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Finally got to the Renwick before the Grant Wood exhibition closes this weekend. If you're in DC and you have any time, I would recommend it (it closes on Sunday.)
I was immediately charmed by the first room of the exhibition which included a bench for outside the vice principal's office in the junior high where Wood worked. It's shaped like a church pew, with the words "the life of the transgressor is hard" (or something like that) and instead of turned wood decorations, or gargoyles, the top is decorated with carvings of upset students.
The early work they had was not great. I had mixed feelings about the large photographs of the studio. I thought the video did a better job showing the space. By the end of that room I was really looking forward to seeing some of the paintings. I'm all for contextual material (the clock![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ellen_fremedon mentioned was really cool), but your exhibition needs a backbone.
I was not disappointed. The paintings were wonderful. It was great to see works I knew, but hadn't seen like Daughters of the Revolution (really funny), and new ones (for me) like The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere I was also charmed by the corn room and chandelier. Wood's genius is in his humor.
Exploring the rest of the museum was fun too. The hang in George Caitlin's Indian Gallery is brilliant. Some of his paintings are arresting, but some others are not as impressive. Seeing them all together in that room was really impressive. There were also some wonderful pieces from the permanent collection on display including the very witty Feast Bracelet, an ornante silver bracelet where the decoration is a laden table, the thought provoking Bureau of Bureaucracy a whimsical cabinet with different shaped drawers and interesting wood inlay, and the impressive Ghost Clock which on first glance looks like a grandfather clock covered by a sheet, but is really carved from a single piece of wood.
Moral of the story: art is cool and I need to get out more often.
I was immediately charmed by the first room of the exhibition which included a bench for outside the vice principal's office in the junior high where Wood worked. It's shaped like a church pew, with the words "the life of the transgressor is hard" (or something like that) and instead of turned wood decorations, or gargoyles, the top is decorated with carvings of upset students.
The early work they had was not great. I had mixed feelings about the large photographs of the studio. I thought the video did a better job showing the space. By the end of that room I was really looking forward to seeing some of the paintings. I'm all for contextual material (the clock
ellen_fremedon mentioned was really cool), but your exhibition needs a backbone.I was not disappointed. The paintings were wonderful. It was great to see works I knew, but hadn't seen like Daughters of the Revolution (really funny), and new ones (for me) like The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere I was also charmed by the corn room and chandelier. Wood's genius is in his humor.
Exploring the rest of the museum was fun too. The hang in George Caitlin's Indian Gallery is brilliant. Some of his paintings are arresting, but some others are not as impressive. Seeing them all together in that room was really impressive. There were also some wonderful pieces from the permanent collection on display including the very witty Feast Bracelet, an ornante silver bracelet where the decoration is a laden table, the thought provoking Bureau of Bureaucracy a whimsical cabinet with different shaped drawers and interesting wood inlay, and the impressive Ghost Clock which on first glance looks like a grandfather clock covered by a sheet, but is really carved from a single piece of wood.
Moral of the story: art is cool and I need to get out more often.
