Visit to the Museum of American Art in Washington DC

When we were in Washington in early June, I visited the Smithsonian Museum of American Art which is housed in the Reynolds Center for American Portraiture and Art along with the National Portrait Gallery.  It's a favorite spot whenever we're in Washington because it has a wonderful permanent collection of American art as well as special exhibitions on specific aspects of American art, American artists and collectors of American Art.  Here are the pieces that caught my eye on this visit:

'Acteon' by Paul Manship, bronze, 1925.  Photo by McClure

The museum has a large collection of works by Paul Manship (1885-1966), a sculptor whose best known work is the 'Prometheus' that rises over the fountain in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.  

Manship's sculpture shows the Theban hero, 'Acteon', at the moment of his transformation into a stag (antlers are sprouting from his forehead) by the vengeful goddess, Artemis, after he stumbled upon her bathing in a pool in the forest.  After his transformation, his faithful hunting dogs turned on the stag and tore him to pieces.

'Diana' by Paul Manship, bronze, 1925.  Photo by McClure

Diana was the Roman name for the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo.  Manship's sculpture shows her pursuing of her quarry in the hunt.

Manship's 'Diana' and 'Acteon' are displayed outside the Director's Board Room of the Luce Foundation Center for American Art on the third floor of the Reynolds Center.  They both have the flowing Art Deco lines that animate most of Manship's best pieces.

'Happy Children' by Chaim Gross, bronze, 1973.  Photo by McClure

Chaim Gross (1904-1999) was born into a large Jewish family in an Austrian town that is now part of the Ukraine.  He immigrated to America in 1921.  Many of his sculptures are attempts to recreate the happiness of his childhood.  I was captivated not only by the sense of buoyant movement captured in this sculpture, but also by the way that it was lit, which multiplies the figures and animates their dance.

'The Knockdown' by Mahonri Young, bronze, 1931.  Photo by McClure

Mahonri Young (1877-1957) was born in Salt Lake City and always had a love of sports.  He began his 'Prizefighter' series in 1924 on a trip to Paris.  'The Knockdown' depicts the moment when the loser slumps to the mat, while the victor springs forward ready for the knockout punch. 

'Thistle in the Dream (to Louis Sullivan)' by Theodore Roszak, steel,  1955-56.
Photo by McClure

Theodore Roszak (1907-1981) was born in Posen, Prussia (now Poland) and emigrated to the U.S. in 1909 with his parents.  He worked for the W.P.A. during the depression and in an airplane factory during World War II.  Following the war his sculptures, while retaining their organic feeling, became more aggressive and spikey, reflecting his disillusionment with the horrors of mechanized war.  This sculpture is a tribute to the architect, Louis Sullivan, who incorporated more benign organic forms into his buildings.

'High Summer' by Wolf Kahn, oil on canvas, 1972.  Photo by McClure

Wolf Kahn (1927- ) was born in Stuttgart, Germany and fled to England in 1939 and then to this country in 1940.  The brilliant orange barn and bright yellow grass contrast with the dark trees, bushes and barn interior in this painting of the area near his Vermont studio.  It is an interesting composition with the opposing diagonals of the barn and the

hillside both drawing in and confusing the viewer.

'Night in Bologna' by Paul Cadmus, egg tempura on fiberboard, 1958.
Photo by McClure 

Paul Cadmus (1904-1999) was a painter who courted controversy throughout his career.  His 1934 painting, 'The Fleet's In!', depicting sailors carousing on shore leave was pulled from an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery.  This painting shows the gallerias of Bologna at night with three figures in pools of different colored light -- a soldier in red light indicating lust, a streetwalker in yellow light for greed, and a tourist with a suitcase in green light for envy.  One of Bologna's famous medieval towers looms against the night sky.

Cadmus' style was called 'magic realism'.  Cadmus' sister, Fidelma, married Lincoln Kirstein, co-founder of the School of American Ballet and New York City Ballet.

'Students, Entrance to Union Square' by Isabel Bishop, oil on plywood, 1980.
Photo by McClure

Isabel Bishop (1902-1988) was born in Cincinnati and grew up in Detroit.  Bishop maintained a studio near Union Square from 1934 to 1984 and many of her works depicted denizens of the Square.  In this ghostly painting, students with backpacks and satchels climb the steps at the south end of the Square on their way to and from class -- probably at NYU or the New School which are both nearby. 

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There are lots of better known artists -- Georgia O'Keefe, William Merritt Chase, Edward Hopper, and Winslow Homer come readily to mind -- represented in the collection.  These are just pieces that I hadn't seen or studied on previous visits that interested me this time.  As usual, sculpture attracts me more than paintings -- hence the predominance of them here.