Historic photo show closes Sunday at the National Gallery of Art

Henry Peach Robinson, She Never Told Her Love, 1857, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Fund 

For a glimpse of 19th century American cultural history, one could do well to visit The Eye of the Sun, a display of rare photographs from the collection of the National Gallery of Art which children will find fascinating, too. 

Amelie Guillot-Saguez, Portrait of a Girl, c. 1849, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund.

The label copy for Portrait, above, says that although many women were employed in the photographic industry as hand painters, Ms. Guillot-Saguez made and painted pictures at the same time. She was one of the earliest to own her own studio which she opened in 1844, just five years past photography's debut. In 1849 Ms. Guillot-Saguez won a Bronze Medal at the Exhibition of Products of French Industry. 

Attributed to Hippolyte Bayard, Georgina, dead at age 20, c. 1852, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund. Although the sitter looks well enough here, the label copy says this was likely taken "not long before her death."

Andrew & Ives, Frederick Douglass, 1863, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund

American 19th Century, Sojourner Truth, 1864, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund

The label notes that abolitionists, Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, used the means of photography to depict themselves with "dignity and grace" in their campaigns to rid the nation of slavery and uplift African Americans. Mr. Douglass may have been the most photographed man in the 19th century.
 
Rather than the photographer owning the copyright, Ms. Truth was the first to copyright the subject, herself, leading to her control and distribution of the its image and distribution. (You go, girl!)

Francis Frith, The Pyramids of El-Geezeh, from the South-West, 1858, National Gallery of Art,Washington, Patrons' Permanent Fund. The photographer visited Egypt three times between 1856 and 1860 and took pictures for his fans of British armchair travelers. The sizes of the pyramids contrasted with the human figures in the foreground give a viewer an idea about their dimensions.

The title of the exhibition comes from a critic, Lady Elizabeth Eastlake (1809-1883) who described the magic of photography and its quick ascent to popular conversation only 20 years after its introduction in 1839. 

Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901) was so taken with the medium that she had her picture taken with her children in 1852,  but, displeased with her appearance, she obscured her face by scratching it out, not unlike some subjects today who may object to their own likenesses. (In another photograph made two days later by William Edward Kilburn, the queen turns her face and hides it with a bonnet. You can see it in the show.) 

John Reekie A Burial Party, Cold Harbor, Va., 1866 albumen print from Alexander Gardner's Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War (1866), National Gallery of Art, Washington, Patrons' Permanent Fund A few pages from this rare book lay open inside a glass case at the exhibition.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll), Xie Kitchin, 1869, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mary and David Robinson.  Could it be?  Yes, it could, that same "Lewis Carroll" who wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Might this be his Alice?  She fits the part, but, alas, Xie is not.  See pictures of the real Alice at the exhibition.  Mr. Dodgson was a mathematics lecturer at Oxford University before he took up photography seriously..

The exhibition is mounted on the occasion of the 180th anniversary of the founding of photography, and the addition of 80 new works to the Gallery's collection, many, on public display for the first time.  It's one of the finest collections in American, the National Gallery touts on its website, and rightfully so!

Thomas H. Johnson, Waymart, c. 1863-1865, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund. Here the photographer shows the scarred landscape resulting from America's rapid industrialization as housing goes up to accommodate laborers working to deliver coal on the Northeast route.

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Sir James Campbell of Stracathro, Tullichewan Castle, Vale of Leven, Scotland, 1857, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Purchased as the Gift of the Richard King Mellon Foundation

Charles Marville, Grotto in the Bois de Boulogne, 1858-1860, Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund. Mr. Marville was hired by Paris to photograph the renovated park which it became after Napoleon III transformed the area from royal hunting grounds.

Roger Fenton, Moscow, Domes of Churches in the Kremlin, 1852, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Paul Mellon Fund. You've seen one Moscow dome, you've seen them all. Not really, but not much change over 150 years. It's good that Russia doesn't disrupt all its history by removing historic landmarks like what is happening now with some monuments in the U.S.

Pierre-Ambrose Richebourg, Assembly of Troops for Napoleon III, Place Bellecour de Lyon, 1860, albumen print, Purchased as the Gift of Diana and Mallory Walke

William Henry Jackson, Central City, Colorado, 1881, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Amon C. Carter Foundation Fund and Buffy and William Cafritz Fund.  One of America's leading landscape photographers, Mr. Jackson shot the "booming" town, founded in 1859 after gold was discovered in them thar hills.

Viscountess Jocelyn, Interior of Room, c. 1862. National Gallery of Art, Washington, R. K. Mellon Family Foundation

 

Alexander Gardner, A Sharpshooter's Last Sleep, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, 1863, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon and Patrons' Permanent Fund. This photograph was included in Mr. Gardner's Gardner's Photographic Sketch Book of the War (1866). Unannounced but discovered by a sharp eye, according to the label copy, the photographer moved bodies around from one place to another for greater effect and mistakenly positioned this dead soldier with a musket rather than a sharpshooter's rifle.

