BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit)

DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit):

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks including AI scrapers can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. SIRGOC_151110_001.JPG: Dale Chihuly Seafoam and Amber Tipped Chandelier, 1994 One of the hallmarks of Dale Chihuly's career has been his search for architectural grandeur in a medium known for smaller scale. In 1992 he was inspired by a light fixture in a Spanish restaurant to begin a series of 'chandeliers' -- large-scale nonfunctional sculptures with a dramatic presence in the space surrounding them, each made of hundreds of thousands of repeated elements. This chandelier is among the first and finest of these works. It was commissioned in 1994 for an oceanfront residence on Long Island, with shimmering seafoam colors and fanciful shell shapes echoing the seascape outside.
2. SIRGOC_151110_054.JPG: William W Corcoran Inscribed over the entrance to the building, the phrase "Dedicated to Art" asserts the Renwick Gallery's mission as the nation's first purpose-built museum devoted exclusively to the exhibition of art. The gallery was the brainchild of banker and philanthropist William W. Corcoran. Born in America to immigrant parents, Corcoran made his fortune during the Mexican-American War (1846-48) when his banking firm Corcoran and Riggs became the major lending agent to the US government. Corcoran retired early to pursue a lifelong passion for collecting American heart. He was eager to demonstrate that American artists were just as accomplished as their European counterparts. He shrewdly chose the location for his art gallery just steps from the White House, its proximity marked by a red dot on the aerial image above. In selecting this property, Corcoran instantaneously elevated the importance of American art in the eyes of the nation.
3. SIRGOC_151110_056.JPG: Riggs Bank building (formerly Corcoran and Riggs), on the corner of 15th and Pennsylvania Avenue, 1888.
4. SIRGOC_151110_058.JPG: View of the President's House, the surrounding public buildings, and private residences, 1857.
5. SIRGOC_151110_061.JPG: The American Louvre In 1859 Corcoran hired the preeminent architect of the day, forty-year-old James Renwick, to fulfill his vision. Renwick had designed such architectural icons as New York City's Saint Patrick's Cathedral (1858) and the Smithsonian Castle (1848) in Washington DC. These famous buildings embodied the pastoral and neo-medieval style in which Renwick was used to working. Yet for the building whose sole purpose was the "perpetual establishment and encouragement of Painting, Sculpture, and the Fine Arts," Corcoran's gallery required a fresh, modern design. A trip to Paris inspired the young architect to model the gallery after a recent addition to the Louvre Museum built in the new French Second Empire style, universally considered chic, urban, and modern. Corcoran's gallery would be the first building in the United States to be constructed in this fashion-forward style.
6. SIRGOC_151110_064.JPG: Pavilion of the Louvre, ca 1926, stereograph
7. SIRGOC_151110_067.JPG: The Civil War Construction on the museum was nearly complete in 1861 when progress came to a halt with the onset of the Civil War. Our nation's deadliest conflict to date, the war tore the nation in two and turned Washington DC into a key base of operations for the Union Army. The spacious gallery's close proximity to the White House led it to be commandeered for use as the Quartermaster General's office, headed by military engineer General Montgomery C Meigs. He was responsible for providing supplies to the Union Army, such as uniforms, horses, and camp provisions; the gallery was used for administrative offices and supply storage. Corcoran, a southern sympathizer, decided it best to relocate to Paris for the duration of the war, where he continued to collect art for his gallery.
8. SIRGOC_151110_070.JPG: Cavalry depot and Corcoran's private art building in Washington DC ca 1861
9. SIRGOC_151110_073.JPG: Staff on steps of Quartermaster General's office, Corcoran's Building, 1865
10. SIRGOC_151110_077.JPG: Corcoran's Art Building, ca 1864
11. SIRGOC_151110_079.JPG: Corcoran's Art Gallery The federal government returned the building to Corcoran in 1869, and he returned to his gallery project with renewed energy. He provided an endowment to ensure the acquisition of new artworks and created a board of trustees to oversee operations. In 1870 the gallery was chartered by an Act of Congress, declaring it "a Public Gallery and Museum for the promotion of the arts." "Corcoran's Gallery of Art" officially opened to the public in 1874 and was hailed as "a benefaction to the whole country." The gallery's lofty cultural ambitions are clear with the addition of exterior statues of great artists, such as Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo. The gallery was renowned as a must-see attraction for foreign dignitaries and visiting Indian delegations to the capital city. The rapid expansion of the art collection continued, so that the collection had to be moved to a more spacious location and 1897, just two blocks south.
12. SIRGOC_151110_086.JPG: Delegation of Jicarilla Apache Indians in Grand Salon, 1880
13. SIRGOC_151110_088.JPG: Sculpture Hall, ca 1885
14. SIRGOC_151110_091.JPG: Catalogue cover, 1892
15. SIRGOC_151110_094.JPG: The Greek Slave Corcoran designed the octagonal room you are standing in to showcase his favorite artwork, Hiram Powers' Greek Slave. Powers created the plaster model of a chained nude woman in 1843, inspired by widespread outrage at the tens of thousands of Greek women who were enslaved by the Turks during Greece's War of Independence. The subject of slavery also resonated with audiences who saw parallels to the plight of contemporary African American slaves. By the 1860s, Powers, a vocal abolitionist, replaced the sculpture's chains with contemporary manacles to highlight this connection to American slavery. The sculpture was widely replicated in many sizes over many years, becoming the most highly acclaimed American sculptor of the nineteenth century and winning Powers international success. The sculpture became so famous -- and so often copied by others -- that Powers supplied for a US patent on his composition to protect his sole right to make replicas. The Greek Slave now featured in this room was created in 2015 using state-of-the-art 3D-printing technology, based on scans of the original 1843 plaster model in the Museum's collection. Here, twenty-first-century technologies replace nineteenth-century methods for replication -- a nod both to the past and to the future of making.
