Last day to see 2000-year-old bronze sculpture at National Gallery of Art

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The entrance to Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World closing today at the National Gallery of Art and featuring 50 statues and other works dating from the fourth century BC to the first century AD/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The exhibition showcases "the most significant examples of Hellenistic bronze sculpture," only a few examples which remain, many lost and others melted for different uses.  The Hellenistic period is generally recognized as beginning with the death of Alexander the Great (356 BC - 323 BC) and lasting until the advent of the Roman Empire or about 300 years.  

Over his short reign 336 to 323 BC, Alexander created a vast empire which encompassed the area stretching from Greece to Egypt to India to what is now Pakistan. Wikipedia says Alexander, undefeated in battle, is still considered "one of history's most successful military commanders."  

Up until he was 16, he was tutored by Aristotle. Alexander became king of Macedonia when he was 20, after his father, Philip II, was assassinated.,

Victorious Athlete ("The Getty Bronze") 300 - 100 BC  on loan from the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, welcomes visitors to the exhibition.  Italian fishermen found Athlete in the Adriatic Sea in the 1960s.  He stands ready to remove the laurel from his head and offer it to the gods in gratitude for his win.  Behind him is a photograph of empty bases where statues once stood at a stadium in Olympia, Greece./Photo by Patricia Leslie

Thirty-three museums from around the world, including the Prado, the Uffizzi, the Louvre, the Vatican, two museums in Athens, the British Museum, and archaeological museums in Pompeii and Thessaloniki loaned pieces for the exhibition with half of them on view in the U.S. for the first time, according to National Gallery director, Earl A. Powell.

This is Artisan, 50 BC loaned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, whose belt holds a notebook indicating he may have been a writer, possibly Aesop, according to the label/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The National Archaeological Museum in Athens loaned Portrait of a Man, 100 BC, which originally was a full-length statue. This portion of the man was found in 1912 on the Greek island of Delos/Photo by Patricia Leslie

At last a woman and Athena, 300 - 270 BC, at that.  She was the goddess of war and wisdom who, in this piece, is protected by  "Gorgon," a mythical female monster whose gaze was fatal to any onlooker. Athena may have held a spear in her right hand.  Loaned by the National Archaeological Museum in Florence, she was found in fragments of a house in Arezzo in 1541/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Head of Apollo, 50 BC - AD 50, formerly a full-length statue found in 1930 by fisherman in the Gulf of Salerno.  Loaned by the Province of Salerno/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A really big horse, the photograph which does not adequately convey the size, created by Cavallo Riccardi, and named the Medici Riccardi Horse, c. 350 BC.  It was once part of an equestrian statue and carried a rider, indicated by the bit in its mouth.  An example of the "Hellenistic emphasis on expressive realism," according to the label. Loaned by the National Archaeological Museum of Florence/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The Medici Riccardi Horse/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Artemis with Deer, 100 BC - 100 AD, which probably stood in a garden of a villa, was found in Rome in the 1920s by construction workers.  Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, likely held a bow. Loaned by a private collector/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Artemis with Deer/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Portrait of a Man, 300 - 200 BC, was found in 1997 in the Aegean Sea off the Greek island of Kalymnos near the locations of other discovered sculptures. The wide-brimmed hat indicates he was probably a king or general from Macedonia.  Loaned by the Archaeological Museum of Kalymnos.  Visitors to the gallery and other objects are reflected in the protective covering /Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Portrait of a Ruler (Demetrios Poliorketes?), 310 - 290 BC, was originally more than 11 feet tall. The Athenians proclaimed Piliorketes  king in 307 BC when he was 30 years old. His father served as a general in Alexander's military and was also a king.  Loaned by the Prado/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Portrait of a Ruler (Demetrios Poliorketes?), 310 - 290 BC/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Boy Runner, 100 BC - AD 79, was one of a pair found in the 1750s near a 218-foot swimming pool in a colonnaded garden in the Villa dei Paperi at the Bay of Naples, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Loaned by the National Archaeological Museum in Naples/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Herakles Epitrapezios, 100 BC - AD 79 was found in 1902 in a garden near Pompeii. The name Epitrapezios means "on or at the table," and this version may have been small enough to be "on or at the table." Loaned by the National Archaeological Museum in Naples/Photo by Patricia Leslie

In the galleries/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A 350+ paged catalogue filled with full color illustrations, maps, and images is available in the shops, and for the first time, the National Gallery has a free mobile audio tour for cell phone users.

The Bank of America is a major sponsor of the national exhibition which began in the U.S. at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, after opening at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.

What: Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World

When: Closing March 20, 2016.

Where: West Building, National Gallery of Art, between Third and Seventh streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission is always free at the National Gallery of Art.

