Emmylou Harris sings praise at Wolf Trap

Emmylou Harris with the Red Dirt Boys at Wolf Trap/Patricia Leslie

When she introduced her song about Emmett Till Wednesday night at Wolf Trap, Emmylou Harris included praise for President Obama and his family. 

You would have thought it was a Democratic rally, the way the crowd cheered and roared approval. There must have been no Republicans in the sold-out audience since no support for the other side or booing was heard which sometimes happens when the opposition is mentioned. 

But this is Northern Virginia, land of the Democrats who are expected to carry the state in November again, and with a little help from their friends it will likely happen again, but this message is not about politics (well, maybe a little), but about Emmylou Harris and her performance, but she's got a lot of message music, if you know what I mean.

Emmylou Harris with the Red Dirt Boys at Wolf Trap/Patricia Leslie

Not only did she sing about Emmett Till and tell why he is such an important person in American history, but she sang a song she wrote about a dog.  Not a human dog or an "ex," but a real dog, "My Big Black Dog."  In her backyard in Nashville she said she keeps an animal rescue station, so she sang "to all the critters out there."   It was a right mellow tune.  I suppose dogs can be political.

Did you know she got her start in D.C.?  Me neither.  At Clyde's in Georgetown, she said.  And before that she was the high school valedictorian at Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, according to program notes. I imagine those sites have historical markers by now.

I am not familiar with Emmylou's music, just her voice, and therefore recognized none of her tunes, but that didn't make them any less special. 

She started off the evening with a tribute to country music legend Kitty Wells who died July 16 at age 92, singing "Making Believe" which took both artists close to the top of the charts.

When John Starling came out on stage to sing a single number with Emmylou, it was probably the most excited the people got, but it wasn't a Seal or Al Green crowd (coming up) so no one was out of his or her chair whoopin' and carryin' on like what happens sometimes.  About 90% of the audience were senior citizens, over the age of 55, I would guess (and 99.9%, white).

And Emmylou may be 65, but she sure doesn't look it, act it, or sing like it. Her voice is still crystal clear with that Nashville twang, and she needs no back-up from other singers to make it sound strong.  (Cher’s “last” concert tour which I saw in Nashville about 10 years ago was nothing more than costume changes, video, and back-ups to add strength to Cher’s voice.  Emmylou requires none of that.)

Except for a few changes in the colors of the lights when the crew flipped a switch, the stage stood plain and honest.  None of that fancy stuff, clothes change, sparklers or lightning shows, if you please.

Emmylou Harris with the Red Dirt Boys at Wolf Trap/Patricia Leslie

It was shocking earlier in the evening at precisely 7:30 p.m. to hear music wafting up to the bar area, but Emmylou started right on time. Who ever heard of such a thing?  An usher told me the word among the ushers was Emmylou goes to bed early (!), and that's why she preceded John Prine.   Whatever.  Emmylou's first act lasted 90 minutes and made her audience smile, kiss, and dance. What more would you want?

Gauguin, Cezanne, and Matisse only in Philadelphia

Aristide Maillol, The Three Nymphs, 1930-38, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./Patricia Leslie

An exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is the only place in the U.S. to see “Arcadia” or “earthly paradise” where, depending upon your mood and acceptance of the surroundings, you may enjoy a stroll through galleries and likely benefit from the emotionally medicinal effects of the exhibition, Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia.

(A suggested sub-title for the display is “Naked People in the Woods” which, indeed, mirrors titles of two of the paintings, Three Nudes in the Forest by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Nude in a Wood by Henri Matisse.)

On a press tour, the museum’s senior curator of European painting before 1900, Joseph J. Rishel, teasingly said, for reasons of modesty, he could not tell his audience about certain drawings by Henri Matisse, and he pointed to a wall several feet away where Matisse hung. (By Jove, let’s go take a look! Unfortunately, I was unable to locate any suggestive renderings.) 

