Bob Schieffer's art at the Katzen

This one Mr. Schieffer titled Our Very Best and wrote: "We've lived through a difficult period, but we must never forget that Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt dealt with far worse during their presidencies."

The artist from CBS and "60 Minutes" and more was there, of course, with his curator, Michael Beschloss, presidential historian, and a packed gallery at American University's Katzen Arts Center.

I can't call it an elbow to elbow crowd; it was more like cheek-to-cheek. You guess.

From left, Michael Beschloss, the curator; Jack Rasmussen, the director of  American University's Katzen Arts Center; and Bob Schieffer/photo by Patricia Leslie, AP 6, 2024

Bob Schieffer, Paradise Lost, 2023 (detail).  The label says:  "The horrible fire that swept Maui was the perfect example of the new threat that extreme weather now poses."

Bob Schieffer, Honest Abe ... "I drew this picture in 1983 and I included it because I always feel better when I think about Honest Abe."

For 87 years old (! where does time go?), Bob Schieffer paints well, mixing mostly non-fiction subjects in a collage fashion in large-sized works. His colors are bold and brassy; his style is mostly realism with some impressionism (Election Night, 2020 and the celebration in Lafayette Park, my favorite). His portraits of celebrities (a startled Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sandra Day O'Connor, John Lewis, Amanda Gorman, John McCain, George Floyd) are unadorned. 

Every time I look at his art, I find myself with growing admiration for his talent for it's obvious that he didn't first pick up a paint brush when he retired, but years ago when his grandmother taught him. 

Bob Schieffer, The Bump, 2020:  "After Biden won, hundreds of celebrants poured into Lafayette Park to let the world know." 

Bob Schieffer, The Face of Evil, 2022: "This was the easiest painting to name. I have no idea who first painted it, only that is appeared on hundreds of signs carried by Ukrainians fighting the Russian invaders."

Schieffer has modeled many of his works on notable scenes and photographs, such as his Napalm Girl, a sad token of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize winning photograph, "The Terror of War," by Huynh Cong "Nick" Út.  Growing up during the Vietnam War, I hate to be reminded.

Bob Schieffer with Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson with a Schieffer painting:  Cassidy Hutchinson: Profile in Courage. Ms. Hutchinson testified before the January 6 Committee about Trump's actions on January 6 and, on another day, she helped a White House valet clean catsup off a wall where someone had thrown it. Who in the White House eats catsup and has temper tantrums?/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 6, 2024 

Bob Schieffer with Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson at the exhibition opening/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 6, 2024 

There's a painting of Maggie Haberman smiling.  Maggie Haberman smiles? Since when did she smile? She's spent so much time with Trump, she's become schooled in the Trump Center for Facial Expressions:  "Never smile." (He's also pictured scowling in front of St. John's Church.)

Bob Schieffer, Journalism 101  featuring Maggie Haberman

Bob Schieffer, The Unforced Error:  Leaving the Graveyard of Empire, 2021 (detail). Schieffer writes:  "Unlike the American experience in VIetnam, Biden envisioned a dignified end to America's longest war. Instead it was a debacle."

Bob Schieffer, The Irony of War, 2022-2023 (detail) with the label: "Russian and American astronauts returned to Earth after working together for a year in space, something no longer possible back home."

A large crowd turned out for the opening of Bob Schieffer's art exhibition at the Katzen Arts Center, American University/Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 6, 2024 

It was cheek to cheek for the opening of Bob Schieffer's art exhibition at the Katzen Arts Center, American University/ Photo by Patricia Leslie, April 6, 2024 

Celebrities at the event included Gloria Borger, Judy Woodruff, Al Hunt, Gloria Bohan, Christine O'Dwyer, Mary Gotschall and Bruce Guthrie.

Most of the women wore Washington Safety Black with the exception of Norah O'Donnell in a matching rose pink jacket and pants, and Cassidy Hutchinson in a spring garden dress.

Jake Tapper reportedly showed up in a Phillies jersey after a game between the Nationals and Philadelphia who won.  

Mr. Schieffer laughed (and the crowd laughed with him) about all the talk about presidential candidates being old:  He would love to be 80 again!  

In the artist's statement posted on the wall, he wrote that his interest in an exhibition started in early 2020: "What I soon understood was that Covid was just the beginning. One crisis after another settled over a society already reeling from the pandemic."  

The title of the show, Looking for the Light, originated with Amanda Gorman's poem delivered at President Biden's inauguration. Schieffer: "I found hope in a dark and dangerous time."

On April 20 from 2 - 3 p.m., Mr. Schieffer and Jack Rasmussen, the AU museum director, will give a talk (with perhaps Curator Beschloss on hand; the website is unclear).  Go here to sign up at Eventbrite. Signed catalogues will be available.

WHAT: Looking for the Light

WHEN:  Through May 19, 2024, 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday 

WHERE:   Katzen Arts Center at American University, 4400 Mass. Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20016-8031

ADMISSION:  Free!

PARKING:  Garage parking is free on weekends and after 5 p.m., weekdays. Paid parking is available, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., weekdays.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Tony Podesta's gifts to the Katzen

Nira Pereg, Five Calls (Sun Clock), 2015. American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta who is above, in the left background/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Lobbyist Tony Podesta wants all his art eventually to be up in museums for the public to see, and we the people applaud opportunities to see it!  Thank you, Mr. Podesta.

