BETWEEN THE GREATS

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Summer in D.C. is hot and humid. Our capital was built on a swamp, so I suppose it’s unavoidable, but that fact doesn’t make living there any less sweaty and crowded. And overwhelming and wonderful. You see, no matter how terrible the weather is or how broke you are (“intern’s income” is totally an oxymoron), the Smithson- ian Museums guarantee both awe and air-conditioning for free — a great combination.

After living and working in D.C. for three months and spending every available weekend “museuming,” I found that the best Smithsonian for all of these things is the National Gallery of Art. Not only is it kept particularly cold for the artwork’s sake, but the amount of breathtak- ing, historically significant paintings and sculptures is staggering. It felt like walking through my AP Art History textbook.

“Oh, there’s the only Di Vinci in the western hemi- sphere.”

“There’s Degas’s ‘Little Dancer.’”

“There’s David’s portrait of Napoleon, and six Ver- meers.”

But the thing that struck me the most was how many beautiful paintings and sculptures there were, created by artists I’d never even heard of — and how frequently they were ignored.

I’ll admit my inclination to fangirl over noted portrait- ists, and I will play “find all eleven portraits by Thomas Gainsborough” with the best of them. But I also stopped and stared slack-jawed at some still life paintings by John Frederick Peto that were stuffed into an awkward corner near John Singer Sargent. I’d never heard of him before and I don’t even like still-life paintings as a rule. But somehow, this guy who died in 1907 managed to make a couple of biscuits and a mug with blue flowers one of the most relatable and charming images I’ve seen.

As I stood there musing, about a dozen sunburned tourists breezed by, stared at the label next to the Sargent and Whistler paintings before trundling off to the next gallery.

Yes, you should go to art museums to see the greats. There’s usually a good reason that they are considered great in the first place. But, especially in a museum of the National Gallery’s caliber, you should make a point of looking at the art, not just the nameplates. You might just be surprised.