I am always impressed by the courageous tourists who flock to Washington, DC, during the unbearably hot and humid summer months. Particularly so this year when the planet seems determined to break its own heat record on a daily basis. Fortunately, the city is blessed with many museums behind whose walls you can escape the heat. Below are a few choices to consider before wandering through their revolving doors. The good news is, all the exhibitions listed here are free. But be careful, even if you can dodge the heat outdoors, you will be confronted with heated metaphors indoors.
Going Through Hell: The Divine Dante
Jean-Jacques Feuchère “Dante Meditating on the ‘Divine Comedy'” (1843), pen and brown ink with brown wash and watercolor over graphite, heightened with white gouache, on 3 joined sheets of laid paper; overall: 16 5/8 x 14 3/16 inches (image courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington)
The show brings together a small but distinguished selection of works inspired by Dante’s Inferno. The artists include usual suspects like William Blake, Auguste Rodin, and Robert Rauschenberg, who are shown alongside a range of rare objects and prints, all testifying to the wider appeal of Dante’s classic. The anonymous “Allegorical Portrait of Dante” from the 16th century that greets the visitors at the entrance is enough to make you appreciate the fact that you wandered into the gallery. Other treats include a first edition of Gustave Doré’s illustrated Inferno from 1865, which he self-published, and a late-15th-century engraving of the Inferno depicting the same scene from the well-known Camposanto of Pisa fresco.
National Small Works Competition & Exhibition:-
Danuta Muszynska, “Trouble Moon 2” (2022), drypoint & roulette on chine collé, 8 x 8 inches framed (image courtesy Washington Printmakers Gallery)
While DC may be famous for its massive architecture and museums, some people here still like it small. Such are the members of the Washington Print Foundation, who organize a small works competition every year to recognize innovation and experimentation in printmaking. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the competition, and the exhibition highlights the first round of its juried selections. Works from 36 artists offer a satisfying peek into the studios of a much bigger printmaking community, most of whom practice their craft out of love and out of pocket. The range of techniques included in this show includes but is not nearly limited to, collagraphy, stone lithography, solar plates, intaglio, and photopolymer etchings. The spirit of experiment and innovation lives on and a catalogue of the show is available for free online.
