Titles for our in-gallery activity in the American Moments exhibition have run the seasonal gamut. “Snow or sand?” seems to be a subject of debate. What do you think? Let us know by submitting your own title via social media using #AmericanMoments.
Credits clockwise from top left: Ellie from Alexandria, VA; Lourdes Revinejo from Washington, DC; Susan from DC; Dr. Eugene R. Muth from Arlington, VA; Raki Jones from Washington, DC; and Clair Weatherby from Washington, DC.
Harry Callahan, Untitled, between 1972 and 1975. Gelatin silver print 8 x 10 in. The Phillips Collection, Washingotn, DC. Gift of Fern M. Schad, 2005.
Our Title This! in-gallery interactive in the American Moments exhibition, which asks visitors to title an untitled photograph by Harry Callahan, has received hundreds of responses. Several visitors recall specific locations throughout the American landscape:
Reading, PA (Becky Weidner)
Dunes, Santa Monica (Bill)
Sand Dunes, Plum Island (Drew from Washington, DC)
The Cape, MA (Gertrude Friedman from Arlington, VA)
Looks like Michigan (Kelsey from Ann Arbor, MI)
Does the photograph remind you of someplace you’ve been? Let us know via social media with #AmericanMoments.
David Burkiuk, Farm at Bear Mountain, 1925, Oil on burlap canvas 18 1/8 x 12 7/8 in.; 46.0375 x 32.7025 cm.. Acquired 1929.
David Burliuk’s Farm at Bear Mountain (1925) is vigorously expressionistic, using color to convey Burliuk’s intense personal feelings about the landscape. Painted with rhythmic strokes, wiry lines, and strong colors, it is an ode to nature in late summer. Its predominantly saturated verdant palette is evocative of a lush summer with plenty of sun and rain. While warm highlights on the foliage and rooftops of farm buildings capture the effects of the sun, deeper greens and blues, found in the denser areas of trees, suggest the fresh, cool air of the shade. Burliuk further increases the dynamism of the painting by using a vertical format, thus denying the viewer a panoramic vista, creating a tension with the inherit nature of landscape painting.
