Anderson House remembers the Sullivans

 

The Sullivan brothers on board USS Juneau: From left, Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison, and George Sullivan, U.S. Naval Historical Center, created Feb. 14, 1942  on the day of the ship's commissioning/Wikipedia

The 1944 movie, The Sullivans, was renamed, The Fighting Sullivans/From a poster at Anderson House's exhibition, Affairs of State: 118 Years of Diplomacy at Anderson House

Although it's been more than 80 years since the grandfather she never knew died with his four brothers in World War II on the same ship, Kelly Sullivan was unable to stop her tears during her presentation this summer about her famed family at the Anderson House, the home of the American Revolution Institute at the Society of the Cincinnati.

At the event, Ms. Sullivan's tears weren't the only ones which flowed, men's or women's. 

Two of the five Purple Hearts presented at Anderson House in 1944 to Thomas and Alleta Sullivan for their sons' valor in World War II, on display at  Affairs of State: 118 Years of Diplomacy at Anderson House/photo by Patricia Leslie

Kelly Sullivan speaks about her grandfather, Albert Sullivan and his brothers, at an Anderson House lecture/photo by Patricia Leslie

During the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Japanese torpedoed and sunk the USS Juneau on Nov. 13, 1942, eventually killing her grandfather and four uncles, all onboard.

Contrary to widespread belief, there is no legislation prohibiting family members from serving on the same ship, Ms. Sullivan said.

She is the granddaughter of Albert Sullivan, the only brother who was married and had a son, Jimmy, who, with his wife, had Kelly and her brother and sister.

Kelly Sullivan speaks about her grandfather, Albert Sullivan and his brothers, at an Anderson House lecture/photo by Patricia Leslie

The Sullivan Brothers were a close knit band who requested to be on the same ship, which rests still today in the Pacific Ocean, only discovered on St. Patrick's Day, Mar. 17, 2018, by shipwreck explorer, Microsoft's Paul Allen and his crew, Kelly said.

During the war, rumors of the brothers' deaths floated through their hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, until their mother, Alleta Sullivan, finally wrote a moving letter of inquiry to the U. S. Navy. 

While she read her great-grandmother's letter out loud to the audience, Kelly Sullivan stopped every few seconds to catch her breath.

Shortly after Mrs. Sullivan's letter was delivered to the Navy, President Franklin D. Roosevelt answered Mrs. Sullivan on January 13, 1943, confirming the deaths of her sons. 

Now, a museum in Waterloo honors the five men and other veterans, one of several places where the Sullivans are remembered. The U.S. Navy named two destroyers after them; a New York pier is named in their honor, and they were the subject of a 1944 movie, The Sullivans (renamed The Fighting  Sullivans).

Kelly Sullivan asked members of the audience attending the free lecture, to remember the sacrifices which  servicemen and women make daily for the United States and to thank them.

Anderson House, headquarters of the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati/photo by Patricia Leslie

Anderson House, headquarters of the American Revolution Institute of the Society of the Cincinnati/photo by Patricia Leslie

Ms. Sullivan's presentation was part of the exhibition,  Affairs of State: 118 Years of Diplomacy at Anderson House, open to all during regular open hours. (Please see below.)

Although 100 survived the original torpedo and Juneau sinking, when the Navy finally got its paperwork together days later and undertook recovery operations, only 10 crew members were found still alive floating in the water amid hazardous conditions and sharks, according to Wikipedia.

What:  Affairs of State:  118 Years of Diplomacy and Entertaining at Anderson House

When: Now through Dec. 31, 2023, Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Sunday, 12 - 4 p.m. Closed on major holidays and meetings of the Society of the Cincinnati. Check here.

Where:  Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Ave., Washington, D.C. NW 20008

How much:  No charge.

Metro station:  Dupont Circle.  Exit at Q Street/North exit. At the top of the escalator, turn left on Q Street.

For more information: (202) 785-2040 

patricialesli@gmail.com

Gottlieb's 'Avid Reader' highly recommended for the wordy

Like so many other memoirs, I was led to Avid Reader: A Life (2016) by the obituary of the author, Robert Gottlieb (1931-2023), the exalted editor, writer, and publisher of many modern classical titles and periodicals, including, but not limited to, the renowned LBJ series by Robert Caro, the fifth and last volume already ten plus years in the making. Research takes time, Caro is often quoted as saying.

