Who would have thought the National Portrait Gallery would turn out to be such a great museum. The presidential portraits are a snooze, but the changing exhibits at the gallery are really interesting.I went by on Sunday to catch another glimpse of "RECOGNIZE! Hip Hop and Contemporary Portraiture." Mainly I just wanted to see the Kehinde Wiley portraits. He should definitely do Barack's presidential portrait. The presidential portrait exhibit needs some color (in more ways than one).
There is also a surprisingly good exhibit of Ansel Adams and Georgia O'Keefe. I don't know why I wasn't expecting much, perhaps because the last O'Keefe exhibit I saw in Portland, Maine didn't have much going on. The Portrait Gallery had some truly exceptional paintings. O'Keefe captured the essence of things.
The "Women of Our Time: Twentieth-Century Photographs" had some interesting choices. My personal favorite, in the little known women category, was Jeannette Rankin. She was the first woman elected to congress (1916). What's even more amazing is that she was a pacifist and still got elected. Granted her career backslid when she voted not to enter World War I and it was destroyed when she was the only congressperson to vote not to enter World War II. You have to admire someone who sticks to their ethics no matter what it costs them.
Those were some of the highlights this time around. This is a definite must stop if you are visiting DC.
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