A Couple of Vermeer's "Friends"

There were other Dutch genre masters included in the exhibition "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting" that I went to today. Here are some of the non-Vermeers paintings that caught my fancy.

First, "Woman at Her Toilet" by Caspar Netscher. It was painted around 1665 and is part of a private collection in London. To see any work held in a private collection is always a tremendous gift. This one was so exquisite in it's detail from the texture of the carpet to the shimmer in the satin dress.

Second, "The Serenade" by Jacob Ochtervelt. It was painted around 1669 and is also part of a private collection without any geographic assignation.

The next one is "Man Visiting a Woman Washing Her Hands" by Gabriel Metsu, circa 1663-66. It is housed at Waddesdon Manor near Aylesbury, England, as part of "The Rothschild Collection".

And Finally, a pair of paintings from the National Gallery of Art of Dublin, also by Metsu. "Woman Reading a Letter" and "Man Writing a Letter" were painted as a pair and are rich with metaphor. I'd seem both before in the Metsu retrospective at the National Gallery of Art--a show also curated by Arthur Wheelock. It was nice to see them again.

Vermeer is Back

So why did my friend and I choose to go to the National Gallery of Art today?

To see the latest blockbuster exhibition titled: "Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting". Disclaimer, I did have the good fortune of being in a relationship with the man who was the office manager of the special exhibitions department of the National Gallery of Art back when the original Blockbuster exhibition of Vermeer paintings occured at the Naitonal Gallery of Art in 1995-96. It was cache enough to get me into the opening reception, and then I returned twice again. The exhibit was the largest number of Vermeers ever assembled in one exhibition to date (21) and was then topped by itself when it moved to the The Hague in the Netherlands and they picked up two additional paintings not sent to the NGA.

Given that, and the fact that it was Vermeer compared to his contemporaries and the specific form of "genre" painting, I expected a couple of Vermeers and lot of other "stuff". After all, there are only 34 works on the planet assigned to Vermeer, and a couple of those are lost. So it was a great delight to discover that 10 Vermeers were included in this leg of the exhibition. There are 12 in the catelogue, but two were not part of this third and final leg of the show. The exhibition originated at the Louvre in Paris, and then moved to the National Gallery of Dublin in Ireland before crossing the Atlantic to show here in Washington, DC.

Here are images of some of the Vermeers. It was also a crowded exhibition, which I really like--never bad when art draws crowds. They were taken with my little poorly understood (by me) camera, so clearly, like all art I photograph, they are poor representations of the actual works--images online of which would be better viewed if you are really liking them. The two images of the men are the only images of a man alone that he painting and both are Anton van Lowehook, a friend and the scientist who invented the microscope. In one he depicted as a Geographer and in the other as an Astronomer. The final image of the woman holding the balance is what I consider his masterwork. I don't think I'm alone.

"Woman with a Lute" circa 1663-64,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

"Woman with a Pearl Necklace" circa 1662-65
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Preußischer, Gemäldegalerie

The next two paintings are the only two Vermeer works with a single male subject.  It is agreed that the model depicted here is non-other than Anton van Leeuwen Hook, who was a friend of Vermeer's and also the inventor of the microscope.

"The Geographer" 1669
Stäfel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

This is my personal favorite of Vermeer's intimate catalogue of paintings.

"The Astronomer" 1668
Musée du Louvre, Paris

"Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid" circa 1670-71
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin

"Woman with a Balance" circa 1664
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Visit to the National Gallery of Art

Met up was a dear friend on Saturday and we went down to the National Gallery of art together to see the Dutch Genre painters exhibit featuring Vermeer.  Had time to tour around the place.  Love the Grand Rotunda in the West Building with its Mercury Fountain.  Also glad to see that it wasn't all decked for Christmas yet.

