Harold Weston, Winds, Upper Ausable Lake, 1922. Oil on canvas, 16 1/8 x 22 3/16 in. Gift of Mrs. Harold Weston, 1981. The Phillips Collection, Washington DC.
This work by Harold Weston, part of the Made in the USA exhibition, captures the power of the wind in the pulsing ripples on the surface of the lake, bright morning sunlight glinting off each peak.
To celebrate the opening of Made in the USA, we held a series of tweetups in the weeks leading up to the exhibition. Participants used #MyAmericanArt to share photos of their behind-the-scenes preview with friends. We started with a tour from exhibition curator Susan Behrends Frank:
TWEETS (Clockwise from top left): “‘Everything is pushed to the corners.’ #myamericanart,” @sam_theriault; “Can a work of art be too realistic? People thought this one was at the time it was done. #MyAmericanArt,” @sbanks20; “Rockwell Kent went into nature to capture grittiness and drama: witness ‘The Road Roller.’ #myamericanart,” @museums365; “Great seeing 200+ old faves back from tour & home @PhillipsMuseum ‘Made in the USA,'” @efstewart; “Moving on to the Degrees of Abstraction room with Avery painting #myamericanart,” @jackievicino
Moved to the conservation lab to hear insights from Associate Conservator Patti Favero:
TWEETS (Clockwise from top left): “In the conservation room @PhillipsMuseum! #MyAmericanArt,” @swahilary; “I would die for these @KremerPigments in the @PhillipsMuseum conservation studio. #MyAmericanArt,” @studio9201; “Our tweeters get a chance to look at a #Gauguin through the microscope #myamericanart,” @phillipsmuseum; “Restoration and conservation tools. #myamericanart #phillipscollection #art #dc,” @sam_theriault
Then pieced together our own masterpieces based on works from the exhibition:
TWEETS (Clockwise from top left): “Now we’re making our own art! (With snacks) #myamericanart,” @philipsmuseum; “Before and after shot of collaborative art project at @PhillipsMuseum #myamericanart tweetup! You were a great host!” @danamuses; “Stefan Hirsch’s New York, Lower Manhattan, as interpreted by today’s #MyAmericanArt tweetup.” @Phillipsmuseum; “Before and after! #picstitch #myamericanart,” @VanitaKataria
See the rest of what our tweetup participants had to say on the Phillips’s Storify account, and join the conversation with #MyAmericanArt!
Since Made in the USA: American Masters from The Phillips Collection, 1850–1970 opened, visitors have shared their ideas about what Miss Amelia Van Buren, the subject of Thomas Eakins’s painting, may be thinking.
We’ve gotten 75 submissions so far via a comment station in the galleries and social media.
What do you think Amelia is thinking? Instagram a photo or Tweet your ideas using #MyAmericanArt.
Below are some highlights from the first week of the exhibition. We love the creativity!
Visitor submissions from our talkback station in the galleries.