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-842-6941

patricialesli@gmail.com

Sunday is the last day to see 'Dying Gaul' in Washington

 

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

People!  Do you realize what we have before us at the National Gallery of Art for only a few precious days more?  It's a masterpiece of time, one of the enduring pieces of art which students the world over study and observe with mouths open wide.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

The work by an unknown artist has been compared to the Winged Victory of Samothrace and Michelangelo's David, two of the best known and most studied sculptures in art history.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

It is one of the world's antiquities, a treasure which has survived the ages, spending hundreds of years buried in a Roman garden, and later, as a kidnapping victim by Napoleon who stole it from Rome in 1797 and carted it off to Paris for showcasing at the Louvre for almost 20 years.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

Dying Gaul is a marble beauty, a model of a Greek bronze made supposedly upon directive by the King of Pergamon in 228 B.C. to celebrate his kingdom's victory over the Gauls. (See map.) The king may have ordered several statues of his enemy in defeat, his competitors who fought in the nude. 

From William R. Shepherd's 1923 Historical Atlas showing Pergamon around 188 B.C./Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia says the warriors shed their clothing to show their spirit, fortitude, and skill which Polybius (200 - 118 B.C.) wrote was "a terrifying spectacle, for they were all men of splendid physique and in the prime of life."  (Dying Gaul)

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

Meanwhile, Dionysius (60 - 7 B.C.) of Halicarnassus thought their lack of protection was rather dumb and showed the Gauls' "barbarian boastfulness."

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

The sculpture reveals the deadly wound in the subject's chest and his forlorn frustration as he accepts his fate.  He doesn't look so much like he is dying as he is resigned to reality, angry and injured as much mentally as physically and not pumped up to continue a battle any more.  See how his skin glistens with sweat.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

Dying Gaul was found between 1621 and 1623 in an excavated garden in Rome on property once owned by Julius Caesar. 
After word got out about the sculpture, formerly called Dying Gladiator since that's what the "experts" initially thought he was, royalty like King Philip IV (1605-1665) of Spain and King Louis XIV (1638-1715) of France ordered life-sized replicas.  Historians claim Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) had Dying Gaul (or a copy) on his wish list.

Three of the artists Dying Gaul inspired, according to a brochure available at the sculpture, include Diego Velazquez, Jacques-Louis David, Giovanni Paolo Panini.  

What happened to the bronze the king ordered 2,000 years ago? Claudio Parisi Presicce, the director of the Musei Capitolini in Rome which owns Dying Gaul, told the Wall Street Journal it was likely melted down and used for weapons.  This copy was created in the first or second century A.D.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

At the unveiling of the sculpture in December at the National Gallery of Art, Ignazio R. Marino, the mayor of Rome called Italy's loan of the sculpture to the U.S. an "eloquent demonstration of the close friendship...and fruitful cooperation" between two of the world's most beautiful capitals and two of the world's most prestigious cultural institutions, the Musei Capitolini and the National Gallery of Art.  The presentation and this gift to the American people is one of more than 300 events Italy has staged throughout the U.S. over the last year to celebrate The Dream of Rome and 2013-The Year of Italian Culture.

The American people are grateful to the Embassy of Italy, the president of Italy, the Musei Capitolini, and the National Gallery of Art for the opportunity to see the sculpture on its first trip away from home in almost 200 years.

What: Dying Gaul

When: Now through March 16, 2014, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday.

Where: The Grand Rotunda, the West Building, National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com





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Contemporary contraptions at McLean's Project for the Arts

Melissa Burley, Geared Up/Patricia Leslie

 

How can anyone visit a modern art show and not come away astonished by what artists can create and make?

The newest exhibition at the McLean Community Center will leave viewers' eyes open wide.  It's called Contraptions:  Reflections on the Almost Functional, and they are.

Stephanie Williams, Alex, is priced at $2,500/Patricia Leslie

 

The brochure says the artists draw, make, sculpt, and assemble works which deal with "real, imagined, or implied" functionality.  I'll say.   Not all the pieces conjured up "functionality" for me.  Take Stephanie Williams' Alex, for example. Alex struck me as a gynecological model of a one-legged being, maybe a harnessed man? A harassed man ensnared by a wheelbarrow's bars? He begins to reach for assistance, for help with his (he is a "his," of that I am quite certain) long, skinny appendages. Perhaps, that is the message:  Men determine body decisions for women, so let's capture man, and we'll make body decisions for him.  I'll vote for that.

The "thing" is headless so thinking equipment, if it exists, may reside elsewhere on the structure. And what is that end product, please, the pink blob?

The artist, Rima Schulkind with her Say Cheese, priced at $2,500, and perfect for a camera shop/Patricia Leslie

 

 

A few steps away in the Ramp Gallery are Eric Celarier's Wasteland Series, old and new computer parts strung out on leather quilts, stitched together with leather ties.  I can just see them hanging on entrance walls at Apple, HP, and ASUS.  They are a visual history of a computer's parts, a tech landscape and available in various sizes. 

