New DC gallery

ARCH and the Honfleur Gallery have announced the opening of the Honfleur Gallery, including four new artists studio spaces for rent. Studios will be available starting in December. Studios will be rented on a first come, first served basis. The studio size ranges from 100-125 square feet, and the prices from $155-$200 a month, based on square footage. Each studio has its own skylight. Spaces will be rented on 6-month or 1 year term.

The Gallery and Studios are located at 1241 Good Hope Road SE, in historic Anacostia. They are a 10 minute walk from Anacosia Metro Station and directly on the bus line. To make an appointment to view the spaces (still under construction), contact bevans@archdc.org or call (202) 889-5000, x 113.

Waiting to Exhale Sigh

As I mentioned before, the massive collection of artwork by DC area artists which has been assembled for the permanent collection of the District and which is on view at the Wilson Building, is the closest that the capital city of the United States has ever been to having a "DC Artists Collection," since unlike all other major American cities, Washington does not have a physical "Washington Art Museum" and most area museum curators tend to look at their buildings as "national" museums and thus generally tend to ignore DC area artists.

I say that I am waiting to exhale, because I am holding my breath to see what the local DC area art critics write about this collection. I am told that over 1,000 RSVPs have been received for the opening, which is October 31, 2006 from 5-7PM, so this is clearly a major and important art event in the capital.

The collection has already received massive press and television coverage -- for Washington, DC that is -- such as a great piece by Jessica Gould in the WCP on Oct. 19, a piece in Intowner's October issue, an article coming in the first November issue of the Current newspapers, and article coming soon in the Express, maybe an article this coming week featuring the opening in the Wash Post Metro section, and next Thursday, maybe the District Extra cover. Additionally both Channel 4 News (on Oct. 25) and Channel 8 News (also on Oct. 25 and 26) have had features on the collection.

And I can predict (and maybe breathe now), that because it is a collection of DC area artists, and because it is a very large collection, and because it is a public (and apparently already popular) collection, they'll have either nothing to write about it (and by their apathy continue to show the District's arts media anemic insight into the District's dynamic art scene), or...

I hope that they'll prove me wrong, and do write extensively about the Wilson Building Art Collection, but I predict that:

- Blake Gopnik, the intelligent and erudite Chief Art Critic of the Washington Post will (a) ignore it, or (b) write about it and dismiss it, or use it to continue to preach his dated Greenbergian agenda.

- Joanna Shaw-Eagle, the elderly and experienced Chief Art Critic of the Washington Times will cover it, and offer us a detailed description of the collection.

- Michael O'Sullivan, the savvy Washington Post's Weekend section Chief Art Critic (and the only WaPo critic in "tune" with the DC area art scene), will probably cover it and offer the only true insight into this important collection.

- Jessica Dawson, the young freelance writer who pens the "Galleries" column for the Style section of the Washington Post will either (a) ignore it, or (b) cover it in a small dismissive little mini-review.

- Jeffry Cudlin, the award-winning Chief Art Critic for the Washington City Paper, may cover it (if his packed schedule as an Associate Adjunct Professor at Maryland allows it), and offer us an intelligent review, but will probably highlight the weaknesses that exist in any massive public art endeavor.

Let's see over the next few weeks if I've nailed this.

Sigh...

Athenaeum

One of my absolutely favorite buildings in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia is the Athenaeum.

Built as a bank in 1851 in a Greek Revival style (and now a registered Virginia Landmark and a National Historic Site), this beautiful building stands out from the city's otherwise Federalist architecture with its high coved ceilings and large windows looking out onto cobblestones and 18th-century houses, and it is a splendid venue for an art exhibition, which is what the the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association uses it for.

About ten years ago I curated a massive exhibition there, titled "A Survey of Washington Area Realists" which accommodated a few hundred artists hung salon-style in this beautiful building and was a huge success.

