Degas @ The Phillips Collection

One of the truly intimate and wonderful Art Museums in this country is The Phillips Collection here in Washington, D.C. It had been awhile since I'd visited and all the buzz was on their current feature exhibition: "Degas's Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint." So after leaving my doctor's office on Friday morning, I drove over to see it for myself.

Overall, to be honest, I found the exhibit disappointing. Full discloser, I'm not a rabid Degas fan to begin with, but the works here were not anything to write home about. Honestly. They had to include a room of works by his contemporaries just to fill out the gallery space, as well as, reproductions of photographs, even an area with floor to ceiling mirrors and bars against which little girls made photo ops for their doting parents cell phones. Kitschy but not art. Better works on the subject can be seen a short distance away at the National Gallery of Art--for free.

I did find this drawing interesting. The form and the use of color to define ideas within the composition was lovely.

So there I am, 15 minutes into my visit, and over with this exhibition--and $12.00 poorer for it. So I think, "What the hell. Mights as well see the rest of the old girl for the umpteenth time. Can't hurt." And so off I go into the original Philips mansion exploring.

Best call I've made in a museum in years!

My first amazing discovery was a collection of paintings by Georges Rouault (1871-1958) on the theme of the circus. In college my sexually repressed and oozing art history teacher loved Rouault, and so I have always been repulsed by him out of solidarity for the way I felt about Mr. Knippers. Yet, I was helpless to deny the simple beauty and charm of these paintings. There were probably a dozen or so lining the walls of this room.

The original purpose of the museum was the home of the Phillips. The old sections of the museum clearly reflect their original design functions. You experience art in parlors, alcoves, rooms once used as bedrooms--many still sporting vintage fireplaces, but the most magnificent of the original spaces is the "music room."

The space hosts near weekly concerts of classical, jazz and/or acoustical performances. It also makes an excellent gallery space for larger works. The Phillips Collection's only large El Greco can usually be seen there for example.

Presently, however, it's home to a collection of grand paintings by Augustus Vincent Tack (1870-1949). Not since I was in the Rothko gallery at the Tate Modern Museum in London have I felt to mystified by a collection of paintings in a specific venue coming together to create something holy. And while the Tate experience accentuated the austere in spirituality, this exhibition foments what is rich, grand and ascendant in the pursuit of perfection.

My final discovery came as almost an after thought as I made my way to the gift shop (where I ended up only browsing, but finding nothing worth buying).

Located in a pass-through space between the new stairwell and elevator in the renovated wing and the first floor entry gallery were four beautiful paintings by contemporary Brazilian artist, Jorge Pardo (1963 - ). I'm sure you'll agree, they deserve a better display area. But if they had been someplace else, I might never have been captured by their beauty!