The Snow Roller

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Sarah Osborne Bender

Rockwell Kent, The Road Roller, 1909. Oil on canvas, 34 1/8 x 44 1/4 in. Acquired 1918. The Phillips Collection, Washington DC

Every time I come to work in the snow, I think of this painting. While living in Dublin, New Hampshire, a place far more acquainted with snow than DC, Rockwell Kent painted what he himself referred to as his “best known example of that winter’s work.” Moving powerfully down the driveway of the house he shared with his friend Gerald Thayer, the roller packed the snow on the roads to make way for horse-drawn sleighs. This is one of the few paintings Kent preceded with a preliminary sketch, housed in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Van Gogh Paints the Working Class

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Experiment Station

Vincent van Gogh, The Road Menders, 1889. Oil on canvas, 29 x 36 1/2 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Acquired 1949.

Throughout his career, van Gogh was very interested in depicting the lives of the working class. In The Road Menders, he paints laborers in the French town Saint-Rémy.

How many different workers can you find in this composition? Look at the figures’ postures, and their surroundings. What words would you use to describe the characters? How do you think van Gogh felt about them?

Kojo Digs Van Gogh

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Experiment Station

WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi and Phillips Curator Eliza Rathbone discuss Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait of Joseph Roulin. Photo: Amy Wike

This year, WAMU is celebrating Kojo Nnamdi (of the popular The Kojo Nnamdi show) with Kojo Digs, a tumblr that highlights some of his favorite DC spots. The Phillips is his pick for January, so Exhibition Curator Eliza Rathrbone took the radio personality on a quick tour through Van Gogh Repetitions earlier this week. For more pictures from the visit, head to Kojo Digs.

Kojo Nnamdi and Eliza Rathbone tour the Van Gogh Repetitions exhibition. Photos: Amy Wike