"Antony and Cleopatra" at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in DC

It was Shakespeare at the Folger Shakespeare Theater/Library this past Sunday afternoon and a play of the Bard's that I had never read or seen performed before. "Antony & Cleopatra" was one of Shakespeare's later tragedies, and it is based on a translation of a history by Plutarch. The thing about experiencing a Shakespeare play for the very first time--even if you have a basic understanding of the plot (thank you, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor!) is that you're still spending a lot of energy grasping the nuances of the dialogue in order to just come away with a sound understanding of what this version is all about. The advantage that this provides is a generalized understanding of the sense of the production as a whole. There isn't mental room for too much nitpicking and the things that either bother or impress are generally obviously bothersome or impressive. By comparison, if I were to go see Romeo & Juliet AGAIN, I am looking for lots of very specific things from the way particular recitations go to the finer points of movement and chemistry between characters.

Let me; therefore, start with some general observations. I don't really like the play that much--it covers too much ground in too short a time span and the transitions between major shifts in historical events are not always discernible at first--leaving me feeling like I'm playing catch-up in order to understand shifts in the emotional relationships between the characters.  At least in this performance, the first half was slow and had a lot of lack luster plodding. The shining example of the opposite was the character of Octavius Caesar played by Dylan Paul. He landed in every scene with an intensity that was captivating and seemed to energize those around him. Then came the second half; which was like a different play.  Nearly everyone stepped up their game, and things became much more compelling. Granted there were also major soliloquies to be performed and lots of people die--it's a Shakespearean Tragedy, after all. Yet, both the principles Cody Nickell as Mark Antony and, especially, Shirine Babb at Cleopatra just become more real in their emotional portrayal of the famous lovers. I found myself ceasing to think of them as actors portraying characters, and instead I saw them as Antony and Cleopatra. On the negative, and I rarely get personal when it comes to criticisms of actors, there are just some people who can't do Shakespeare. They fucking can't! When they try, they simply become a distraction. That would be Simoné Elizabeth Bart. And while she had the relatively minor role of Charmian (thank the muses!), she was never in the zone. I came to dread the moment I realized she going to speak again. Her resumé is impressive, she just isn't my cup of tea for this genre of acting.  And unless she's just bull-headed arrogant, I fault the director for not correcting her interpretation of the role.

In a bold change for the theatre, the set was constructed in the round and the audience was placed on the sides and where the stage usually resides.  I sat in the middle of the front row in the balcony that would have otherwise been the second level of the stage.  It was an interesting perspective not only of the play, but also of the theatre.  For friends who may be interested in seeing this production I would say, invest in something else.  Having experienced both "Timon or Athens" and "Sense and Sensibility" last season at the Folger, I know what an exceptional production looks like. 

The stage in the round.

Cleopatra (Shirine Babb) and two of her attendants, Charmian (Simoné Elizabeth Bart) and Mardian the Eunich (John Floyd)

Mark Antony (Cody Nickell) and Cleopatra (Shirine Babb)

Octavius Caesar (Dylan Paul)

The wedding of Mark Antony and Octavia (Nicole King)

Eleven Views of the Smithsonian National Zoo #1

SO, I devised a plan to visit the Naitonal Zoo that involved trying some new things. First, PARKING: SInce the grounds open at 8 AM (and the buildings at 9 AM) I would arrive around 8:30 in the hopes of finding easy parking. I did, BUT there's more! The lot was open. Normally you pay to enter it, and so while everyone who arrived after say 8:50 AM when the attendant arrived on duty paid like $23.50--I parked for FREE!

Next, I chose the lot at the BOTTOM of the zoo at the south entrance. And entrance that I had never entered before. This meant that I would spend the beginning of my visit climbing up the "mountain," and the end of my visit walking back down. This proved much more satisfactory to my feet. While the zoo's amazing initial design comes from the father of landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted, it is built on a very steep hill! In fact, when you look at the map of the zoo, it has a section warning you to expect a steep climb.

