CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
LAST CHANCE!
Ansel Adams
Through January 27, 2008
Ansel Adams takes a new look at the
work of this important and influential photographer through approximately
125 images drawn from The Lane Collection. Acquired by William H. and Saundra B. Lane directly from the artist
during a 10-year period in the early 1960s and 1970s, the photographs showcase Adams’ extraordinary range and span the length
of his six-decade career. Rarely exhibited prints including portraits and
documentary images are presented along with several
of Adams’ iconic landscapes, offering
new insight into one of the very few photographers in the history of the
medium whose name and images enjoy worldwide recognition. While best known
for his dramatic vistas of the American West, Adams is perhaps equally significant
as an innovator of modern photography techniques, a tireless advocate for
the recognition of photography as a fine art, and a passionate leader of
the environmental movement in the United States.
OPENING!
The American Evolution:
A History through Art
March 1–July 27, 2008
A display of more than 200 objects from the Corcoran Gallery
of Art’s world-renowned collection of American art, The American Evolution:
A History through Art presents five overarching themes that have shaped
American culture: Money, Land, Politics, Cultural Exchange, and The Modern
World. These themes are central to the way that the United States has developed, and to the stories
that have become central to our national identity. From
Gilbert Stuart’s stately 18th-century portrait of George Washington to
Andy Warhol’s irreverent 1973 likeness of the Chinese leader Mao Zedong, and from Frederic Edwin Church’s dramatic 1857 view from
the brink of Niagara Falls to Richard Diebenkorn’s abstract
1975 rendering of the suburban expanses of Ocean Park, California, The
American Evolution explores many of the ways that American life and
art have evolved over 250 years.
The European Landscape
Through February 10, 2008
The land provided the master painters of European art with
a vehicle to express both their personal emotional outlook and their wider
vision of life. This exhibition features landscape paintings from the 17th
to 19th centuries from the permanent collection of the Corcoran and will
explore themes of idealism, romanticism, and realism. Works by Dutch masters
Albert Cuyp, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Jan Van Goyen,
British masters John Constable and J.M.W. Turner, and French masters Eugene Boudin, Jean Baptiste Corot, and
Claude Monet will be included with art by other significant European artists.
Wild Choir: Cinematic Portraits by Jeremy
Blake
Through March 2, 2008
Jeremy Blake's hallucinogenic digital
videos combine representational and abstract imagery in the service of
loose and evocative visual narratives. Wild
Choir will feature Blake’s psychological pop portraits, Reading Ossie Clark (2003),
the David Berman collaboration Sodium Fox (2005), and a selection
of recent digital C prints. In addition, the show includes a presentation of his last,
unfinished project—what was to be the third in Blake’s series of cinematic
portraits. Glitterbest was a collaboration
with the legendary and highly influential British fashion designer, boutique
entrepreneur, punk rock band manager (Sex Pistols, New York Dolls, Bow
Wow Wow, and Adam and the Ants), and otherwise
cultural impresario, Malcolm McLaren. Blake’s
cinematic video portraits are the last developments in an emerging career
that consistently challenged distinctions between painting, photography,
and computer and video art—a career that was cut tragically short due to
the artist’s recent death.
Treasures of European Decorative Art and Sculpture
ONGOING
This exhibition features major works of European decorative
arts from the Corcoran’s permanent collection. The galleries focus on key
periods from the history of decorative art and sculpture to illustrate
important themes in the Western tradition and highlight masterpieces from
the collection. The exhibition showcases ceramics,
tapestries, metalwork, marble, and bronze sculpture from Classical Greece
through the Italian Renaissance and 19th-century France. A dramatic display of selections
from the Corcoran’s outstanding collection of carpets from the 16th- to
19th-centuries is also included.
JANUARY PROGRAMS
The Art of Buying Art
Thursday, January 24, 7 p.m.