For decades he has given his art to D.C. museums, and on January 26 at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Mr. Podesta was the star, surrounded by curators, artists, and a moderator on stage who came with several hundred to recognize the donations and the opening of a new exhibition, The Gifts of Tony Podesta.

Gyan Panchal, qqlos, 2009, American University Museum Collection, Gift of The Heather and Tony Podesta Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie

It is the first major exhibition of Mr. Podesta's donations to the Katzen which are drawn from the museum's Corcoran Legacy Collection.

Curators Klaus Ottmann, chief curator and deputy director for academic affairs at the Phillips Collection, and Jennifer Sakai, an instructor in the department of photography at George Washington University, talked informally with Mr. Podesta at the event moderated by Jack Rasmussen, the Katzen director.

Let's discuss Katja Strunz' Form & Mal (in 7 parts)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Katja Strunz, Form & Mal (in 7 parts), 2004. American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta/Photo by Patricia Leslie

"I talk with many people about art," Mr. Podesta said at the beginning of the presentation. "It's not a formal process," and he uses no advisor. "I read a lot and travel around the globe looking for art." (He was headed to the art fair at Bologna and then to meet an Australian artist in Copenhagen for an opening.)
 
"I feel like I'm a steward of the works, and the most important thing is for people to see [the art] within a public institution. Every year I give away a lot of things."

Jake and Dinos Chapman, Rape of Creativity, 1999, American University Museum Collection, Gift of The Heather and Tony Podesta Collection/Photo by Patricia Leslie

When the Corcoran Gallery of Art closed in 2014 and the National Gallery of Art took over its collection, the Gallery curators decided to keep half of Mr. Podesta's gifts to the Corcoran and left it up to him to find museums for the rest.  
He contacted the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Katzen, which enjoys "the lion's share." 


"I thought the [Katzen] would be a good house for them," Mr. Podesta said, and he recruited Dr. Ottmann and Ms. Sakai as curators.

At the opening of Gifts of Tony Podesta, the Katzen Arts Center, American University, January 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the opening of Gifts of Tony Podesta, the Katzen Arts Center, American University, January 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Ann-Sofi Sidén, Fideicommissum, 2000, American University Museum Collection, Gift of Tony Podesta/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Said Ms. Sakai:  "It was an exuberance of riches to go through." She curated the photographs, and Dr. Ottmann, the sculptures.  

Said Dr. Ottmann: "Tony is one of these very rare collectors, someone who is really not a trophy collector. He's in a private position where he can see so many wonderful works."  

Dr. Ottmann said he had known Mr. Podesta about 20 years: "Tony is an extremely generous donor. He likes to connect people, likes to connect artists. He does dinners at his house. [It's] an ongoing repertoire.
 
"It's a remarkable collection.
 
"Every time I come to Tony's house and I see things on the wall and I don't know what they are, I ask him.

"Museums today would be in a very bad place without Tony and collectors like him." 

From left, Tony Podesta, Klaus Ottman, and Jennifer Sakai at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

From left, Tony Podesta and Klaus Ottman at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Brothers John, left, and Tony Podesta at the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At the opening of The Gifts of Tony Podesta, Katzen Arts Center, American Museum Collection, Jan. 26, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Most of the works in the show are by artists Mr. Podesta knows, "some [who] have become my friends," including sculptor Barbara Liotta, who with Ottonella Mocellin were the artists on stage.  Ms. Liotta said she met the collector 20 years ago when she was doing a show in Italy and Mr. Podesta swooped in and bought every piece.
 
"It gave me security," she said, and they kept in touch. "He kept on buying works from me and other Italian artists."
 
When she and her husband visited Mr. Podesta, "we were astounded by all the works. He's not afraid of buying the wrong thing."
 
Installing the sculptures at the Katzen was not always easy, Dr. Ottman said: "It was pretty challenging," and Mr. Rasmussen agreed: "It was a mystery at times." 

Said Mr. Podesta to audience laughter: "I had nothing to do with the installation."

Dr. Ottmann:  "I always try to create interesting dynamics betwen the works of art."  

Answering a question from a member of the audience, Mr. Podesta said he never tires of collecting.
 
It's "mostly Washington museums" he rewards.
 
Asked if he regretted not buying a particular piece, Mr. Podesta said: "There's always the one that got away. In fishing and in art." But nothing he may have missed keeps him awake at night.
 
"Everything will go somewhere." With his collections, he said, "I take everything down and put up fresh." 

Mr. Podesta recognized his brother, John, in the audience noting that the latter once represented a group of artists.

Other works in the exhibition are by Darren Almond,  Jenny Gage, Mads Gamdrup, Anna Gaskell, Margi Geerlinks, Siobhán Hapaska, Mwangi Hutter, Justine Kurland, Jone Kvie, Clare Langan, Malerie Marder, Ernesto Neto, Anneè Olofsson,  Nira Pereg, Patricia Piccinini, Torbjørn Rødland, Jenny Rydhagen, Janaina Tschäpe, Hellen van Meene, and Tom Waldron.

What: The Gifts of Tony Podesta

When: Through March 17, 2019, Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Katzen Arts Center at American University,4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20016
 
Admission: No charge
 
Metro station: Tenleytown on the Red Line. From there, take a free AU shuttle bus to the museum.
 
Parking: Free in the Katzen garage after 5 p.m. and on weekends.For more information: 202-885-2787

patricialesli@gmail.com