I did try Cato's The Power Broker (Gottlieb, editor) a while back but knowing little about New York, except a bit about Manhattan, I just couldn't get into it, you know how it is with some books you just can't get into, and thus, laid it aside never to pick it up again. 

In cre a ble!  

But Gottlieb's memoir is another story although filled with many unrecognizable names to me, like reading one of those chapters in the Bible where the names go on and on and on.  Anyway, Avid Reader is a must if there's anyone in the publishing world who has yet to read it. 

Earlier this year at the National Press Club, I saw Gottlieb's daughter, Lizzie (who is frequently referenced in Avid) and her film Turn Every Page  about the writing and working relationship her dad shared with Mr. Caro, a delightful film and relationship which I probably liked better than the book since Mr. Gottlieb comes across in the book as a boorish know-it-all, a conceited and uppity man about town, although he insists he did not like dinners out with friends, partying, did not do sports, but ballet?  Oh, yes.  (For the ballet uninitiated, that part went on too long.) 

He's much more likable in the film. 

In Avid, he spares no gloss when it comes to offering negative commentary about writers like Salman Rushdie, Lillian Ross, Pauline Kael and many more. He often mentions the breakup of friendships.  Quelle surprise!

It must be that if you are anybody in the New York's publishing world, your inclusion in the book is important, good or bad!  (Some press is good press, and bad press is press, and no press is bad! Bad! Bad!) 

It sounds like he was estranged from his first child, Roger, from his first marriage to Muriel Higgins, since Gottlieb seldom mentions him nor does he include Roger in the credits or dedicate his book to his great offsprings like he does Lizzie's sons but what do I know about good family relationships?

Avid Reader is a highly recommended title, but is that a typo with the omission of a closing parenthetical mark midway down on page 78?  

Alas!  He is gone!

patricialesli@gmail.com

National Gallery's curator talks Philip Guston

Philip Guston, Painting, Smoking, Eating (detail), 1973, collection of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 

Close your eyes and visualize for a moment stubby fingers and heads, cigarette butts, an eyeball here, some shoes over there, a lightbulb, flabby, cartoonish fleshly colored characters and parts and what or who comes to mind?

Just the strange world of Philip Guston (1913-1980) whose 225 art works are set to leave the National Gallery of Art on August 27 after a five-months' stay.

Martial Memory, 1941, oil on canvas, Saint Louis Art Museum, Eliza McMillan T

Philip Guston, Martial Memory, 1941, Saint Louis Art Museum, Eliza McMillan Trust.

HauMartial M emory, 1941, oil on canvas, Sainrt Resource, 

Philip Guston, Passage, 1957–1958, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Bequest of Caroline Wiess Law.

The NGA calls him "one of America's greatest modern painters....[and] one of America's most influential modern artists" and has devoted 17,640 square feet of exhibition space on two floors in its East Building for Philip Guston Now.

The arrangements are laid out chronologically following  Guston's style changes, according to Harry Cooper, the Gallery's senior curator and head of the department of modern and contemporary art, who organized the Washington presentation.

"I wanted to tell Guston’s story and show his development as clearly as possible," Cooper emailed.

The Guston show has already run at the Museums of Fine Art in Houston and Boston and when it leaves Washington, will travel to the Tate Modern, London, for its last venue.

Each of the four places approached their presentation of the exhibition differently, Cooper noted.

Philip Guston, Untitled, 1964, National Gallery of Art, Gift of Musa Guston Mayer.

Philip Guston, Untitled, 1968, oil on panel, private collection.

Interest in Guston has grown since the four museums postponed the show scheduled for 2020 because of Guston's Ku Klux Klan works and the clash with culture and turmoil sweeping the U.S. then, largely as a result of the murder in Minneapolis of George Floyd the same year.

Some 2,600 artists protested the postponement. The National Gallery has segregated the KKK drawings in a different gallery with signs warning visitors about their content.

Philip Guston, Untitled, 1968, brush and ink, private collection.

Philip Guston, Head II, 1969, charcoal on paper mounted to paperboard, National Gallery of Art, gift of Edward R. Broida.

Philip Guston, The Studio, 1969, promised gift of Musa Guston Mayer to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Whether this is a self-portrait like the wall copy says, Mr. Cooper wrote: "I might prefer to call it a self-image because it is obviously not a likeness."

