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!

More sumptuous Italian style - Gallery Doria Pamphilj

My last post on the Villa Borghese proved so popular I thought I would share another Roman palace with you, the Gallery Doria Pamphilj, which is also open to tour.

Begun in the early 17th century by the Pamphilj family the Palazzo is arguably the largest in Rome and still family owned and occupied!

 Added onto over successive generations the building is enormous and encompasses numerous different wings and courtyards, as seen by the ground floor plan above.

If one tours the art gallery or private apartments you now enter off the Via del Corso through a beautiful courtyard, seen above. As the family is still in residence signs of daily life such as parked cars are evident throughout the building.

Through a parking court and up a flight up stairs are the public galleries from the 18th century which make up the public art museum.

These grand spaces definitely feel public but with a family as important as the Pamphilj one was meant to be impressed and possibly overwhelmed.

The first room one enters on the tour is the reception room, which had been closed to the public until recently. On the audio tour the current Prince tells how this room was rented out by a bank for decades and used for their yearly board meeting and otherwise was kept under lock and key.

 So glad we are able to enjoy it now! Love the marble bolection mould fireplace surrounds.

 One wouldn't feel in a European palace if there weren't numerous enfilades to admire.

The current prince talks about roller skating through these rooms as a child on the audio guide!

Notice the velvet covered walls in this space.

The ballroom was decorated much later in the early 20th century for the coming out ball of the Prince's aunt and joined together 2 rooms so that it would be large enough.

Many great musicians have performed in the musician's gallery, seen below, including George Frideric Handel performing works he wrote for the family!

The ceilings of the private chapel are trompe-l'oeil to appear like a clerestory. Very convincing from certain angles even centuries later!

The real draw of the tour are the art galleries which surround the front courtyard referenced earlier in the post.

Even the ceilings are highly decorated with ancient painting.

I loved this 17th century painting of Noah.

This bust of Olimpia Aldobrandini Pamphilj is important because she was one of the founders of the collection. She had it commissioned from Giovanni Lazoni da Carrara as an old woman showing her when she inherited her fortune as a teenager.

The detailing to the wall painting is astounding.

Imagine touring these rooms by candlelight?

All of the rooms are lit by ancient Murano glass chandeliers naturally.

More trompe l'oeil ceilings.

Commemorative busts of previous generations dot the galleries.

Have I mentioned how much I love an enfilade?

One can also take a tour of the private apartments, starting with this room above, to see how the family lived in the 20th century amongst such splendor.  We were too overwhelmed to see even more so saved it for our next Roman holiday!

This spectacular bust of Olimpia by Alessandro Algardi features astonishing paper thin carving of her veil.

The sculpture room was damaged during a snow storm in the 1950s when the ceiling caved in. It took decades for the sculptures to be restored and pieced back together. Many were broken into thousands of pieces!

One would never know by looking at them that they had ever been damaged.

The Centaur Furietti Vecchio above was shattered into smithereens but stands proud once again.

The oldest part of the palazzo houses the pre-Renaissance collection naturally.

Don't miss this stunning collection if you find yourself in Rome -the Gallery Doria Pamphilj!

Sidenote: across the Via Lata from the palazzo is the charming Fontana del Facchino from the 15th century, seen above, which is one of the 'talking fountains' of Rome. These are satirical fountains offering pure water to the public after 600 years! Rome is full of surprises.