"Peace Pieces," all new works by area artist Marta Sewall, opens on Sunday, November 5, 2006, at the Athenaeum. According to the news release, "the works abstractly depict patterns taken from the earth and various global cultures. The mixed media pieces personify the natural and manmade occurrences of global decay and rebirth. Ms. Sewall's works are inspired by fabrics, diverse world societal traditions and architecture details."

The opening reception is from 4:00 pm ­ 6:00 pm on Sunday, November 5, 2006. The show will run through December 17, 2006.

"An Impressionist Sensibility" at SAAM

The Smithsonian American Art Museum will have "An Impressionist Sensibility: The Halff Collection," on view from Nov. 3 through Feb. 4, 2007.

According to the news release, the exhibition "presents iconic works by some of America's most talented and cherished artists. These selected paintings are from Marie and Hugh Halff's collection, one of the finest private collections of late 19th- and early 20th-century American art."

This exhibition is the first time this remarkable private collection has been on display in Washington, D.C.

"An Impressionist Sensibility" features 26 paintings by William Merritt Chase, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and John Twachtman, among other internationally known artists.

Marie and Hugh Halff (who live in San Antonio, Texas) acquired these works during the past 20 years, and on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m., Eleanor Harvey (curator for nineteenth and early twentieth century art, landscape painting, southwestern and Texas art) will lead a discussion about collecting with the Halffs.

They will be joined by the fair Barbara Guggenheim, who not only has a cool art name, but is also a well-known consultant who advises private collectors, including the Halffs, and corporations about building art collections. Ms. Guggenheim's book "Decorating on eBay : Fast & Stylish on a Budget" was published a year ago.

This free public program will take place in the museum's new McEvoy Auditorium.

Wanna go to a DC opening tonight?

First make a beeline for The Gallery at Flashpoint, which will be showing A. B. Miner, Ian Jehle, Nekisha Durrett: Me, You & Those Other Folks and the opening reception is from 5-7 pm. Listen to me and bring your sheckels and buy Miner now, I say again: "Buy Miner Now!" Last week Capps wrote about Miner's work for the WCP here and there are lots of other earlier reviews here.

"going... #1" by A.B. Miner
Then tomorrow haul ass to say farewell to Cheryl Numark, who will be closing her gorgeous award-winning space after this show. That opening is on Saturday from 6:30 to 8PM.

Open Studios in DC area

Mid City Artists, is a prominent group of diverse Washington, DC area artists in the U St./Dupont/Logan neighborhoods (talented artists such as Anne Marchand, Robert Cole, Craig Kraft, Sondra Arkin, Colin Winterbottom and others) and they will all unveil new work during their semi-annual Open Studios events coming Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11-12, from 12pm - 5pm.

This two-day event will feature new and varied collections of sculpture, painting, photography and other media. A detailed downloadable map is available on their website at www.midcityartists.com.

Also hosting open studios are the Reeb Hall Studio artists in Arlington, VA. Their Annual Open Studio day will be held on Saturday, November 4 from 2 to 5 p.m. The 13 visual artists currently working at the studio are: Shahla Arbabi, Carlo P. Biggio, Jr., Jane Buckman, Beverly Donnenfeld-Chello, Carol Lopatin, Phillip Loiterstein, Anne McGurk, Kebedech Tekleab, Lee Vaughan, Rick Weaver, Alice Whealin, Linn Woloshin and Cynthia Young.

Details here.

Holocaust Survivor wants her paintings removed from Auschwitz

While I was in Santa Fe I read this story in the local newspaper.

Artist Dina Babbitt was once forced to make a deal with Dr. Josef Mengele (the brutal Nazi doctor who subjected concentration-camp prisoners to ghastly medical experiments). Mengele "needed someone to illustrate his perverse racial theories with portraits of Auschwitz's Gypsy prisoners, an inferior group according to Nazi ideology. A trained artist, she agreed to do the work as the price of saving her mother, as well as herself, from the concentration camp's gas chamber."

In 1973 she discovered that seven of her paintings wound up in a museum at Auschwitz dedicated to preserving a historical record of the Holocaust.

And she wants them back. Read both sides of the story here.