Guston's daughter, Musa Guston Mayer (who has the same first name as her mother and Guston's wife), attended the National Gallery's opening and proclaimed it "a gorgeous exhibition; a beautiful show," complimenting Cooper and the NGA staff.

Mayer was "thrilled" the show would hang for "a significant period of time which would not have happened without the postponement." Mayer is also the president and founder of the Guston Foundation which has promised the Gallery her father's complete Richard Nixon drawings which followed his watershed exhibition in 1970 at the Marlborough Gallery in New York.

There his art announced publicly that Guston was eschewing abstract expressionism for cartoonish figures and anti-heroes which Cooper attributes to "pure courage and conviction and  personal/aesthetic necessity."

(And rather than "abstract impressionism," Mr. Cooper wrote that it is "a term that some critics used to describe Philip Guston’s style of a softer abstract expressionism. I find it misleading because he had no interest in most of the Impressionists.")

Only one of Guston's pieces sold at the Marlborough.  (Not to miss: 12 of the original Marlborough 33 works in the separate gallery.)

Harry Cooper addresses the press at the National Gallery of Art, Mar. 2, 2023 with Guston's Dawn, right, and Caught, left, in the background with colors counter to the originals/By Patricia Leslie

Philip Guston, Painter’s Table, 1973, National Gallery of Art, Gift (Partial and Promised) of Ambassador and Mrs. Donald Blinken in memory of Maurice H. Blinken and in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art.

Philip Guston,The Ladder (detail), 1978, National  Gallery of Art, Gift of Edward R. Broida. That's Guston's wife's head surfacing on the horizon.

Cooper and Mayer both described Guston's art as "darkening" over time. Said Mayer about her father's change from color to dark colors: "I think it had to do with the darkening times."

Guston had been traumatized by current events, including the Vietnam War; he felt he could not ignore what was happening around him and began a shift from complete abstraction.

In 1968, the year of the Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy assassinations, Guston started painting hooded figures like members of the Ku Klux Klan which he called "self-portraits … I perceive myself as being behind the hood … The idea of evil fascinated me … I almost tried to imagine that I was living with the Klan." 

He is quoted in the catalog and on a Gallery wall:

“So when the 60s came along I was feeling split. Schizophrenic. The [Vietnam] war, what was happening to [in] America, the brutality of the world. What kind of man am I, sitting at home, reading magazines, going into [a] frustrated fury about everything – and then going into my studio to adjust a red to a blue."

The Marlborough criticism sent Guston packing to Italy for eight months when, upon returning to the U.S. and inspired by his friend, Philip Roth's novel, Our Gang, the artist began work on his Richard Nixon series.

They are 73 drawings which satirize the president and his henchmen, Henry Kissinger, John Mitchell, and Spiro Agnew, all completed in one year, 1971. The National Gallery has the entirety of the set on the walls on the main East Building floor.

When you go, enter the gallery on your right and circle, ending on the left with "Nixon cookie," "Spiro's Sponge Cake," and "Kissinger Pot Pie." (Those are not to miss!)

Guston planned to make the drawings into a book but held back. Finally, 21 years after his death, they came out in an exhibition and release of Philip Guston's Poor Richard by Deborah Bricker Balken, the University of Chicago Press. (A new edition, Poor Richard by Philip Guston with afterword by Mr. Cooper, is available.**)

Philip Guston, Poor Richard entrance, National Gallery of Art. In the center is Guston's San Clemente, Nixon's escape place after he resigned in 1974. It's the only painting  Guston made of the former president. See below/By Patricia Leslie

Philip Guston, San Clemente, 1975, Glenstone Museum. The wall label notes that Nixon has some pencils in his pocket, possibly a signal from the artist who may have sympathized with a celebrity under fire whose leg is bandaged from ill effects of phlebitis and Washington's attacks. 

Philip Guston, Poor Richard (no. 52), 1971, ink , the Guston Foundation, promised gift to the National Gallery of Art by Musa Guston Mayer. Guston's tatoos on Nixon's arms were prescient,  about 50 years ahead of the tatoo craze.

Philip Guston, Poor Richard (no. 46), 1971, ink , the Guston Foundation, promised gift to the National Gallery of Art by Musa Guston Mayer. Nixon in black face, patronizing black Americans with Spiro Agnew on left, and Henry Kissinger (or is that John Mitchell?), center. Notice hanging objects.

