When: through April 10, 2016

Hello again readers, if there are any of you left.  It's been almost a month since I blogged, in part because I haven't been to many museums lately.  Between Snowzilla (second largest single snowfall in DC history) and being crazy busy at work, I've only seen one show since mid-January.  No wonder I'm frazzled - I need some art therapy!

What I did see was an installation called "Part, File, Score" at the Hirshhorn, and, believe it or not, I liked it very much.  The artist is Susan Philipsz and the room-sized piece is a tribute to Hanns Eisler, a German Jewish composer.   He left Germany and came to the United States in 1938 when his music was banned by the Nazis, only to get caught up in the Red Scare after World War II.  He was deported in 1948.

On the walls of the room are large reproductions of Eisler's scores, with excerpts of the FBI's reports on him (with many redactions) superimposed.  It's tempting to keep busy walking around and reading all of this material, but it's worth it to stand in the center of the room and hear the music coming from all around you.  Each note seems to come from a different speaker, so you feel as if you're surrounded by the sound.

Verdict: Worth a look and a listen; it's one room, so ideal for a lunch time visit.

Sometimes, It's Both the Journey and the Destination

Where: Smithsonian American Art Museum

When: through April 10, 2016

I really enjoy going to the third floor of the American Art Museum; I love the floor tiles and the Victorian paint job and being in the what was once the largest room in America.  What's the largest room now, I wonder?

Even if the show I go to see isn't to my taste, I've still had the fun of the trip to the top of the museum.  Happily, my voyage to see modern art works from the Sam Rose and Julie Walters Collection gave me the opportunity to see some great stuff, so in this case, I had more than the trek to enjoy.

Modern art was a movement all about rejecting certainties and substituting subjectivism, so it's a bit of a stretch for someone like myself, a fan of rationality, to embrace a style so non-linear.  Still, I go to museums to learn, to be exposed to new and different ways of seeing the world.  If I saw nothing but works from artists I already knew and liked, that wouldn't be much of an education, would it?

Georgia O'Keefe, an artist I just don't like (all those dead cow skulls and flowers that look like vaginas - how much of that can anyone take?), but the piece displayed here, "Pink Dish and Green Leaves" is not bad.  It incorporates a view of New York's East River, so no fear of deceased bovines,  and the leaves appear to be just leaves.

My old friend Henry Moore, he of "Knife Edge Mirror Two Piece," which greats you as you walk into the East Building of the National Gallery, was also on offer.  I didn't recognize his working model for "Draped Reclining Figure" when I first glanced at it, but once I read that it was by him, I saw it immediately.

I saw ceramics by Picasso - who knew he made ceramics, and statues by Elie Nadelman, who was new to me.  Some were in wood and some in bronze (my new favorite medium, after the National Gallery show).  And if that were not enough, I saw a piece by Elizabeth Catlett, who I discovered in the Cosby show at African Art.

One thing I found frustrating was a Calder mobile; the wall notes talk about the meaning behind the moving parts, but as it's displayed, the parts don't move at all.  It's paired with a Roy Lichtenstein piece that's meant to be a nod to Calder, except the Lichtenstein is a mobile that doesn't move.  The problem is that if the Calder isn't moving either, it's hard to see the difference.

My favorite item was a sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle.  It's a very large piece involving two turtles, a crayfish and a moon with a woman's face in it.  I love the bright colors, and the mirror tile reflects light onto the backdrop.  Somehow, it seems to move (perhaps it's the HVAC?) - it's far more mobile than the Calder.

Verdict: A good show, worth the time to look at everything.  Some things I liked more than others, but a fine way to spend a lunch hour.

A Selection of Hirshhorn Pieces

Where: Hirshhorn Museum

When: through April 17, 2016

The third floor of the Hirshhorn has re-opened after being closed for renovation, and to mark the occasion, a number of items from the museum's permanent collection are on display.  Many of them are forgettable and ridiculous, but I'll focus on a couple of things I actually liked.

First, and this is the reason I recommend seeing this show, they have a Yinka Shonibare piece.  It's from his "Age of Enlightenment" series; this is of Antoine Lavoisier.  Shonibare has given the chemist a disability he did not possess in life, so he's presented seated in a wheelchair.  In addition to clothing Lavoisier in the Dutch wax cloth which is a trademark of his, Shonibare has covered the chair in it as well.  Great colors on both the mannequin and the chair.  It's always fantastic to see one of Shonibare's pieces, especially when you can get close up and really look at all the terrific details.

I also had a chance to see "Display Stand with Madonnas" by Katharina Fritsch, which I'd seen before in another Hirshhorn permanent collection display some years ago.  This is what I call "Yellow Virgin Marys" because it's a big display stand with lots of yellow statutes of the Virgin Mary.  You don't see that every day.

Verdict: Typical Hirshhorn, whether you like that or not.  Go for the Shonibare, but feel free to move quickly through the rest.