Docent Symposium - Washington, DC - Part 1

I spent last week in Washington DC at the National Docent Symposium. We had a little bit of free time on Wednesday, so I raced over to the National Gallery East Wing to devour as much abstract/contemporary art as possible. 

Grace Hartigan's "Essex and Hester" was a showstopper. She's hanging next to a Jackson Pollock, so the crowds flock to him. The silver lining is you can have Grace all to yourself :)

I also thoroughly enjoyed having Wayne Thiebaud's cakes all to myself. The brush strokes are insane. Good grief, this man is a genius.

It's also fun to find a Picasso that looks like no other Picasso you've ever seen. I googled this cat, and I believe he was Picasso's first art dealer. Petrus? Pedro? Pere? But if Picasso's name wasn't on it, I would have never in a million years guessed that he'd painted it. 

If you're into Rothko or Barnett Newman, make sure you check out the Rothko Rooms and Newman's Stations of the Cross. Definitely a religious experience for the abstract faithful.

There's also a room filled with Modiglianis. 13 of them I think? It's amazing. 

One of my most exciting discoveries was seeing a William H. Johnson painting of a Pastry Chef. Johnson was an artist from Florence, South Carolina. He has a very interesting story, and as many times as I've been to Florence and that area, I'd never heard of him until an exhibition earlier this year at the High Museum. 

He was heavily influenced by Chaim Soutine. Want proof? Look at Soutine's painting of a Pastry Chef.

Another William H. Johnson --

And Soutine --

Isn't that so much fun???? By the way, I also felt inspired by Soutine when I first started painting. Here's mine from 2017? Or was it 2018? I lose track.  (cannot find a photo but I'll post it later)

Next, I raced over to the West Wing to see as much as I could before I had to return to my hotel.

I love looking at hands in paintings. These are by Van Gogh.

No explanation needed ... G.O.A.T.

I was surprised to find the Italians allowed David to travel from the Bargello in Florence to Washington, DC.

And, I'm a big fan of Judith Leyster's self portrait. It was rare for a woman to be a master artist in the 17th century, but here she is, holding her own. She even had her own school. You won't find many women in the room of Dutch masters, hanging with badasses like Frans Hals. You go, Judith :)