With classical art not always well-represented in the District, the new exhibit at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Wine, Worship and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani, is a great opportunity to see some pieces from the sixth century B.C.E. to the mid-first century B.C.E. Colchis, now the country of Georgia. more ›

The interconnectivity of all things – for some, this bond is religion; for others, just fateful coincidences. But whatever your interpretation of the relationship between all things, a stunning study of one era’s belief in interconnectivity is now on display at the Sackler Gallery in the Smithsonian’s Patterned Feathers, Piercing Eyes exhibition. The show, on display through April 2008, is a startling reminder that art is much more than just paint and a brush. Those... more ›

The most recent exhibition at the Smithsonian's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, organized with help from the National Museum of African Art, Encompassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 16th and 17th Centuries, is as much a chronicle of history as it is a document for how art records history. Trying to pigeonhole this exhibition into a one category is difficult. It is more than just the fact the exhibition displays more than 260 objects, from several nations, which were created over the span of two centuries. Partly, it is that a gallery typically focused on the art of Asia is featuring a show about Portugal. Partly it is a remark made by Portugal’s Minister of Economy and Innovation positioning Portugal as the leader of the first age of globalization. The explanations layer like an onion. more ›

The Freer Gallery of Art hosts an eclectic and sporadic series of free concerts, often in tandem with relevant exhibits. To cap off the fine exhibit of early Bible manuscripts at the Sackler Gallery (reviewed here last month), the museum hosted one of the best vocal groups in the world, the Hilliard Ensemble, last night. The all-male British quartet brought a program called Arkhangelos, modern and older pieces in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions, to... more ›

Two exhibits in Washington right now examine both ends of the history of the Bible. The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery is showing In the Beginning: Bibles before the Year 1000 (through January 7, with a nice online feature), which brings together over 70 early examples of the Bible's written tradition. The ancient papyrus and vellum pages are so fragile that the museum has to show most of them under faint and rather diffuse light, and always in sealed cases. Cosponsored by the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library, and probably quite expensive because of insurance costs, this exhibit is a blockbuster, in a low-key way. Treasures have been loaned by the Bodleian, the British Library, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai, and others, many of them shown for the first time ever in the United States. more ›

While we celebrate the reopening of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery as classic examples of what museum care and innovation should be, the Smithsonian Institution at large may be slowly losing its grasp on the rest of its constituency. D.C.-based art critic and blogger Tyler Green has some critical words in a Los Angeles Times op-ed about the dilapidated conditions the other Smithsonian museums are suffering due to Congress' underfunding of the Institution, and the questionable sources to which it is turning as a result. more ›

We knew it had to happen, but here it is almost July, and we have little to tell you about this week. So, the time has come for your Classical Music Agenda to take a well-deserved summer break. Today's installment will give you some ideas for concerts to hear from now through July. We will be back at the end of July. Until then, you can always find classical concert information at Ionarts. CAN WE... more ›

Have you stopped by the Phillips Collection yet? If you walked away wondering where Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec found some of their inspiration, meet Katsushika Hokusai, the Japanese artist whose novel integration of Eastern technical skill with Western style went on to influence these European giants, along with Van Gogh, Monet, and countless others. Hokusai’s innovative paintings and drawings dared to move beyond the popular Japanese styles of his time that focused on wealthy, urban lifestyles in bold lines and color, instead opting to capture nature, spirituality and the working class. An unprecedented collection of his works are on display now at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, part of the Smithsonian Institution. more ›

WPA\C is hosting the first of a three night experimental media series, titled After Effects, curated by local heavy Kathryn Cornelius. From 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at the Corcoran Gallery of Art's Armand Hammer Auditorium, check out new video work from Jason Zimmerman, Chad Stayrook (a still from his everytime a scientist dies, a unicorn gets its horn is at right) and a live performance from videohippos at 8:20 p.m. Drink it In: It's... more ›