Antebellum Portraits by Mathew Brady
• December 6, 2017

This is a rare exhibition, in equal parts fine art, Americana and a history of photography. It is a remarkable opportunity to look into the eyes of the past — and have them staring right back at you.

The Emmys: Where Was Trump?
• September 18, 2017

The heavy dose of Trump talk at the Emmys reinforces certain facts of daily cultural life in America during the age of Trump. You can’t get away from him even when’s gotten away from you.

Chuchu’s ‘Invocations’ at African Art Museum
• August 23, 2017

What comes to mind with the word “initiation”? The implication might be religious: A bar mitzvah, a first communion, a bris or a baptism. Maybe your mind wanders to Masonic […]

Markus Lüpertz at the Phillips, Hirshhorn
• July 12, 2017

The Hirshhorn just opened a major exhibition of rock-star Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, the museum’s third in five years. It is a highly personal landscape of political dissent, a sly, […]

Bazille at the National Gallery
• June 21, 2017

  About two years ago, I flew to South Africa to visit my mother’s family (she moved to America shortly before I was born). The last time I had visited […]

‘Portals’ — and the Paris Accord
• June 7, 2017

  Our president plans to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a landmark agreement negotiated in 2015 by representatives of 195 countries. The accord signifies a commitment […]

Summer Visual Arts Preview
• May 24, 2017

  At some point soon, we will all need respite from the summer heat — some dimly lit, air-conditioned place away from the blistering July sun, where we can pursue […]

Book Hill Art Walk, May 5
• May 3, 2017

    The Georgetown Galleries of Book Hill will host their annual Spring Art Walk this Friday, May 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. The walk has become a staple […]

Portrait Gallery’s ‘The Face of Battle’
• April 19, 2017

    There is a tragic impermanence to artwork about war. For each immortal painting like “Guernica” or “The Third of May 1808” (Picasso and Goya, respectively), there are thousands […]

June Schwarcz at the Renwick
• April 5, 2017

Generally speaking, the “how” of art is not something that particularly interests me. A great deal of expository efforts go into exhibition descriptions of contemporary and craft artists, in which […]