Senior Curator of European Painting before 1900, Joseph J. Rishel, talks about Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich's Our Forefathers, c. 1911, Philadelphia Museum of Art/Patricia Leslie

Whatever viewers may find, Philadelphia hosts another blockbuster show which runs through September 3, 2012.

Henri Rousseau, Pablo Picasso, Robert Delaunay, Paul Signac, Nicholas Poussin, Georges Seurat and Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova of Russia, who may be the only female representative, are some of the 27 artists featured in the display of 60 works organized by PMOA from collections around the world.

Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova, Boys Bathing, c. 1910, Museum Wiesbaden, Germany

The exhibition focuses on three large paintings hung together in one gallery which form “the very foundations of modern art,” according to the museum:   Paul Cezanne’s The Large Bathers (1906), Paul Gauguin’s Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where Are We Going? (1897-98) (Question: Do you ask yourself this every day?), and Matisse’s Bathers by a River (1909-17).

According to Curator Rishel, before World War I artists were “fueled by high optimism and sometimes profound unease,” and they “looked inward and toward each other to give creative shape to the common fate of the human condition.”

It is probable that both Cezanne and Matisse saw and/or heard about Gauguin’s Where? What? Where? which may have influenced their own choices for an “earthly paradise.”

It was a time of vast social and technological changes (sound familiar?) and the artists desired a return to a saintly, more simplistic state, a land of make-believe where humans harmonized with nature in Eden-like settings. No rush, no horns, no mean people snapping at you, but tranquility and serenity. Who doesn’t need such an escape? 

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Goatherd of Terni, c. 1871, Philadelphia Museum of Art

This magical, mystery tour of beautiful bodies in peaceful landscapes is a certain prescription for malady.

Henri Edmond Cross, Study for "Faun," 1905-06, Musee de Grenoble, France

Robert Delaunay, The City of Paris, 1910-12, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris

Combine a trip to the exhibit with visits to Philadelphia’s newly re-opened Rodin Museum, the new Barnes, and the historic Eastern State Penitentiary, all within walking distance of the PMOA.

And a good place to eat right in the neighborhood is the London Grill at 2301 Fairmount Avenue. It was every bit as good as Fodor's described, with delicious hamburgers and an arugula salad with tomatoes (sub for fries) to die for. Plus homemade beer! What a ride. Right on the way to the prison.

A trip by Amtrak from Washington to Philly is usually always stress-free and economical. And you can take your food, your luggage, your beverages, and bypass the TSA wardens.

Let us go then, you and I, and return to the forest unashamed and welcoming of nature and its bounty, and forget the turmoil which surrounds us daily in the sea of madness.

What:  Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse:  Visions of Arcadia

When:  Now through September 3, 2012 (open on Labor Day), Tuesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and open late on some Friday nights

Where:  Philadelphia Museum of Art, the landmark on the hill at 26^th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Admission (includes audio tour): $25 (adults), $23 (seniors), $20 (students, 13 - 18), $14 (children, 5 – 12), free for children under age 5.  Discounts and private tours are available.  Check here.


For more information: 215-763-8100 and www.philamuseum.org

Aristide Maillol, The Three Nymphs, 1930-38, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./Patricia Leslie

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'Queen of Versailles' is worth a look

Magnolia Pictures

It is amazing that the Queen of Versailles (Jackie Siegel) never loses her temper.  Nor is she moody.  She is quite likable, pretty, and always provocatively dressed.

This movie is about the everyday lives of one couple (the Siegels), the ego of Jackie's husband (David), who is the developer of the largest condominium projects in the U.S., and the construction of their 90,000 square foot house, the largest house in the U.S. which practically collapses under the weight of the 2008 fall of the House of Banks and Lenders.

David and Jackie Siegel/Magnolia Pictures

Despite what you may have read, this show is by no means a comedy, but a sad reality demonstration about consumerism and its excess.

