Ceilings are tops at the National Gallery of Art

 

Luigi Garzi, 1638-1721, Saint Catherine of Siena on a Cloud, 1696-1697, National Gallery of Art, purchased as the gift of Robert B. Loper and Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, a study of Saint Catherine who is awestruck by her namesake Saint Catherine of Alexandria, appearing in the ceiling fresco, The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria [to the Christ Child] and the Ecstasy of Saint Catherine of Siena at Sainta Caterina a Formiello, Naples.  See the complete work below.

Detail of Garzi's Saint Catherine of Siena on a Cloud in The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and the Ecstasy of Saint Catherine of Siena, 1696-1697

Garzi's Saint Catherine of Siena on a Cloud in The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and the Ecstasy of Saint Catherine of Siena, 1696-1697

These are magnificent, enthralling, stunning creations, centuries' old masterpieces, many made for ceilings before buildings were destroyed by war and age, when beauty everywhere was welcome, and some still exist to impress those who look up and enjoy all things around them. 

Antoine Coypel, 1661-1722, Cupid Stealing Venus’s Floral Crown, 1705/1708, National Gallery of Art, Woodner Collection, gift of Andrea Woodner, a preparatory study of Venus for a ceiling fresco for a painting commissioned by Philippe II, Duke of Orleans, for the residency of his mistress Mary Louise Madeleine Victoire.  Sadly, only remnants remain of the completed work… in a Banque de France warehouse!  Naughty Cupid! See the work pictured below and enjoy

Sea-born goddess, let me be
By thy son thus graced, and thee,
That whene'er I woo, I find
Virgins coy, but not unkind.
Let me, when I kiss a maid,
Taste her lips, so overlaid
With love's sirop, that I may
In your temple, when I pray,
Kiss the altar, and confess
There's in love no bitterness. 

 Robert Herrick, 1591-1674 

Coypel, Cupid Stealing Venus’s Floral Crown, 1705-1708

Coypel, Cupid Stealing Venus’s Floral Crown, 1705-1708

And what ceilings they are! Some dating more than half a milennium ago, 30 examples of detailed, intricate, beautiful renderings of European designs from the design collections of the National Gallery of Art, the likes of which you will not find anywhere else. The Gallery is open throughout the July 4 holiday! 

Felice Giani, 1758-1823, A Coffered Dome with Apollo and Phaeton, 1787,  Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund.

Phaeton was Apollo’s son.  This is a late example of the confluence of the intricacies of baroque illusionism with neoclassicism, the last major development in European ceiling design, according to the label copy.   Alas!  Destroyed in World War II in Florence at the Palazzo Conti.

 Detail of Giani's A Coffered Dome with Apollo and Phaeton, 1787

Giacomo Quarenghi, 1744-1817, An Ornate Ceiling with an Allegory of Spring, 1790-1815, National Gallery of Art, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund. Quarenghi, an Italian architect, was the most important neoclassical contributor to Russian architecture, especially in St. Petersburg where he died. The Gallery purchased this from Sotheby's in 1993.

I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sate reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran;

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;

And ’tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,

Their thoughts I cannot measure:—

But the least motion which they made

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,

To catch the breezy air;

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature’s holy plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?

William Wordsworth, 1770-1850

Johann Georg Dieffenbrunner, 1718-1785, The Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1754. The National Gallery of Art purchased this in 2007 from the princes of Liechtenstein. Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund. 

Dieffenbrunner, The Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1754. The Trinity, seen above, upper left, is absent in the completed work below. Wolfgang Ratjen Collection, Patrons' Permanent Fund

Dieffenbrunner, The Stoning of Saint Stephen, 1754. The fresco is at Saint Stephen’s Church, Geltendorf, near Munich. 

Friedrich Sustris, 1540-1599, Euterpe (Personification of Music),1569-1573, National Gallery of Art, Ruth and Jacob Kainen Memorial Acquisition Fund, part of a fresco in a music room in the Fuggers’ palace at Augsburg, badly damaged during World War II. The drawing provide a glimpse of the majesty and style of the original, which is, sadly, now barely visible. That’s what war can do!

At the National Gallery, viewers may trace design evolution from the baroque to the neoclassicism movements.

Look up!  Look up!

What do you see?

I see a ceiling staring at me!

 

What: Looking Up: Studies for Ceilings,1550-1800

When: Through July 9, 2023. The National Gallery hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.  Open July 4th!

