A trifle of women at the National Portrait Gallery

The exhibit, A Will of Their Own: Judith Sargent Murray and Women of Achievement in the Early Republic at the National Portrait Gallery/Patricia Leslie.  That's Mrs. Murray centered on the wall, and Phillis Wheatley's book in a case in front of the Murray portrait.

In an alcove at the end of a hallway at the National Portrait Gallery is a tiny exhibit, A Will of Their Own: Judith Sargent Murray and Women of Achievement in the Early Republic which features "eight [although a guard and I could only find seven] remarkable women from the early days of this nation."

As you enter the Portrait Gallery on F Street and turn right on the first floor, you'll spy in the distance, the portrait of Judith Sargent Murray surrounded on adjacent walls by the other women in the show. 

 

John Singleton Copley (1738–1815), Judith Sargent Murray (1751-1820), Terra Foundation for American Art, Chicago, Illinois. Daniel J. Terra Art Acquisition Endowment Fund.  Mrs. Murray wrote “On the Equality of the Sexes” in 1790, arguing that women were just as capable of intellectual accomplishment as men and that an education would liberate women from economic dependence. In 1798, Murray became the first woman in America to self-publish a book: The Gleaner.

Where was Margaret Todd Whetten (1739-1809) whom I discovered later on the website?  We could not find her.
Does it matter?

Margaret Todd Whetten whose home in New York City housed American spies during the American Revolution.  President George Washington sent her a "thank you" letter.

On the upcoming 100th anniversary of the suffragists' march down Pennsylvania Avenue which will be commemorated by another march March 3, 2013, one would think the Portrait Gallery could have done better.

Especially since one of its Smithsonian sisters, the National Museum of American History, is one of the presenters of the Suffrage Centennial Celebration.

The Portrait Gallery says its exhibit is about "the struggle for women’s rights," and these "portraits showcase the important achievements of women during this period. Together, they also demonstrate the early efforts to gain gender equality in America."

Prithee, how did Theodosia Burr Alston (1783-1813) "demonstrate the early efforts to gain gender equality in America"? 

She was well-educated and the daughter of Vice President Aaron Burr and wife of wealthy landowner Joseph Alston, and that qualifies her to be "a woman of achievement"?  Oh, and she was a "hostess" and lost at sea.  I guess I am missing something.  A struggle by the Portrait Gallery to come up with meaningful women of the era from its collection, perhaps.

John Vanderlyn (1776-1852), Theodosia Burr Alston, 1802, Yale Library/Wikimedia Commons. This portrait is not in the show.

Of the eight portraits listed, six belong to the Portrait Gallery which helps reduce costs for an exhibition.

In checking six websites* for notable American women in history, only four of the eight women in the show are found, and they are not listed at every site:  Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) was listed on four; Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753-1784), three; Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (1774-1821), two; and Patience Wright (1725-1786), one.

Anne Catharine Hoof Green (c.1720-1775) is also included in the exhibition.

Pages from Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773) by Phillis Wheatley. She came to the colonies as a slave from Africa and became the first African American to publish a book. (The white splashes in the picture are lights reflected in the glass.)
 

For women of that era, where are Molly Pitcher, Deborah Sampson, Sacajawea, and Hannah Adams?  Just asking.  Or why focus on “early women” only?

The Portrait Gallery's website says "the eight women who are highlighted here did not produce a collective movement for women’s rights, but they were important in sowing the seeds for future progress." 

 

In the meantime, I hope readers participate next month in Women's History Month and the events of March 1-3 and march in the centennial parade.  After the 1913 parade, it took eight more years before the 19th amendment was ratified, and women gained the right to vote. How long will it take to elect a woman, president?

The Terra Foundation for American Art sponsored the Portrait Gallery's exhibit and all the related publications and programs.

Whenever I visit the National Portrait Gallery, I usually stop by the second floor to see the reproduction of Augustus Saint-Gaedens's 1891 memorial to Clover Adams which her husband, Henry Adams, commissioned after her suicide in 1885. The original is at Mrs. Adams's gravesite in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery.

