Museum hopping  Yesterday I rode into DC to visit the National Building Museum and the American Art Museum. I had planned to spend some time at the Corcoran Gallery to see the Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz shows but ran out of time. The David Macaulay exhibit at the Building Museum, mentioned in an earlier post, did not disappoint. I especially enjoyed the large reproductions of his sketchbooks used in researching his various book projects. In a short film he explains why it's so important to draw; to really SEE what is around us and that drawing is a form of meditation. The gift shop has an extensive selection of books on architecture and drawing, among others.

Seeing the Great Hall inside building makes visiting the museum worthwhile.

An ingenious system of windows, vents, and open archways allows the Great Hall to function as a reservoir of light and air. The impressive Italian Renaissance design, with a central fountain and eight colossal Corinthian columns – among the tallest interior columns in the world – has also made the Great Hall a sought-after spot for gala events, including many Presidential Inaugural Balls, from 1885 to the present day.

Experience the Great Hall through a virtual tour.

After lunch in the Great Hall I rode two blocks to the National Portrait Gallery/American Art Museum, another architecturally interesting building that once housed the National Patent Office, the National Gallery, and the Interior Department. In 1953 the building was to be torn down and replaced with a parking lot and was saved by legislation signed by Eisenhower. The building was closed for 6 years of renovation, including the placement of a covering over the formerly open interior courtyard.

I mostly wanted to see the exhibit “John Alexander: A Retrospective” that opened recently. I had never heard of the artist but since I was in the neighborhood I wanted to check out the show. What a revelation. He's a superb draftsman who's early work is very abstract while retaining some symbolic elements. His more recent work is realistic, much of it devoted to natural objects such as flowers and birds drawn exquisitely.

The exhibition encompasses works from the late 1970s to the present. It includes powerful landscapes and intimate studies of birds and plants; it also presents many of his incisive, satirical commentaries on politics, religion and the human condition.

Here is a sample of his work from artnet.com.
posted by Bruce Wright at 11:01 AM #