Reception and Book Signing
Paige West has a lot of good advice to give about collecting
art. A self-described “art addict,” the founder of the contemporary art
gallery, Mixed Greens, and curator of the West Collection—a major private
collection comprised of more than 3,000 works by emerging and contemporary
artists—West has experienced the art market from all sides. In this engaging
and informative talk, she breaks down the mysterious, misunderstood, and
sometimes intentionally controversial world of contemporary art, and provides
practical guidelines and tips for novice and experienced collectors alike.
Following the talk, Paige West signs copies of her latest book, The
Art of Buying Art: An Insider’s Guide to Collecting Contemporary Art (HarperCollins
Publishers, 7/2007). In addition, a light reception is
hosted to honor the Corcoran’s Art to Go commissioned art
program.
Jane Austen Goes to the Movies
Wednesday, January 30, 7 p.m.
Jane Austen has become one of Hollywood’s top screenwriters, with both feature
films and television mini-series to her credit. Independent scholar and
lecturer, Virginia Newmyer, examines the
dramatization of the novels, and whether 20th-century scenarios have improved
on the renowned author. The discussion, illustrated with slides,
interprets the ways in which Jane Austen wove the enduring questions of
power, money, and social class into her romantic comedies, and how the
themes have been transferred to the screen. Several
films and videos are considered, including: Sense and Sensibility (1995
feature film), Pride and Prejudice (1980 BBC mini-series, 1995 BBC/A&E
mini-series), Mansfield Park (1993 feature film), Emma (1996
feature film) and Clueless (1995 feature film), and Persuasion (1995
feature film). In addition, both Becoming Jane, the 2007 feature
film as fictional as the novels, and The Jane Austen Book Club,
very different from the book, are included.
FEBRUARY PROGRAMS
Discovering Picasso
Monday, February 4, 6:30 p.m.
Book signing
In what promises to be an exceptional evening of modern art,
two major scholars take to the Corcoran stage to discuss one of the most renowned
20th-century artists. John Richardson—considered the foremost expert
on Picasso—is joined by Paul Greenhalgh,
the Corcoran’s director and president, to discuss the compelling life and
work of this extraordinary artist. This evening celebrates the release
of the long-awaited third volume of Richardson’s definitive biography of the artist, A
Life of Picasso: The Triumphant Years, 1917–1932. This third volume
reveals Picasso’s important, and historically
ignored, relationship to his wife Olga Khokhlova. The mother to his only legitimate child, Olga
had an indelible effect on Picasso’s life and work, and Richardson—drawing on conversations with Picasso,
interviews, and unpublished archival records materials—unveils just how
influential she was. Together, with images as backdrop, Richardson and
Greenhalgh present a groundbreaking look at the artist at the height of
his powers as never before seen. Members $20, Public $25
Wednesday Jazz
Wednesday, February
6, 12:30 p.m.
Royce Campbell, solo guitar
Jazz at the Corcoran is made possible
by the generous support of The George L. Shields Foundation; the Recording
Industry’s Music Performance Fund, as arranged by the Musicians Local 161–710,
American Federation of Musicians, and contributions from our audiences.
Concerts are free to the public and begin at 12:30
p.m. in the Corcoran’s
Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium.
Contemporary Music Forum’s Verge Ensemble
Sunday, February 10, 4:30 p.m.
Series subscriptions still available!
With
its dedication to cutting-edge programming, the Contemporary Music Forum
does that most important (if rare) thing in music—it takes risks. And as
often as not, as Sunday’s concert at the Corcoran Gallery showed, those
risks pay off, exposing fine and thought-provoking new works.
—The Washington Post, April
24, 2007
For its third concert of the season, VERGE Ensemble presents
a variety of works by African American composers. This special performance
includes music by Washington composers Ysaye Barnwell,
Michael J. Henderson and John Cornelius as well as pieces by Courtney Bryan
and George Walker. There is a pre-concert talk at 4
p.m. hosted by composer Jeffrey Mumford.
