Art Overload!!!

I truly don't know where to begin, but will just take this chronologically. I'm writing this on Thursday.  I went to the Freer Art Gallery on Tuesday to see one of my favorites, the Peacock Room.  It was designed for Frederick Leyland by James McNeill Whistler.  Yes, he's the same Whistler who painted his mother.  This room is an amazing work of art in and of itself.  Leyland didn't like it, though, and thought Whistler had gone too far.  That's another whole story, but it is kind of "over the top.".   However, Freer loved it and eventually bought it and moved it to his home in Detroit.  Later, it was bequeathed to the gallery as part of his gifts, and reconstructed as part of the Smithsonian.  The picture above shows just one wall of the room.

Other work by Whistler is in the Freer, and I loved it.  Some is part of the permanent exhibition and some is in a new show.  In my visit this time, I realized how often Whistler created a frame to complement his work.  I also enjoyed a special exhibit of etchings and watercolors of street scenes in London done during the time Whistler was there.  There were a lot of children in those, which made it very charming, yet I learned the children were actually poor children hanging out and trying to score food and such to take back home.  Well, it was documentary.

I saw so much else!  A highlight was a photography show of portraits, including a woman who assumed various persona and then photographed herself as a Japanese skateboarder, a lesbian in New York, etc.  It was very interesting.  I should have written down her name. I also enjoyed a show about the intersection of art and news.  I brought home a printed page with a quote on one side by a policeman who said it is easy to identify criminals and a quote on the other side of the same page by another policeman saying that it is not easy to identify criminals.  The stack of printouts was part of the display, and taking one was my contribution to the whole thing.  I also liked a newspaper that was entirely gilded and made what is a throwaway very valuable because of the gold!.

Another thing that made a big impression was a show of digital photographs by Weingarten.  They were a real breakthough, and I just ran across the show accidentally yesterday.  To give you an example, here is his portrait of Dennis Hopper:

Doing this review on line does not do it justice...the images are huge (60" x 90"), and are done in collaboration with the person they portray. The show was called "Pushing Boundaries."  I know I have not done it justice, but I try!