What: A Will of Their Own: Judith Sargent Murray and Women of Achievement in the Early Republic

When: 11:30 a.m.- 7 p.m. every day now through September 2, 2013

Where: The National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW, Washington, D.C.  20001

How much:  No charge

Metro station:  Gallery Place-Chinatown or walk 10 minutes from Metro Center

For more information: 202-633-8300

*The six websites checked were:   Women in History,   Discovering American Women's History Online,  
75 Suffragists, the Hip Forums, Important and Famous Women in America,  and American Women in History


patricialesli@gmail.com

1 Year Subscription to Vanity Fair Print & Digital - only $15!




 

Oscar flicks for free at National Archives

Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, 2012, The Invisible War

The public is invited to attend screenings of Academy Award nominees in four categories for free at National Archives beginning Wednesday.

The categories are documentary feature, documentary short subject, live action short film, and animated short film.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, and saving seats is prohibited.  Reservations are not taken.  You must be present to receive a ticket which will be distributed an hour before show times at the Special Events entrance on Constitution Avenue.  Doors open a half hour before start time. Alert:  Not every film is rated "G," and the schedule may change.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in partnership with the Charles Guggenheim Center for the Documentary Film and the Foundation for the National Archives have made the showings possible.

National Archives is located on Constitution Avenue between Seventh and Ninth Streets, N.W.  For more information, call 202-357-5000.  The closest Metro station is Archives-Navy Memorial.

 

David France and Howard Gertler, 2012, How to Survive a Plague

Documentary Feature Nominees

Wednesday, February 20, at 7 p.m.
Searching for Sugar Man
Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn
(85 minutes)

Thursday, February 21, at 7 p.m.
The Gatekeepers
Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky, and Estelle Fialon
(97 minutes)

Friday, February 22, at 7 p.m.
How to Survive a Plague
David France and Howard Gertler
(110 minutes)

Saturday, February 23, at 7 p.m.
The Invisible War
Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering
(97 minutes)

Sunday, February 24, at 4 p.m.
5 Broken Cameras
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
(90 minutes)


Live Action Short Film Nominees

Saturday, February 23, at noon
Asad
Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
(17 minutes)

Buzkashi Boys
Sam French and Ariel Nasr
(30 minutes)

Curfew
Shawn Christensen
(20 minutes)

Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
(20 minutes)

Henry
Yan England
(21 minutes)

Total Running time: 108 minutes.

Animated Short Film Nominees

Saturday, February 23, at 3:30 p.m. & 5 p.m.
Adam and Dog
Minkyu Lee
(16 minutes)

Fresh Guacamole
PES
(2 minutes)

Head over Heels
Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
(10 minutes)

Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
David Silverman
(5 minutes)

*Please note: Although submitted and nominated in 3-D; due to technical limitations we will present Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" in 2-D.

Paperman
John Kahrs
(7 minutes)

Total Running Time: 40 minutes.

Documentary Short Subject Nominees

Sunday, February 24, at 11 a.m.
Inocente
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
(40 minutes)

Kings Point
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
(31 minutes)

Mondays at Racine
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
(39 minutes)

Open Heart
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
(39 minutes)

Redemption
Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
(35 minutes)

Total Running Time: 184 minutes

TCM Sale Section, up to 40% off!

patricialesli@gmail.com

Justice Antonin Scalia and Nina Totenberg talk for the Smithsonian

Justice Antonin Scalia/Catholicvote.org

:

It pays to be a member of the Smithsonian Associates which hosted the event.

You may disagree with him, but you’ve got to admire his candor and humor.

Live and on stage at George Washington University’s Lisner Auditorium Tuesday night were two obviously old friends in "conversation."

 
It was the same night as the president's State of the Union speech which U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia hasn't attended for about 16 years, he affirmed, and why is that, NPR's Nina Totenberg asked.

“It’s not unique….It has become a very political event [which] is not appropriate for justices” or “for military officers to be there”….and has “turned into a rather silly affair….a childish spectacle, and I don’t think I want to be there to lend dignity to it.” The audience applauded.

Well, said Nina, he goes to inaugurations. What’s the difference?

Hats.  Hats are one difference, and the justice and the NPR celebrity spent 10 minutes talking about the different hats he wears to inaugurations.

Justice Scalia’s obvious pride and joy is the U.S. Constitution.

“They should call it the changing Constitution, the morphing Constitution…. I sometimes call it dead to get a rise out of people….It’s an enduring Constitution….The Constitution means what the people understand it to be when the people ratified it. Why do I have to explain this stuff? It seems like common sense,” he said.

The Supreme Court is "a very noisy court," Nina said, and the justice said:  "I think I started it."

