Sitka: A Piano Documentary

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Experiment Station

I’m so excited about yesterday’s launch of H. Paul Moon’s exquisitely designed Sitka: A Piano Documentary! It’s about the rebuilding of The Phillips Collection’s piano, now lovingly called “Sitka,” after the 600–800 year-old Sitka spruce tree native to Alaska from which the new soundboard was made. This film offers a fascinating and beautiful look into what exactly happens at PianoCraft, what I call a ‘hot-rod shops for pianos,’ and how they masterfully dealt with our piano from the inside out. Hearty congratulations, Paul!

Caroline Mousset, Director of Music

Collection Comparisons: Rouault’s Seascapes

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Experiment Station

In the Collection Comparisons series, we pair one work from Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland with a similar work from the Phillips’s own permanent collection.

(left) Georges Rouault, Landscape with Red Sail, 1939. Oil on paper laid down on gauze, 19 3/4 x 33 in. Im Obersteg Foundation, permanent loan to the Kunstmuseum Basel. Photo © Mark Gisler, Müllheim. Image © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris (right) Georges Rouault, Afterglow, Galilee, before 1931. Oil on paper mounted on canvas, 19 3/4 x 25 5/8 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC, Acquired 1939 © 2015 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

As Georges Rouault explained, “My real life is back in the age of the cathedrals,” a sentiment reflected in his art. After 1930, Rouault developed a new style in which he used the motifs of landscape and seascape to explore religious themes. In Landscape with Red Sail, atmospheric colors painted in thick tactile layers reveal a single boat at sea, perhaps on a spiritual journey. Painted at Rouault’s Paris studio on rue Martignac, this work was displayed with canvases by Chaïm Soutine, André Derain and Maurice Utrillo at Karl Im Obersteg’s residence.

Duncan Phillips also responded to Rouault’s religious landscapes. In 1939, he purchased a painting similar in style and motif, Afterglow, Galilee.

Join Our Community Collection

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Experiment Station

Stop by this station in the Gauguin to Picasso exhibition to contribute to our community collection.

What’s in your collection? We want to know! Our in-gallery interactive in the Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland exhibition asks visitors to draw an example of what they collect. We’ve had more than 700 submissions to date; we’ll begin highlighting some of your collections here on the blog. Create your own at home and share it with #PhillipsGoesSwiss.