DC: National Portrait Gallery

Since we are only 4 hours away in State College, this year I accompanied Ann to her annual Internet2 conference in Washington DC. We headed down early and spent the weekend hitting the museums - some we'd missed before like the National Portrait Gallery, and some old favorites like the National Gallery of Art.

The National Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art are in the recently remodeled old patent office. It is an amazing space. The building consumes an entire block, and the courtyard has been glazed, becoming a spectacular indoor space. Live jazz the day we visited. The interiors offer the measured beauty of columns and vaults transformed into a modern display space by neutral colors and lighting. Yet in what were once the public spaces of the patent office, an immaculate restoration of the complex detail and color brings the original building to life.

The portrait gallery is especially known for its presidential portraits. We were prepared to be underwhelmed, but the interpretive work accompanying each painting provided a wonderful window into not only the accomplishments of each president, but also the politics, culture, and art of their time. It was fascinating watching the style of painting, expectations of portraiture, and views of the presidency transform over 200+ years. By the time you receach recent decades, Bill Clinton is choosing a pop-art portrayal and George W. Bush a casual pose in a tieless unbuttoned shirt.

 We also were surprised by an exhibit by Alexis Rockman, whose monumental environmental paintings explored through almost cartoonish detail the natural world and his vision of a future transformed by human influence and adaption. I didn't always like the aesthetic, but it was invariably interesting and often challenging.

A great example of American architecture, and a trove of American art. Well worth a visit.