A new look at Washington, D.C. starting with Stalin's garage sale

I had not been in DC since 1974.  Previous to that, I had visited several times.  It was a violent and fearful city then.  Even - and especially - right in front of the White house, every vehicle was warned to drive 24 hours a day with doors locked and windows rolled up.  The violence was crazy.  It was supplemented by the sometimes madness of the anti-war and civil rights movements.   I once hitch hiked at night from Georgetown to Dupont circle (I must have been out of my mind).  A true madman right out of some B movie gave me a ride.  He stuttered so badly I could not understand much of what he said.  He had trouble shifting the gears as apparently whatever drugs he used interfered with supple gear shifting.

He told me he was the most antiwar of all antiwar people and had the elements of a bomb with him.  He thought I did not believe him, so when he dropped me, he got out, opened the trunk and showed me four sticks of dynamite in a grocery bag and next to them, a box opened to show some wires and electrical parts.

Another trip, I was working on my M.A. and had sold a piece of personal art to some people in Winnipeg.  They owed me $600. and said I should pick it up on the way to the airport.  That was a nice sum of money to a grad student in 1973,but now I was stuck carrying around the cash for two weeks in DC and later New York.

Once in DC, I checked in to what would be called a two star hotel right across from the new and widely celebrated Watergate hotel and complex. When I checked in, I had to ask for a safe deposit box.  The old and haggard witch at the desk was the essential definition of a hag. She saw me put the fat envelope in the box.  The evening before I was to check out she said;

Ya better take that money out of your box tonight because I have to be at the dentist in the morning and I am not sure what time I will be back.

That's o.k. because my New York train is in late afternoon.

Well, it could happen that I won't even come back and then as I am the only one with the keys, you won't get your things.

What could I do?  I took out the envelope and went to my room which was the nearest the desk - maybe only 20' from it.  Less than two hours later, there was a tremendous kicking at my door.  Two critters were intent on kicking it in.  I had just retired and was either naked or in underwear.  I jumped up and held the door, but I could hear one thug speaking to another and felt I could not hold them off.

I managed to pull two pieces of furniture over and block the door some, but they were determined.  I knew that at that time even many senators, congressmen and news reporters carried guns, so I shouted "Stop or I will shoot.  I have a gun and I will shoot."  Incredibly they stopped.

I knew the Hag controlled the phones, the - useless - air conditioner blocked the window, and I was trapped there all night.  But I was safe.  Several people in DC were genuinely horrified what would have happened to me if they entered the room as all indications were that it would have been uncivil to say the least.

Stalin's garage sale 

Over the past couple of years, I did quite a lot of study after I heard that Stalin had sold off many treasures from great Russian museums - including the Hermitage - and looted treasures from many of the great Russian estates.

It took several books to get the facts.  It seems that Lenin and Stalin, like the peasants, felt that the art sitting in museums did nothing for the hungry population which was also pumped up on building a great new society.  They set out a plan to sell off as much as possible and purchase the tractors the peasants wanted. Curiously, the accountant assigned to establish prices, set them way over market values of the time.  Even the wealthiest westerners would not pay such prices and little sold.

However, the U.S. ambassador at the time was of the Mellon family.  They were at the zenith of their wealth and were establishing and themselves building the new National galley in DC and buying wildly for their own collections as well. Both the ambassador and his wife were concerned that the hostility of the communists toward art and fine things was so ardent that they might allow some or all of it to be damaged or destroyed in such unpredictable times.  They began to purchase as much 14, 15 and 16th century works as they could

One other American involved was Armand Hammer.  Love him or not, I personally think was probably the greatest businessman of all time.  He managed to do a lot of deals with the communists.  On his first trip to Russia, he managed to meet Lenin. On a subsequent trip, while in London, he was in a junk shop and saw a desk sized sculpture of a monkey contemplating a human skull.  He presented it to Lenin, and it remained on his desk until he died.  From then to Gorbachev, Hammer personally knew every dictator except one.  He was famed in Russia for that and had a lot of leverage, you could say.

I had a great desire to visit the National gallery to see if I could identify some of the works the Mellons purchased from Stalin's big sale.

