Stay-cation Museum Day

The other week I took a day off from work for a little stay-cation, and I decided to visit some local museums in D.C. I shouldn't have to wait 'til I have out-of-town visitors to do that!

Image found here. The entire exhibit was based around this painting, "Luncheon of the Boating Party."

The Phillips Collection has a Renoir exhibit going on right now, so I definitely wanted to check that out. The exhibit was based upon his "Luncheon of the Boating Party" painting (see above). We got to learn about the models that were used for the painting, including his wife Aline Charigot (the one kisses the dog); I rarely ever think about the faces in paintings as belonging to real people whom the artist knew! We also learned about fashions of that time period, Renoir's history as an artist, and how his friends supported his dream of painting. We even saw pictures of the painting under infrared light and x-rays, where you could see changes the artist had made (for example, some characters were shifted slightly, and the awning overhead was a last-minute addition).

Want to learn more about the painting? Mental Floss lists "15 things you didn't know" about the piece: http://mentalfloss.com/article/75976/15-things-you-didnt-know-about-renoirs-luncheon-boating-party.

The Phillips Collection also had several paintings by Pierre Bonnard, another artist from the Impressionist era. I'm not sure why I had never heard of him before, since Impressionist art is my favorite and his works definitely have a Monet-feel about them. And I love his use of color! And I myself am inspired by nature, so I like how many plants/trees are in a lot of his pieces. Here are some of his paintings that I saw:

Here were a couple more of my favorites from The Phillips Collection:

"House at Auvers" by Vincent van Gogh

"Summer" by John Henry Twachtman, another piece that reminded me a bit of Monet.

The deer are so cute in this one! This is "Deer in the Forest I" by Franz Marc.

Another nature one that I really liked. Who knew Georgia O'Keeffe painted leaves as well as flowers?

Then we headed to the National Portrait Gallery to see a new exhibit on Marlene Dietrich. I didn't know much about her except that she was a famous actress from a while ago. The photographs of her were amazing, and part of that was the fact that she knew a lot about lighting and her own angles. She was really ahead of her time: she had an open marriage, frequently wore pants (even in Paris where it was illegal at the time for women to do so), and she was unashamed of her bisexuality (although the exhibit focused nearly exclusively on her male lovers). Both men and women loved her for her beauty, talent, and attitude!

Here Dietrich is wearing a suit like a man, a men's overcoat, and round glasses, a "code" or "sign" for lesbians at the time. Image found here

 Click here to see more about the Marlene Dietrich exhibit.

Image found here

The Portrait Gallery also had a room dedicated to Sylvia Plath. I have never read anything of hers, but I really should! I think her most famous work is The Bell Jar, which I need to add to my reading list. The exhibit featured poems she had written, photographs of the writer, and letters from her or others who knew her; there were also pieces of studio/fine art, like paintings and collages. She dealt with depression throughout her life, and soon after she was divorced she killed herself, leaving her two young children without a mother. So sad!

Click here to read more about the Sylvia Plath exhibit.

Photograph by Louie Palu. Image found here

There was also an exhibit called "The Faces of Battle: Americans at War, 9/11 to Now." The works of six artists were featured, and the exhibit showed how war has become a part of our daily lives since the attacks on September 11th (For example, we always have a "Salute to the Troops" at major sporting events), and yet we still feel removed from war because it's happening overseas. Most of the artwork featured were photographs, but I found Emily Prince's drawings to be the most interesting. She would read obituaries of soldiers, and then draw their likeness and take notes about each one on a different colored card (relative to the person's skin: brown for African-American, peach for white, etc.). Although only some of her cards were on display, she has made more than 5,000 of them and has several boxes of notebooks filled with these faces.

Some of Emily Prince's cards, as well as how they are displayed at the museum. Image found here

Read more about this exhibit here.

Lots of good artwork in DC that is worth checking out!