Out of Many, One

Where: National Mall Reflecting Pool, visible from the Washington Monument

When: through October 31, 2014

I took the afternoon off today to go up in the Washington Monument and see this portrait made of sand and soil, set up next to the Reflecting Pool, between the WWII and Lincoln Memorials.

It had been at least 25 years since I'd visited the Washington Monument, and the views from the top are lovely.  DC is a beautiful city, although it's easy to lose sight of that, when your mired in traffic, or dealing with a barely functional subway system or trying to find a bit of peace and quiet downtown.  You can see in all directions from this height, and there's something picturesque out of each observation window.

Of course, for today and tomorrow, you can also see this portrait by the Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada.  It's a composite picture, made of the facial features of several people, hence the title.  It's an interesting idea, and having it visible only from above does make it more of an event than it might otherwise be.

The problem is that you're so far away from the piece that seeing it from the Monument is not much different than seeing it online or in the newspaper.  You don't feel as if you're in the presence of the "real thing" in the way you do when you see a painting or sculpture in a museum.  Even if it's behind glass, you're still in the room with it.  With this installation, you're still at a remove.  I feel as if I've seen it, but I haven't experienced it.

That having been said, I'm glad I went up and would go again if something similar were on display in future.  Note that beginning next May, the Park Service will be offering "walk down" tours of the Monument.  You take the elevator to the top, but walk down with a guide.  It takes two hours, so you need to block out some time for this.  If I'm feeling particularly energetic some day, I'll give it a try.

Verdict: Come for the views, whether of the portrait or of the city generally.  You have to plan ahead in order to get tickets, but it's worth taking the time to do at least once in your life.

Style in Chinese Landscape Painting: The Song Legacy

Where: Freer Gallery of Art

When: through October 26, 2014

With all due apologies to Carolina in the morning, what could be finer than a trip to the Freer in the afternoon?  Very little, and this is yet another lovely display that repays a visit.

I'm very fond of landscape paintings, and many of these are quite fine.  The Song Dynasty lasted a long time, from the mid-10th to the mid-14th century.  This period was the apogee of traditional Chinese painting.  Landscapes came into their own as subjects; they moved out of the background, as it were and took center stage.

The paintings from this time had a great effect on later painters, and often these later works have been mistaken for the efforts of earlier masters.  There are very few genuine Song Dynasty paintings still left, which is hardly surprising given their age.  Some of them are here in the Freer - yet another reason to be grateful for living in DC.

My favorite works were those in the Mi Family style - not much color to them, but they made the most of the blacks and grays at their disposal.  Mist is featured in all of these pictures - which is really untouched paper, a charming effect.

My only criticism is that many of the works are rather dark, which makes it hard to see any detail.  This is hardly the Freer's fault, as I can only imagine this is the effect of age and environmental conditions.  One thing I wish could be changed are the display cases - there's quite a bit of glare, which doesn't help matters.

Verdict: Another enjoyable time at the Freer.

Black Box: Oliver Laric

Where: Hirshhorn Museum

When: through October 5, 2014

As much as I don't care for the Hirshhorn generally, I do enjoy their video offerings.  This is the latest in their Black Box series; the room where those play is on the lower level of the building.  They're weird, but they're thought-provoking.

This video is entitled Versions and deals with the fact that technology allows us to alter works of art.  How do you know when you're seeing "the original" and when you're looking at a copy that's been Photoshopped or otherwise changed?  Answer: you may not be able to tell.  What does this mean for the concept of authenticity?  How do we know what is real and what is a re-mix?  Are the re-mixes art?  Working in a law firm, I can't help but ask: are they legal?  As the wall notes tell us, there is a "constant need to interpret visual information today."  Seeing is no longer believing.

A procedural note:  the room has two screens and mid-way through the video, it moves from one screen to another.  That means if you're sitting down, you'll have to swivel around to keep watching the show.  I believe the idea is to put the audience in the middle of the show, but I'm not sure that really works.  I fear that people are losing out on some of the show by adjusting themselves to the new orientation.  Now that I read that sentence over, it occurs to me that this might be the point.  Are we losing out on art by having to adjust to the new realities of altered works?  You see what I mean when I say these videos are thought-provoking.  They really cry out for a group viewing and discussion afterwards.