It happened that the airfare was modest. As it was the week of U.S. Thanksgiving, all the Big Big shots were out of town an I found a perfect room at the Grand Hyatt for $99 U.S. + tax; surely the best hotel deal I have ever been blessed with - and they gave me waay early check in and waay late check out at no extra charge, and they were really nice too.  It was five blocks from the W.H., and about the same to the National, the Cdn. embassy, and three blocks to the National Portrait, American art and folk art museum.

The 1st day was cold and windy, but sunny and clear.  One starts at the National Gallery outdoor sculpture garden.  It was so nice.  You will recognize Claes Oldenburg's eraser, probably not Miro's folding doughnut, and a grand chromed tree named Graft.  Perfect !

Inside we first attend the immense sculpture collection - rooms and rooms of the very best of sculpture anywhere. Suddenly, you begin to recall that many listings show the National as the greatest public art collection in the U.S.,and I would say that it is a fair appraisal.

The bronze face is Mahler.  The Degas little dancer is the original one and is the very ugliest one I have seen of many. They also have the 1st one struck and it is also pretty ugly.  But the later ones I have seen prettified are not what he intended at all. The one I saw in Dresden was so beautiful (not the face, but the dress and body - but even the face was prettified cf. the original in DC) There are now so many of these (probably 300) and there have been recent indication that they are still making new ones in Paris at this moment.

The Napoleon is Jacques Louis David's.  Do you know that JLD was in Bastille for some months scheduled to be executed, but it never happened.  He was contracted by many of the inhabitants to draw portraits of them for their families.  He had little time as some were executed the day after the arrived.  But there are a lot of David portraits today that are of people he drew before they died.

There is a whole book of letters the condemned wrote to their families, which the cruel guards never delivered and remained in the archives.  I read many of them.  In the book it expands on the life behind bars in that part of the Bastille at the time.  the author said that the leading desire of condemned women was sex and as much as possible in the time they had remaining.  It happened then that the men and women were kept in the same area.  Eventually the superintendent came and told them harshly that the place had a reputation in Paris now of a brothel, and he had to then separate the men and women.

That Hopper, Cape cod evening is so compelling.  The Van Gogh self-portrait is one of  the greatest paintings I have ever seen.  You should fly there just to see it (and have lunch in the great sniffy cafe on main floor).  His forehead, and some of his hair really is green.  What can compare to that - try about 14 Rembrandts', two of which are the most famous - his self portrait and one other.  Try walking into one of many, many rooms with about 10-12 paintings and 8-10 of them are so famous they are in every book of major paintings.  It is truly thrilling to have the chance to see these works in real life and one does so admire the Mellons for the massive contributions to this grand place.  And it is free like all the museums in DC, so you can come and go frequently -as I did.

The greatest  treasure of the NG is the da Vinci - immediately above here -  (only one in U.S.) Ginevra (1474).  Mrs Mellon bought this from the King to Lichtenstein for $5 million, put it in a suitcase, bought a seat for it on a commercial flight and took it home to DC.  The Raphael Alba madonna (1510) is also a treasure among hundreds.  It is shocking for me to see the Boy in red shown above from the 15th C., in original frame and in perfect condition.  These are the kind of things that came right out the Hermitage.  I went to museum staff and asked to see the list of all items bought from Russia.

The gallery allows artists to come in and paint reproductions one day a week.  The thing that looks like a water fountain is actually a brass water fountain that is so pretty, and is one of a family of them on each floor.

I have taxed your patience enough.  I will just say that I also was pleased to visit the Hirshhorn modern museum, and the puissant Phillips collection, Arlington cemetery, Vietnam memorial, Chinatown, the Building museum and several nice neighbourhoods and fine restaurants.  What a great trip, and good for DC and the U.S. that among all the sturm und drang, dismal obsessions, fear of everything/anything, and billions of tons of truly bad art today, there is a fine city, with nice people, and so much great art.

Hyatt atrium view from my 11th floor perch - altho my corner room was an external one, with a nice view.  This actually was a v. sleek hotel and my room was normally $400.

A wonderful place: the National American art, portrait and folk art gallery, Washington, D.C.

This was such a surprise to me.  Given many options and limited time and energy, I usually do not opt to spend time in portrait galleries.  I cannot forget the miles of dark and hideous ones I saw in Russian galleries.  But, as has occasionally happened, I was wrong.