Philip Guston, Poor Richard (no. 37), 1971, ink , the Guston Foundation, promised gift to the National Gallery of Art by Musa Guston Mayer. In center left near the bottom are small letters with the words "Key Biscayne  Aug. 1971". Sink or swim?  Looks like Nixon and Kissinger are sinking, caught by the throes of the monster above, themselves?

At Poor Richard by Philip Guston, National Gallery of Art, Washington/By Patricia Leslie

Musa Guston Mayer welcomes guests to the Guston exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, Mar. 2, 2023/By Patricia Leslie

Guston was born in Canada in 1913 where his parents had fled in 1905 to escape persecution in Ukraine.

When Philip was 10, the family moved to Los Angeles where, unable to find work, Guston's father committed suicide by hanging in the same year as the family's move. Whether Philip's mother or Philip himself found his father is debated.  According to the catalog's chronology, a few years later found Philip withdrawing to a closet with a single light bulb to read and to draw when family members came calling.   

Nine years later his brother died in a car accident.

When asked whether his father's death affected Guston's art, Cooper replied:

"Deeply. Look at the essay I wrote for the catalogue of the 2000 Yale-Harvard show, which was reprinted in the journal October. [Not easily accessible.] Most basically, I think his interest in hanging things (light bulbs, pull cords on shades) refers back to this trauma."

Once you are made aware of these objects and their connections to Guston's past, they seem to appear in almost every piece of his art.

Although several references, including label copy at the exhibition, say Guston was self-taught, Dr. Cooper said Guston "is not self-taught. He went to an arts high school (where he was friends with Jackson Pollock) and then went to Otis College of Art and Design for a few months."


Wikipedia says that at Los Angeles Manual Arts High School, he and Pollock protested the school's emphasis on sports vs. art and both were expelled, however, the catalog says only Pollock was caught and expelled but later graduated. Guston's graduation is not listed in the catalog.

Encouraged by Pollack to move east, Mr. Guston relocated to New York in 1936 where he quickly found work for the Federal Art Project as a muralist. Later, he joined abstract expressionists to create art representing the unconscious rather than reality or "inner" concepts rather than "outer" concepts.

Forty institutions and private collectors loaned art for the show, but the National Gallery has up 30 more than any of the other showplaces, including Guston's last works, single images made in 1980, the year he died. 

In an auditorium at the exhibition, an enthralling documentary, Philip Guston: A Life Lived (58 minutes, 1981), by Michael Blackwood runs continuously and features long interviews with Guston. In it the artist says art flowed from him; he was a mere vessel of transmittal.

The highest price ever paid for a Guston work was $25.8 million at Christie’s in 2013 for the abstract painting To Fellini (1958). His Smoking II (1973) sold for $7.65 million at Phillips in New York in 2019, neither of which appears in the show.


The Terra Foundation for American Art is a major sponsor of the international exhibition.

Out of respect for Black History Month in February, the Gallery postponed the opening of the exhibition until March of this year.

*The catalog, Philip Guston Now ($65), sold in the gift shops, is hardcover with 280 pages, most in color, a comprehensive chronology of Guston's life, and the lead essay by Harry Cooper.

**Also see Poor Richard by Philip Guston, $21, paperback, 73 drawings which Amazon calls " a monument of contemporary satirical art and virtuoso drawing."

What: Philip Guston Now

When: Through August 27, 2023. The National Gallery hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily.

Where: East Building Concourse and Ground Floor, 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

Extended by popular demand! Olney's 'Fela!'

 

Duain Richmond as Fela Kuti and Melody A. Betts as Funmilayo in Olney Theatre Center and Round House Theatre's Fela! By Teresa Castracane

Strap on your seat belt, baby, and join the fun and dance at Olney Theatre Center with the best of 'em at Fela!  the new stage show which will leave you breathless…and maybe several pounds lighter. 

And the run is extended through August 20!

Co-produced with Round House Theatre, it's the first regional production, the first professional production anywhere in the world since Fela!'s national tour more than ten years ago.

Duain Richmond as Fela Kuti in Olney and Round House's Fela! By Teresa Castracane

It's an electric production of fast happenins with African music and gorgeous costumes, right from 1970s Nigeria, where Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (1938-1997) grew up to native sounds which he sculpted into his own music, a mix of Afrobeat with James Brown and some western instruments thrown in.