American 19th Century, Portrait of a Girl Postmortem, c. 1850, daguerreotype image, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund

American 19th Century, Portrait of a Girl Postmortem, c. 1850, daguerreotype image, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund  
 
The first 50 years of photography when "profound change" embraced the world are covered. (Prithee, when does "profound change" not embrace the world? Is there ever an "unprofound time"? Maybe, the 1950s? But women were beginning to see the light of a new day then. )

Except for the first Sun gallery (there are five), the layout is thematic (unlike that found in this post where the photos are mixed from several galleries).

Included are works by William Henry Fox Talbot, who was one of photography's inventors, Anna Atkins, Édouard Baldus, Gustave Le Gray, Charles Marville, George Barnard, Roger Fenton, Hill and Adamson, John Moran, Eadweard Muybridge, Charles Nègre, Andrew Russell, Augustus Washington, and Carleton Watkins, among others.

The show is rather like a viewing party of a large family photo album of Western culture and practices from the time of photography's inception in 1839 to post (U.S.) Civil War. Upon an initial visit, it may appear that the pictures are laid out happenstance, but that perception contributes to its charm, as a viewer stands and walks to peer into the lives of others, captured by visuals.

What: The Eye of the Sun: Nineteenth-Century Photographs from the National Gallery of Art

When: Now through December 8, 2019, The National Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., and on Sunday, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m.

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

How much: Admission to the National Gallery of Art is always free.

Metro stations for the National Gallery of Art:
Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215


patricialesli@gmail.com

A Thanksgiving feast to go from the Sweet Home Cafe

Sweet Home Cafe's macaroni and cheese has a big reputation and maybe a Twitter account/Photo by Patricia Leslie


With a name like "Sweet Home Café," you think it's going to be anything but delish?

The last call for takeout orders is Monday, Nov. 25 from the Sweet Home Cafe at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, or come on in and order off the menu and eat at the restaurant on Thanksgiving Day.

 Sweet Home Cafe's Thanksgiving spread /Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Sweet Home Cafe's southern-style green beans with smoked pork/Photo by Patricia Leslie

If anyone wants the delicious taste and home cooked food like Grandma used to make for Thanksgiving, Sweet Home is serving them up.

Forget the lists, the menu prep, and all those pots and pans and more and more and more, and order here. Being that I'm a Southern gal whose tastes have been refined over the years, I can attest to Sweet Home's superiority because I tasted everything at a Thanksgiving preview this week, and it must be the only time in my life when I wished for a bigger belly.  But, I wasn't a loner.  Everyone around me did, too. My new friends. Wished for bigger bellies for themselves, not for me, or, I don't think they did. (Misplaced modifier.) 

 Sweet Home Cafe's candied yams and potato salad/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Sweet Home Cafe's cornbread, ham, and turkey are ready to go/Photo by Patricia Leslie


The Sweet Home is selling a Thanksgiving turkey meal for $190 (plus tax) or a ham meal ($205), each with four sides (please read below), cornbread, and choice of a fresh baked pie (pecan or sweet potato), enough to serve between six and eight. (Ummmm, ummmm, ahem. That sweet potato pie is the best I have ever put in my mouth and I've got enough years to make me Top Judge in this category.)

Sweet Home Cafe's delectable trio of macaroni and cheese, collard greens, and cornbread stuffing/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Sweet Home Cafe's good eatins on display/Photo by Patricia Leslie

That's banana pudding (which may be ordered separately) for the Thanksgiving non-traditionalist, with pecan and sweet potato pie for the traditionalist/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sweet Home Cafe's chefs, Jerome Grant, left, and Ramin Coles proudly stand behind their products/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

The meals come with choices of four of:

  

*Cider-braised collard greens (made vegan-style without fatback)

*Candied yams with ginger and vanilla

*Homestyle mac and cheese (Sweet Home has a glowing reputation for this)

*Down home cornbread stuffing
 
*Southern-style green beans with smoked pork (To die for!)
 
*Potato salad (the best! It looks pretty good, but it tastes a lot better than it looks.)

The cornbread is memorable, light and fluffy, and melts in your mouth, sending visions of corn stalks waving in the south (?).

The free-range turkey is brined for two days in maple syrup, then cold smoked and rubbed with sage, and it comes with cranberry jam, giblet gravy, a thermometer and "herb mop."

The ham is rubbed with brown sugar, bourbon, herbs, spices and mustard, and served with a preserved peach-mustard sauce.

Pie choices are pecan or sweet potato. (See my recommendation above.)