And if you ever wanted a peek inside a McMansion McMansion (and more) and how the very rich are different, now's your chance. 

David Siegel, the antagonist and driver of this documentary, treats his family, including his wife, like the little dogs which run around the house making natural deposits indoors, except Siegel is nicer to the pets. 

While waiting on the completion of the "big" house, they live in 25,000 square feet with their seven children and the daughter of Jackie's brother, a remarkably mature girl, like her cousin, the Siegels' oldest daughter, both of whom seem to have more street smarts than Jackie who is somewhat naive. 

In an interview (all the subjects are interviewed repeatedly), the daughter says her mom was probably a "trophy wife" for her dad who is 30 years older.  Who would have guessed?

The children seem well-adjusted and pleasant enough, a surprise and likely due to nanny care which contributes to Jackie continuing to bear children, she says. 

Magnolia Pictures

When 2008 strikes and the money supply shrinks, things begin to go awry.  The household staff is cut from 19 persons to four.  No help for the pet menagerie! 

PETA alert!

Jackie discovers a pet lizard has died from lack of water and food, and a daughter says it's because no one would take her to the pet store.  (You can only get water at a pet store?) 

One of the sons says "Lizard? I didn't know we had one." (It is not your usual standard three-inch green lizard, but one of those special ones, probably from Texas.)

There is also a pet python which Jackie worries has possibly eaten two new puppies missing somewhere in the house.  David has kindly had two of Jackie's deceased dogs stuffed, and they    decorate the house, one in a glass case.  If only animals could talk.

Instead of a "rags to riches story," David calls it a tale of "riches to rags."

He experiences difficulty paying the notes on the houses and all his developments and worries, quite naturally, about money and the future, but neglects to inform his wife just how bad things really are.  Jackie picks up hints, however, when the children are moved from private to public school (horrors!), and she learns at the airport that a rental car (must she?) comes sans driver, and they really should turn off so many lights and who left the front door open? 

When riding on a commercial aircraft, the children want to know what all the strangers are doing on their airplane.  (It is simply a riot.)

The love and affection Jackie has for David is obvious throughout the movie, but in one scene, he rejects her and says "no, I don't want to kiss you."

Jackie (more than once): "When I turn 40, you said you were going to trade me in for two 20-year-olds." 

David:  "Oh yeah?  60 will be better, and then I can trade you in for three." He is smitten by a Miss America who comes to their house for some kind of celebration with all the other state beauty queens and appears intermittently later.  (Please, how do I join his fan club?)

He claims he personally got George Bush II elected to the presidency, but when asked how, responds that it must be kept secret since it may be unlawful.  Certainly! The Siegels' houses are in Florida, not the whole state, but in and around Orlando.

Why did they do it?  Why did the Siegels permit a camera crew to film them and their children?  Why do subjects allow this invasion of privacy?  Oh, they like celebrity.  I forgot.  Nonetheless, it is painful to watch the dissolution of the marriage and project its effects upon the children.

The film is solid evidence that some is never enough and if the Siegels are ever able to complete and move into "Versailles," (now on the market for $75 million), can 120,000 square feet be far behind?  Do the Miami Dolphins have an indoor field?

The movie is inspiring:  It will inspire you to curb your spending, to spend less than you make, to count your blessings you are smarter and more level-headed than the raging ego which consumes David Siegel whose mantra is to be the biggest billionaire and beat everyone else at the game and announce it in the biggest and most extravagant way possible, including trumping (can't resist) the Donald.  But, is that the mantra of us all?

Queen of Versailles will be nominated for Academy Award for Best Documentary (Lauren Greenfield, director), and, I hope, for best original score (Jeff Beal), and I thought the cinematography was excellent.  (Ms. Greenfield won at Sundance.)

The credits reveal many more females than usual who directed, executed, and produced the film. Congratulations to all.

