Smithsonian American Art Museum

Over the weekend Sue met some other members of her SAQA regional group at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC for a docent led tour.  SAQA stands for Studio Art Quilt Associates which is a national group that supports and promotes art quilts through exhibitions and education.  Though not focused on quilts, it was an in depth look at selected works in the museum.  Walking from the metro station to the museum, it was interesting to observe the architecture and how the new has grown up around the old.

The building on the far right is Madam Tussauds wax museum.

This sculpture by Roy Lichtenstein marks the corner of the museum property.  We found out from our docents that the museum building was originally the patent office, and also served as a hospital during the civil war.

We had a bit of extra time before the tour was to  begin, so took a quick look through the folk art gallery to see the quilts.  Perhaps quilts like these provide some of the roots of the modern quilt movement.

Top Left: Untitled (Octagons and Bars), 1930s-40s, wool, unidentified artist; improvisational quilts are an ongoing tradition in African American quilting.
Bottom Left: Untitled (Housetop Variation), 1920s, wool and cotton, unidentified artist
Top Right: Untitled (Strip Quilt with Suiting), 1930s, wool suiting, unidentified artist; African American origin.
Bottom Right: Untitled (String Quilt with Diamond Pattern), 1950s, cotton, unidentified artist
Notice that the first 3 made in the 20s-40s are darker colors and heavier fabrics such as wool, whereas the 4th made in the 50s is brighter cottons.  All are improvisational in design.

We also had to pause for pictures of the floor in the west wing of the museum - quilt designs are everywhere!

Moving on to the tour, we saw Snails Space with Vari-Lites, "Painting as Performance", 1995-96.  It is oil and acrylic on canvas by David Hockney. A 9 minute cycle of changing lights transforms the painting and a viewing bench provides the opportunity for contemplation.

Though not a planned piece on the tour, we fiber people couldn't resist stopping to look at this "Soundsuit" by Nick Cave (2009).  It is created entirely out of vintage doilies and other crocheted pieces.  The idea of the "soundsuit", as the docent explained, was to block out sound for the wearer, and in effect to be invisible.

Requiem for Charleston by Lava Thomas (2016) deserves some quiet reflection.  Made of tambourines with calligraphy on lambskin, it honors the 9 men and women who died in the 2015 shooting inside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC. 

"A Visit from the Old Mistress" was painted in 1876 by Winslow Homer.  During the Civil War, Homer was stationed with Union troops in Virginia to document events of the war.  Ten years after the war he made a return visit.  This tense scene illustrates the change in the relationship between the former mistress and now free black women having to negotiate for services she once was able to command.

"Cafe" was painted about 1939-40 by William H. Johnson, an African American painter who portrayed ordinary people in the black community.  This piece evokes the art that black artists and writers embraced during the Harlem Renaissance, as well as the fashionable zoot-suiters of the Big Band era.

While we saw only selected pieces during this visit, it was enough to whet the appetite for a return trip!