Members $15, Public $20
Lithuania's Breakthrough to Freedom: An Evening
of History and Art
Monday, February 11, 7 p.m.
On the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the independence
of Lithuania, Ambassador Audrius Brūzga presents
Professor Vytautas Landsbergis,
Member of the European Parliament, Head of the Lithuanian Parliament, and
the first Head of State of Lithuania after its independence from the Soviet Union in 1990. Professor Landsbergis delivers a rare talk on the
history of Lithuanian's freedom; his presentation is
accompanied by remarkable piano pieces and images of the most famous
Lithuanian artist and composer Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis. Professor
Landsbergis is known as an intellectual, musicologist,
and an internationally renowned politician. He has written numerous books
on a variety of topics, including politics, music, and art. A reception
hosted by the Embassy of Lithuania follows the presentation. This program is
presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Lithuania. Members
$25, Public $30
Hollywood Guts and Glamour
Wednesday, February
13, 7
p.m.
Reception and book signing
Academy Award-nominated costume designer, Deborah Nadoolman Landis is
a Hollywood insider. Holding a PhD in the history of design from the Royal College
of Art, Dr. Landis’ iconic costume for Indiana Jones is on display
at the Smithsonian Institution, her Three Amigos costumes grace
the Autry National Center, and her red jacket for Michael Jackson’s Thriller is
at home at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Landis discusses the rich collaborative
and artistic role of the costume designer in the movies. Author of the
visually stunning new book with more than 800 photographs, Dressed: A Century
of Hollywood Costume Design (HarperCollins, 11/2007), Dr. Landis
signs copies of her book following the talk. Members $15, Public $20
Wednesday Jazz
Wednesday, February 20, 12:30 p.m.
The Dave Wundrow Trio
Jazz at the Corcoran is made possible
by the generous support of The George L. Shields Foundation; the Recording
Industry’s Music Performance Fund, as arranged by the Musicians Local 161–710,
American Federation of Musicians, and contributions from our audiences.
Concerts are free to the public and begin at 12:30
p.m. in the Corcoran’s
Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium.
Future by Design
Wednesday, February
20, 7
p.m.
Renaissance
man Jacque Fresco is both articulate and provocative. Future by Design
offers a portrait of a visionary who sees a world in which high tech
combines with nature to provide a sustainable and comfortable standard
of living for all its citizens.
—Video Librarian Magazine
Future
by Design shares the life and vision of Jacque
Fresco, a futurist, technologist, and inventor known by many as a modern-day Da Vinci.
This documentary film by Academy Award nominated filmmaker William Gazecki captures the life and far-reaching vision of
this master of out-of-the-box thinking. Fresco has spent nearly 80 years
envisioning the future, and his extensive body of work,
in addition to his outspoken and likeable character, make Future
by Design a visually and intellectually engaging exploration into
how our culture can evolve towards true sustainability. Following a screening
of this critically acclaimed film, Mr. Gazecki takes
questions from the audience. Members $15, Public $20
Musical Evening Series: Special Benefit Evening with the Takács Quartet
Friday, February 22, 8 p.m.
Reception
The
consummate artistry of the Takács Quartet is
simply breathtaking.
—The London Guardian
The Takács Quartet is recognized as one of the greatest string quartets and performs
throughout the world. Formed in 1975 in Budapest, the
ensemble is widely known for its award-winning recordings on the Hyperion
and Decca labels, including, most recently, its recording of the complete
Beethoven Quartet Cycle which has been awarded a Grammy, two Gramophone
Awards, the BBC Music Disc of the Year Award, the Classical Brits Award
for Ensemble Album of the Year, and three Japan Record Academy Awards. On
this special evening, the extraordinary Takács Quartet
returns to the Corcoran for a special concert to benefit the Corcoran’s
Musical Evening Series. The Takács Quartet is
Quartet-In-Residence at the University of Colorado in Boulder and its members are Associate Artists
at the South Bank Centre, London; they appear by arrangement with Seldy Cramer Artists. The concert is followed by
an elegant champagne reception with the performers. Members $80, Public
$90
Program: Haydn, String Quartet
in F Major, Op. 74 No. 2, Hob. III 74; Bartók, String Quartet No. 5; Brahms, String Quartet
in a minor, Op. 51 No. 2
An Evening with David Berman
Thursday, February 28, 7 p.m.
