Year In, Year Out

D.C. at night

I concluded the year 2011 with a visit to the Nation's capital, Washington, D.C.; it was a fitting end to a year spent in living, writing, reading, learning, travelling--in general, taking in, as much as I can, from the sounds and sights of life.  With the exception of travelling, all the other activities and experiences can be obtained free, or with little expense; as I grow older, I've become intensively aware how precious they are and how hungry I am for more. 

the Peacock Room, Freer Gallery

East Bldg., National Gallery of Arts

While Kirk was cooped up in the hotel room interviewing potential candidates for a new faculty position in the Philosophy Department at IU, I packed my four days in D.C. with visits to fifteen museums, galleries, and notable buildings.  I'd only been to D.C. once before, in October 2002, for the Marine Corps Marathon; I didn't get to visit many places then, this time I planned ahead to "do" the museums.  One can spend days just going around the different National museums, gardens, and the zoo of the Smithsonian.  The Smithsonian is, without doubt, the crown jewel of our national treasures; a truly democratic institution, it is open to all, admission free. I was most impressed by the collections at the National Gallery of Arts, and I consider the East Building of the National Gallery of Arts by I. M. Pei, the most dynamic museum space of them all. 

Rothko's on close encounter
(Image from the Phillips Collection)

We also visited some private museums, including the Phillips Collection, the Kreeger Museum, and the Newseum.  Among the modern masterpieces in the Phillips Collection are Renoir's Luncheon of the Boating Parties and four Rothko paintings housed in a small rectangular room limited to 8 people at one time.  I confess this was the first time that I palpably felt the force of Mark Rothko's signature "multiform" paintings of colored rectangles with fuzzy edges. They seem to be breathing, pulsating forms on close encounter; I was mesmerized.  

Rear Facade of Kreeger Museum

   

      Front Facade of Kreeger Museum

Art imitates Life

The Kreeger Museum, formerly the residence of the Kreeger family, designed by Philip Johnson, is a less well-known museum, at least for out-of-towners. David Kreeger, a government employee turned lawyer and art patron, who had an out-sized taste for vaulted spaces and an income to match, amassed in his life time a large collection of Impressionist and modern paintings and sculptures.  He commissioned Philip Johnson to design a 24,000 S.F. 'house' to showcase his art collections, entertain in grand style, and live in, presumably, incidentally.  As a museum, this building has found its true calling; as a place to live in, it's unimaginable--the space inside is sterile, cold, and ostentatious.  His private collections of Picasso and Monet, among others, are jaw-dropping, and from the autographed photos displayed in the cloak room, it's apparent that Mr. Kreeger and his wife enjoyed hobnobbing (and name-dropping) with the rich and famous, including almost all the Presidents and First Wives from the second half of the 20th Century onward.  We discovered a very imaginative work of art, in the now dilapidated tennis court, of twisted colored metal made to look like dead branches and vines which crept over the chain-link fence and ugly roots and vegetation strewn all over the parched surface of the tennis court.  

Newseum

Newseum, designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, is one of the few new notable recent additions (it opened in 2008) along the National Mall. This building meets its intended purpose as an interactive museum of news quite successfully, I think.  Its permanent exhibit includes historic newspapers and magazines in the originals dating back to the beginning of printed news (in book form!) from the 1400's.  Like current news media, the numerous exhibition spaces, theaters, and various interactive gadgets inside the building give one a                                                              sense of cacophony and noise. 


The U.S. Institute of Peace, designed by Moshe Safdie, is the newest public building to be erected in D.C. (it opened in early 2011).  Unfortunately, it is not yet open to the general public for visits.  I took a picture (see the photo at the beginning of this post) of its spectacular curved roofs silhouetted in the night sky from the terrace at the Kennedy Center where we went to see Billy Elliot the Musical.

Wisteria Vines in winter

Wisteria in bloom from Google

Upon leaving the Newseum, we had a deja-vu moment walking past the garden wall of the National Gallery of Arts;  Kirk recognized the wisteria vines on the wall, though severely withered, to be the original wisteria vine image I found on Google which I "photoshopped" to become the banner of my Wisteria House Design website.  It was truly a serendipitous discovery on this trip.

Wisteria House Design Banner