HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden are part of the Smithsonian system.  I had visited the museum a few years ago and took the opportunity to revisit the venue on our most recent trip.  The museum is just a little odd.  It is built as a donut shaped structure with circular galleries on two of the floors.  Here is a shot of the museum from across the street on the National Mall.

And another shot from the "donut hole" that I liked for the visual lines.

The museum is unusual in the sense that it is relatively small and features a very limited number of artists.  Wei Wei had a major exhibit the last time I was there and had a different one this time, made from Legos.  I was not impressed, and didn't take any photos of it.  I did keep one photo from another artist.  Meh.

I confess to enjoy photographing sculptures more than wall art and spent some time in the museum's adjacent sculpture garden.  But before doing so, I took one shot of an interior sculpture of a nude man.  A bit gross, but it was very realistic.

To give an idea of its realism, here is a closeup of the figure's head.  This is a sculpture.

Following are shots of pieces in the sculpture garden.

Finally is a piece by Rodin, the Burghers of Calais, other copies of which are at the Rodin Museum in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Rodin sculpture garden at Stanford University.

The piece is exceptionally powerful because of the postures and facial expressions of the six figures comprising the piece.  It is difficult to capture the work in its entirety because the various figures are facing in different directions, so I focused on one of the more dramatic figures who is showing his anguish and anger.  The sculpture is based on a story from the Hundred Years War.  Here is the account from a Wikipedia article.

"England's Edward III, after a victory in the Battle of Crécy, laid siege to Calais, while Philip VI of France ordered the city to hold out at all costs. Philip failed to lift the siege, and starvation eventually forced the city to parley for surrender.

"According to medieval writer Jean Froissart, Edward offered to spare the people of the city if six of its top leaders would surrender themselves to him, presumably to be executed. Edward demanded that they walk out wearing nooses around their necks, and carrying the keys to the city and castle. One of the wealthiest of the town leaders, Eustache de Saint Pierre, volunteered first, and five other burghers joined with him.  Saint Pierre led this envoy of volunteers to the city gates. It was this moment, and this poignant mix of defeat, heroic self-sacrifice, and willingness to face imminent death that Rodin captured in his sculpture, scaled somewhat larger than life.

"Although the burghers expected to be executed, their lives were spared by the intervention of England's queen, Philippa of Hainault."

John