Washington D.C. through my eyes (IV)

The Renwick Gallery: One of the highlights of this branch of the Smithsonian American Art Museum was George Catlin's Indian Gallery. Catlin (1796-1872) was the first major artist to record the Plains Indians in their own territories, making five trips between 1830 and 1836. The collection contains more than 500 of his paintings, including the one below.


After going through this gallery, I was delighted to see some other contemporary works:

Bancketje (Banquet) by Beth Lipman

This work of art involving glass, oak, oil and mixed media refers to the lavish tables depicted in 17th century Dutch still-life paintings. Just as in the paintings, Lipman's table has ornate glassware, fruit, fish and game. In it, she both celebrates and mourns excess. (I thought it was a creative and intelligent take on Dutch still-life paintings. Or was it more a mockery of the excesses of that period?)

Game Fish by Larry Fuente

This flamboyant work is a visual and verbal pun. Fuente has covered a replica of a "game fish" - a fish pursued by sportsmen - with such game pieces as dice, toy soldiers, poker chips, ping pong balls, yo-yos, dominoes, Scrabble tiles, and badminton shuttlecocks. A second, more subtle pun can be seen in the fish's human hand, which holds a dart - a harpoon of sorts. This fish is "game" in yet another sense - "armed" and ready to take its turn as predator rather than prey. (You could try to zoom in on the picture and see how many "game" stuff you can spot!)

PS: Descriptions of Bancketje and Game Fish are taken off the display notes at Renwick Gallery.