Loch Ness monster scene in Scotland

In the distance "Nessie" made her appearance/Patricia Leslie

Take a look at these photos:  What do you think?  From a boat on the famed Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands last week, this is what we saw from onboard:  "Nessie" who (which?) inhabits the huge loch, according to legend, that is 22.5 miles long and quite deep (754'), but she (of course) needs all that space to roam. And swim.  And eat. (What does she eat?)

Nessie's presence was keenly observed/Patricia Leslie

Giving life to the much-searched sea creature was "Nessie's Monster Mash" premium beer sold on the boat which, to those who consumed it, made Nessie seem even larger than life, however, Nessie neither growled nor roared nor made any sounds whatsoever, strangely enough.  

The only noise came from liquid sloshing both onboard and overboard, and from the boat's crowd, captured by the sights and romance of the day and making toast to the subject which drew us to the gorgeous loch in the first place. 

The boat rocked gently whenever "Nessie" came up for air/Patricia Leslie

In a LiveScience story this month, Benjamin Radford makes folly of "sightings."  Whatever.

We were just happy our boat and crew were well enough equipped to supply all the necessities we needed:  a thorough description of Nessie and the search for her, a powerful boat engine to make a quick "getaway" (if needed), life jackets, Nessie books, trinkets, nuts, and plenty to drink, mate. 

The cattle weren't bothered too much by "Nessie"/Patricia Leslie

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Photography exhibit exposes seven decades of urban faces

Walker Evans, Subway Portraits 1938-41, National Gallery of Art, Washington, gift of Kent and Marcia Minichiello/copyright, Walker Evans Archives, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The contemporary photographs on view in the photo galleries at the National Gallery of Art show bleak subjects. They are not inspiring or uplifting, but they are proof of the talents and ingenuity of six modern photographers and the faces they captured beginning in 1938.

Most of the individuals reflect a state of unease and unhappiness, at least when they are alone. Bruce Davidson's subway scenes present more than one person who may be at odds with another.

Bruce Davidson, Subway 1980-81, Michael and Jane Wilson/copyright, Bruce Davidson

An exception to the exhibition's mood is the moving visual record created by Beat Streuli (b. 1957) who set up his camera in different locations in New York City to record the sounds and scenes of everyday life on the streets. The gentle humming (in New York City!) and human movements easily beguile a viewer into watching people flow by, much like seeing and hearing waves wash upon the shore. Perhaps because they are not alone but are moving in tandem with others and are not permanently recorded in the split second of a camera's flash, the subjects strike a more conciliatory tone with life.

The exhibit, arranged chronologically by artist, was curated by the Gallery’s Sarah Greenough who named it “I Spy: Photography and the Theater of the Street, 1938-2010.” Most of the pictures (with the exception of Davidson's) were taken without the subjects knowing they were the subjects.

Other photographers in the show are Harry Callahan (1912-1999), Walker Evans (1903-1975), Robert Frank (b. 1924), and Philip-Lorca diCorcia (b. 1951). Bruce Davidson (b. 1933) was on hand for the exhibition’s opening.

Curator Sarah Greenough talks about the photography exhibition at the National Gallery of Art/Patricia Leslie

Walker Evans took his famous subway pictures from a camera hidden inside his coat. Frank took photographs of people on the streets in New York in 1958 while he was riding a bus. DiCorcia sheds light in spectacular fashion upon unsuspecting New Yorkers, the most striking to me, the businessman.

Davidson was the only artist who asked his subjects for permission to be photographed, and the responses were not altogether positive but gruff and unfriendly at times. 

But it is Callahan’s singular shots of women’s faces which are the most upsetting.  There in black and white taken on the streets of Chicago in 1950 are the women who walk by, not knowing they are the center of the camera's attention, not inclined to reveal a different demeanor from what they felt inside, showing in their honesty and unconscious appearances, the repression, unhappiness and trepidation they lived during that lonely decade. The few near smiles are stilted and wan. Pain is evident.

