travel: the national gallery of art’s east building

When I thought I had finished exploring the National Gallery of Art, I happened upon even more. Before I had even headed over to the East Building, I looked at information on display near the exit in the West Building about its expansion in 1978, and I think by that year, my family had already moved from Rockville, Maryland to Groton, Connecticut. I hadn't been aware that there was a whole another half to the National Gallery of Art. I didn't even consider that the first half of the building had only been erected as recently as 1941.

I thought I was done with the National Gallery of Art and hadn't realized there was still a majority of the day left to exploring its other half across the "street."

And so I don't think there was an East Building when I had toured the National Gallery of Art as a child. Later during my tour of the East Building, I looked out a window while the docent explained that I.M. Pei had the challenge of building the expansion on a trapezoidal shaped property, which I had overlooked in the information placards photographed above.             

After all morning spent in the West Building, I stepped outside to cross the pavement to go to the East Building. I had no idea until later that these pyramidal glass structures were skylights into the walkway underneath the two buildings. I did recall the pyramidal glass structure to the Louvre Museum when I had traveled to Paris in my early 20s. 

I was so tired from walking miles that morning as I approached my  exploration of modern and contemporary art.

I loved the contrast in buildings of the East to West. I later learned from the docent too that I.M. Pei met the challenge of building on a trapezoidal shaped property by designing the building to be one large isosceles triangle joined to a small right triangle. Oh and here's a pair of earrings I almost bought as a souvenir. I didn't because I rarely wear earrings.

Once I entered and talked to docents at reception, they recommended that I start at the top and make my way down to view all the art. Even the opaque glass elevator was a work of art. On the third floor, there are sculptures outside on the rooftop. Right away one notices the numbers. Clarendon font?                 

 

Is this abstraction? Paring down what's real unto its most basic shape?

After viewing and photographing a piece of art, I also took pictures of the placards next to it. Is this artist saying that abstraction is making a piece ugly and deformed? And why am I only now noticing these "stars" on the wet pavement in the joints of these triangle stone tiles? 

I took a picture of my favorite number, 7. 7 is the year that my parents threw me a big birthday party, which I remember enjoying. I don't know if my younger siblings ever got to have a big party with lots of guests. I guess that's the perk of being the oldest sibling. I have to remember that my parents loved and celebrated me. And wow what is this font? 

Here's an installation I loved for its pure functionality. Sitting.

And is it still art if it's functional? These rocks weren't cordoned off for not sitting. But I didn't because they were wet, and it was raining.

And here's an installation that included cording to perhaps suggest that they were keep the sculpture intact. The wire cables made me think of tent poles, which you have to erect by inserting into each other when not collapsed.

And here's a recent acquisition that's a play on words.

 

Why blue? I wondered. And it's a cobalt blue, which is rather vibrant and not the navy blue of stolidity.

Most of my art education happens from reading the placards next to museum installations. I've always loved the color of blue, but perhaps not as pure hue. I guess like a blue that is mixed with black or a bit of green to make indigo.

  

More numbers to ponder. 

And I'm only now seeing the trapezoidal shapes of the building in these pictures.

And then the big reveal for me: who created these numbers?

Of course, Robert Indiana who created my favorite and iconic work of his, "Love." And now I'm reading all about him on his website, and now, I'm wanting to reference his work, "Amor."