Verdict: Worth every second of the 15 minutes it will take you to watch this in its entirety.  Perhaps you'll come up with answers to my many questions?

Degas/Cassatt

Where: National Gallery of Art

When: through October 5, 2014

In contrast to the Wyeth show described below, where the human form was conspicuous by its absence, Cassatt and Degas show nothing but people: in their homes, visiting friends, at the theater.  Wyeth can be described as both a realist and an abstract painter; Cassatt and Degas are unapologetic realists.

This show was much smaller than I had anticipated, which is not a bad thing.  Often, when I'm making my way through one of those gargantuan exhibits in the East Building, I'm tired of whatever I'm seeing by the time I'm finished, no matter how enthusiastic I was when I started.  No worries on that score here; it's four rooms, and although they're full of great art, you'll run out of paintings before you run out of energy.

Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas were friends and professional colleagues in Paris in the late 1800s, and this show focuses on that time period and the influence each had on the other.  If you're expecting lots of mother and child paintings from Cassatt, prepare to be surprised.  There are only three in the show.  Featured is the familiar painting above, of a little girl and her dog in a room full of blue upholstery, and several paintings of women at the theater.  As for Degas, his theater paintings are represented as well; his are of the women on the stage.

Degas' influence on Cassatt is exemplified by his contributions in the painting above.  He suggested the corner in the back of the painting, which alters the perspective to make it more interesting.  The influence was not all one-way however.  Degas used Mary Cassatt as a model more than once - his paintings and drawings of her at the Louvre take up an entire room.

Although their work took different directions later in their careers, they remained friends until Degas' death.  Degas bought many of Cassatt's paintings and Cassatt encouraged others to purchase Degas' works, as well as buying a few paintings for herself.

Note that the show is quite crowded, especially around the works on the audio tour they sell outside the entrance.  I'm guessing that this is a problem that will resolve itself in a few weeks, when everyone who's interested will have seen the show.  For that reason, you may want to delay your trip in order to have a bit more elbow room.

Verdict: If you like French Impressionism, this is a lovely show.  Its tight focus on one aspect of Degas and Cassatt makes it quite manageable as a lunchtime excursion.

The Rex Room

Where:  Natural History Museum

When: through October 20, 2014

Since I went to see The Rex Room, I've been trying to think what I might find worse than having to do my job while thousands of strangers gawked at me through a glass wall.  I suppose having no job at all would be worse, but being on display like an animal at the zoo is plenty bad.

My brother and sister-in-law are both scientists, and they tell me that paleontology is the glamor field.  All the money and attention flows in its direction, so I guess having to be on display is the price those who study dinosaurs pay for fame and fortune.  Still, I was happy to return to my backwater library when my lunch hour was over - able to work my research magic far from prying eyes.

As I suppose I should have mentioned at the beginning of this post, the Natural History Museum has just taken possession of a T. Rex.  When the dinosaur hall re-opens in 2019 (which seems like forever from now), it will be the star of the show, but at the moment, it's a long way from being ready for its close-up.  The scientists on display are cataloging and studying each piece of the skeleton prior to shipping it to Toronto to be mounted.

Some background on the T. Rex, in case you've not been following this story, 66.5 million years ago, this dinosaur died, near a river in what is now Montana.  River sediment covered the carcass and over the years (many, many years) the sediment turned to stone, encasing the T. Rex.  In 1988 Kathy Wankel, a Montana rancher, was hiking, and spotted a bone protruding from the earth.  She brought it to the Museum of the Rockies, who took a lively interest in her discovery.  It took them two years to fully excavate it, and on April 15, 2014, it arrived in a FedEx truck at the Natural History Museum.

This fossil has already provided information to researchers on dinosaur growth, life span and reproduction, and the hope is that it will yield answers to even more questions.  Like: why did T. Rexs have such little arms?

Verdict: I felt a little guilty staring at the scientists, but their work is interesting.  Starting next week, this will be on the only dinosaur on display, so join the line and gawk away.