16. SIRGOC_151110_098.JPG: The Court of Claims The building once again into government service in 1899 as the home of the US Court of Claims, which arbitrated monetary claims against the government. Modern amenities, such as fluorescent lighting, elevators, and central heat, were added to update the building, yet these conveniences could not disguise the building's age. The court began to outgrow the confines of the building and the exterior began to deteriorate. Slabs of the original sandstone cracked and fell to the sidewalk, endangering pedestrians. The ornamental metal roof cresting was removed and sent to the scrap metal drive during World War II; later the exterior facades were stripped of sculptures, which were sold to private buyers. The once-admired nineteenth-century architecture of the gallery was now, one hundred years later, considered shabby, old-fashioned, and increasingly out of place in a world-class capital city.
17. SIRGOC_151110_103.JPG: Deteriorating exterior, ca 1975
18. SIRGOC_151110_106.JPG: Court of Claims facade
19. SIRGOC_151110_114.JPG: Saved by First Lady Jackie Kennedy In the mid-twentieth century, the rise of modernism led to major changes in American cities, including Washington DC. A plan to redevelop Lafayette Square, just north of the White House, called for the demolition of many historic buildings to make way for a new class of steel government office towers. Corcoran's gallery, then occupied by the US Court of Claims, was on the list, but the plan to raze the building failed thanks to tireless champions, including First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. She was a student of architecture, history, and the arts, and founder of the White House Fine Arts Committee; she recognized the gallery's importance in the history of American architecture and wrote that it was a "precious example of the period of architecture which is fast disappearing." She advocated for the building's preservation and suggested its use as an art museum. Her plan was approved, and in 1965 the building was donated to the Smithsonian by official order of President Lyndon B Johnson, returning the building to its original purpose as an exhibition exhibition space "Dedicated to Art."
20. SIRGOC_151110_117.JPG: The Renwick's Founding Director Lloyd Herman (right) and Exhibitions Chief Harry Lowe (left) installing Grand Salon, 1972
21. SIRGOC_151110_123.JPG: 40 Years of Excellence In 1965 the building officially joined the Smithsonian under the direction of President Lyndon B Johnson, who wrote enthusiastically about the restoration: "No more appropriate purpose for a building could be proposed then to exhibit, in the restored gallery, examples of the ingenuity of our people." Funds were allocated for necessary repairs and to replace the metal roofing, restoring the building to its former glory. The renamed Renwick Gallery opened in January 1972 to widespread praise. The Washington Post called the restoration of a "triumph of American culture over the spiteful neglect with which we treat our cities," while the New York Times applauded the museum for "getting back to the spirit of James Renwick." This acclaim set the stage for the next forty years of groundbreaking and innovative exhibitions. Founding gallery director Lloyd E Herman devoted himself to developing exhibitions that showcased the very best in American craft and design.
22. SIRGOC_151110_127.JPG: Exterior facade
23. SIRGOC_151110_130.JPG: Treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2004
24. SIRGOC_151110_132.JPG: American Wicker: Woven Furniture from 1850-1930, 1993
25. SIRGOC_151110_134.JPG: Dedicated to the Future of Art Today the Renwick Gallery enters a new phase of its 150-year existence, continuing to build on William Corcoran's commitment to exceptional art contemporaneous to the times. The recent renovation incorporates innovative features that enhance the museum-going experience for the modern-day visitor, including a completely new infrastructure and in all-LED lighting system in public spaces, making the Renwick among the first museums to adopt this energy-efficient system. Once again rededicated to displaying the creative genius of America's best artists, the Renwick Gallery is poised to be a truth twenty-first-century destination.
26. SIRGOC_151110_138.JPG: Restoring historic ceiling vaults, 2015
27. SIRGOC_151110_141.JPG: Construction on the roof, 2014
28. SIRGOC_151110_144.JPG: Construction photo, 2014
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit)) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
- 2013_DC_SIRG_Oct: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit) (2 photos from 2013)
- 2010_DC_SIRG_Oct: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit) (6 photos from 2010)
- 2007_DC_SIRG_Oct: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit) (1 photo from 2007)
- 2005_DC_SIRG_Oct: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit) (4 photos from 2005)
- 2004_DC_SIRG_Oct: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit) (1 photo from 2004)
- 2002_DC_SIRG_Oct: DC -- Renwick Gallery -- Octagon Room (when not part of another exhibit) (3 photos from 2002)
Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [(Smithsonian) Renwick Gallery (Everything)] [(Smithsonian) Renwick Gallery (Non-Events)] [Display ALL (Smithsonian) Renwick Gallery (Non-Events) photos] [Museums (Art)]
2015 photos: I retired from the US Census Bureau in god-forsaken Suitland, Maryland on my 58th birthday in May. Yee ha! Trips this year: a quick trip to Florida. two Civil War Trust conferences (Raleigh, NC and Richmond, VA), and my 10th consecutive San Diego Comic-Con trip (including Los Angeles). Ego Strokes: Carolyn Cerbin used a Kevin Costner photo in her USA Today article. Miss DC pictures were used a few times in the Washington Post. Equipment this year: I mostly used my Fuji XS-1 camera but, depending on the event, I also used a Nikon D7000. Number of photos taken this year: just over 550,000.
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