 Sous chef Ramin Coles said mashed potatoes are not offered since "they don't travel well," but Executive Chef Jerome Grant does (?).

He took a 12-hour break from his State Department duties in London where he's teaching cooking classes, to come home to the Sweet Home and help introduce the cafe's Thanksgiving menu at the preview.

The chefs said the recipes all come from the staff.

Meals may be picked up at the Café from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 27, or on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. until noon. Call 202-633-6174 or order online https://smithsonian.catertrax.com/.

 
For every 25 meals sold, Sweet Home will donate one meal to Martha's Table which helps children, adults, and families who are in need. Also, the name of anyone who buys a Thanksgiving dish from the menu will be entered in a drawing for a signed Sweet Home cookbook.

 

Thanksgiving is not only a time to eat and share a meal with loved ones, but it's fun to relive old family favorites like the one Chef Grant described when his father made a not-so-great Thanksgiving dinner: "The turkey was super dried out, the gravy still had lumps in it. We still talk about it," he laughed.

This year his family will be eating Korean bar-be-cue "because who wants to clean up?" he asked. "My favorite aunt who cleans up is not coming this year."

Chef Grant's favorite Thanksgiving dish "is definitely stuffing," and he paused before adding: "with gravy.  We do it different each year; sometimes, it's oyster stuffing; sometimes, cornbread." 

Chef Cole said as soon as he opens the restaurant up Thursday morning, he's outa there since he'll be working all weekend.

Thanksgiving preparation begins in August at the Sweet Home Cafe.

For those cooking at home, Chef Coles had a tip: the Reynolds aluminum bag is "an amazing piece of technology," he said. 

"Our food is done with love, it's done with soul," the chefs proclaimed, and to that end, I say "amen,bro" and place my taste buds on ignition. 

What: The Thanksgiving Meal

When: Order by Monday, Nov. 25 and pick up Nov. 27 all day or until noon on Nov. 28.

Where: The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, 1400 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20560

How much: $190 for a turkey meal or $205 for ham (plus tax) or order a la carte.  See the menu at https://smithsonian.catertrax.com/.

For more information: 202-633-6174

Closest Metro stops:  Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations

patricialesli@gmail.com

Inaugural Middle Eastern art show ends Friday

Raeda Saadeh (b. 1977), Penelope, 2010/ Rose Issa Projects, London. The artist is a Palestinian who explores "issues of displacement, gender, and identity, with particular reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," according to the label copy.  In mythology, Penelope was a Greek woman who waited 20 years for her husband, Odysseus, to return from the Trojan War.  Here, Penelope represents a Palestinian neighborhood.

The public is invited to attend at no cost the first art show at Washington's newly restored Middle East Institute, but haste is necessary since the exhibition closes Nov. 22.

Ayman Baalbaki (b. 1975), Al Mulatham, 2012/private collection. Political turmoil is often the subject for this Lebanese painter and installation artist from Beirut. This work "portrays the idealism of [Mr. Baalbaki's] father's generation and serves as a symbol" of unending conflict, according to the label. Mr. Baalbaki is a popular Arab artist who has enjoyed exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2011).
MEI's new gallery is intended to be "a platform for the Middle East's leading and emerging artists to engage with U.S. audiences and the local D.C. community," wrote Kate Seelye, MEI's vice president for arts and culture, in a statement.  .

Featured in Arabicity/Ourouba are 17 artists' works of installation art, video, painting, and sculpture.

Batoul S'himi (b. 1974), Arab World Under Pressure and Monde Sous Pression Militaire, 2012/Rose Issa Projects, London/photo by Patricia Leslie.The carvings on the pressure cookers are maps intended to illustrate worldwide hostility and unrest. Works by this Moroccan artist are found in museums around the globe.  She teaches at the National Institute of Fine Arts in Tetouan. Through the window is N Street, NW.

Anas Albraehe (b. 1991), Untitled, 2002 /Rose Issa Project, London. This is a detail from the artist's series, The Dream Catcher, which "explores the temporary refuge of sleep for laborers and men displaced by war" (and women?) to illustrate the link between sleep and wakefulness. Mr. Albraehe has an MA in Psychology and Art Therapy from Lebanese University.

London-based producer and author, Rose Issa, curated this first show, and she came from London to introduce it.

MEI got its start here in 1946 and prides itself on being "the oldest Washington-based institution dedicated solely to the study of the Middle East," and the only gallery in Washington "dedicated to showcasing" Middle East contemporary art.

Tagreed Darghouth  (b. 1979), Brighter than a Thousand Suns, 2012/Rose Issa Projects, London. This Lebanese artist has won several prizes.  She draws inspiration from van Gogh, Rembrandt, literature, philosophy and everyday realities, according to the label copy. The message here seeks to illustrate the atomic bomb's effects on humans and the Earth. 

