VISITING MUSEUMS: WASHINGTON D.C.

Ever since I was little Washington D.C. has been the home of all museums. I mean it has the best set up a museum lover could ever imagine. Walking distance from a museum all about our navigations through space is a museum filled with skeletons from dinosaurs to frogs which is next to a museum filled with glorious art work. The art museums alone in Washington D.C. are numerous, there is the National Gallery of Art which is broken up into two giant wings, plus there is the National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum which are combined and hold so much variety of art work, and we can't forget about the Hirschhorn. Then there are other museums such as the Holocaust Museum, International Spy Museum, the Museum of Women in the Arts, Newseum, and so many more. But before I write about every museum in D.C. lets just stick to the art museums and what exactly you can expect to see.

To start lets go to the National Mall to see the National Gallery of Art (West building and East building). In the West building you can see more historic works of art such as European paintings and sculptures ranging from the 13th to 16th Centuries. There also is a good amount of American art and they always have a few temporary exhibitions going on which are very interesting. Then in the East building you would find a large amount of Contemporary and Modern works along with their Film series they almost always have running in their auditorium. If you know whether you'd enjoy a more contemporary feel then head to the East building but if you'd rather see some historical art then go to the West building.
 

National Gallery of Art West Building

National Gallery of Art East Building

Next on the National Mall is the Hirschhorn museum of art. This museum is the round building and it is smaller than the other museums but it does hold a great collection of art. While I was visiting they only had two temporary exhibitions going because of renovation. But both of which were fantastic. It's easy to get lost within the art but nice to flow right around the Hirschhorn (because it's a circle) so you almost forget to worry about seeing everything because you kinda have to walk through each room to get to the next. They had a large variety of mediums in there as well from video, drawing, painting, sculpture, and photography. I personally loved the Destruction and Gravity's Edge Exhibitions. I loved so many pieces from both. Which I can get into in another post.

Hirschhorn Museum

Next on the list is the National Portrait Gallery and American Art Museum. This combined museum is awesome. I love portraiture so this is my favorite museum of all time. You can find anything from Nam June Paik pieces, to Georgia O'Keeffe paintings. Plus portraits of people ranging from the Presidents to Eminem and LL Cool J. It's hard for me to actually write about how amazing this museum is and how ranged the art work is within it. One section of the museum is American landscapes and gorgeous marble sculptures and another is a collection of over 100 TVs stacked all screaming at you to watch this amazing billboard of images and Eric Fischl paintings. It all depends upon preference and what you want to get out of a museum but I will always love the collection they have at the National Portrait Gallery. Sometimes their special exhibitions can be amazing and blow your mind, other times they can be strictly historical and you learn more about the person in the portrait than the art of the piece, which is okay too. 

American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery Interior Courtyard

If anyone has any questions about specifics about the museums or want to know more about something within the galleries, leave a comment!

Citations:
West Building Image: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/United_States_of_America/Washington_DC/Things_To_Do-Washington_DC-National_Gallery_of_Art-BR-1.html
East Building Image: http://www.viewpictures.co.uk/Details.aspx?ID=107181&TypeID=1
Hirschhorn Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirshhorn_Museum_and_Sculpture_Garden
American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Portrait_Gallery_%28United_States%29

AMERICAN PORTRAITURE: PRESIDENTS

(continued from last post)
Later on in my project I was able to visit the National Portrait Gallery and see many different collections. But I’ll just start with the Presidents Collection so we can compare. When you think of all of the Portraits of Presidents, especially the official ones, you think of strength and power. Which is exactly what you get in the first few Presidents portraits, like George Washington’s:

George Washington (Lansdowne portrait) by Gilbert Stuart, oil on canvas, 1796

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. 

(http://face2face.si.edu/my_weblog/2013/02/george-washington-the-first-face-of-america.html) 

In comparison, Lincoln’s portrait shows him sitting in a chair, ready to jump up at any moment and also with a pondering expression. This posture alone shows how he thinks before jumping into action, but also is ready to go and help out our country. There is still a great amount of power shown in this painting, because of the detail in the chair and the very perfect lighting (This portrait is in the White House)

Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy, oil on canvas, 1869, State Dining Room in the White House

 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln_%28Healy%29)

Now compare this portraits to the ones done by Thomas Eakins. See how humble they look? No wonder no one wanted a commission from him when you could be painted like a President!

Moving into the more current Presidents I again noticed a shift. Presidents began to look more like ordinary men. For instance, the portrait of George W. Bush: 

George W. Bush by Robert Anderson, oil on canvas, 2009

 (http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/george-w-bushs-portrait-at-national-portrait-gallery-34317269/)

In this portrait he is not wearing a jacket AND he’s sitting on a couch (and not a fancy couch) looking at you like you just said your daughter just got accepted to go to college. This is a more casual, reach out to the people, I’m one of you moves. Presidents now are trying to not be as high and mighty but relatable. This pose is very comfortable, but it shows off his nice watch, and it shows off his hands (which generally means hard working). Now we see pictures all the time, so we’ve seen tons of pictures and videos of George W. Bush. Back when George Washington and Lincoln got their portraits done, people across the country didn’t see them as often so the impact of their pose and power was awe-worthy.

These are just some of the things I learned. There is definitely more to come with portraiture.