David Berman is the subject of Sodium Fox, one of the
two complete portraits featured in the Corcoran’s exhibition Wild Choir:
Cinematic Portraits by Jeremy Blake. An American songwriter, and the
man behind the beloved rock band, Silver Jews, David Berman has until recently
avoided the spotlight (waiting 15 years and five albums before taking the
Silver Jews on tour in 2006), and yet his tragicomic bearing and influential
works continue to capture critical acclaim and attention around the world.
The Corcoran is honored to have Mr. Berman on
our stage for a rare and intimate evening as he honors the memory of Jeremy
Blake. An exhibition viewing of Wild Choir: Cinematic Portraits by Jeremy Blake
follows the program. Members $15, Public $20
MARCH PROGRAMS
Wednesday Jazz
Wednesday, March 5, 12:30 p.m.
Rick Whitehead, solo guitar
Jazz at the Corcoran is made possible
by the generous support of The George L. Shields Foundation; the Recording
Industry’s Music Performance Fund, as arranged by the Musicians Local 161–710,
American Federation of Musicians, and contributions from our audiences.
Concerts are free to the public and begin at 12:30
p.m. in the Corcoran’s
Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium.
At Home with History: Historic Homes
in D.C.
Wednesday, March 5, 7 p.m.
Reception
On this compelling and instructive evening, a panel of experts
highlights and demystifies the world of historic homes and districts in
our nation's capital. Whether you currently live in an historic home, are
considering purchasing or renovating one, or you are just curious about
the city's architectural history and tradition, this evening is not to be missed. The panel touches on a number of subjects, from
D.C.'s historic districts and landmarks and the eras of building in the
city, to the pros and cons of owning an historic property and the ins and
outs of historic preservation today. In addition, they provide practical
tips on historic designation, renovation and preservation of historic homes.
A reception follows the talk. Members $15, Public $20
Acoustic Americana with Dead Men's Hollow
Thursday, March 6, 7 p.m.
There is no better group to present an evening of song from
our nation's vast repertoire than local group, Dead Men's Hollow. Presenting
music that is not quite bluegrass, not quite old-time, and not quite gospel,
but rather a combination of the three and then some, this popular and acclaimed
group performs sacred American traditional songs with a generous serving
of witty originals and turn in performances that are “live and lively,
and oh, so powerful”(Joe Ross, Bluegrass Now magazine). Dead Men's
Hollow is fronted by three-part female harmonies and backed by fiddle,
upright bass, and guitar; in 2005 they won three
Washington Area Music Association "Wammie" awards
for Best Bluegrass Duo/Group, Best Bluegrass Recording, and Best Debut
Recording. On this toe-tapping night of American music, they sing songs
from our nation's history, inspired by works in the Corcoran's exhibition, The
American Evolution: A History through Art. Members $20, Public $25
Waste=Food: Environmental Movements in Design
Thursday, March 13, 7 p.m.
Presented in cooperation with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's
Capital
This stunning film, directed by Rob van Hattum,
delivers an exciting introduction to the work of American architect and
designer William McDonough and German ecological chemist Michael Braungart, two gentlemen who very
well may be starting a new industrial revolution. Taking their cue from
nature's conversion of animal waste into plant nutrients and vice versa,
McDonough and Braungart have created a “cradle-to-cradle”
protocol in which every product, once discarded, is somehow usable whether
it becomes another product or breaks down into non-toxic “food” for the
biosphere or the technosphere. Waste=Food shows
their principles at work in a host of guises, from the revamped Ford Motors
production facility in Detroit, to a line of recycled (and recyclable)
shoes at Nike, to a modest village under construction in China. Architect Lance Hosey,
AIA, LEED AP, Director of William McDonough + Partners, answers questions
following the screening. Members $12, Public $15
Wednesday Jazz
Wednesday, March 19, 12:30 p.m.