This gallery is so fantastic that I went to it four times, and made another brief trip just before I left for the airport to return home.  A no admission (not even tipping is allowed at the coat check) policy is so convenient to breaking up visits.

It consists - a far as I could tell - of four buildings joined (recently) by this lovely covered courtyard designed by the famous architect, Norman Fosters (Beijing terminal, Gherkin London, HSBC H.K., Reichstag dome & proposed new tower at 1 Bloor West).

In terms of oils, their great treasure is Bierstadt's Among the Sierra Nevada .  It has its own specially (low) lighted room. It is 6 feet by 10 feet and is spell binding.  They have placed a comfortable sofa in front of it and most people to sit down as it takes quite some time to inhale this truly grand and massive work.  I had never realized that he painted it in Rome, then toured it around Euro cities before it ever reached the U.S.  Europeans did not know that it is an imaginary scene and it is written that it set off considerable emigration of people believing that the whole of the U.S. was so Edenic.

This is actually the work I wanted to view just one more time before I left for the airport.

That entire spectacular institution is overflowing with genuinely profound works of art and sculpture.  The buildings and rooms are attractive and everything is displayed perfectly.  I was especially impressed with the large number of almost unknown WPA artists, whose works are truly first class.  I think the only well known big name among them was Edward Hopper.

There is a somewhat small section of folk art, but the quality is so high that we are forced to spend time with nearly every item.  The portrait gallery is actually more art than portrait.  The Presidents' gallery is large and of course, includes every president.  They are a lot more interesting than you might think.

The treasure of all of them is the Gilbert Stuart full-length portrait of Geo. Washington. The info says that a family owned it for a long time and lent it to the Gallery.  But at some point, the family wanted to take it back and sell it.  The Gallery had to raise $20 million in 2001 to save it from being removed,

I wanted to see more of Stuart's versions of it, so I typed into google images Gilbert Stuart. In among the images were these mysterious paintings:

Some wag(s) have revised many famous paintings with Mr. Bean's seemingly elastic face.

Oddly, for being an "American" and "portrait" gallery, the top floor had an absolute knock-out show of great modern art.  There were  major works by Picasso, Calder,Lichtenstein, Miro, O'Keeffe, Hockney, etc.  Two of my favourite works were by Botero.

The photo above is from the internet and is unkind to her - she looked a lot better where I saw her.

The spectacular (new) Renwick Gallery, Washington, D.C.

Directly across from the front of the White house is Lafayette park.  Crowding itself into the park is the Renwick gallery (shown above).  It is very old and was saved from demolition by Jackie Kennedy. It housed pretty standard art for most of its life.  Recently it underwent a long reno and is now re-opened and re-purposed as a breathtaking and moderately crazy, modern art gallery.

One artist was Patrick Dougherty who seems to have a habit of winding long tree branches into many shapes.  A lot of them strike me as nests of giant birds.  You can look at his website to see the great things he has created all over the world.  I so loved his work.

Another installation was by Gabriel Dawe - another website you can look up.  It was impossible to photo his work because they space was so tight. He weaves threads or filaments into complex forms, in huge scale, using a lot of colours and complimentary lighting.  The obsessive perfection that goes into his work is just inestimable by normal humans like us.

Believe it or not, there is a woman named Jennifer Angus who is certainly crazy by any definition.  Ms. Angus purchased - and captured a few herself - 5,000 bugs from Southeast Asia, in sizes from minute to shockingly large. She then paints the walls of her exhibition in the blood (honest) of the Cochineal bug which is more commonly used for food colouring.  She then attaches her 5,000 victims (which probably = 500,000 little legs) to the walls in patterns - the most apparent ones above being skulls (don't ask).

I cannot recall now what was in that stand in the middle of the floor, but it was not bugs, and it was a lot of drawers with some things which I spent a lot of time studying.  You could say I am not decidedly pro-bug, although there are many S.E. Asian bugs beautifully shown which I am quite happy not to have met on my travels there.

The bugs do not go to waste - she repackages each one in specially made trays and moves her beloveds on to some other show in the world where once again, they are pasted to a wall...etc.

