ICYMI: Highlights from the week that was Jan. 18 – Jan. 25, 2020
No one can keep up with everything, so let us do it for you. We’ll gather the top Smithsonian stories from across the country and around the world each week so you’ll never be at a loss for conversation around the water cooler.
It appears that the Obamas are still pretty popular with the museum-going public.
Art and Design
New Smithsonian exhibit takes people through ancient Arab cities destroyed by war and ISIS
ABC News, January 24
Large-scale projections show digitized reconstructions of historic sites that were destroyed by conflict in recent years. The Temple of Baalshamin, shown here, was destroyed by ISIS.Large-scale projections show digitized reconstructions of historic sites that were destroyed by conflict in recent years. The Temple of Baalshamin, shown here, was destroyed by ISIS.
Mel Madarang/ABC News
The Temple of Baalshamin — destroyed in 2015 by the Islamic State — has been restored inside a Washington gallery.
At an exhibit displaying reconstructed ancient Arab cities ravaged by violent conflicts, a projection fills a wall with an image of the destroyed temple in Palmyra, Syria, and then shows the temple slowly coming back together. Read more.
At the Hirshhorn, Pat Steir’s ‘waterfall’ paintings move you — literally
The Washington Post, January 23
Installation view of “Pat Steir: Color Wheel,” a site-specific exhibition of 30 “waterfall” paintings by Steir at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. (Lee Stalsworth/Courtesy of Pat Steir and Lévy Gorvy/Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution)
Beneath a desk, a foot taps unconsciously, timed to headphones’ muffled beats. On a crowded concert floor, bodies sway in unison. In a cycling studio, legs pedal rhythmically to the blaring stereo.
The compulsion to move is almost exclusively associated with the medium of music, but what about other art forms? Can you dance to sculpture? Exercise to painting? Move to brushstrokes? The very notion sounds absurd. Read more.
Even a year’s worth of Hokusai may not be enough to display his genius
The Washington Post, January 22
“Boy Viewing Mount Fuji” by Katsushika Hokusai (Edo period, 1839). Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk. (Gift of Charles Lang Freer, Freer Gallery of Art)
There are a lot of origin points one might pick for what we now call modern art in Europe. There were changes in science, industry, politics and everyday culture that came with the spread of electric light and the camera. Then there was the arrival of the U.S. Navy in Japan in the 1850s, an undiplomatic episode of bullying and force majeure that “opened” Japan to the West. That meant exposure to Japanese art for Western artists and collectors, and the impact was enormous. Read more.
Spotlight Continues Shining On Female Native American Artists
Forbes, January 19
Sarah Sense, Lone Ranger & Tonto with Buffalo Bill & Sitting Bull, 2018, Woven Archival Inkjet … [+]TUCSON DESERT ART MUSEUM
A strong argument could be made that “Hearts of Our People,” the first major museum exhibition exploring the achievements of female Native American artists, was the most important, positively reviewed exhibit presented in the U.S. last year. Opening in Minneapolis, closing soon in Nashville and headed to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. next, the show shattered a glass ceiling these artists had been bumping up against for decades. Read more.
Washington Is a Storm, One Piece of Art Can Be Your Anchor
Art can be the shelter and the fire. This is a guide for finding it.
Washington City Paper, January 23
“Among the Sierra Nevada, California” by Albert Bierstadt, 1869 (Photo by Darrow Montgomery)
President Barack Obama’s first inauguration was a blisteringly cold day for the District of Columbia. Millions of Americans braved below-freezing temperatures to greet the nation’s first black president, with little more than a tangible feeling of optimism to warm the crowds on the National Mall. Street vendors hawked little one-use hand warmers to frigid attendees by the purseful. Tiny packets, little help.
One man found his own way to keep out the cold. He gathered tinder and crawled into a sculpture outside the National Museum of the American Indian. Inside he lit a fire and burned a brochure with Obama’s face on it. It wasn’t a protest. When a museum security guard confronted him, the man, who was apparently homeless, said, “I’m just trying to get warm.” Read more.
National Portrait Gallery acquires 20 works from collecting couple
The Art Newspaper, January 17
National Portrait Gallery acquires 20 works from collecting couple _ The Art Newspaper
Where to Go to Watch the Paint Dry
New York Times, January 25
Where to Go to Watch the Paint Dry – The New York Times
History, Culture and Education
How do you move a 140-ton locomotive? If you’re the Smithsonian, very carefully.
The Washington Post, January 18
Old No. 1401, a steam locomotive from Southern Railway, is moved into place at the National Museum of History and Technology in November 1961. Getting it there was a challenge. (Smithsonian Institution Archives)
I lived in the Washington area when the Smithsonian’s Museum of History and Technology — now called the National Museum of American History — opened. In the lowest floor is a Southern Railway steam locomotive. I remember reading somewhere that it was moved to its current location during the construction of the building by laying tracks across the Mall and driving it there. Are there any photos of this move? Read more.
Science and Technology
Dark Energy survey: First results in as astronomers aim to crack cosmos’ biggest mystery
THE DARK ENERGY Survey or DES has completed its first set of measurements as astronomers scramble to crack the cosmic conundrum of what is dark matter.
The Express, January 21
The Dark Energy survey analysed a quarter of the visible night sky for six years, wrapping up its mission last year. On January 9, 2020, DES astronomers collected the data from a catalogue containing hundreds of millions of distant galaxies.Read more.
What happens when an old elephant dies? Zoo officials have a plan.
The Washington Post, January 17
Ambika, a 72-year-old elephant, at the National Zoo in Washington. (Evelyn Hockstein/for The Washington Post)
The elderly Asian elephant stands dozing in her compound at the National Zoo. The bottom of her trunk is curled on the sand floor, and morning sun streams in through an open door.
Keepers call her “The Queen.”
Her name is Ambika, and she is 72, which is about 100 in human years. She’s had a long life. Captured in India at 8, she worked for years as a logging elephant. She came to the zoo in 1961 and is now in the twilight of her days. Read more.
Obama Portraits
Former President and Mrs. Barack Obama stand with the artists in front of their official portraits during a ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery Feb 12.
From left, artist Kehinde Wiley, former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, artist Amy Sherald.
© Pete Souza
Popular portraits of Barack, Michelle Obama to leave D.C. for year-long tour in 2021
USA Today, January 23
Obama portraits to go on year-long tour to museums around the U.S.
CBS News, January 23
The Portrait Gallery’s Official Portraits Of The Obamas Are Going On A U.S. Tour
The DCist, January 23
The Obama Presidential Portraits, Which Smashed Attendance Records in DC, Will Travel the US on a Five-Museum Tour
The National Portrait Gallery’s director credits Brooklyn Museum’s Anne Pasternak for floating the idea.
ArtNet News, January 23
Groundbreaking Obama portraits will tour five cities including Houston
Houston Chronicle, January 23
Obama paintings from National Portrait Gallery will go on a five-city tour
Los Angeles Times, January 23
The official portraits of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are going on tour for the first time, starting in Chicago
Chicago Tribune, January 23
The wildly popular Obama portraits are going on a year-long tour to museums across the country
The Washington Post, January 23
Obama portraits coming to Atlanta’s High Museum
Atlanta Journal Constitution, January 23
Obama Portraits to Tour the Nation
New York Times, January 23.
Obama Portraits to Tour the Nation – The New York Times
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Posted: 27 January 2020
