Author Archives: Sarah Osborne Bender

Boffo, Socko, Phillips

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We’ve explored Phillips connections popping up in Fred Astaire movies, spy novels, and clothing store displays. But right now, we’re overrun with superheroes.

Our Rothko appears unscathed in this explosive scene from Iron Man 3.

Our Rothko appears unscathed in this explosive scene from Iron Man 3.

Assistant Registrar Gretchen Martin confirmed Director of Membership Jeff Petrie’s hunch that in Iron Man 3, the Rothko painting hanging on the wall of Tony Stark’s Malibu mansion as he and Pepper Potts are sent flying after a blow up is in fact our Ochre and Red on Red (1954). Spoiler alert? Oh well, it’s in the trailer. You’ll see the Phillips thanked in the credits if you’re one to stay ’till the bitter end. On Thursday, we’ll sacrifice some street parking to help the filming of Captain America. Bringing you the big stars and the big explosions is just part of our work here at the museum. You’re welcome.

Let Angels, Demons, Savages Surprise You: Closes Sunday

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Alfonso Ossorio, Perpetual Sacrifice, 1949

Alfonso Ossorio, Perpetual Sacrifice, 1949. Ink, wax, and watercolor on board, 40 x 30 in. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Gift of Paul and Hannah Tillich

Don’t miss this incredible show, closing Sunday. Like me, you might be surprised at what you see. This Ossorio work, Perpetual Sacrafice, for example, stopped me in my tracks. When I first stood before it, I saw LA graffiti, I saw Swoon, I saw tattoo art, I saw comic books; modern, urban, loaded with icons and references. And yet, this is a work from 1949 by the erudite, wealthy, Filipino-American artist and collector Alfonso Ossorio. After you see the show on the third floor, be sure to stop on the second floor, around the corner from the Rothko Room, where you’ll find an installation of Ossorio’s Recovery Drawings, created 40 years later during a hospital stay. Having catalogued a facsimile volume of these drawings, I can say that the energy Ossorio captures in all of his works, from mixed media in the 1940s and ’50s to felt tipped marker in the 1980s, can produce a remarkable sensation in the viewer.