Art!

Posted on by Craig

Last day in Washington DC, or at least the last full day. The weather continues to persuade me to stay inside or in shade as much as possible, so I went to the National Gallery of Art.

I started the day by wandering in the general direction of downtown, in search of breakfast ( Le Pain Quotidian turned out to be the place ), then headed for the gallery.

A little enclosure of Art Deco in the Sculpture Garden. It was difficult to get a better picture, partially because I was trying not to photograph someone who was clearly on their break.
Lichtenstein House in the Sculpture Garden

I tend not to take pictures in museums these days, because there’s not much I can do with a phone camera that can’t be done better, and already has been, by actual photographers.

Instead, I just mooch around and look at stuff.
Saw a bunch of paintings I’d seen pictures of thanks to a Daily Art app on my phone, and a whole “sketching in clay” exhibit on a sculptor named Canova (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Canova) who I’d never heard of, that went into some details about his process & the general procedure for going from clay model to carved stone, which is the sort of thing that’s interesting if you’re me.

Also on the learning experience front were some bronzes made from sculptures by Degas.

Indoor statuary with coffee cup (2023)

It was somehow even hotter out there when I emerged from the gallery, so I bravely hid in the hotel, where the air conditioning is, until I ventured out to get dinner.

Chicago Style pizza in a DC Train Station, but it was pretty good. The restaurant/bar was one floor up in the space between halls, and had no roof of its own, so the vaulting of the station halls was right there. One side had a simple railing separating it from the hall, and I’m pretty sure there’s an upper level too, based on what I could see from ‘outside’.