Harry Callahan, Chicago, 1950, collection of Randi and Bob Fisher, copyright, The Estate of Harry Callahan/Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York

Nothing was staged or rehearsed for this show. Evans wanted his subjects to be unconscious of the camera, and he waited 20 years before he published his pictures, concerned about the invasion of privacy.

They are us. In solitude, this is how it is? And how we are? There is something to be said about the loneliness of the individual and how unnatural a state it is.

The exhibition is made possible through the support of The Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation and the Trellis Fund. Tru Vue provided in-kind support.

What: I Spy: Photography and the Theater of the Street, 1938-2010

When: Now through August 5, 2012, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: National Gallery of Art, West Building, Washington, D.C., between Fourth and Seventh streets at Constitution Avenue, NW

How much: No charge

For more information: 202-737-4215 or www.nga.gov.

Metro stations: Judiciary Square, Navy Memorial-Archives, or the Smithsonian

'Saturday Night Fever' is always hot

John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney in Paramount Pictures' Saturday Night Fever/Paramount Pictures

How many times have you read a book or seen a movie for the second time, and it's just not the same? Somehow, the allure, the magic, the whatever spell it cast upon you to memorialize it in the first place have vanished.  "The second time around" just doesn't...quite...capture "it." 

Maybe it was the rose-colored eyes of youth, alas, which tinted the reception and dulled the later experience, similar to what the adults found (or didn't find) in the Polar Express.  Sigh.

John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney in Paramount Pictures' Saturday Night Fever/Paramount Pictures

I am pleased to disprove the foregoing observation.  I am pleased to report a better reception the second time around.  I am pleased to report that years have not reduced the enjoyment one gets from watching Saturday Night Fever again. Yay and whoa! 

I had forgotten what a heckuva good time this movie is, with a story which extends far beyond the dance contest and all the numbers, which are about all I could remember.  It actually has a plot, a very good one, and the acting, yes, by John Travolta and many others, is exceptionally good.  The family scenes!  And you thought your family was dysfunctional?  

Right out of the gate, it takes off like a rocket, and never loses power, soaring from the ground shots of Tony's clicking and clacking shoes along New York City's sidewalks, to "let's be friends" at the end. The music still plays in my mind days later.  The Bee Gees.  Who can forget? 

Thanks to the Smithsonian's American Art Museum, a free screening of the film was shown last weekend as part of a dance double-feature with 2010's Black Swan (another one I loved) shown earlier in the day. 

On the way to town on the Metro packed with tourists, I had asked myself more than once:  You are going downtown to see a 40-year old movie?  You are electing to ride Metro on the weekend to do what? 

It was one of those times when I knew a good reason would present itself, and they did.  Not only was the film thoroughly fantastic, but I got to see the National Portrait Gallery's Amelia Earhart exhibition and faces in the "Recent Acquisitions" gallery like Hillary Clinton's by Chuck Close, Bill Clinton's, Barbara Bush's, and a painting of Grandma Moses.

But, back to the movie:  I had forgotten about all the obscenities (and the polyester) and think that what I saw the first time was the edited, PG version, which, truly, does not have the power of the real thing. 

John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney in Paramount Pictures' Saturday Night Fever/Paramount Pictures

If you haven't seen it, or even if you have, two hours of solid entertainment are what it's all about, moviegoers, and there's no getting around Travolta's dancing. He knew (knows?) some steps.  Makes you want to get up and out on the dance floor and move your feet and hips and swing those arms around and expel some creepy calories. You know the kind that come with age.  Sigh.  Michelle Obama would approve.

Saturday Night Fever was nominated for only one Academy Award (Best Actor: Travolta), several Golden Globes and won... nothing. 

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Miro's 'Ladder' stands only at the National Gallery of Art

Joan Miro, The Hunter (Catalan Landscape) 1923-1924, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Purchase, 1936

Joan Miro: The Ladder of Escape at the National Gallery of Art is one of the few Miro exhibitions ever staged in Washington, D.C.

