Spectacular National Gallery in DC - pt 2

Ships Riding on the Seine, Monet, 1873; for breadth, scope and magnitude of its collection, the National Gallery is one of the country's greatest museums, along with the Met and MOMA in NYC, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Singing a Pathetic Song, Thomas Eakins, 1881; the pathetic song, the most popular type of melody in 1860s and 1870s America, told tales of woe, such as death or tragic circumstances befalling innocent women or children

Nonchaloir (Repose), John Singer Sargent, 1911; the National Gallery of Art is a free museum located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW

The Jolly Flatboatmen, George Caleb Bingham, 1846; his series of scenes of life and work on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers established Bingham's reputation in his own day and are today recognized as his finest creations

Graft, Roxy Paine, 2009; the work's title refers to the horticultural procedure of joining one plant to the bud, stem, or root of another in order to repair it, propagate it, or produce new fruits or flowers; the word has another meaning in DC!

Self-Portrait, Paul Gauguin, 1889; this work, painted on a cupboard door from the dining room of an inn in the Breton hamlet Le Pouldu, is one of Gauguin's most important and radical paintings

The House of Representatives, Samuel Finley Breese Morse, 1822; the artist studied at London's Royal Academy of Arts before returning to the US to paint this epic work; his artist achievements were largely forgotten when he invented the telegraph

The Skater (Portrait of William Grant), Gilbert Stuart, 1782; painted while Stuart was living in London, it was the work that first brought the artist broad recognition; the artist was apprenticing with Benjamin West at the time

Alexander Hamilton, John Trumbull, 1792; Hamilton was born out of wedlock and orphaned as a child; in a rags to riches story, he became the first Secretary of the Treasury where he founded the nation's financial system; he also found the NY Post newspaper

Self-Portrait, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1659; one of 40+ self-portraits by Rembrandt, this was once owned by banker Andrew Mellon; the rich expressiveness of brushwork, especially in the face, makes this painting a standout

The Marquesa de Pontejos, Francisco de Goya, 1786; considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries; he was immensely successful and often referred to as both the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns

Woman Holding a Balance, Johannes Vermeer, 1664; supposedly the message of this piece is to conduct our lives with temperance and moderation; the National Gallery of Art is the 2nd most visited museum in the country after the Met in NYC

The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries, Jacques-Louis David, 1812; this painting was commissioned by an admirer of Napoleon's so it's unlikely the Little Corporal ever posed for it; I think Napoleon should have exercised a little more

Gothic Personage, Bird-Flash, Joan Miro, 1977; until his 70th birthday in 1963, Miró was best known for his surrealist paintings and drawings; however, in the last two decades of his life he created 150+ sculptures

The Adoration of the Magi, Sandro Botticelli, 1478; Botticelli was one of the artists selected by Pope Sixtus IV to fresco the walls of the Sistine Chapel (this was 27 years before Michelangelo did the ceiling)

Boulevard des Italiens, Morning, Sunlight, Camille Pissarro, 1897; Pissarro's series paintings of Paris in the late 1890s are among the supreme achievements of Impressionism, taking their place alongside series of haystacks and waterlilies both by Monet

The Loge, Mary Cassatt, 1880; when she was 11, Cassatt's family visited the Paris World's Fair of 1855 where she was first exposed to French artists; at 15 she began studying painting at the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts in Philadelphia

Typewriter Eraser Scale X, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, 1999; many youngsters may not even recognize this object but the artist remembered playing with one in his father's study as he was growing up

Thinker on a Rock, Barry Flanagan, 1997; with this sculpture the artist substitutes the hare for Rodin's Thinker, making an irreverent reference to one of the world's best-known sculptures