Eric Celarier with one of his Wasteland Series/Patricia Leslie

Mr. Celarier said some parts are quite old, going back several decades. Computers are not as new as one might think.  I can recall about 1985 when a colleague brought his new computer to work, after Christmas.  It was the size of a refrigerator.  (He always had to be the first kid on the block to have the newest of everything. I am certain a robot is driving him to work by now if he is not luxuriating on a sea on Mars.)

Eric Celarier, Wasteland Series XIV/Patricia Leslie

Meanwhile, in the Atrium Gallery are sculptures by Melissa Burley who has used recycled equipment, including bicycle chains, to show off her creations encased in lighted boxes. (I wonder how old Melissa is.  Anyone remember light boxes?)  Round and round they go, circles and wheels suggesting motion like our brain waves which never stop (are you sure?), trapped by our own limitations and constant repetitions.

For those dinner guests who insist on staying beyond the midnight hour, you can pull out Melissa Burley's Hot Seat/Patricia Leslie

 

You see what art can do!  Go and find out what the pieces say to you and please, write soon.

Nancy Sausser curated Contraptions, and other artists represented are Blake Hurt, Adam Hager, and Dymphna de Wild.  All Contraptions are for sale.

Scheduled talks and workshops at the McLean Community Center are:

Friday, Feb. 21, 7 - 9 p.m. "Waste in Contemporary Art" with Eric Celarier.  Free.

Saturday, Feb. 22, 10 - 11:30 a.m. Family Art Workshop:  "Multi-Media Mobiles" for ages 4 - 8. $10/family

Saturday, Feb. 22, 1 - 4 p.m. Workshop with Eric Celarier:  "Anatsui and Reuse Art" for ages 9 - 14. $10

What: Contraptions:  Reflections on the Almost Functional with more art in the galleries

When: Now through March 1, 2014, Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. - 11 p.m., Friday and Saturday: 9 a.m. - 12 a.m., and Sunday: 12 - 6 p.m. 

Where: McLean Project for the Arts at the McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean, VA 22101. For directions and a map, click here.

Admission: No charge

Parking:  Plentiful and free

For more information: 703-790-1953 or 703-790-0123

patricialesli@gmail.com

Civil War sculpture at the National Gallery of Art trumpets African-Americans' valor

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial (1900), Jarek Tuszynski/Wikimedia Commons, 2009

It is not the solitary figure on horseback for whom the sculpture at the National Gallery of Art is named that draws the most attention.

It is the figures and faces of the 16 black soldiers who follow and precede him in unison, carrying bayonets on their shoulders, marching on Beacon Street on May 28, 1863 before 20,000 who came to send them off, to fight Confederates hundreds of miles away.

Listen carefully and you can hear the sounds the drummer boy makes as he leads the procession.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial (1900). The model at the National Gallery of Art is on long-term loan from the National Park Service, Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site, Cornish, N.H./Patricia Leslie

The work, called the greatest American sculpture of the 19th century, is well known as the Shaw Memorial, named after the aristocratic white colonel, Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863) who commanded the first black brigade from the North, one of the first groups of black soldiers to fight for the Union Army. 

Courtesy of the Massachusetts Historical Society. From the Natiional Gallery of Art exhibition, Tell It With Pride

Massachusetts' Civil War black community originally objected to the white officer's leadership, however, the goals to defeat slavery and earn full citizenship took precedence.

The 54th Massachusetts Regiment left Boston and sailed for points south. In July about 600 members assisted other Union forces in attacking Fort Wagner, a guardian of Charleston's harbor.

Members of the 54th included sons of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Charles and Lewis, and men from northern states, southern and border states, Canada, and some runaway slaves.

Although they did not win at Fort Wagner on July 18, 1863, and half of the 54th Regiment were wounded or killed, along with Lt. Shaw, their heroism and dedication became part of America's legacy, to be brilliantly remembered and portrayed in the masterful bronze made by Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907) which was unveiled at Boston Common on Memorial Day, May 31, 1897 where it stands now.

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial in Boston in a state of disrepair (1973).  From the Natiional Gallery of Art exhibition, Tell It With Pride

The National Gallery's 54th memorial model is gold leaf patinated plaster, modified by Saint-Gaudens after the original was completed, and submitted in 1900 to international competition in Paris where it won the Grand Prize.  The sculptor made changes on the plaster model to soldiers' faces, the horse, and the allegorical figure at the top, commonly perceived as an angel who carries an olive branch and poppies.

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the soldiers' bravery, the National Gallery hosts with the sculpture an exhibition through January 20 of photographs, letters, documents and other original material.  Two galleries of information outline the background and the making of the sculpture which took Saint-Gaudens 14 years to finish. When asked what took so long, he said it wasn't the execution of the piece but "the thinking about it," according to the catalogue.