As wonderful as those installations were, nothing really equals the indisputable insanity and talent of a Mr. John Grade.  He searched for just the right tree in Washingon state.  Found  Mr. Right Tree then proceeded to make a wax cast 40 feet up the tree and much of its branches.  Took that cast back to his Seattle studio, made a reverse cast, cleared away the original one, and presto, he had replicated the forest tree precisely.

Then he used 500,000 re-purposed rectangular cedar blocks just a few inches in size, with a rectangle hole cut in the centre of each to glue to his tree.  It was such a massive job that he put the tree horizontally in his studio window so people would see it and come in, and then he recruited  a few hundred to help him complete the work in only a full year.

The tree trunk and limbs on the lower photo shows it all hung from wires in the very tight gallery space.  In the top photo, you are looking from the base and root beginning right through the inside of the tree into the black hole which is the top exit.  There was another small tree also on display and it was a wonder to see.  One never becomes accustomed to the apparently unlimited talent of  genuine artists.

I loved and so admired the Renwick for such a bold re-purposing of a space and selecting such unexpected works of art.  It helps that it was free so I could go back and be amazed repeatedly.

Washington has dramatically changed in the best way.

I first went to Washington in the 60s.  There were still WWII quonset huts on the Mall and along the Potomac.  When JFK came into office, he said that the District did not resemble the so-called world class city it was diplomatically, and needed to change.  He order the Pentagon to remove those huts.  The Pentagon said it would, but in usual bureaucratic style, they meant ...when we feel like it... or on our schedule, not yours.  As a result, the huts were still there after he died, but are now long gone.

Now the District is quite beautiful and must make Americans justly proud.  It is however, a fortified city.  Between every street and the sidewalks are prodigious posts every few feet,  Other places have giant planters full of heavy rocks.  Every underground parking entrance has at least two armed guards and those giant steel platforms that rise up with big dragon's teeth to prevent any intrusion.

Motorcades and their concomitant inconveniences for locals, are an accepted part of life.  One morning, President Hollande went by with at least 30 + motorcycles and vehicles.  Not long after, the Vice-president's long motorcade passed; the president's and V.P.'s always include an ambulance and a decoy limo - which Hollande's did not have.  The V.P. usually does nor go to work until after rush hour to avoid delaying traffic (they block intersections 4-5 ahead and often clear sidewalks at certain points).

Presidential helicopters can be seen frequently overhead.  There are presently 23 of them.  When the Pres. is moving, they often use up to five as decoys.

One could suggest that after 41 years in Toronto, I am tired of it.  I am appalled at the mediocrity of so much here.  Unless you are spending $200 for lunch for two, or $300 + for dinner, service is often what you would expect in a village the size of Owen sound.  It is not casual, it is sloppy, thoughtless, undisciplined, untrained, and amateurish.  The same can often be said of the food.

In Europe, even in seemingly poor places like Romania, service and food are serious matters.  In most of  New York and certainly DC, restaurants seem to actually train employees and require some class and seriousness about food and service.  Toronto seems to live life in an old T-Shirt, sweat shirt or flip flops manner.  In Toronto today, you are just a transaction, a table number, a credit card.  In both NY and DC this autumn, every single wait person looked me/us in the eyes and treated us like customers.

The lesson is - if you want fine food at moderate prices served by friendly and competent personnel, get out of Toronto, and probably Ontario.

The Top image is the Korean war memorial - which I had never seen.  It is just to the left to the Lincoln and across from the Viet Memorials.  It is life-sized soldiers carrying rifles, marching through fields.  It is v. impressive.  The day I was there, a Korean-U.S. military ceremony had just ended.  I would say about 24 or more highly decorated Korean generals and admirals walked down the path toward me.  Just to the rear, was their host, a 3 star U.S.A.F. (Lt.) general. Never in my life had I ever seen so many general staff officers in one place - even in the Air Force.

The next three photos are the "new" Canadian embassy which is directly behind the National gallery of art.  I had never seen it and was thinking it was a few years old.  That was until I looked at the cornerstone and saw that our dear Brian Mulroney blessed its opening in 1988.  It is a far more beautiful structure that the photos indicate as it would take many photos at different angles to illustrate it adequately.

The Washington monument is a standard photo.  I took it only to show what fine weather I had and also that after its earthquake damage of some years ago when it had to be largely rebuilt, it is back in full view.  Now it is the Capitol in the distance covered in scaffoling.