John Singer Sargent at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian

While much of the city is on self-imposed quarantine as we figure out Covid-19, most of our museums are still open (for now) and there is one show you can't miss if you are in Washington, John Singer Sargent: Portraits in Charcoal.

As most of you are not here in Washington and won't be traveling in the near future, I thought I would share some of my favorite pieces.

One of my favorite things about the exhibit, other than the art of course which is naturally in B&W, is the galleries are painted in a wide range of colors to keep things from being sterile.  Much of the paper varies in tone and white walls would have made the drawings appear dirty. We need more color in our museums!

While we may all know Sargent for his portraiture, he quit oil portraits in 1907 to concentrate on other things. However, he continued to do charcoal sketches for his friends and those who interested him in the worlds of art.

 I'll start with Sargent's 1912 sketch of art collector Sir Philip Sassoon, lent from the collection of Houghton Hall. Sassoon collected Sargent's works which were displayed at his London house where he would organize exhibitions. He was the youngest member of parliament at age 24 in 1912, the year he inherited a vast fortune, and remained a member until his early death.

Nearby hangs a portrait of Philip's sister, Sybil Sassoon, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, also painted by Sargent in 1912 at the age of 18. See how the colored wall help the portrait?  Sybil became a Marchioness through marriage and spent her life restoring Houghton Hall.

Next we have this 1923 portrait of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, better known as Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, lent by her daughter, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This was sketched shortly before her marriage to the Duke of York who later became king.

Above is a 1914 sketch of Lady Diana Manners, better known as Diana Cooper. Cooper would lead one of the 20th centuries most interesting lives crossing from her aristocratic background into intellectual and even acting worlds.  I love that she refused later in life to be known by her grand title, 'Viscountess Norwich', because she thought it sounded like "porridge".

The author Henry James was one of Sargent's close friends and was painted by him numerous times but this sketch from 1912 was commissioned by their mutual friend Edith Wharton.  Dissatisfied with the likeness, Sargent gave the work to George V for his collection of recipients of the Order of Merit (as one does....giving a cast-off to a king!).  This portrait is also lent to the exhibition by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Possibly the most interesting to me personally is this portrait of William Adams Delano from 1922.  The architect is known for his collaboration with Chester Holmes Aldrich (Delano & Aldrich) but also taught at Columbia. Delano became friendly with Sargent during his work on the Grand Central Art Galleries which Sargent had a hand in founding.

Arguably the most famous portrait in the exhibition is of William Butler Yeats from 1908 commissioned for his first volume of collected poetry. Oddly enough Yeats appears younger than his 43 years in the portrait; drawing being the original Instagram filter, haha! 

The last portrait I'll share is a rare self-portrait of Sargent dating to 1902.  The artist is only known to have completed 6 self-portraits in his lifetime because he found it boring and was never satisfied with the results. I don't know why, it looks pretty great to me (though I'm also loath to take selfies)!

Portraits in Charcoal is open now through May 31, 2020 at the National Portrait Gallery here in Washington.  Don't miss it!

The most elegant house in Washington: The Octagon House

I've begun a love affair: with a house.  While I have lived in Washington now for nearly 17 years I had never visited the Octagon House despite always hearing about it from friends. Oh I'll visit someday was my thought. Well one rainy Saturday this past fall I visited and fell in love.

Not only is the house open for free to the public, you typically have it to yourself to explore at your own pace (which I love). I promptly set up a later tour for our Mid-Atlantic branch of the ICAA with the help of a friend.

While the crisp details are certainly elegant, the true beauty lies in the plan (as always, click the image to see in more detail). While the site was rural AND waterfront when the house was built in 1799, early in Washington's history, the house is exceedingly urban. The architect, William Thornton, must have foreseen the city that would grow surrounding the house based on L'Enfant's plan.

