New item for the Washington D.C. to-do list at Thanksgiving: the Societe Anonyme: Modernism for America exhibit at the Phillips Collection. Sounds fascinating. It’s based on 150 works of art from Katherine Dreier’s 1000-piece collection donated to Yale in 1941. It was assembled with the help of Duchamp, the wacky genius who exhibited a urinal as a work of art. Apparently Dreier and Duchamp were great pals, although nobody knows if they were lovers. The show originated at the Hammer; I missed it then, so here’s my second chance.
The cool thing is that the (Yale) curators recreated the first art show the Societe Anonyme ever put on – from 1920 – as the first part of the exhibit. I have a weak spot for Dada and I am very curious to see what an early Dada show really looked like.
The whole write-up in the NYTimes is here (complete with two slide shows). I didn’t know that Duchamp died the year I was born. Sheesh, Martin Luther King Jr too.
We arrive in D.C. in the morning the Tuesday before Thanksgiving – I wonder if we should check our bags somewhere at Union Station and make that day our city day? Good thing Bella doesn’t read this blog; she would be bummed if she knew how much art I was planning on seeing…