TINTORETTO: ARTIST OF RENAISSANCE VENICE @ NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART
“As for painting, I think I didn’t know what it meant till today.” That’s how critic John Ruskin felt upon first encountering the work of Jacopo Tintoretto (c. 1519-1594). While the Venice-born painter’s technique and output was so intense he was dubbed “Il Furioso,” he has generally been eclipsed by Michelangelo and other 16th century masters. Yet his reputation is growing, and to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his birth, the National Gallery of Art presents the first major North American exhibition of his work, much of which is traveling to the United States for the first time. The exhibition features nearly 50 of his paintings, including monumental works such as the 16-foot long Paradiso. Two supplemental shows explore his contemporaries in printmaking: Drawing in Tintoretto’s Venice and Venetian Prints in the Time of Tintoretto.
March 24-July 7, 2019 at the National Gallery of Art. FREE
JEANINE MICHNA-BALES: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD @ THE PHILLIPS COLLECTION
Jeanine Michna-Bales spent more than a decade researching and three years photographing along the 1400-mile route used by those escaping slavery in search of freedom. The photographer evokes the clandestine nature of the Underground Railroad with nighttime landscapes, and on certain stops, like a Louisiana plantation, Michna-Bales told Smithsonian magazine that, “You could just feel like you weren’t alone. There were other souls with you.”
Through May 12 at the Phillips Collection. Open Tuesday-Saturday 10 a.m.‒5 p.m. Sunday noon‒6:30 p.m., and with extended hours Thursday from 5 p.m.‒8:30 p.m. $12.
HOOPS @ NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM
While the tribalism of professional athletics is often seen as sublimated war, the lessons of teamwork and good sportsmanship can also bridge communities. Bill Bamberger’s photographs of empty basketball courts in private and shared spaces are portraits of the communities—whether open or isolated—where players meet. Bamberget explains, “A photograph of someone making a great shot or a great move takes place in a fraction of a second, but an image of that same court taken without people is about a period of time in the layered history of a place. It is about the people who played on that court, who built that community, many of whom have come and gone.”
March 9, 2019–January 5, 2020 at the National Building Museum. Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. $10.
URSULA VON RYDINGSVARD: THE CONTOUR OF FEELING @ NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS
Born in 1942, German artist Ursula von Rydingsvard was born to a woodcutter and spent part of her childhood in refugee camps at the end of World War II. The artist’s massive wooden sculptures, which can take a year to complete, seem to reflect both her heritage and her trauma. This is the most significant exhibition of her work to date in the United States.
March 22–July 28 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave NW. Open Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday noon–5 p.m. $8-$10.
IN PEAK BLOOM @ ARTECHOUSE
The L’Enfant Plaza gallery’s annual cherry blossom-themed exhibition celebrates spring with immersive digital art installations “inspired by the fragile beauty and ephemeral nature of the cherry blossom, reminding us of how precious and fleeting life is,” according to Artechouse. The five new installations all come from female artists, including Akiko Yamashita and Lisa Park, and women-led art collectives such as Scenocosme and Design Foundry. Expect dazzling interactive art all around—and seasonal augmented reality cocktails at the bar.
March 21-May 27 at Artechouse. Open daily 10 a.m.-11 p.m. $15.
WILLIAM WOODWARD: MASTER DRAWINGS @ ADDISON/RIPLEY
Washington native William Woodward, born in 1935, has work in the permanent collections of such institutions as the National Gallery of Art (where he’s a popular lecturer) and the John and Mable Ringling Museum in Sarasota, Fla. But you might also have a piece of his art in a drawer somewhere: He won an invitational award for the design of the 1989 silver dollar. Addison/Ripley presents a selection of ink and wash drawings from a lifetime of work.
March 9-April 13 at Addison/Ripley. Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and by appointment. Opening reception Saturday, March 9, 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
FOON SHAM: TWIST OF LIME @ GALLERY NEPTUNE & BROWN
Born in Macau, China in 1953, University of Maryland professor of art Foon Sham has created wood sculptures for 30 years. Gallery Neptune & Brown is showing Sham’s recent sculpture and drawings, inspired by a residency in Auvillar, France that, they say, “cemented the role of color in his work: when you say ‘France,’ Sham sees and feels color.”
March 16-April 20 at Gallery Neptune & Brown. Open Wednesday- Saturday noon-7 p.m., Sunday 1-4 p.m., or by appointment. Opening reception with the artist is March 23 from 5 p.m.-7 p.m.
SUSAN J. BARRON: DEPICTING THE INVISIBLE: A PORTRAIT SERIES OF VETERANS SUFFERING FROM PTSD @ THE ARMY AND NAVY CLUB
The Army and Navy Club is normally open to members only, but the organization opens its doors to the public on Saturdays to share Susan J. Barron’s photographs of veterans suffering from PTSD. Barron’s larger-than-life black & white photos are hand-painted with the subjects’ stories in their own words. Also on view is an interactive station where visitors are invited to create a personal tribute to a fallen soldier.
Through April 13 at The Army and Navy Club. Open to the public on Saturdays from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The Club’s dress code requires a coat and tie for men and comparable attire for women.
