More Museums in D.C. and Transit

 Washington D.C.

One More Day in D.C.

This morning we got up early and caught the 8:05am MARC train from Camden Station to D.C.  It's the same thing we did 2 weeks ago so things went much more smoothly.  We arrived at the station just as our train was pulling in, we navigated Union Statin in D.C. like traveling pros, and we even rode the D.C. Metro this time.  

Public Transit

Our rides were $2.25 each but we also got to buy a cool metro card for an additional $2

The station was really cool

Lights on the floor blinked when a train was coming or going.  

Heading Back to the National Gallery of Art

When we emerged from the subway we were on the National Mall with all of the Smithsonian Museums lining the mall.  It was a much more enjoyable walk than last time and we didn't get lost.  I suggest you take the subway if you go even though it doesn't really save you time.

It was pretty early so we went straight to the cafe and got a pastery.

Calder's Mobile was back up!

This was it a couple of weeks ago when we were there

After our snack we quickly made our way back to the areas the museum that we had missed, or at least the areas with Modern Art.  

Pablo Picasso Peonies

Diego Rivera No. 9, Nature Morte Espagnole

Pablo Picasso A Glass on a Table

Jacques Lipchitz Guitar Player

Pablo Picasso Nude Woman

Erich Heckel The Mill (at Goppeln)

Lyonel Feininger Street of Barns

Marsden Hartley The Aero

Henri Matisse Palm Leaf, Tangier

Gustav Klimt Baby (Cradle)

Frantisek Kupka Localization of Graphic Motifs II

Jean Arp Shirt Front and Fork

Joan Miro The Farm

Frida Kahlo Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky

Rene Magritte The Blank Signature

Pablo Picasso Harlequin Musician

Jess Ex. 5-Mind's I: Translation #12

Piet Mondrian Tableau No. IV; Lozenge Composition with Red, Gray, Blue, Yellow, and Black

Joan Miro Head of a Catalan Peasant

The National Gallery Building is awesome too.  There are so many cool features.

Just when we thought we had seen what we came back to see we found more to see.  

Marie Laurencin In The Park

Georges Braque Still Life: The Table

Amedeo Modigliani Chaim Soutine 

Amedeo Modigliani Madame Kisling

Edouard Vuillard The Yellow Curtain

Henri Matisse Les Gorges du Loup

Chaim Soutine Pastry Chef

On the way out we spent a little time in some of the other wings.  The art there isn't entirely my jam but I need to experience it more so that it will become my jam.  Modern art is still my favorite.

Joseph Decker Ripening Pears

Detail of Ripening Pears

Eastman Johnson Lambs, Nantucket  Donna commented that the hat maker seemed lazy

After exploring more of the National Gallery it was time for lunch.  Donna picked a Korean Bowl place that was pretty much across the street.  It was fast, the food was good, and it wasn't too expensive.

After lunch we headed back to The National Mall to walk around, look at stuff and ultimately end up at the Air and Space Museum.  I had gone there as a kid and wanted to peek in to remind myself.  It turns out it was closed so we ended up just exploring and having a great time.

The first place we dipped into was The Smithsonian Institution Building or The Castle.  It's basically the visitor's center for all of the museums.

It has an interactive map showing where all of the buildings are.

Fun Fact!  The Smithsonian Museum was started from a generous donation from James Smithson, who had never actually been to the US.

Gordie Howe's Hockey Skates

Jackie Stewart's Crash Helmet

The Castle as associated gardens attached.

Our next stop was off in the distance, The Hirshhorn Collection.

There were benches to sit on all over the place

 

The Hirshhorn is a round Brutalist building.  The New York Times describes the building as "a fortress of a building that works as a museum."  We both agreed

There are 3 floors and one was closed.  We explored the main floor which had an outer and inner loop.  The outer loop appeared to be entirely art by women.  

Katharina Fritsch Display Stand with Madonnas

Cecily Brown Hoodlum

Loie Hollowell Boob Wheel

Helen Lundeberg Arcanum #2

Eva LeWitt Untiled (Orange Oval)

Amy Sillman P&H2 (behomoth)

After exploring the outer loop we went into the inner loop.  It was taken up by 1 piece by Mark Bradford.  

Downstairs housed the Museum Store and a Yayoi Kusama exhibit.  The Husama exhibit can only hold a few people at a time so there was timed entry and we didn't have a ticket so we skipped that and just explored the museum which was themed with Barbara Kruger images.  We have seen Kruger at almost all of our city stops this year when we have seen modern art.  She is everywhere.  

Barbara Kruger Belief + Doubt

Barbara Kruger Belief + Doubt

There is a multi level sculpture garden just outside the museum.  We spent a bit of time there looking at pieces and sitting on benches.

Jeff Koons Kiepenkerl

A work by Dan Graham

After finding out The Air and Space Museum was closed we decided to go into The African Art museum.  Most of the museum is underground so it looks really small on the outside but is big on the inside.

They had this couch set up so you could take a portrait

Ike Ude is an amazing portrait artist.  He focuses on film and TV starts from Nigeria's Hollywood.

He does a lot of editing after the shoot.  This is the same clothing as the clothing above reworked by Ike.

They also had a section on photos from the earlier days of Nollywood.

The rest of the museum was filled with more African Art.  It was a really cool museum to visit.

On the way home we got to ride one of the double decker MARC trains.  We got good views from the top of the train

The seats seemed more modern too.

It was a great day.  If you missed yesterday's post you can find it here.