Sometimes Scalia asks questions "because it's so inherently dull and you try to liven things up a bit.  I often ask a question just for the hell of it."

At times audience members got the feeling that the exchange between the two was a well-rehearsed comedy hour,  a re-play of a re-play since they were both quite relaxed and so was the approximately 95 percent Caucasian crowd, about 70 percent of whom were over age 50, and who filled all 1,500 Lisner seats.  There were no security checks.

Nina said she gets asked more often about the Citizens United court decision than anything else and what does the justice have to say about it?

Well, “the sky has not fallen. [The] states have not been taken over by Daddy Warbucks. To get a fair campaign law, we’re going to let the incumbents write the restrictions?” (The crowd laughed heartily.)

The incumbents seek to protect the incumbents, and the political parties throw money at races when results are in doubt. They favor an “incumbent protection bill.”  (In the 5-4 Citizens decision, the Supreme Court held the government could not restrict political spending by corporations and unions.)

Asked about his disappointment with Chief Justice John Roberts' decision to affirm President Obama’s health care act, Justice Scalia said: “Who said that?...I don’t work for him and he doesn’t work for me. You win some; you lose some. That’s life. You just have to be resigned to it….I am disappointed [sometimes], but I stumble on.”

The outcomes of court decisions are not as important as the reasoning which “will affect hundreds of cases,” the justice said.

Yes, it is true:  He has given Justice Elena Kagan hunting instructions.   "I think she likes it [hunting]."

She started out with quail and pheasant, he said, and on a trip to Wyoming, he showed her how to nab antelope and mule deer, but that was a failure since she bagged none, but with one shot (and audience groans) she took out a white tailed doe "which she could have done in my driveway," Justice Scalia said to laughter.

Yes, as a teen, he had a radio show, dispensing advice to teenagers.  No, it was not about love, the justice enlightened Nina, but about manners and dating etiquette.  Mind Your Manners was the name, and the moderator was the late Allen Ludden who was married to the Betty White.

"They’d put us up at the Algonquin Hotel on Saturday nights" before the show on Sunday mornings.  "I liked it a lot."

Was he a wild teenager?

"Let’s just say I was an active teenager.” And adult.

Justice Scalia has nine children and 33 grandchildren, and his wife, Maureen, calls the shots about everything except the Constitution.

Justice Scalia, appointed to the Court by Ronald Reagan in 1986, looks good for 76.  He wore a suit and tie and spoke nonchalantly, without notes, sitting squarely in the chair, often with his hands on his knees.  Nina had done her homework and came with notes.

Photographs were prohibited.

patricialesli@gmail.com

The music premiere of Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Raven'

Gustave Dore, The Raven, 1884. "And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor/Shall be lifted--nevermore!" Wikimedia Commons/Library of Congress

It was all we expected and much more.

That being the world premiere of a cantata for Edgar Allan Poe's (1809-1849) poem, The Raven, created by Nicholas White (b. 1967) and commissioned by Angelo G. Cicolani, a board member and chairman emeritus of Dumbarton Concerts where Mr. White conducted four vocalists and a string quartet Saturday night and played the piano.

All this magnificence took place at the Historic Dumbarton Church in Georgetown which, enthusiasts will know, takes some dedication via private car, given the rarity of parking spots in Georgetown. However, it did not deter the determined.

'Bravo!' the packed house shouted repeatedly while standing at the show's conclusion.

Historic Dumbarton Church on the night of Nicholas White's premiere, The Raven/Patricia Leslie

 
Accompanied by two violins, a viola, and a cello, the vocalists flawlessly sang the words to one of the world's favorite poems:

T     Then into the church turning, all my soul within me burning,

S      Soon I heard again the music somewhat louder than before.

Beginning with a few mournful bars from the piano which became the ticking of a clock, the piece quickly accelerated with baritone Steven Combs's entry, which was, initially at least, almost overcome by the strings (June Huang and Christof Richter, violins, Marta Soderberg Howard, viola, and Benjamin Wensel, cello).

Soon, the voices of Emily Noel, soprano, Roger Isaacs, countertenor, and Matthew Loyal Smith, tenor, joined the production, adding depth to the composition which Followed fast and followed faster.

Each of the voices was exquisite in its own delivery, but it was stunning sound put forth by Mr. Isaacs, reaching unbelievably high notes, that the music became, like the poem, almost surreal, matching the content of the night and providing a splendid choir to hear.
 
