Where Gumbo Was #281
The Hirshhorn Museum opened on October 1, 1974 and specializes in contemporary art from the late 19th century. The Museum and Sculpture Garden are one of the famous Smithsonian collection of seventeen museums, galleries and zoo in Washington DC. The museum was established through the work and finances of Joseph H. Hirshhorn (1899-1981) who was an American entrepreneur, art collector and philanthropist
I was fortunate to visit the museum on a beautiful day to capture bright photos of the outdoor sculptures.
The three correct answers to this week’s puzzle were, in order, PortMoresby, Professor Abe and Jonathan L.
As I approached the museum from the Independence Avenue side (Jefferson Avenue it the other main entranceway), I was taken aback by the car crushed by a boulder in front of me. Trying to analyze what was going on with this, I discovered that it was a sculpture by artist Jimmie Durham. The title, Still Life with Spirit and Xitle, refers to the car, a 1992 Chrysler Spirit, and the rock, which is a red-basalt boulder from a volcano called Xitle in Mexico City. To create the work in 2007, Durham used a crane to drop the rock, smashing the roof of the car.
This work of art caused me to detour from the museum building entrance to the sculpture garden. As I circled the lawn to my left, I encountered some torsos that looked like they were each in a sack, but were sculptures by Juan Munoz with various titles. Next were some giant rubber stamps that reminded me of those on my boss’ desk back in the late 60’s and early 70’s that imprinted such big red or blue words in bright ink like “APPROVED” or “CANCELLED.”
Many other sculptures were in the expanded garden area on the other side of Jefferson Avenue. A few of my favorites included Sphere Number 6 (shiny bronze) by Arnaldo Pomodoro, the Yellow Pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, and the silver man which is called Kiepenkerl, a 1987 stainless steel sculpture by artist Jeff Koons.
Before heading back to go inside the museum, I took a break and sat on a bench to enjoy the tall spray fountain which is inside the circumference of the circular museum. I happened to sit next to a person visiting from out of state who was on her way to my Lake Monticello community in Virginia to look at buying a house there and I able to give her the wonderful lowdown on our beautiful lakeside community.
Moving on, once inside I was immediately drawn to the bottom floor where Barbara Kruger had the floors and walls covered with giant word sayings. Took me back to the psychedelic 60’s. I really enjoyed this artistic display. The work was called “Belief+Doubt.”
Going to the upper floors were artistic works by Ai Weiwei, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, and Nicholas Party.
The museum is open daily from 10-5:30 and the sculpture garden from 7:30 to dusk. There are guided tours available twice a day.
Below, some more works from the sculpture garden.