Colonel John Tayloe III had the house built on the advice of his friend George Washington as his winter in-town residence and it remained as his families primary residence until 1855 at the death of his wife. The neighborhood was no longer fashionable and his children rented the house out; first as a girl's school, then to the Federal government as Naval offices, until it finally was a tenement. In 1898 the AIA stepped in (American Institute of Architects) to rent the house as their headquarters and in 1902 purchased the property. It is still owned and lovingly cared for by the AIA.

Let's step into the foyer shall we? All of the paint colors were matched to their 1810 appearance with help from Benjamin Moore and these colors are all available for purchase.  The entry hall is 'Daytona Peach #079' for example. 

The most striking feature of the round entry are a pair of English stoves flanking entry into the stairhall which feature neoclassic urns.

 Notice how even the doors match the curve of the walls -a lovely detail.

While we so often think of checkerboard floor tiles having to precisely match, the variation in the darker squares, made up of different marbles, is really soft and lovely.

The living room features the original moldings and Coade stone fireplace although the chandelier dates to the 1930s. The mantel was painted because when it arrived on site because the top shelf was missing. It was replaced in wood to match the stone mantel below. The wall colors in this room are not accurate as originally the room held wallpaper, although no one knows what it looked like!

The mirrors flanking the fireplace were original to the family and are original to the house. All of the other furnishings throughout the house are period but not original to the Tayloe family.

The central stairhall stands between the living and dining rooms (see plans above) but more on this later.

On the opposite side of the stairhall is the dining room. The lovely thing about the orientation of the house is that all rooms are bathed in natural light throughout the day.

The dining room also features an original Coade stone mantel. The green paint color is original to 1810 and is BM #480 Lily Pad, and #AF-475 Lush. 

The brass hearth fenders are kept beautifully polished. All of the brasses would have been regularly polished to reflect the candlelight.

Stepping back into the stairhall notice the ivory "mortgage button" in the elegant newel. Of course the myth of this decorative feature is more interesting than actuality. There was no mortgage on this house when it was built!

Heading up to the family quarters on the 2nd floor notice the curved walls continue. I love the sunny yellow paint colors - BM #319 Dalila.

This rather elegant jib door leads to one of many closets. This closet probably held the beds of the slaves who slept outside the doorways of the master bedroom.

The round room on top of the entry is the main family sitting room known as the Treaty Room. After the war of 1812 when the White House was burned by the British (in 1814), the Octagon House briefly served as the president's residence for President Madison and his wife Dolly.  It was in this room that the president ratified the Treaty of Ghent which ended the war. The original table sits in the entry foyer of the house while this exact replica lets you take a closer look.

I love the simple wood mantels here on the 2nd floor.

Looking towards the rear you can see the stair going up to the 3rd floor where the children's bedrooms were (the Tayloe's had 15 children!) as well as an odd extension to a closet so that the stair and house appeared taller than they actually are: Sneaky!

However the best part of these houses in my opinion are the behind the scenes spaces.  Adjacent to the elegant main stair is a rather clever triangular staircase that allows for more discreet access throughout the house and entry into the basement servants quarters.

The basement is actually quite bright with tall ceilings and large windows thanks to the service moat surrounding the house.

The central hall in the basement once held a round well for drinking and washing - you can see where it was in the round pattern in the brick. This area of Washington has always been marshy and the basement was always damp and battling water.  The AIA undertook massive measures a few years ago to help prevent moisture from rising through the house and this floor was relaid.

As part of this work the original plaster had fallen off the brick bearing walls which absorbed water from the earth.  While the brick dries out (over a few years) they are leaving the brick and stone exposed before re-plastering to its original appearance. That is a bread oven to the right of the main cooking fireplace and an early brick coal range to the left.

I love the brick wine storage shelves seen above. Similar arched brick shelves also exist at Homewood House in Baltimore of the same date which we toured this fall with the ICAA.