Where: West Building, Ground Floor: G22A, National Gallery of Art, 6th and Constitution, Washington

How much: Admission is always free at the National Gallery of Art.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: (202) 737-4215

Accessibility information: (202) 842-6905

patricialesli@gmail.com

Fringe is back!

Egads! It's The Shape of Water returning to DC in living color! Actually, no, it's Arma Dura, one of the acts at  2023 Capital Fringe as he showed up at the preview party.  Arma's costumes are well worth the price of admission.  More, below/By Patricia Leslie

 

Arma Dura, one of the acts at 2023 Capital Fringe, descends into the Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Come one!  Come all to any of the 49 plays which sport outrageous, hilarious, serious, entertaining, provoking and sometimes difficult scripts plus music and dance when Capital Fringe starts up again July 12 through July 23 with 275 cast and crew members in "almost entirely original theatre, dance, and unclassifiable productions." 

 Arma Dura at  the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Arma Dura, one of the acts at 2023 Capital Fringe, at the preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Many current topics are natural themes this year, from skin cancer (Onion Skin) to Charlottesville to abortion (My Name is Norma), and some celebs from yesteryear (Watergate's Martha Mitchell in Shut Up, Martha) and comedian Gilda Radner show up, too. 

Sarah Marie Hughes at the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Finding Home: Dance Journeys, one of the acts presented at the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

Finding Home: Dance Journeys at the 2023 Capital Fringe preview party/By Patricia Leslie

At the preview party, Samuel A. Simon delivered a few lines from his Dementia Man, An Existential Journey, one of the acts at 2023 Capital Fringe/By Patricia Leslie

This year's Capital Fringe theme is based on lemons:  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"/By Patricia Leslie

Maybe you can find yourself in Who is my authentic self? Can it change?, but you'll surely want  to eavesdrop on an evening with Ernest Hemingway and Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald in Tender. 

Share love in a new Shakespeare version (Only Love) or, anyone for puppets?  Try Attack on Tunggorono (for adults only). 

Enjoy magic and comedy with Charlie Ross Comedy & Magic. 

See dance (A Moment in Time and Finding Home).  Hear original music (TBD: A Devised Theatrical Celebration, Bell Wringer).

Explore memory and hope in Between Raindrops, based on  the 1922 collapse of DC's Knickerbocker Theatre which killed 98. 

The audience participates in several shows like the comedy and murder mystery, Who Did It? and help a young woman to route herself to the nunnery in The Holy One.

Of course, nudity and profanity are not to be forgotten: Brunch with the Boys, Dildos and Body Parts, Mutu Sakata and Rivershe Collective Arts are some titles.

Plus, on July 19 at 8 p.m., the Alliance for New Music-Theatre will present a free reading in English of six short-plays by Ukrainian artists, commissioned by the Center for International Theatre Development since the Russian Invasion. The shows include Ukrainian folksongs and although free, donations will help support Ukrainian artists. July 19, 8 p.m. at the Rind, 1025 Thomas Jefferson; enter on 30th.

The Fringe website lists choices of genre, dates, creators, and venues (many shows with profanity; for mature children.) 

Julianne Brienza, Fringe's founding director and programmer, chose this year's theme:  "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” which will be available for purchase at all venues. 

Short skits of 20 of the shows entertained guests at the free preview party at Georgetown's Powerhouse ("grand central" for festival-goers and crews) last weekend. 

Fringe is fun; the shows are different, original, and some, delightful!  Some, so naughty!  And they run 50 to 75 minutes each Wednesday through Friday, 6 - 11 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. - 11 p.m at venues in Georgetown and at the Jewish Community Center and Theater J at 1529 16th Street, NW.

Artists will keep 70% of the $15 tickets which will have a handling fee of $2.51 added.  There are no cash sales.

Major sponsors are the Georgetown Business Improvement District, the DCJCC, Theater J, JLL, JBG Smith, Powerhouse, and Brick and Mortar.

According to its website, "Capital Fringe’s annual festival is the only unjuried, self-producing live performance festival in the Washington, DC area. Since 2006, we have presented 14 festivals featuring over 52,000 artists to an audience of 380,000 ticket buyers. The festival has generated $2.37 million in artist revenue. At our most recent festival in July 2022, 87% of available tickets were sold."

