Jumpsuits & Teleporters

Virginia Mecklenburg & Modern Masters from the Smithsonian American Art Museum

I just got home from the opening night of Modern Masters at the Jepson Center for the Arts where I saw my first Philip Guston painting. The exhibition features forty four works from key players in modern American art such as Josef Albers, Hans Hofmann, Philip Guston, Jim Dine, Helen Frankenthaler, Franz Kline and more. Tonight was particularly special because the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Senior Curator Virginia Mecklenburg presented a lecture highlighting the works with witty insight relating to post-war America.

In great form and with true charisma, Mecklenburg introduced each artist by saying that most photographs reveal the artist either with a cigarette in their hands (or between their lips) or with a beer glass by their side. This statement was, of course, followed by visual confirmation. While walking through the rooms, I noticed that the majority of the plaques featured quotes straight from the artists describing their experiences and aims-of-capture. After listening to Mecklenburg and walking through the exhibit, I believe that I experienced a great example of curatorial work with the artist’s intentions at heart.

I left Modern Masters with the following thoughts: • Once you’ve seen a work of art in person, it’s pointless to revisit it in a slide. • I would love to see Mecklenburg’s exhibition script! What does it look like? • Interesting framing choices by the collectors, which reflect the timeframe. • I love peeking at the sides to see the hardware and hanging methods.

“I am involved in a problem which by its very nature is insoluble. This is the never ending struggle to create the structure which by virtue of its anonymity may evolve in the viewer the possibility of sensing, however fleeting, some element for truth.” —John McLaughlin

I have one complaint: the lighting was so bright that the paint reflected it. You had to approach the work oftentimes at an angle. But that’s off my chest now. So, while these cannot compare to the real work, the following images are my favorite paintings from the exhibit. I can’t wait to see them again on my lunch break tomorrow!

Philip Guston, Painter III, 1960, oil on canvas 60 5/8 x 68 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum (via).

Hans Hofmann, Fermented Soil, 1965, oil on canvas 48 x 60 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum (via).

Franz Kline, Blueberry Eyes, 1959-1960, oil on paperboard 40 1/8 x 29 3/4 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum (via).

Joan Mitchell, My Landscape II, 1967, oil on canvas 103 x 71 1/2 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum (via).

A catalog/book of the exhibit can be be purchased here.