The Dave Bond Trio
Jazz at the Corcoran is made possible
by the generous support of The George L. Shields Foundation; the Recording
Industry’s Music Performance Fund, as arranged by the Musicians Local 161–710,
American Federation of Musicians, and contributions from our audiences.
Concerts are free to the public and begin at 12:30
p.m. in the Corcoran’s
Frances and Armand Hammer Auditorium.
Best Cellars Presents an American Tour of Wine
Wednesday, March 26, 7 p.m.
Inspired by the works in the Corcoran's exhibition, The
American Evolution: A History through Art, Best Cellars presents
a delicious evening of wine tasting. Enjoy a variety of American wines
paired with award-winning farmstead cheeses, as Brett Freeman, director
of operations at Best Cellars—and one of the area's most entertaining
wine and food authorities—artfully describes the matching of the two.
Eight wines and eight cheeses are served throughout
the evening, and in combination with Freeman's grape-stained expertise,
the evening is sure to set your tongues wagging and your taste buds tingling!
Members $50, Public $60
Perspectives Gallery Talk: The Corcoran Collects
Thursday, March 27, 6:30 p.m.
Join former Corcoran archivist Marisa Bourgoin on
a history-filled tour through the Corcoran's renowned American collection
on display in the exhibition, The American Revolution: A History through
Art. The Corcoran's archivist for more than a decade, and author of
the popular newsletter and web feature TWITCH (This Week in the
Corcoran's History), Ms. Bourgoin offers a perspective on the collection that few
others can. Drawing on primary source accounts and years of study, she
opens the Corcoran's vaults and shares historical tidbits and little-known
information about this historic museum and its collection. Ms. Bourgoin currently serves as the Richard Manoogian Chief of Reference Services at the Archives of
American Art. Complimentary with Gallery admission.
Musical Evening Series: Jupiter Quartet
Friday, March 28, 8 p.m.
Reception
Their tone quality is pleasing, their style polished, their
equilibrium secure, and their intonation superb.
–The Boston Globe
The Jupiter String Quartet, based in Boston, has recently been awarded the Cleveland
Quartet Award by Chamber Music America, a prize which “honors
and promotes a rising young string quartet whose artistry demonstrates
that it is in the process of establishing a major career.” They have also been selected to join Lincoln Center’s Chamber Music Society Two for a
three-year residency beginning in 2007. In 2004, the quartet won the
Grand Prize in the Fischoff National Chamber
Music Competition and First Prize in the 8th Banff
International String Quartet Competition, where they were also awarded
the Szekely Prize for the best performance of a Beethoven quartet. The
Austin Critics Table honored them with the Award for Outstanding Chamber
Music Performance in 2006. Winners of the 2005 Young Concert Artists
International Auditions, the quartet holds the YCA’s Helen F. Whitaker Chamber Music Chair. Program:
Mendelssohn: Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80, Britten: Quartet
No. 3, Op. 94, Brahms: Sextet for Strings in G Major, Op. 26 with
Roger Tapping and Natasha Brofsky. Members $45, Public $55
GENERAL INFORMATION
Corcoran Gallery of
Art and College of Art + Design
(202) 639-1700
Museum Hours
Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Thursday: 10
a.m.–9 p.m.
Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
The Gallery is
closed Tuesdays.
::
View images and further details from this exhibition
 |
CONTACT:
Kristin Guiter
Manager of Media Relations
(202) 639-1867,
kguiter@corcoran.org
Media Resources:
Advance Exhibition Schedule
Archived
Press Releases
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