Returning outside you can see the brick walls which surround the service yard.  The yard now contains the main AIA building finished in 1973 which surrounds, but respects by distance, the Octagon House. Notice the wall and chimney with oddly no windows (this is the wall of the dining room) making the house feel more like a townhouse; Possibly for future expansion that never occurred?  I find it really surprising that while the city developed this property wasn't sold for development of townhouses adjoining the main house which would have fit nicely against these blank walls.

I highly encourage everyone to visit the Octagon House museum, open to the public free of charge Thursday through Saturday from 1-4, and otherwise by appointment.  Group visits can be arranged, refer to their website here https://architectsfoundation.org/octagon-museum.

All photos my own with the exception of the first shot by Robert Tarasovich. Plans and drawings for HABS on wikicommons.

The grand Willard Hotel DC, some historical surprises

Most people here in DC know of the Willard: one of the grand dame hotels of the city which one assumes have been there forever.

However what most probably don't know (I for one did not) is that the current hotel is actually mostly a recreation of the historic space!

We recently hosted a tour of the hotel with our ICAA chapter and the hotel historian had some eye opening surprises for us.

Many of the beautiful details which appear to date to the hotel's rebuilding in 1901 when the beaux arts style hotel was built actually date to 1986!

Lets back up here. Yes the hotel is historic. Like many hotels however it has been renovated and rebuilt almost continuously since its founding in 1818 (the year is a stretch but is when a hotel was first built on this site). Above is the lobby as it appeared in 1950. One recognizes the overall space but decoration and mid-centuryisms are the focus.

And above is how the lobby appeared in 1984! This area of Washington suffered greatly during the 1968 riots and after being ransacked the hotel was closed and practically abandoned.

 Finally in 1984 work began under new ownership to rebuild the luxury hotel.

 Above is the famous Peacock Alley, both before and after renovation, where society once had afternoon tea and today you can again as well.

It is said that the term 'lobbyist' was originated in this very hotel. Abraham Lincoln would cross the street from the White house to smoke cigars and have a brandy in the lobby as his wife did not approve of such behavior, and he would be accosted in the lobby by people asking favors; hence the term lobbyist was coined!

 Above the same area before restoration. As many of the fixtures appear to be original and everything in such good 'olde' condition I had assumed the hotel has sat this way for generations.

One of the oldest appearing rooms is known as the Crystal Room which features the original gas (now electrified) chandeliers. The building time period of this hotel was known as the gilded age after all!

 And below the Crystal Room as it appeared prior to the renovation. One can recognize the room by the beautiful plaster ceiling.

 All of the 'marble' pilasters and columns throughout the hotel are faux painted or scagliola (an Italian technique of creating faux marble) done in 1986 (recreating the former faux marble).

 Beautiful crisp plasterwork.

The former grand dining room features mahogany paneling. Sadly the restaurant closed during the recession but is still available for events.

The dining room was the site of a murder by a crazed congressman who shot his waiter in 1856 (read about that here for a good time).

The lower paneling is a recreation of the original as only the upper paneling survived but looks a pretty close match although less ornate.

The hotel also claims to have been where the Mint Julep made its original debut in the famous Round Robin bar(more about that here).  One can still order one in the bar today which I highly recommend!

The restoration of the hotel is a lovely recreation and modernization of this iconic hotel -so successful that no one on the tour had any idea it wasn't all original!

 All is not preserved however. During the renovation the original ballroom on the top floors of the hotel was moved into the basement, seen below, and the upper floors split into additional meeting and guest rooms with a few additional stories added to the hotel.

My favorite part of this renovation however is that the craftsmen still exist to create such intricate detailing.

If you are in the Washington metropolitan area I hope you will considering joining us on one of our many tours or perhaps considering joining the organization! Check out our website's Calendar of events and our facebook page which are constantly updated.

 And if not I hope you will add tea or a drink at the Willard hotel to your Washington visit.

All historic photos provided by the Willard Intercontinental hotel while all present day photos my own.