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Published: December 22nd 2008
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I have never been there before. I decided to avoid the typical Smithsonian and large museums. I find myself lately become more interested in history and particularly people and events shaped our history. So, I chose this place.
The gallery is located on 8th and F Street, NW. It was two weeks before Xmas. There has been a holiday fair on the sidewalk outside of the gallery everyday until Xmas. It was really cute! Bunch of white tents decorated with snow flake and icicle lights filled the sidewalk with arts and crafts and food. I couldn’t get pass the French crepes vendor which was so cheap and looked so yummy. For $5 bucks, I had a white chocolate, banana, almonds and topped with chocolate syrup crepe. Oh, mighty God, it was sweetlicious. A Christmas band was playing holly jolly Xmas stuff on a tiny stage outside of the entrance to the gallery. The holiday spirit definitely was in the air. I joined the 2pm group tour which is only offered on Monday one in the morning and one in the afternoon. To my surprise, the Duson said the gallery building is the oldest one in DC. It used to be
the U.S. patent office and was even used as a hospital during the civil war. In my opinion, the gallery building resembles the typical Roman-style architecture. It is built by stones and in squared shape. It has huge cylindrical columns in the façade. I found the most amazing feature in the building is the indoor courtyard. It was originally an outdoor garden with a fountain, grass areas, trees and tables for people to rest and gather. During the renovation few years ago, the architect designed a canopy covered the roof which was made of thousands customized glasses. The canopy not only is sound proofed, also deflects the sun light to keep off the glare and maintain the cool temperature inside the building. The courtyard is a very tranquil place. People can enjoy coffee at the café or surfing the internet in its open space. I especially like the marble benches scattered around the trees and shrubs in the courtyard and they seem so inviting and elegant.
There are three levels and an additional underground level used for theater performance. The three levels are shared by National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian Art Museum. I felt rather lucky to kill two
birds with one stone. President Lincoln’s inauguration was held in this building. The gallery exhibits the inauguration decorations, like the banners and posters as well as Lincoln’s coat and his wife’s evening gown used on that special day. I also saw a Wanted Poster for Lincoln’s assassins and was surprised to see the reward was as high as $100,000 one hundred and fifty years ago. The first level has exhibitions of important political leaders during the colonial time and American Revolution. The second level has contemporary arts and American president portraits. The third floor exhibits a collection of modern arts. It was interesting to finally put a face to the name of many famous politicians from the American Revolution time. I saw the famous Benjamin Franklin’s portrait that is also printed on our dollar bills. I also saw Thomas Jefferson’s portrait when he served as the American ambassador in France. He was a quite good-looking man in the painting. Intelligent, artistic and handsome, Jefferson got it all. I wonder if he was smooth with ladies so that he didn’t waste his good looks. The docent pointed out a famous painting of John Adams by Gilbert Stuart. It is a simple portrait of John Adams who appears frail physically but has this compelling gaze at the viewers. The docent said that as if John Adams’ eyes are saying to us- the viewers “I have done my part, now it is your turn to shape this nation and our future.” I definitely noticed the emphasis on the eyes in the painting but didn’t interpret such message of future expectation. Yeah, it is interesting how a simple painting emerges with meaning suddenly when the interpretation is given. Things are not always what it appears to be. On the third level, a modern media and video art by a Japanese artist caught my attention. It is a giant map of the U.S. traced by neon lights. The map is filled with hundreds different size of TV screens. The TVs placed in each state broadcast video clips filmed by the artists when he traveled through the corresponding state on the map. It is modern alright; thank God, it is not too abstract like many modern arts.
I always like to look for free events, like concerts, plays and art exhibitions when I am visiting a city. Before I came to the gallery, I browsed to look what was going on that day. Surprisingly, there was going to be a free play about Julia Child at the same gallery I was planning on visiting. I never heard of her. But I decided to go and check it out since I would be there anyway. I found out from the play that she was an American who taught French cooking on television in the 60s. She was well known for deploying her humors in politics and popular culture in her cooking shows. I enjoyed some of the funny remarks during the play. But the context was little too obsolete and irrelevant for my taste. I couldn’t complain too much. After all, it was free.
This has been an information overloading day. I got some history, art and theater all in one blend.
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What a Day!
Sounds like you really DID have an information overload! Glad you had fun... http://blog.reserve123.com/2009/01/get-a-history-lesson-in-washington-dc/