Most spectacular were his solos, and the harmonies of the memorable combinations of duets, trios, and quartets.

 Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore.

T      The work complemented the poem in elegant fashion and came visually to life by closing eyes and spying the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned in my mind...Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore.

The performance Thrilled me — filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

        So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I

        sat repeating

'Tis beautiful music I am hearing, coming from the stage room floor.

We shall remember upon the morrow the sounds of the rapping, tapping upon our minds and the sorrow for the lost Lenore.

We were visitors entreating entrance upon the church's chamber doors. That we were and nothing more. Mr. White opened wide the door.

We sat there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming could the music be more than more? The silence at last was broken and soon we heard the notes take soar.

But the music still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling

While we sat in cushioned seats and heard lamenting for the lost Lenore.

To endure for ever more.

 The first part of the program featured the music of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) in Stabat Mater which Mr. Isaacs and Ms. Noel sang in solos and duets, a selection which enriched anticipation of the coming attraction.

The Saturday performance coincided with the 35th anniversary of Dumbarton Concerts and concluded with a presentation of an appreciation plaque to Mr. Cicolani, who was called up on stage to receive recognition and thanks from the adoring audience. 

Mr. White, a Grammy nominee, is director of chapel music and organist at St. Paul's School in New Hampshire. Ten years ago he founded Tiffany Consort, an ensemble of eight singers whose first production, O Magnum Mysterium, earned a Grammy nomination.  Mr. White has earned many commissions, including presentations for Martin Luther King Day at the Kennedy Center, and for the National Cathedral.

For those familiar with Gustave Dore's eerie and unforgettable drawings of The Raven which Poe never saw and which were published the year after Dore died in 1883, four original Dore drawings may be seen in the new exhibition, Color, Light, Line: French Drawings, Watercolors and Pastels from Delacroix to Signac in the West Building at the National Gallery of Art through May 13.

Some years ago, for my sister at the closed (but soon to re-open?) Edgar Allan Poe House in Baltimore, I purchased the Dore book of Raven illustrations, but I was never able to part with it, and there it sits still upon my table ever more.

Future Dumbarton Concerts are:

February 23: This Man is Magic! Ken Peplowski & Chuck Redd Trio

March 16: Beyond Beethoven Carpe Diem String Quartet

April 6: The Criers and A Far Cry

Where: Historic Dumbarton Church, 3133 Dumbarton Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20007

For more information: 202-965-2000

Free parking at The Hyde School, 3219 O Street

Metro station:  Are you kidding?  This is Georgetown.

2013 TOP DEAL_Mexico_Save 40% at the Grand Oasis Palm The All Inclusive Family Resort Mexican Style

patricialesli@gmail.com

'Quartet' is sweet and slooowww

BBC Films

 

Like the wheels on a wheelchair which go round and round, these are the days of their lives in a retirement community for musicians at a luxurious estate in Buckinghamshire, England. 

Has there been a more placid British film? 

Dustin Hoffman may not look 75 but his directorial debut affirms his age.  He must have had nursing homes in mind when he made Quartet since it’s ripe pickings for them.  And quite predictable.

Except for a few critical F-bombs, the movie is harmless, however, shorn of the dull parts and with more hilarious lines, the movie could have been lots better.  Give me those late night writers! And some action, please.  What?  We can’t stand to see old people kiss and make hoochee? Or sing?

Quartet is about as lively as Tom Courtenay and Maggie Smith in this scene/BBC Films 

 

Show stealers are certainly Pauline Collins and Billy Connolly.   Why would anyone like Maggie Smith’s character want to re-marry a grumpy old man like Tom Courtenay's character?  Had he hinted at a smile once, his face might have fallen off. Women are not that desperate, Mr. Hoffman. Please supply some humor occasionally, Grumpy Old Man.

Unless scenery (Mother Nature) is a new category, the movie will win no awards, but the musical score is grand (Dario Marianelli).

Had a travel agent been posted at the theater exit, she/he would have needed an assistant.  Two assistants.  I am ready to go!  (With a side trip to Leicester, please.)

Top Deal_Save $200 on a qualifying Vacation Package! Code: ORBITZ200

Hang around for the credits at the end to rock your wheelchair.

