Sculpture on the Move

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UMD Appel installation 1_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland. All photos: Sarah Corley

You might notice that the large, colorful sculpture from the corner of 21st and Q Streets, NW, is gone. This work, The Elephant by Karel Appel, has found a new home at the University of Maryland! Here are some behind-the-scenes photos of the move and installation; check back for a video.

UMD Appel installation 2_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland.

UMD Appel installation 3_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland.

UMD Appel installation 4_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland.

UMD Appel installation 5_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland.

UMD Appel installation 6_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland.

UMD Appel installation 7_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland.

UMD Appel installation 8_Sarah Corley

Installing Karel Appel’s The Elephant at the University of Maryland.

 

At the Races

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Each week for the duration of the exhibition, we’ll focus on works of art from Toulouse-Lautrec Illustrates the Belle Époque, on view Feb. 4 through April 30, 2017.

Jockey, The_Toulouse-Lautrec

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Jockey, 1899. Crayon, brush, and spatter lithograph, printed in six colors. Key stone printed in black, color stones in turquoise-green, red, brown, gray-beige and blue on China paper. State II/II, 20 3/8 × 14 1/4 in. Private collection

In 1899, Toulouse-Lautrec’s family committed him without consent to a clinic on the rue de Madrid, Neuilly. He expressed despair to his father: “I am locked up and anything that is locked up dies.” Excursions to the Bois de Boulogne, where the famous Longchamp Racecourse was located, provided him with some diversions. His final lithographs show animals, sporting events, and outdoor activities, subjects fondly remembered from his youth. The Jockey is from a series of four racing prints. This dynamic work, the only one published, places the viewer amid the action. The jockeys rise out of their saddles and encourage their horses down the track. The print shows Toulouse-Lautrec’s awareness of Eadweard Muybridge’s pioneering photographs of a horse at a gallop and Edgar Degas’s influential paintings and drawings of horses with their jockeys.

A Familiar Face

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TL mural Adams Morgan

Toulouse-Lautrec inspired mural in Washington, DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood. Photo: Britta Galanis

On the bustling sidewalks of 18th Street, NW, in DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood, you might notice something familiar. A vibrant mural of one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s most famous posters of the singer Aristide Bruant has been residing in the area for over a decade. Starting off as Café Lautrec, the space is a 2,100 square foot storefront that was owned by André Neveux. The café’s name later changed to Café Toulouse. Neveux, who was the original owner of the space, painted the mural on the building. It has since closed, but the mural lives on.

We here at the Phillips can’t help but chuckle at the parallels between the proximity of Toulouse-Lautrec works and Tryst café. This Toulouse-Lautrec inspired mural is just a few storefronts down from the original Tryst café, and our current Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition is just a couple of floors up from Tryst at the Phillips.

Britta Galanis, Marketing & Communications Intern