The awards ceremony (including, for the first time, audience awards) and the free closing party will be July 23, 7 - 11 p.m. at the Powerhouse.

Better get tickets while you can!  Some shows will certainly sell out.  For more information: capitalfringe.org.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Marvelous 'Marvin Gaye' at the Kennedy Center

Luke James at the Kennedy Center's tribute to Marvin Gaye/By Derek Baker

Luke James singing Marvin Gaye and Emily King as Tammi Terrell were gettin' it on last night, singing and rockin' in the outstanding Marvin Gaye tribute at the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall, all the while tantalizing each other with "Your Precious Love" while the audience clicked their fingers in time with the music.

With a 360-degree spin while he squatted, James awed the audience with more than song. 

With sensual fast choreography of fancy dips, dives and moves, James' and King's duet got me so hot I had to remove my jacket. Indeed, their "precious love" was sent from above for the crowd! 

Joshua Henry and Michelle Williams at the Kennedy Center's tribute to Marvin Gaye/By Derek Baker

They were just two of the stunning stars who sang Gaye's hits for the sold-out audience who moved and grooved at the show What's Going On Now in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Gaye's album of the same name.

Leading the National Symphony was the energetic principal pops conductor Steven Reineke, another crowd favorite, who performed, too, happy as those lucky enough to get seats for the sold-out show. 

He swayed and smiled all night with the other Grammy artists Joshua Henry, Cory Henry, Michelle Williams, and Bilal who all seemed honored to be on stage, part of the knockout set singing and moving with each other to Gaye's enormously enduring tunes captured on the album ranked  Number One in 2020 by Rolling Stone of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Joshua Henry and King got the night rolling with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" followed by "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" with Henry's mastery of the high notes like those of a soprano.

Spectacular woodwinds at the Kennedy Center's tribute to Marvin Gaye/By Derek Baker

Back and forth in the first half of duets, the males took turns to sing with either Williams or King the enduring Gaye-Terrell songs like "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You," "You're All I Need to Get By," and "California Soul."

The second half of the show was reserved for more serious lyrics and solos ("Inner City Blues" was one), joined by the Symphony's basses and cellos brought to stage left for the evening's title "What's Going On" which James delivered in authentic Gaye style.

Cory Henry accompanied himself on piano in "God is Love." And there was more. 

At show's end, performers salute principal pops conductor Steven Reineke at the Kennedy Center's tribute to Marvin Gaye/By Derek Baker

Members of the National Symphony seemed to love it all, too, smiling and pumping their feet. The bongo musician never stopped; the sax players' and flutist's seating on the front row, facing the audience, emphasized their key roles. 

Rounding out the night was a trio of backup singers who never left the stage. 

Emily King, left, with the backup singers at the Kennedy Center's tribute to Marvin Gaye/By Patricia Leslie

Except for Williams and James in bright tangerine and red, most of those onstage were decked in black. Or, sparkly jeans (James). And orange (Cory Henry).

Between some numbers, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the Kennedy Center's social impact director, offered commentary echoed by poets and writers like Antonio Malik, dressed in a bright yellow suit, and Sasa AAkil who came on stage and, with a soft piano background, recited works reflective of the sad times in which we live, but where there's life, there's hope for better days. 

Gaye's prescient "Mercy, Mercy Me" about the deplorable state of the environment penned 50 years ago was not to be forgotten with lyrics still ringing true today:

Woah, ah, mercy, mercy me
Ah, things ain't what they used to be (ain't what they used to be)
Where did all the blue skies go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north and south and east

Woah mercy, mercy me, yeah
Ah, things ain't what they used to be (ain't what they used to be)
Oil wasted on the ocean and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury

Oh Jesus, yeah, mercy, mercy me, ah
Ah, things ain't what they used to be (ain't what they used to be)
Radiation underground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying

Hey, mercy, mercy me, oh
Hey, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land?
How much more abuse from man can she stand?

Wikipedia quotes Gaye : 

In 1969 or 1970, I began to re-evaluate my whole concept of what I wanted my music to say ... I was very much affected by letters my brother was sending me from Vietnam, as well as the social situation here at home. I realized that I had to put my own fantasies behind me if I wanted to write songs that would reach the souls of people. I wanted them to take a look at what was happening in the world.

What a night!  And a memory!  My only regret is my lack of a ticket for tonight's show, another sellout, to hear the songs of a hometown boy who done good.

patricialesli@gmail.com