Rainy Tuesday  It was a perfect day to spend inside several art galleries downtown. I caught one of the last express buses to Metro and was at the Freer Gallery just after it opened at 10 am to see Small Masterpieces: Whistler Paintings from the 1880s. They were very small abstract paintings that nevertheless capture the beaches of England and various town scenes.

I was tempted by a book of paintings by Carl Larsson which was on sale at the Hirshorn Museum. There wasn't much else on exhibit; the second floor was closed and there were selections from the permanent collection on the third. The galleries that contained the large color field paintings were empty as usual; what a waste of exhibition space. The same was true at the National Gallery, where the modern art exhibits in the Concourse looked empty and sterile like this.

I did enjoy Constable's Great Landscapes: Six Foot Paintings. What was most interesting about that exhibit were the full-scale studies that were much rougher but in some cases were better than the finished originals. Many of the studies were not good; they were not meant to be exhibited and were too big to be spontaneous and quickly executed. When studies from other artists are compared to finished originals, I usually prefer the studies; they seem to have more life and bolder colors than the detailed, finished work.

I took a quick look at The Streets of New York: American Photographs from the Collection, 1938-1958, then spent some time viewing the Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection, my favorite show of the day. I could spend hours looking at the mostly small-scale pencil, charcoal, or ink drawings by the masters.

There was still time for one more collection, the National Portrait Gallery to once again see the works in the National Portrait Competition, and the American Art Museum. I have been to both recently, but was a little overwhelmed by the new space. The works from both museums are now intermingled and I think it's too confusing. I suppose if you have never been to the old space it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm used to each museum being in a more or less separate building. I'm sure I'll get over it.

I was able to catch Metro before the fares rose at 3 pm and was home shortly after 4.
posted by Bruce Wright at 10:42 PM #