The show is big, filling seven galleries on two floors and ends on August 12. 

Many of the artworks by Miro (1893-1983) portray his responses to the horrors of the 20^th century: World War I, World War II, and the Spanish Civil War when he lived in France and Spain and witnessed atrocities and their effects.

Unlike those who suffer aftermath of turmoil and destruction over which they have little or no control and are unable for varying reasons to act, Miro, by way of his art, was able to release his emotions and rage.  He defined an artist as "one who, amidst the silence of others, uses his voice to say something."

Joan Miro, Burnt Canvas 2, December 4 - 31, 1973, private collection

The National Gallery quotes him from 1937:  "We are living through a hideous drama that will leave deep marks in our mind."

The curator for the show, Harry Cooper, head of modern and contemporary art for the National Gallery, said the artist used a ladder figuratively as a bridge between Heaven and Earth, between imagination and reality, permitting him to climb up to fantasy and down and become “politically engaged at times."

Hanging at the entrance to Ladder is Alexander Calder’s large and colorful mobile, commissioned for the opening of the East Building in 1978, an appropriate introduction to Miro for the two artists were good friends who shared "an impish quality, a sense of play, a love of adventure," according to critic Stanley Meisler writing in the Los Angeles Times in 2004. 

Joan Miro, The Farm 1921-1922, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mary Hemingway, 1987

Upon entering Ladder, visitors face The Farm (1921-22) purchased by Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) as a birthday gift for his first wife, Hadley, and given by his fourth wife, Mary, to the National Gallery of Art in 1987. (One account said Hemingway and Miro used to box together.)

Farm was “a resume of my entire life in the country,”  Miro said.  The complexity of the work and its components, like most of the works in the provocative show, may leave visitors wrestling with questions and meaning, excellent ingredients for discussions which Curator Cooper said he hoped would be one of the show's effects.  It is unlikely that any guest will not have opinions about the contents.  (Check out Object of Sunset.  If this doesn't trigger conversation, what will?  Ladder may be a good place for a blind date, if talk languishes.)

Joan Miro, Object of Sunset, 1936,  Centre Pompidou, Musee national d'arte moderne, Paris, Purchase, 1975

The National Gallery calls Miro’s art  a combination of cubism, abstractionism, and primitivism which resulted in his own style, sometimes called detailism. 

Complementing the exhibition is a film with D.C.'s own Duke Ellington starring in a brief scene in a 17-minute National Gallery production which runs continuously in the show.  The Duke visited Miro in 1966 in France where he composed the impromptu “Blues for Miro.”

Also offered with the exhibition are talks, a catalogue, and a new Catalan menu created for the Gallery’s Garden Café by Chef José Andrés, the owner and chef at Jaleo.  It includes escalivada catalana, a roasted vegetable dish with tomatoes which is so tasty it alone, as an export item, might be able to rescue Spain from its economic doldrums, but not to go overboard.  Chef Andres has other delicious treats in store for diners.  You will not want to miss the food (in the West Building) or the show.

The exhibition was made possible by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation, Buffy and William Cafritz, and the Institut Ramon Llull.  The Tate Modern in London organized the exhibition in collaboration with Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona, and in association with the National Gallery of Art.

Gallery talks are scheduled on these dates:

Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape

July 31, August 1, 2, 8, 9 at 11:00 a.m.

by Diane Arkin, Adam Davies, David Gariff, or Sally Shelburne

East Building, Ground Level, Information Desk

(60 minutes)

What: Joan Miro: The Ladder of Escape

When: Now through August 12, 2012, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: National Gallery of Art, East Building, Washington, D.C., 4th Street at Constitution Avenue, NW

How much: No charge

For more information: 202-737-4215 or www.nga.gov.

Metro stations: Judiciary Square, Navy Memorial-Archives, or the Smithsonian

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