Recently, the Washington Post ranked the top 20 major art museums in America. The National Gallery of Art was listed as #3. A complementary article ranked the top 10 small art museums; the Phillips Collection came in at #1. How great is it to have both of these in the neighborhood? (Not that the Post was locally biased at all!)
Coincidentally (or maybe not), both museums have terrific new exhibitions. The NGA’s blockbuster is showcasing Impressionists – everybody’s favorite painting school – and the Phillips has an intriguing set of artworks drawn completely from their permanent collection, which they have arranged in juxtaposition to one another: a series of “conversations” highlighting relationships of style and influence.
Seeing both of these invites comparisons of scale and volition. The NGA’s show has garnered attention from major outlets and lots of accolades, but the Phillips, though less ambitious, has its own pleasures. And, the NGA has an extra added attraction which, as a food writer, I find particularly welcome.
Quite An Impression at the NGA: Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment
Manet! Monet! Morisot! Renoir! Cézanne! Degas! Just being in proximity to all these immortal names induces goosebumps. Seldom have so many famous French (and one English) painters been gathered together before – at least not since the event which this exhibit celebrates.
In 1874, France was reeling from losing the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune uprising, yet it was the site of two contrasting art exhibits: one which hewed to the old themes of realistic (if heightened) representation of religious, historic, and pastoral scenes (the Paris Salon), and one which explored new ways of seeing, interacting, and relating art to the natural and human worlds (Société Anonyme des Artistes Peintres, Sculpteurs, Graveurs, etc.).
The Impressionist Moment includes several of the pictures exhibited at the official Salon to contrast their formalist style to those of the Société. There is even one which reproduces a scene in the Salon, including some of the paintings in the background. The NGA tried to track down all of these and borrow them to hang next to “Le Salon de 1874,” by Camille Cabaillot-Lassalle, but in vain. How meta would that have been?
But there are plenty of marvels here nonetheless. Here’s Manet’s “The Railway,” a comment on modernity’s intrusion into the city’s life, and just charming with it. There’s a wall with three scenes of life at the Opera, Renoir and Manet surrounding an equally fetching picture by a less well-known woman, Eva Gonzalès: an example of the curators’ effort to include female artists at the same level as the many, many more men.
And, hard to miss, the wonderful scene of “The Luncheon” by Monet. The large format, reserved by the art establishment of the Salon for important historical subjects, here is designed to subvert that tradition, and invites the viewer into the picture as it foregrounds the dishes on the family table.
There have been many articles written about this exhibit, so I will just say: go see it! It will be at the NGA through January 19, 2025.
And More Good News
The NGA has brought back a welcome tradition of their own, that of matching the menus in their cafes to the current exhibit. As displayed in the press opening event, one can now order interpretations of French classic dishes in the Garden Café and Cascades Café. We enjoyed samples of Rustic Ratatouille Pastry, Tuna Steak Tartare, L’opera Cake, Napoleon Cake, and Franc Perry.
Mahmood Ali, Executive Chef for Sodexho, which supplies the food service for the NGA, assured me that the program of menu-matching would continue into the future. Bon Appetit!
Artists In Museums, Very Talky: Breaking It Down: Conversations From the Vault
In contrast to the Impressionist show at the NGA, the Phillips Collection has looked inward for a choice assemblage of pieces from its own holdings. The triumph of curation lies in the juxtaposition of works in conversation with others, some in ways that make instant sense, others less intuitive. The fun lies in winkling out relationships.
I was immediately charmed as Associate Curator Renee Maurer introduced the exhibit standing in front of a quilt (quilting is my hobby).
The painting behind her is by Sam Gilliam. The Phillips owns 19 Gilliams. He had his first one-person show there, and it launched his career. The quilt, “Bricklayer,” is by Lucy T. Pettway, a Gee’s Bend quilter. Gilliam owns another quilt by Pettway. Gilliam is known for his experiments in creating unexpected results by crumpling painted canvas and letting it dry, and for playful ways of draping unstretched canvases in ways that emphasize the fabric.
Walking through the exhibit affords many opportunities to construct relationships and influences among artists. In the “Evolving Still Life” section, I found (trust me to find the food images) a Sharon Core chromogenic print made in 2009 evocative of Old Master still lifes. The artist’s statement reveals the astonishing amount of effort concentrated in this image: “…I grew all the fruits and vegetables in order to control size, scale and the parts of the plants I wanted to photograph…” Not to mention controlling the lighting, subject matter, and camera type.
Among the many Braques in the exhibit, to my mind the most striking is “The Round Table.” It’s hung near Cezanne’s “Ginger Pot with Pomegranate and Pears,” making it easy to compare each artist’s juggling the variations of volume, shape, and surface of common subjects.
The exhibit is full of these happy not-so-accidents. Go see it with someone you can argue and extrapolate with. Interactivity is half the fun!
National Gallery of Art, Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment, through January 19, 2025
The Phillips Collection, Breaking It Down: Conversations From the Vault, through January 19, 2025