Finally, I planned to scope out about half a dozen animals that the zoo "claims" to have, but which I have never seen! As a result, after my visit today, my list is smaller, but not eliminated. And this is an aspect of the National Zoo--and all good zoos--that I do support. The animals are not forced to be "on" display. They have access to off sight areas that allow them to just chill if there not feeling up to it. This leads to one of the exciting things about going to a zoo--you never what you're going to experience. In fact, no two visits are ever the same. And I have to say that I had some really great experiences at the Smithsonian National Zoo today. I took just shy of 350 pics, too!

Eleven Views of the Smithsonian National Zoo #2

When you enter the zoo before it's officially open, it's a pretty deserted place. Some people who live in the neighborhood jog or walk through as part of their exercise routine. A lot of the animals are still in their enclosures, too. Fortunately for me a quartet of Ring-tailed Lemurs (Lemur catta) and a lone Black & White Ruffed Lemur (Varecia variegata) were out and about on Lemur Island. The quartet were perched high up in the tallest climbing tree checking the new day out and particularly captivated by the distant sound of persisant howling that I believe was coming for a Howler Monkey quite a ways away in another part of the zoo. The Black & White Ruffed Lemur was eating his breakfast on one of two raised platforms and making his own low lamenting vocalizations. I think my favorite picture is actually the one where all the ring-tails are looking away!

Eleven Views of the Smithsonian National Zoo #3

Leaving the Lemurs I decided to make my trek to the top of the zoo via the American Trails pathway. This is the concentration of animals from North America--not all of them, but the majority of them arranged along a ravine with a little run flowing down the middle that the trail criss-crosses on it's way up. The entire area has only been fully populated this summer after a multi-year renovation that began at the bottom of the hill with one of the nicest and largest seal complexes I've ever encountered at a zoo. This one is home to a little colony of California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) in a humongous main habitat, and then in an adjacent habitat just a little higher up the hill you will discover a Gray Seal (Halichoerus grypus) and a pair of speckled Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina).  The Sea Lions share their space with four Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis), as well.

 As it would happen, on my way down I met one of the volunteer species at the Smithsonian National Zoo--and in a most fitting section, too.  A White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) was casually browsing along the top of a retaining wall against a presently vacant habitat.  She didn't seem overly concerned by my presence, and when I got down to the little plaza at the Sea Lion exhibit, I could see that she was still grazing above the wall.

 Other animals that I saw and didn't in this section included a pair of Gray Wolves (Canis lupus), (no photo), a pair of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), and a pair of North American River Otters (Lontra canadensis); however, the glare from the angle of the early morning sun was such that you could see a thing of them through the large glass viewing area, and I barely got on in the photo I took from up above.  Still, better than the North American Beavers (Castor canadensis) who were no in casa and instead their expansive habitat was flush with Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa)!  A parting shot back down the trail gives you some idea of just what sort of grade we're talking about in climbing up the hill.

Eleven Views of the Smithsonian National Zoo #4

Of course, one of--if not--the landmark species at the National Zoo is the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca).  First arriving back during the Nixon presidency as a gift from China in which we sent them a pair of North American Bison (Bison bison), the National Zoo is one of only 5 zoos in North America to house Giant Pandas in their collections.  The others are Zoo Atlanta, the Memphis Zoo, the San Diego Zoo and the Toronto Zoo in Canada.  ALL Giant Pandas in foreign zoos are leased from China at an annual cost of about 1 million dollars per animal.  Did you know that?  The next most expensive animal to house at a zoo is the Elephant and their cost range is wide depending on a number of circumstances, but the most expensive Elephant is less than half as expensive a Giant Panda.

 Upon arriving at their complex of exterior habitats I was delighted to see that Mei Xiang was out enjoying a morning meal of bamboo.  So into was she that at one point she just flopped back and munched on the crunch stalks laying down.  Two habitats over was the comic Tian Tian--he's a real clown and he loves the physical comedy.  He'll delight you by climbing a tree to precarious heights and then flip over head-down and wiggle his way back to the ground!  The first time I saw him do this, I thought he was going to break his neck, but not to worry, he's a seasoned pro at using this skill to delight and enthrall his audience.  As I was about leave, his supply of bamboo arrived and he too was over the moon with his crunchy brunch.