Going Dutch

It's been a while and MAD is back. Despite fear of holiday weekend crowds on the Mall, MAD visited the National Gallery of Art to see Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age. This exhibit is closing May 3 and MAD didn't want to run the risk of missing it having heard from YD (younger daughter) that (1) it was good and (2) it has manuscripts and most of all (3) it has old maps - a MAD favorite.




OS (older son) joined me for lunch at Sala Thai on U Street and the Gallery and added a dimension to the visit both by his good company, his intelligence and brief reminiscences of a few days spent in Amsterdam several years ago. Was this exhibit evocative to him? "No" he said, but I got to use the word "evocative" - another favorite of mine - in this post

Neither of us were disappointed. The exhibit used visually lovely and detailed paintings to illustrate the history of the Netherlands - particularly urban history - in the 17th Century. Most of this art emerged from the economic prosperity which was driven by international commerce and celebrated the achievements of this prosperity. How interesting to look at paintings that were created to be viewed as examples of contemporary achievement and now to be able to study history from them as a group.

The corresponding maps and manuscripts from that time period also contain the perspective of the time period. The two media were combined in Micker's Bird's-Eye View of Amsterdam from 1652 that was depicted through clouds, showing patches of sunlight over the heart of the city and the medieval town hall on Dam Square, the view of which even then was over 100 years old.


A timeline of Dutch history of that period was near the entrance to the exhibit. MAD doesn't know much about that period except for what she learned in school relating to the Pilgrims - most of the people in the paintings looked like Pilgrims - and what was the deal with those big white collars? The overlap between art and history today made me eager to learn more. Now I need to (1) get a copy of Simon Schama's The Embarrassment of Riches and (2) read it.

Not What I Had in Mind to Do

President's Day and I thought it would be stirring to see the original Emancipation Proclamation on display for just a few days at the the National Archives. Apparently so did a lot of other people, including the school kids who were off from school and the government workers and the tourists. When I got to the Archives a sign stated that "The Rotunda has reached its capacity and the line will be moving soon. From this point on you have an approximately 45 minute wait" The line wasn't moving and that sign was only about halfway back. MAD was very happy that so many Americans (and visitors) were interested in seeing the real documents but not interested in waiting all that time.

Good thing MAD is so flexible. I went across the street to the National Gallery of Art. I got to see Looking In: Robert Frank's The Americans . This was another way to explore America on President's Day and it was stirring in its own way.

In 1955 and 1956 Frank obtained a Guggenheim fellowship and spent 10,000 miles travelling across and back the US taking 27,000 images along the way. The exhibit showed a whole wall of his raw work. He narrowed them down to 83 and published a book that was innovative and provocative. It's 50 years old and is still innovative and provocative. You can buy it in the National Gallery of Art gift shop and you can also buy a catalogue of the exhibit . It contains all of the pix and lots of information about their context. Hint, hint.

This exhibit shows all 83 images in the order they appeared in the book. Curated by Sarah Greenough, it was packed with information both interesting and sometimes distracting. Frank quotes Antoine De Saint Exupery "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye". So while Art is created by the artist the viewer sees it with her own heart and it can mean something other than what the artist intended. Photos #20 and 21 are both pictures of elderly men - one in a run-down Berkeley apartment building, one on a bench at a Yale graduation. The notes talk about the differences between these people; MAD saw the similarities. It was easy to see it both ways and a lot of other ways as well. I would love to know what information the curator's notes were based on - whether they came form the artist or her own observation and interpretation.

Frank's photos are fascinating visually, emotionally and create their own archive of America. I left his Americans but they didn't leave me. How pleased I was that lots of people got to see the Archives and even more pleased that I wasn't one of them.