Into the City for a museum visit.

Ongoing work on "Preparing the Todah"

Yesterday I had an opportunity to leave the two oldest kids at home with Dad and venture into the city to visit some Art museums. I took the Ergo and strapped the baby on for our first big adventure together. The baby loved the Metro ride and quickly made friends with a kindly Vietnam vet who sat beside us. She kept on giving him huge smiles and reaching over to touch his jacket.

The first Museum I went to was the National Gallery of Art. I loved looking at all the religious art and found so much of it very touching. It was a perfect meditation for Holy Week. I wish I had taken more time to really reflect on some of these touching pieces.

Giovanni della Robbia - Pietà - Sculpture - Samuel H. Kress Collection - 1943.4.70

 They had an excellent special exhibit on the Pre-raphealites. I was very impressed with their work especially since I have not payed much attention to this era. I was interested in it years ago but had mostly forgotten about it. The colors in many of these paintings seemed to glow in comparison to the other paintings in the museum.

The Blind Girl by John Everett Mallais simply glowed from across the room. The colors were so vibrant and the details were amazing to look at close up.

Christ in the House of His Parents by John Everett Mallais

I paid particular attention to this painting because of the representation of the young life of Jesus.

 

Another area that I really likes was the room with paintings by John Singer Sargent (one of my favorite artists) and Whistler. I just love standing inches away from Sargent's paintings and seeing the brushstrokes. Brushwork was definitely my favorite thing to look at during the whole day. What a large variety of ways artists apply paint.

 

John Singer Sargent - Nonchaloir (Repose) - Painting - Gift of Curt H. Reisinger - 1948.16.1

 

James McNeill Whistler - Symphony in White, No. 1: The White Girl - Painting - Harris Whittemore Collection - 1943.6.2
 

At the National Portrait Gallery I was not as impressed simply because the focus was on the subject of the painting rather than on the technique and artistry of the painter. I was also much more tired, having already spent hours carrying the baby around. The courtyard was very nice and it was wonderful to be surrounded by warm air and beautiful trees and flowers.

 

 My favorite painting however was this painting of  Roosevelt

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential "Hands" Portrait, 1945 by Douglas Chandor