National Gallery of Art: works from the Corcoran Collection

 The final stop was a walk through a series of galleries with a mix of National Gallery and Corcoran Gallery works from the American 19th century collections.  It was so nice to see these old "friends".  Ever since the National Gallery absorbed the over 2,000 works from the defunct Corcoran Gallery, what was once easily accessible, became hidden in storage.  

"The Departure," 1837

Thomas Cole, 1801 - 1848

DETAIL: "The Departure"

"The Return," 1837

Thomas Cole, 1801 - 1848

DETAIL: "The Return"

"Niagara," 1857

Frederic Edwin Church, 1826 - 1900

This image of North America's most famous waterfall was an iconic part of the Corcoran Collection.

The works of Albert Bierstadt (1830 - 1902) were an integral part of the Corcoran Collection.  None more pronounced than this gorgeous reproduction from his visit to Mount Corcoran in the Sierra Nevada Mountains on California.  Bierstadt made copious drawing and oil and watercolor sketches during his visit to the western United States.  Then he spent years recreating these images from those notes and sketches and his memory.  The results are resplendent with details and ignited the imaginations of his admirers and collections back in the east.  Most of his paintings are momunmental in size as well: six feet tall, 10..12 feet wide.  They were meant to be displayed in public spaces.

"Mount Corcoran," 1876 - 1877

Albert Bierstadt, 1830 - 1902

DETAIL: "Mount Corcoran"

DETAIL: "Mount Corcoran"

I mean, just look at the translucency of the water!  It's stunning.

"Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm," 1869

Albert Bierstadt, 1830 - 1902

DETAIL: "Buffalo Trail: The Impending Storm"

The drama implicit in this painting is the very essence of the "sublime".  The idea that nature is both inspiring and every threatening.  Beginning with the Hudson School and moving forward thought-out the 19th century, this concept was a favorable pursuit in the design and execution of works of art that depicted the natural world.  

"Simpton Pass," 1911

John Singer Sargent, 1856 - 1925

In my humble opinion, John Singer Sargent is one of the greatest artists ever.  The complexity of this genius even comes through on this relatively innocuous work.  

"Mount Monadnock," circa 1911 - 1914

Abbott Handerson Thayer, 1849 - 1921

National Gallery of Art: Mary Cassatt: An American in Paris

 Some images from a lovely little focus show of the works of American Impressionist painter, Mary Cassatt (1844 - 1926).  The works are all from the collection of the National Gallery of Art.  In three rooms, they divide between oil paintings, and prints, some colorized with watercolor.

I was so grateful for having attended the Mary Cassatt Retrospective at the Philadelphia Museum of Art back in the fall of 2024.  A much larger display with a very in-depth look at her turn in the 1890's to printmaking.  This exhibit gave a taste of the process; Philadelphia afforded a banquet.  Which is fine.  Not every stay is a week's long event; sometimes, you just have a little sleepover.  

"Young Girl at a Window," 1883 - 1884

The Corcoran Collection

"Little Girl in a Blue Armchair," 1887

Collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon

The Mellons underwrote the construction of the National Gallery of Art and gave the lion's share of their personal collection to kick start it's acquisitions.  They are also largely responsible for the establishment of the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond where they established a gallery dedicated to pieces from their Equestrian collection.

"The Boating Party," 1893 - 1894

Chester Dale Collection

A Stamp Collector's memory of the same--my introduction to the artist back in middle school.

"Woman with a Sunflower," circa 1905

Chester Dale Collection

"The Letter," 1890 - 1891

Chester Dale Collection

"Maternal Caress," 1890 - 1891

Gift of Miss Elisabeth Achelis

"Reflection," circa 1890

Alisa Mellon Bruce fund purchase

The artist, age 22 or 23

National Gallery of Art: The Stars We Do Not See, part 7

 We come to the final gallery and the question hanging in the air and on the walls is both obvious and profound:  Where does Australia's Indigenous Art go from here?  Clearly, the world around it is teeming with Western Artistic sensibilities.  How will these integrate themselves into the artistic mindset of the next generation, even as they have already found fertile ground about the works displayed here.  The effects can already be seen almost from the very beginning of the exhibition when ceremonial Larrakitj poles went from bearing the bones of the dead to adorning the spaces of the living as a decorative object, a reference to the past.  

While the exhibition did not move these atheist's heart from a life of empiricism, I was deep touched by the degree of the sacred, the transformation of the communal experience into works that held deep meaning, preserving not just the moment, but it's transcendent power to affirm community.  Western religions are so much about dominance that they even infect long held pacifist counterparts like Hinduism and Buddhism--would that the spiritual harmony found at the center of indigenous belief systems could one day return the favor.  

So rather than just bemoan what could be lost, I am also encouraged to imagine what could be gained in the opposite direction.  The final images.  Enjoy!

"Ghost Gum, MacDonnell Ranges, Central Australia," circa 1945

Albert Namatjira, 1902 - 1959

Aranda people

"Beyond the Pale," 2010

Sandra Hill, 1951 - 

Wardandi/Minang/Bibbulmun/Balladong peoples

"Billamook as Icon," 2020

Gary Lee, 1952 - 

Larrakia people

"Sexy and Dangerous," 1996

Brook Andrew, 1970 - 

"Enub has a Bitumen Road Now,"

Clinton Naina, 1971 -

Mir/Kuku peoples

National Gallery of Art: The Star We Do Not See, part 6

 And then we turn and there is more!  And I'm not showing you most of the items exhibited.  I hope you can also tell that they are large of scale, too.  

Nine Works by Kitty Kantilla, circa 1928 - 2003

The Works each speak to one asked of the artists spirituality.  Beginning at the far left and going clockwise around the top, then across the bottom back to the left they are: 1) Yoyi (Dance), 2) Jilamara (Design), 3) Yinkiti (Food), 4) Jilamara, 5) Yinkiti, 6) Jilamara, 7) Yoyi, 8) Yinkiti, and 9) Yoyi.

"Yoyi"

"Yoyi"

"Jilamara"

"Dream Time Story of the Willy Willy (windstorm)," 1989

Rover Thomas, circa 1926 - 1998

Kukatja/Wangkajunga peoples

"Joowarringayin -- Devil Dreaming," 2000

Paddy Bedford, circa 1922 - 2007

Gija people

National Gallery of Art: The Stars We Do Not See, part 5

 Around another corner and two more galleries filled with wonders.  This time with a modern adaptive application of the artists' work.

Seven Shields

Anonymous Artists

Ali-Curung, Northern Territory

THE WALL TEXT ACCOMPANYING THE SHIELDS

Six Skateboards

"360 Flip on Country," 2014

Claudia Moodoonuthi, 1995 -

Kaiadilt people

DETAIL: Three Skateboards

Dulka Warngiid (Land of all), n.d.

Women's Collective: Dawn Naranatjil, Paula Paul, Sally Gabori, Netta Loogatha, Ethel Thomas, May Moodoonuthi, and Amy Loogatha

Kaiadilt people

The Kaiadilt people called the island of Bentinck home from time immemorial, and then in the early 1940's Europeans forcibly removed them in order to settle the land for themselves.  1986, they were allowed to return and in doing so re-establish their bonds with the country.  This is a work of collaboration by seven Kaiadilt women each adding their own "sentence" to the "story" of their Country.  To describe the experience of standing in its presence as moving doesn't come closed--it radiates the combined devotion of the artists.

DETAIL: "Dulka Warngiid"

DETAIL: "Dulka Warngiid"

Pukumani Tutini

Artists Unknown

Pukumani people

"Kulama," 2012

Timothy Cook, 1958 - 

Tiwi people