Robert Gould Shaw (1837-1863) may have used this sword at the Battle of Antietam where he was wounded.  It and other original materials are on display at the National Gallery of Art through January 20, 2014/Patricia Leslie

The name of the exhibition: Tell It With Pride comes from an anonymous July 31, 1863 letter to Col. Shaw's parents conveying the horrible news of their son's death in battle: "The black soldiers marched side by side with their white comrades in arms to the assault.  (Tell it with pride to the world.)"

Rather than having only their son captured in art, the Shaws wanted the sculptor to express the mission of white and black soldiers together, all heroes united in their dedication to the cause.

The sculpture includes a Latin inscription, suggested by Lt. Shaw's father:  OMNIA RELINQVIT SERVARE REMPVBLICAM, variously interpreted as "He relinquished everything to save the Republic," "He left behind everything to save the Republic," and "He forsook all to preserve the public weal."

The same year the memorial won the Grand Prize in Paris, Sergeant William H. Carney, a Norfolk, Virginia native and member of the 54th, was honored as the first African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor, 37 years after Ft. Wagner.

Sergeant William H. Carney, c. 1901-1908,  the first African American to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.  Photo by James E. Reed, American, 1864-1939, Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.

Carl Cruz, the great-great-great nephew of Sergeant William H. Carney, with a photograph of Sgt. Carney, the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor.  Mr. Cruz said he and his siblings often played with the medal as children, not knowing its significance.  Another relative got Sgt. Carney's uniform, now "lost to the ages," Mr. Cruz said/Patricia Leslie

Instead of the elaborate ceremonies with the president in the White House which honor Medal of Honor recipients today, Sergeant Carney received his medal in the mail. 

Although severely wounded at Ft. Wagner, he managed to carry the flag upright throughout the conflict:  "Boys, I did but my duty; the dear old flag never touched the ground."

 The sculpture and event have been the subjects of articles and books, a movie (Glory), a song, and poems by many, including Robert Lowell and Paul Laurence Dunbar*, the first African American to gain fame as a poet and for whom Washington's Dunbar High School is named.

As a youngster growing up in the century after the conflict, Marine Lieutenant Timothy Fallon remembered the movie and the sculpture he saw with his family on a visit to the National Gallery of Art.  In 2011 with special Gallery permission and in a private showing with members of his family present, Lt. Fallon was permitted to touch the sculpture and recall its magnificence.  Blinded by an explosion in  Afghanistan,  he can no longer see it in person. Afterwards, Lt. Fallon wrote:

This piece should kindle pride in any officer who has led men into battle….The Shaw Memorial depicts only one officer, and the rest of the figures are the men who must do the majority of the fighting, bleeding, and dying….It has been 150 years since the Civil War, but this memorial to freedom fighters and the man who led them is as relevant today as it might have been the morning after the failed but determined  assault on Fort Wagner.

Assisted by survivors of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the Union attempt at Ft. Wagner was eventually successful.

*Robert Gould Shaw  published 1903 by Paul Laurence Dunbar

Why was it that the thunder voice of Fate
Should call thee, studious, from the classic groves,
Where calm-eyed Pallas with still footsteps roves,
And charge thee seek the turmoil of the State?
What bade thee hear the voice and rise elate,
Leave home and kindred and thy spicy loaves,
To lead th' unlettered and despised droves
To manhood's home and thunder at the gate?

Far better the slow blaze of Learning's light,
The cool and quiet of her dearer fane,
Than this hot terror of a hopeless fight,
This cold endurance of the final pain,-
Since thou and those who with thee died for right
Have died, the Present teaches, but in vain!

Tell It With Pride is organized by the National Gallery of Art and will be on view at the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston, a major lender for the exhibition, from February 21 – May 23, 2014.

The people of the United States are grateful to GRoW of the Annenberg Foundation and the Trellis Fund for making the exhibition possible. 

The catalogue, written by the National Gallery's Sarah Greenough and Nancy Anderson, assisted by Lindsay Harris and Renee Ater, is a history of the memorial and its making, and told in photographs and images with a list of the 1,500 members of the 54th regiment, their hometowns, ages, ranks, and whether they fought at Fort Wagner.  It is available in the shops.

I can't wait to return and see the exhibition again.

What:  Tell It With Pride:  The 54th Massachusetts Regiment and Augustus Saint-Gaudens' Shaw Memorial

When: Now through January 20, 2014, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday. 

Where:  Main Floor, the West Building, National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.  On the Mall.  

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

Augustus Saint-Gaudens (1848-1907), Shaw Memorial (1900)/Patricia Leslie

At Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington is another Augustus Saint-Gaudens' sculpture, the Adams Memorial with a replica at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

patricialesli@gmail.com