Art Field Trip to DC

This is a little late, so I apologize but I had a great time in Washington DC walking around and experiencing tons of art with Willa and my other friends in art. We firstly went to the West Wing of the National Gallery. There we saw some old masters drawings which was really cool considering how much time we had spent in class working on our drawings and studying these old masters. I copied a beautiful figure drawn by Michelangelo. Then we went to the impressionist galleries which were absolutely beautiful. We had been talking about them for a while in class so it was really cool to see some of the pieces we had discussed in class in real life. I loved some of the cathedral paintings by Monet and I really love Cezanne and especially Van Gogh. I had no idea such iconic works, like Van Gogh's self portrait were in the National Gallery. It makes me appreciate them even more than I already had because you could see each individual brushstroke and his incredible mark. We also saw some pieces by el Greco which was interesting because he is one of the few artists of that time period that I actually like because his use of exaggeration and stark whites is so ahead of his time. My favorite exhibit of the day was at the Hirshhorn. It was their Damage Control: Art and Destruction since 1950 exhibit and I absolutely loved it. All of the pieces were so powerful and intriguing, but also really thoughtful. There were so many different types of destruction explored and in a huge variety of ways. I really loved one of the sculptures that showed three different houses all in declining stages after a natural disaster.  I also really loved some of the video art. Unfortunately, my group was very rushed in the exhibit but the one video I was able to see a lot of was one with a guitar dragging violently behind a moving car. Overall, the exhibit was incredible and I would encourage anyone to check it out as it is still open. The last place I went was the National Portrait Gallery and their contemporary art collection. I love the National Portrait Gallery and I have been there many times before, but they usually add something new to their big show space and it was fun to see some of my favorite pieces in the collection, like the figure of a woman eating and the huge driftwood horse among many others. Unfortunately I could not take pictures of a lot of my favorite pieces because it was a long day and my phone died or I just wasn't allowed to, but here are some images that I really loved.. Enjoy!

http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/home/#collection=damage-control
http://www.npg.si.edu/

Male Nude Michelangelo c. 1560 chalk

The Houses of Parliament, Sunset Oil on canvas 1903 Claude Monet

Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy Oil on Canvas, 1888 Georges Seurat

Close-Up of Seascape at Port-en-Bessin, Normandy

Roulin's Baby Oil on Canvas, 1888 Vincent Van Gogh

Roses Oil on Canvas, 1890 Vincent Van Gogh

Close-up of Roses

Madame Amédée (Woman with a Cigarette) Oil on Canvas, 1918 Amadeo Modgliani

Odalisque Oil on Canvas, 1870 Auguste Renoir

Close-up of Odalisque