MEI's founders believe the arts have the power to influence culture and transform society, as well as to build bridges between the peoples of the U.S. and the Middle East.

 Five shows are planned for exhibition every year.

 The newly renovated Middle East Institute, 1763 N St., NW, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie

From left, Lyne Sneige, MEI;  Kate Seelye, MEI; Rose Issa, curator; and Mahmoud Obaidi, artist, at the Middle East Institute, Sept. 11, 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie


What: Arabicity/Ourouba

When:  10 a.m. - 5 p.m. through Nov. 22, 2019

Where:  Middle East Institute, 1763 N St. NW, Washington D.C. 20036

Admission:  No charge

Metro station:  The closest stations are Farragut North, Farragut West, and Dupont Circle

For more information: 202-785-1141or the website.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Justice Clarence Thomas has his own movie

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in Created Equal:  Clarence Thomas in His Own Words/Manifold Productions


Comments by the filmmaker, producer, and director after the screening of his new film about Clarence Thomas were almost as interesting as the film itself.

An adoring, practically fawning crowd welcomed the first public showing of Created Equal:  Clarence Thomas in His Own Words last week at the Cato Institute. At the show's end, filmmaker Michael Pack and Cato's Roger Pilon, who served as moderator, answered questions from the audience until there were no more.

Most of the questioners preceded their remarks with "brilliant!" and "excellent!" 

In the film, set for airing by PBS next May, Clarence Thomas sits and faces the camera and talks about his life, beginning with his early childhood.  He and his wife, Ginny, sat for 30 hours of interviewing, Mr. Pack said, and it was difficult to reduce that length to two hours, which left no room in the film for contributions and viewpoints from others.

Mr. Pack hopes law schools and other colleges will pick it up. 

Michael Pack at the Cato Institute Nov. 13, 2019 for the screening of his new film, Created Equal: Clarence Thomas In His Own Words/Photo by Patricia Leslie


Archival videos and photographs made excellent visuals, supplemented with the few Thomas family pictures available.


Several times Mr. Pack said that Justice Thomas's life is a classic American story, a much harder upbringing he had than, say, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (whose RBG has earned nearly $14.5 million since its release in 2018. Mr. Pack sighed).
  
In Pin Point, Georgia, close to Savannah, Clarence Thomas's father abandoned his family when the future justice was a toddler. His mother struggled to earn a living wage and take care of her children who roamed the streets when the boys were six and seven years old.

In desperation, she took Clarence and his younger brother to her parents to live, and the two boys delighted to find indoor plumbing and food on the table every night at their grandparents' home. (Nothing was said about what happened to Mr. Thomas's mother or his sister.)

His grandfather was a disciplinarian who instilled hard work in his grandsons, respect for others, and a keen sense of the value of education. Mr. Thomas says he  "really regretted," not visiting his grandfather before he died to tell him "how much I loved and respected him."

The future justice attended Catholic high school and at age 16, considered becoming a priest. That possibility led him to seminary school until a racial epithet after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. caused Mr. Thomas to leave. That was about the time a door opened at the College of the Holy Cross and from there, it was on to Yale law school.

Justice Thomas describes his career and work for Sen. John Danforth (R-MO). After climbing the legal ladder, Mr. Thomas was nominated to the U.S.Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.

Presiding over the Thomas Senate confirmation hearing was Sen. Joe Biden, who, of course, is included at one of his worst moments, to the delight of the laughing audience. 

Mr. Thomas says he had no idea what Sen. Biden was talking about in the hearing when the senator talked about "natural laws," but Mr. Biden announced to everyone present that he and Mr. Thomas knew what he was talking about. (You have to see it.) 

The clash with the testimony of Anita Hill consumed  more in the film than expected. (At least four in the audience were not Thomas fans, including me who believed and still believes Anita Hill.)

When Mr. Thomas learned his nomination had been approved, his response was a sarcastic "whoop-dee-doo." 

Mr. Pack said unequivocally that the justice had not seen the film but Mr. Thomas's wife, Ginny (quoted extensively in it), had.

More than once Mr. Pack said the justice wanted to get his words out.  Clearly, Mr. Thomas still carries a chip on his shoulder which he probably has borne throughout life.

The documentary is an unbalanced portrayal but an autobiography, a hagiography someone suggested today, nonetheless. Mr. Thomas, 71, is now the most senior associate justice on the Supreme Court.

Mr. Pack's company, Manifold Productions, produced the film, with the help of his wife, Gina, a Manifold vice-president, who was also present.  

She urged her husband to shorten Words which is good advice! With redundant scenes of an unmanned boat gliding through Georgian marshes, I say, "cut!"

The banjo and piano made excellent accompaniment in the film as did the guest reception which preceded the showing.

patricialesli@gmail.com