Don't be fooled at the beginning by the lazy spin of the ceiling fans as band members take their seats:  They don't match the lightning speed of this show within a show!

Duain Richmond as Fela Kuti in Olney and Round House's Fela!  By Teresa Castracane 

Ten musicians (under the strong arm of pianist S. Renee Clark) play on stage with a colorful backdrop which scenic designer Arnel Sancianco has realistically modeled after Fela's real club, Lagos's Afrika Shrine. Here Fela's life unfolds in jukebox style in oranges, yellows, warm and bright pigments of the sun. 

Director Lili-Anne Brown brings a huge, happy cast to the stage to sing and dance Fela's life wearing different African  designs in splashing colors (by Rueben D. Echoles).

Duain Richmond as Fela Kuti in Olney and Round House's Fela! By Teresa Castracane

Fela Kuti was more than just a composer and sax player: He was also a poet, composer, band leader and activist who used his voice and music to assail Nigeria's oppressive regime which came looking to silence his message, kill his mother and commit other atrocities. 

Leading the way for his followers is Duain Richmond, a Broadway star who takes hold of Fela with seeming ease which is no surprise after starring in the New York show and on national tour.  

Richmond is an energetic saxophonist who plays his instrument often and astonishingly, in-between songs and stunning dance routines (by Breon Arzell).

But it’s Fela's mother, Funmilayo  (Melody A. Betts) in an angelic appearance dressed from head to toe in white, who captures every scene when she utters a song's note, in a beautiful soprano voice bringing whoops and shouts from the audience in enthusiastic approval. Her too few duets with Richmond were the best vocals of the night.  

Not to forget about all the other women in his life (and there were a few), some who line up with 'tude to stand by their man, the women dressed in colorful apparel of the day with striking headgear to match.   

Despite tragedy, theatregoers leave with an an uplifting message that 

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -*

As long as people use their voices, speak up, sing, and write, change will happen! 

Fela! was nominated for 11 Tonys in 2010 and won for best choreography, costumes, and sound. The show was nominated for a Grammy in 2011. 

Other cast members are:Malachi Alexander, Bryan Archibald, Terrence Bennett, Simone Brown, Patrick Leonardo Casimir, Shantel Cribbs, Jyreika Guest (also, intimacy consultant), Bryan Jeffrey, Raquel Jennings, and Emmanuel Kikoni (dance captain). 

Also, Amadou Kouyate, Raven Lorraine, Vaugh Ryan Midder, Yewande Odetoyinbo, Nova Y. Payton,  Jantanies Thomas, Galen J. Williams, Jalisa Williams, Kanysa Williams, Shawna Williams

Creative team members include Sherrice Mojgani, lighting; Kelly Colburn, projections; Matt Rowe, sound; Kim James Bey, dialects; and Jamie Berry, production stage manager. 

Book:  Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis

Lyrics and music:  Fela Anikulapo-Kuti

Related community events: 

Fashion show and trunk sale, Sat., July 22, 4:00 p.m. free. Olney's first fashion show featuring designs by  the works of local Nigerian creator Busayo Salahdeen, director of Bibiré International. 

The movie, Finding Fela, Tues. July 25, 6:45 p.m., AFI Silver Screen 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910, $8 - $13.

How to dance Afrobeat, Sun., July 30, 6:30 p.m., Omi’s Pavilion at Olney, $10.

Viva Africa! Community Night at Olney Theatre, Thurs., AG 3, 6:00 p.m. $45 

Aug. 10. 8 p.m., a sign-interpreted performance. Contact Weldon Brown, Director of Sales and Audience Experience (wbrown@olneytheatre.org) to confirm. 

What:  Fela!

When:  Now through August 20, 2023, Wednesday through Saturday nights at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m. 

Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832.

Tickets: Start at $47.  Sit side stage, cabaret-style for $100! 

Ages: For mostly all ages  

Rating:  (Mostly) G 

Masks: None required.

Refreshments available which may not be taken to seats.

Parking: Free, lighted and plentiful on-site

Duration:  About 2.5 hours with one intermission

Printed programs?  Yes!  Thank you, Olney and Round House!

For more information: 301-924-3400 for the box office or 301-924-4485  

patricialesli@gmail.com