DC Art: Angels in the Architecture

"Figures of Genius" by Philip Martiny from the Ceiling of the Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, Washington, DC

DC Art: Mark Rothko

Green and Maroon detail (1953) by Mark Rothko, The Phillips Collection

One of my favorite places in Washington, DC is the Rothko Room at the Phillips Collection in the Dupont Circle neighborhood. The room is small and simple, just a single bench surrounded by four Rothko paintings. If you sit in the room facing one of the paintings you might experience a range of feelings that Rothko's art can evoke. The energy in the room is light and airy. The paintings seem to hum with an inner radiance. It's just right for meditation.

The National Gallery of Art has a large collection of Rothko paintings. Three were on display when I visited, including this one...


These two photographs are details from No. 14 (White and Greens in Blue) (1957) by Mark Rothko, National Gallery of Art, East Building, Washington, DC



In 2013 the Denver Art Museum had a show of Rothko's paintings from the 1940s, many on loan from the National Gallery's collection. As I walked through the exhibit I could almost see his early abstract shapes slowly moving into place, eventually becoming the later work he is best known for. Aside from the natural glow Rothko's paintings seem to have, I also like his diffuse shapes and the way his colors softly reach into each other. I tried to capture a bit of that with these photographs.

Here's a link to my favorite painting in the Denver Art Museum's show: Mark Rothko - Untitled 1947.

Camera: Nikon D7100 with AF Nikkor 50mm f1.4D lens; the Rothko Room photo was taken with an iPod Touch. Flash was turned off.

Tegan and Sara at Twist & Shout

There is nothing cooler than a Tegan and Sara show in an intimate space.



Tegan and Sara played a short set and signed autographs at Denver's Twist & Shout record store on August 22, 2013. They played later that night at Red Rocks with Fun. Camera: Nikon D7100; Lens: Nikon 85mm f1.4.

DC Art: Recreation by Charles Sprague Pearce in the Library of Congress

If you spend some time in the Great Hall of the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress you might find some hidden surprises tucked away in a lunette like this one.


Recreation by Charles Sprague Pearce (1851-1914) in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, Washington, DC

DC Art: Multiverse and the Concourse that Connects the National Gallery Buildings

Multiverse (2008) by Leo Villareal in the Concourse between the East and West Buildings of the National Gallery of Art

If you want to walk from one of Washington, DC's National Gallery of Art Buildings to the other, you can either simply go outside or you can wander through the underground tunnel that connects them. There you will find a light display called Multiverse by Leo Villareal. You can watch it change as you go by and be surprised by its enigmatic glow. Then you will come upon another surprise, a large glass window in front of a waterfall.

Cascade Waterfall, National Gallery of Art Concourse, Washington, DC

DC Art: Little Dancer of Fourteen Years by Degas

French Impressionist Edgar Degas (1834-1917) is known for his paintings of ballet dancers. He also made many sculptures, but only exhibited this one, Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, in his lifetime. It was shown at the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1881. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC has the original of this sculpture. Degas used yellow wax, hair, ribbon, a linen bodice, satin shoes, a muslin tutu and a wood base to create the sculpture. The photo on the top right is of the original wax sculpture. The other two photos are of a plaster copy, also in the National Gallery. Ballet student Marie van Goethem was the model for the sculpture.