Tag: Professors on the Town

On November 14, 2015, Professor Helen McManus and 10 members of her Origins & Evolution of Modern Thought class participated in a “Professor on the Town” event at The Phillips Collection.
As our class focuses on Work & Rest within the origins of modern thought, it was fitting for Professor McManus to take us there to a place she describes as her favorite gallery in DC because it is a restful place for her.
According to Professor McManus, “most restful (though intellectually most like hard work) is the Rothko Room, a tiny gallery for four enormous paintings. Before we left for coffee, I made sure every student was able to find that space.”
We each had our own favorites as well. Personally, I thought it was very interesting to see and hear about the history of the artwork and how it ended up at the Phillips Collection. In particular, I enjoyed Jacob Lawrence’s “Migration Series” because it was moving to consider the history behind the content of the pieces, but also fascinating to hear about the methods Lawrence used to create it and how the piece evolved to be divided into separate galleries.
Other classmates of mine enjoyed the gallery’s most famous piece: Renoir’s “Luncheon of the Boarding Party”. Sara and Stephanie both found enjoyed hearing about why and how Renoir depicted each character the way he did and all the various stories behind Renoir’s artistic decisions as well as how it got to the Phillips Collection.
Still, some of my other classmates preferred to focus on some of the small intricacies of the gallery. Kelsie, while enjoying the Van Gogh and Chagall pieces, also appreciated the story of the tiny Paul Klee painting that was stolen from the collection but was eventually returned after a responsible person purchased it on the black market!
However, not all of the amusing parts of the trip even came from the artwork itself! Ethan really enjoyed hearing about the development of the Phillips Collection which made the experience of the gallery an active one rather than a passive one that you might expect to get at a gallery.
In the end, we learned most about how the collection is the product of a family’s vision and love for art, which made the whole experience so much more meaningful. This, along with the community building opportunity for our class truly made this trip worthwhile! I’d like to thank the Honors program for its support and Professor McManus for exposing us to such a fascinating DC exhibition!