At E-Street last Friday night, the 7:15 p.m. feature was almost sold out (small theater) to those generally above age 50.  No surprise, however, the vast quantities of wine consumed by moviegoers and the clinking of discarded bottles upon the floor at the end were ear lifters.

Arlington Arts Center opens new exhibit

R.L. Croft, Guardian, 2005/Patricia Leslie

Filled black plastic balloons or garbage bags float in the air or on the floor at the Arlington Arts Center, part of a creation by Allison Bianco, one of 26 artists in a new show, Interwoven: Art.Craft. Design. which has plenty to stimulate your mind if it is lying in winter.

Allison Bianco, Five Feet in Front of the Horizon, 2010/Arlington Arts Center

Absolutely delightful in its variety and array of art works, the show includes media ranging from a tree remnant, metal, hair, wool, wood, leaves, plastic, paper, bicycles, crutches, video, baseball bats, in addition to more customary materials like paint.

Jessica Smith, Les Vues d'Georgia du Pooler, 2012/Arlington Arts Center

The exhibition was juried by Kathryn Wat, chief curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and Melissa Messina, senior curator, the Savannah College of Art and Design, who said the judges looked "for work that was not only fine art or craft or design, but had elements of all three" plus demonstrated quality, according to an interview in the newsletter of the Washington Project for the Arts.

Lily Kuonen, Two Gather, 2012/Patricia Leslie

The something-for-all artists represented in the show include Jehanne Arslan, Gertude Berg, Ryan Brennan, Caroline Chandler, Nikki Farrand, Samantha Fields, Joe Fish, Maggie Gourlay, Clarissa Gregory, Melanie Kehoss, Heidi Leitzke, Shawne Major, Susannah Mira, Rebecca Mushtare, Marc Robarge, Katie Shaw, Kristin Skees, Jessica Smith, Erwin Timmers, Olivia Valentine, Saya Woolfalk, and Martine Workman. 

One leaves the exhibition with an even deeper appreciation for the creators and the skills they weave into their gems.

Matthew de Leon, Suicide Rainbow, 2011/patricia leslie

What: Interwoven: Art. Craft. Design.

When: Now through March 24, 2013 every Wednesday through Friday, 1 - 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 12 - 5 p.m.

Where: Arlington Arts Center, 3550 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201

Metro station: Virginia Square (Orange Line) with a Capital Bikeshare station nearby

How much: No charge

Parking: Onsite and free

For more information: 703-248-6800

Save 5% When Using Your Target REDcard

patricialesli@gmail.com

Free 'Alleluias' concert Wednesday at St. John's, Lafayette Square

mysite.verizon.net

 

Choir members from St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square, will sing a recital of “Alleluias” at the church at the corner of H Street, NW and 16^th on February 6 beginning at 12:10 p.m.
 

The presentation is part of the church's “First Wednesday” series and is an excellent respite from workday rush on “hump day.”

Featured in the approximately 35 minutes concert will be Annette Anfinrud, Barbara van Woerkom, Noah Mlotek, and Christopher Jones who will sing works by the Manhattan Transfer, Beethoven, Bach, Copland, and Rorem.

St. John's, Lafayette Square/patricia leslie

 

Other upcoming noontime concerts in the 2013 series are:

Mar. 6: Bianca Garcia, flute, assisted by Michael Lodico, St. Johns' associate choirmaster and organist, featuring the world premiere of a work by Stephen Cabell

Apr. 3: Benjamin Hutto, director of music ministry and organist, St. John's, performing "Organ Treasure Old and New"

May 1: Alvy Powell, bass-baritone and Gershwin interpreter

June 5: Jeremy Filsell, artist-in-residence at the Washington National Cathedral, performing organ works by Bach, Dupre, and Rachmaninov

St. John's, known to many Washington residents as the yellow church at Lafayette Square, is often called the “Church of the Presidents.” Beginning with James Madison, president from 1809 to 1817, every president has either been a member of, or has attended services at St. John's. A plaque at the rear of the church designates the Lincoln pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by St. John's during the Civil War.

Who:  Choir soloists from St. John's

When: 12:10 p.m., February 6, 2013

Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16^th, Washington, D.C. 20005

How much: No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible

Metro stations: McPherson Square or Farragut West

For more information: 202-347-8766

SmithsonianStore.com Best Sellers Link

patricialesli@gmail.com