1. NEW WEB FEATURE: GEORGE DE FOREST BRUSH: THE INDIAN PAINTINGS
Combining extraordinary technical skills with firsthand experience living among the Arapahoe, Shoshone, and Crow, George de Forest Brush (1854/1855–1941) created an important series of paintings of American Indians much celebrated by his contemporaries but rarely seen since. The first exhibition of these remarkable paintings—George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings—is now on view through January 4, 2009. Our Web feature takes a closer look at these works and provides an overview of Brush's career and his studio paintings.
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/brushinfo.htm (exhibition information)
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2008/brush/index.htm (Web feature)
2. THIS MONTH'S FEATURED ARTWORK FROM THE COLLECTION: GINEVRA DE' BENCI BY LEONARDO DA VINCI
![Image: image of Ginevra de' Benci [obverse] Leonardo da Vinci (artist) Italian, 1452 - 1519 Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], c. 1474/1478 oil on panel](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20130304031012im_/http://www.nga.gov/webnews/2008/images/oct2.jpg)
![Image: Leonardo da Vinci (artist) Italian, 1452 - 1519 Ginevra de' Benci [reverse], c. 1474/1478 tempera on panel](https://cybercemetery.unt.edu/archive/oilspill/20130304031012im_/http://www.nga.gov/webnews/2008/images/oct2a.jpg)
Ginevra de' Benci was the daughter of a wealthy Florentine banker, and her portrait—the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Americas—was probably commissioned about the time of her marriage at age 16. The portrait is among Leonardo's earliest experiments with the new medium of oil paint, and the careful observation of nature and subtle three-dimensionality of Ginevra's face point unmistakably to the new naturalism with which Leonardo da Vinci would transform Renaissance painting. On view in the West Building, Main Floor, Gallery 6.
http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=50442+0+none (Ginevra de' Benci obverse)
http://www.nga.gov/fcgi-bin/tinfo_f?object=50725 (Ginevra de' Benci reverse)
http://www.nga.gov/cgi-bin/tbio?tperson=1479 (biography of Leonardo da Vinci)
http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/gg6/gg6-main1.html (online tour: Portrait Painting in Florence in the Later 1400s)
3. LEO VILLAREAL'S CONCOURSE INSTALLATION
Artist Leo Villareal's LED (light-emitting diode) project is currently being installed in the Gallery's Concourse. The work will feature approximately 40,000 LED nodes that run through channels along the entire length of the subterranean moving walkway connecting the East and West Buildings. Villareal programmed sequences using custom-designed software to create abstract configurations of light through electronic circuitry. Visit the Gallery’s Concourse in the next few weeks to watch the work being installed, or learn more about this work on our Web site, which offers a 3-D model of the project and video clips of its background, processing, and installation.
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/villarealinfo.htm
4. ONLINE TOURS: INDEX OF AMERICAN DESIGN
The Index of American Design comprises nearly 18,000 watercolor renderings of traditional American arts and crafts, from the colonial period through the 19th century. Now housed at the Gallery, this visual archive provides an unparalleled record of the material culture of the United States and the effort to document a unique national, stylistic identity. Eleven online tours on our Web site take a closer look at Americana textiles, Shaker crafts, Spanish Southwest folk arts, and more.
http://www.nga.gov/collection/iad/tour_index/index.htm
5. PLAN AHEAD: TEACHER OPEN HOUSE, NOVEMBER 5
Discover the nation's treasures in your own backyard! This after-hours open house offers teachers an introduction to the Gallery's programs, tours, and resources for classroom teaching. Discover how sketching enhances student learning and how you can build vocabulary and critical thinking skills through discussions about art. First-time participants will receive a complimentary $10 gift card for use in the Gallery Shops. Past participants are eligible for a gift card too, if registering with a K–12 teacher new to Gallery programs. Please consult our Web site for further information about attending this open house, as well as other workshops and events for educators.
http://www.nga.gov/education/teacher.htm#open_house (teacher open house)
http://www.nga.gov/education/index.htm (education)
6. NEW PODCASTS: GEORGE DE FOREST BRUSH
In this new, two-part Backstory podcast, curator Nancy Anderson discusses George de Forest Brush's life and his legacy with host Barbara Tempchin. Produced on the occasion of the exhibition George de Forest Brush: The Indian Paintings, part 1 focuses on the advent of the Indian paintings, and part 2 discusses the social and historical contexts of Brush's Indian paintings.
http://www.nga.gov/podcasts
7. RECENT ACQUISITION: SWAMP MAPLE (4:30) BY ALEX KATZ
Although best known for his figure paintings, often set in and around Manhattan, Alex Katz is equally a painter of Maine, where he has summered for decades. Swamp Maple (4:30) is one of his largest landscapes in every sense—at once monumental and unstable, fast and slow, flat and deep, hard and soft, general and particular, observed and abstract. On view in the East Building, Concourse, Gallery Lobby.
http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/acquisitioninfo.htm
8. CENTER 28 NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE
The Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts is a research institute at the Gallery promoting study of the history, theory, and criticism of art, architecture, and urbanism from prehistoric times to the present. Its current annual report, Center 28, is now available on our Web site and contains information regarding the Center's fellowships, meetings, research, and publications, as well as research reports by fellows in residence during the 2007–2008 academic year. Fellows from 10 different countries focused on research topics ranging from artists' rivalries and competitions in Renaissance Italy to Christian icons and Kongo symbols in early modern Central Africa.
http://www.nga.gov/pdf/center_28.pdf (Center 28)
http://www.nga.gov/resources/casva.htm (Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts)
9. OCTOBER CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Plan your visit to the Gallery with the help of the October Calendar of Events. Schedules of films, lectures, gallery talks, family activities, and concerts are listed along with information about each event. Events will be added as they are scheduled. Please check back regularly for the most up-to-date information.
http://www.nga.gov/programs/calendar
TODAY IN GALLERY HISTORY
Learn more about the Gallery's history on our Web site, updated daily, which highlights notable events over the last 80 years.
OCTOBER 1
On October 1, 1989, the first major exhibition outside the Netherlands of paintings by Dutch artist Frans Hals opened at the National Gallery of Art. Organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in association with the Frans Halsmuseum in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, the exhibition included 61 paintings and small oil sketches.
http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/index.shtm#today
PLAN A VISIT / GENERAL INFORMATION
http://www.nga.gov/ginfo/index.htm
This page provides links to the Gallery's hours and location, Calendar of Events, restaurant hours, accessibility information, Gallery history, and news releases.
The National Gallery of Art, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1.
Admission is free. For general information, call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176.
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