January #Phillips95 Challenge: Lightplay

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Experiment Station

Installation view of Ellsworth Kelly’s 2013 exhibition at The Phillips Collection. Photo: Lee Stalsworth

For the first monthly #Phillips95 social media challenge of the year, we’re taking inspiration from Ellsworth Kelly, who passed away at the age of 92 last month. Among his many contributions to the art world, Kelly was known for blurring the lines between painting, drawing, and sculpture, creating irregularly shaped canvases, layered reliefs, and engaging light and shadow as elements in his work.

YOUR CHALLENGE: Take a photo that plays with light and shadow and share it with #Phillips95 for a chance to win two tickets (+ two free drinks!) to Phillips after 5: Opposites Attract on February 4. We’ll announce winners Jan. 19. NOTE: we can only see your submissions if your account is public.

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Depending on the time of day it’s viewed, Kelly’s Untitled (EK927) can be a completely different visual experience. (left: Lee Stalsworth; right: Instagrammer @bedspring)

Visitors @papershadow and @riotmary found moments of lightplay in and around the Phillips on their trips to the museum.

A Passion for Books

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Experiment Station

Kathleen captured not only the books she collects, but also the environment in which she enjoys them in this contribution to our community collection

The collecting instinct reaches its apotheosis in books.–Lawrence Clark Powell, “The Loves Have I,” in A Passion for Books, 1958

Nearly 5% of participants in our Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland interpretive station have shared their passion for collecting books. With reasons ranging from gaining knowledge, traveling to faraway places, enjoying the pure act of reading, or thinking of books as friends, the Phillips is a haven for bookworms of all types.

Share your love of books, or whatever you collect, by visiting the exhibition or creating your own at home and share it with #PhillipsGoesSwiss. Join us at tonight’s Phillips after 5 to participate in a community collection project!

Elizabeth,a visitor from Takoma Park, is also an avid reader and book collector

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Davita and Shannon collect books because “they hold the world’s wisdom”

Hannah collects “all kinds, all sizes” of books

Marc Chagall’s Powerful Portraits: Part 3

Posted on January 7, 2016 by Experiment Station

Marc Chagall, Jew in Red, 1914. Oil on cardboard laid down on canvas, 39 3/4 x 31 7/8 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Marc Chagall’s three monumental portraits from 1914, Jew in Red, Jew in Black and White, and Jew in Green, are on view in Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland. Read more about Jew in Black and White here, and Jew in Green here.

Chagall’s Jew in Red is a bearded man holding a cane and a bag of belongings. He has been interpreted as Ahasver, the eternal Wandering Jew, or perhaps even Chagall, the displaced artist—a foreigner in his homeland. On the white curtain at left, in Hebrew, Latin, and Cyrillic, are names of artists that Chagall admired in Paris: Paul Cézanne, Gustave Courbet, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin, El Greco, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Jean Fouquet, Vincent van Gogh, Cimabue, Giotto, and Tintoretto.