SEE! THE INCREDIBLE Bay of Naples frescoes. Discover! A reconstructed dining room from south of Pompeii. Explore! Art from Pompeiian courtyards and gardens, evoking Plato's Academy. A show not to be missed.
"Pompeii and the Roman Villa: Art and Culture Around the Bay of Naples" includes more than 150 first-century BCE mosaics, sculptures and paintings, including recent discoveries on view in the U.S. for the first time.
» National Gallery of Art, 400 Constitution Ave. NW; Oct. 19-March 22; 202-737-4215. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
TOUCHSTONE GALLERY offers a glimpse into daily life in Afghanistan through the works of Dutch photographer Hans Stakelbeek, who shows that, despite the 1980 Soviet invasion, Taliban rule and the U.S. invasion, the country's everyday rituals and stark beauty survive.
Photo by Hans Stakelbeek
ARTISTS Julie Girardini, whose "Book Boat" is above; Ken Girardini; Susan Klebanoff and Joan Konkel contribute their "Singular" visions to a Zenith Gallery group show that emphasizes their proficiency with a wide range of materials and their vividly idiosyncratic processes.
MANY AMERICANS STRUGGLE with the question of giving back — how can we juggle helping with our high-paced jobs? Oh, and with all the leisure activities we enjoy? Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger, has found a way to marry the two.
The Great American Dine Out is a nationwide campaign that recruits restaurants — both chain and independent — to contribute a portion of their profits to Share Our Strength from Sept. 21-28. Several D.C. favorites have jumped on the charity wagon. That's where your appetite and wallet come in.
If you've been meaning to try Rasika, now is the time. It's tough to go wrong, but seafood appetizers, the savory chaats and any of the lamb entrees (the roganjosh, particularly) are all a sure thing.
Continue Reading "Eat Well to Help Those Who Can't: The Great American Dine Out" »
POP QUIZ: The Treaty of Paris
A) marked Hitler's conquest of France
B) required Americans to be disdainful of the French forevermore or
C) ended the American Revolution.
For those who answered C), isn't it fun to Google on your iPhone? Anyway, yes, the Treaty of Paris is one of the most important documents in American history, and, as of Friday, it will be on display at the National Archives. George Washington had to fight a war for it, but you can see it for free.
» National Archives, 9th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; opens Fri., through Sept. 3; 202-357-5000. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
BEFORE THERE WERE embarrassing candid photos of political figures, there were cartoons. The National Archives' exhibit of the work of virtuoso caricaturist Clifford Berryman is in its final week, and if you haven't seen it yet — what are you waiting for? An invitation?
Your wish is granted:
Dear Reader,
You are cordially invited to enjoy "Running for Office," a display of political wit in a visual format. Berryman's work appeared in Washington newspapers for 50 years (from 1898 to 1948) and his drawings incisively skewer a political town that hasn't changed as much as we sometimes like to think it has.
» National Archives, Constitution Ave and 7th St. NW; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, free; 202-357-5000. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
Image courtesy National Archives
EVERYONE HAS the Olympics on the brain these days. Anything related to the Olympics makes it into the public eye, and the National Archives can't let itself be left out. So, they're got a display of a memo from the Chinese government in the 1970s inviting the U.S. ping-pong — excuse me, "table tennis" — team to come visit the country.
Do the powers that be really think "table tennis" sounds more dignified or something? Come on, guys.
» National Archives and Records Administration, Constitution Avenue and Seventh Street NW; 10 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Aug. 28, free; 866-272-6272. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post
KIDS OVERHEATING like a Model T's radiator? Retreat from the heat — and learn a little something — at the National Gallery of Art's Reel Fun kids' film program.
A collection of animated short films, each five to 10 minutes long, the series runs for two days this weekend and provides the perfect alternative to sweating your suntan lotion off and screaming at little Montana and Jasmine to "Sit down. NOW!"
» National Gallery of Art, 4th Street & Constitution Ave. NW; Sat., 10:30 & 11:30 a.m., Sun., 11:30 a.m., free; 202-789-3030. (Archives-Navy Memorial)
Image courtesy National Gallery of Art
NESTLED IN A remote corner of the National Gallery, the exhibit "Max Ernst — The Illustrated Books" is barely noticeable. There are no plaques on the wall to explain anything about the works on display, and the 20 or so monochrome images stare from behind glass at a small, almost entirely empty room. Few museum-goers pay any attention, instead using the room as passage between other parts of the gallery.
Perhaps this is fitting. Ernst's three collage novels, the focus of "The Illustrated Books," have been all but forgotten since the artist — also a prolific painter and sculptor — pasted them together in the '20s and '30s. But if Picasso is often credited with the invention of the collage, it's only fair that Ernst be given the honor of having perfected it.
Continue Reading "Surrealist Collage: 'Max Ernst — The Illustrated Books'" »
ANNUALLY SINCE 2003, Randy Haberkamp, the Director of Educational Programs at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has turned back the calendar 100 years. On Thursday, the National Archives welcomes his latest evening of shorts, "A Century Ago: The Films of 1907."
As expected when silents are screened, there will be music, on this occasion provided by performer/composer Michael Mortilla. But the medium itself has undergone such drastic change that a tour guide is now required. Haberkamp will be on hand to provide some context.
Pathé Frères' "The Life and Passion of Jesus Christ" will be offered only in selected scenes — just as exhibitors were invited to do when the film was a box-office smash.
"You could buy individual shots," Haberkamp explains. "So if you thought, 'Well, I'm gonna save a little money,' or, 'I don't need the middle story — I'm just gonna do the Nativity and the Crucifixion and skip all the rest of it,'" that option was open. "It was very free-form, and the exhibitors had a lot of control over content."
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