Lunar New Year: Year of the Horse Day 1

As we prepared to observe the Chinese or Lunar New Year, year of the horse, we realized just how many horses we have in the collection. Lots! And so, in honor of all 15 days of the Lunar New Year festivities, we bring you 15 days of horses to start your year off right.

Peppino Mangravite, Ecstatic Colt, 1928, Oil on canvas

Peppino Mangravite, Ecstatic Colt, 1928, Oil on canvas 24 1/4 x 30 in.; 61.595 x 76.2 cm. Acquired 1929. The Phillips Collection, Washington DC.

The Best of #Instavangogh

As Van Gogh Repetitions winds down, so too does our #instavangogh competition. We were blown away by the creativity, enthusiasm, and fun people had with our beard cutouts modeled after the Postman Joseph Roulin. Here’s just a few of our favorites.

These irresistibly cuddly pets who sent our cute-o-dometers off the charts:

instavangogh_pets

Clockwise from top left: submissions from @melissajosefina, @spanuska, @louisvuittonlvoer, and @LindleyThornburg

These creative thinkers who took their beards one step further than most; students from the Nysmith School in Virginia created their own colorful versions, and the folks from the Auberge Ravoux, van Gogh’s last home, sent #instavangogh greetings from across the ocean.

instavangogh_creativity

left: submission from @nysmithschool, right: submission from @christianjosi

Participant @marklindamood, who van Gogh-ified van Gogh himself:

instavangogh_inception

Submissions from @marklindamood

These couples who were split between excitement and annoyance toward the photo opp:

instavangogh_opposites

Left: submission from @virginiahewitt, right: submission from @cassusmith

These die-hard fans who pulled out all of the van Gogh stops:

instavangogh_multiples

Left: submission from @vtlinda, right: submission from @bosley_lisa

These commendable feats of coordination, each interpreting his or her repetition in a unique way:

instavangogh_repetitions

Left: submission from @ejshuq, Right: submission from @amandaduchemin

Check out the rest of the submissions on our #Instavangogh Pinterest board, and don’t miss your chance to see the exhibition before it closes this Sunday, February 2!

 

A Little Sun and a Whole Lot of Light

What would you do with your very own little sun? Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and engineer Frederik Ottesen created this solar-powered LED lamp in an effort to get affordable and reliable light to areas across the globe without electricity. Five hours of charging yields three hours of bright light. Learn more at Phillips after 5 on Feb. 6, where we’ll be screening a short film on the Little Sun Project, and join in on some Twitter trivia for a chance to win one!

The February Phillips after 5 celebrates all things light with the Nordic embassies, from innovative Nordic lamp design to gallery talks on how artists use light in their work to an aurora borealis-inspired light show outside of the museum and in the Music Room. Follow the Phillips on Twitter that evening and answer #NordicLights trivia questions for a chance to win one of five Little Sun lamps (and other fun prizes).