VERROCCHIO: SCULPTOR AND PAINTER OF RENAISSANCE FLORENCE @ NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

The innovative 15th century sculptor and painter Andrea del Verrocchio was also an instructor, his star pupils including Leonardo da Vinci, Pietro Perugino and probably Sandro Botticelli. Yet this showcase for 50 of his masterpieces in painting, sculpture, and drawing, is the first ever monographic exhibition of his work in the United States–and the National Gallery of Art is the sole hosting venue. Exhibition curator Andrew Butterfield explains that Verrochio, “had a restless imagination and a relentless drive to experiment and improve on what he or anyone else had done before. But he was also like the maestro of an orchestra who could bring together many talents and draw forth the best from them. This was one of his secrets as a teacher.”

September 15, 2019 – January 12, 2020 at the National Gallery of Art, West Building, Main Floor. FREE

THE EYE OF THE SUN: 19TH-CENTURY PHOTOGRAPHS @ NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART

It’s a busy month in the National Gallery of Arts West Building. In addition to the major Verrochio exhibition comes this selection of some 140 photographs from the first 50 years of photography. The Eye of the Sun draws from the Gallery’s rich permanent collection of 19th-century photographs, including many images that the institution has never put on view before. Photos include portraits, still lives, landscapes, and war images from artists that include such early photographic pioneers as William Henry Fox Talbot, Roger Fenton, Lewis Carroll, Julia Margaret Cameron, Carleton E. Watkins, Eadweard Muybridge, and more.

September 8 – December 1, 2019 at the National Gallery of Art, West Building. FREE

JUDY CHICAGO—THE END @ NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS 

Best known for the iconic 1970s installation The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago tackles human and species mortality in a new body of work that includes painted porcelain, glass, and bronze sculptures. The series follows the structure of the five stages of grief, examining the artist’s own failing body as well as her fears for the future of the planet. The museum writes that Chicago’s recent work provides “a visceral antidote to a culture that prizes youth and beauty, and often ignores the suffering of other creatures.”

September 19, 2019–January 20, 2020 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave NW. $10.

JULIE WOLFE: UNDER THEIR GAZE, WE BECOME CREATURES @ HEMPHILL

Artists have frequently responded to the current political climate with works that explicitly address various crises. Washington, D.C.-based artists Julie Wolfe isn’t so obvious, explaining that “through my work, I am finding ways to cope and be hopeful.” Taken from three recent bodies of work, the show presents art that is not didactic. Wolfe says, “I hope you find something to respond to, something to contemplate, to remember, something that opens up in you.”

September 14 – November 16 at Hemphill, 1515 14th Street NW #300. Open Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 5pm and by appointment. FREE

TOPOGRAPHIES OF LIFE @ AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

The Katzen Arts Center’s Fall openings include this group show that features drawings by Lynn Sures, Mel Watkin, and Pam Rogers. The three artists’ work is based on the natural world. From Kenya to the Midwest to the Potomac watershed, the evocative pieces go beyond mere representation for a personal response.

September 3-December 15 at the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, 4400 Massachusetts Ave NW. Attend a gallery talk on Saturday, September 7 from 5– 6 pm. FREE

NANCY SANSOM REYNOLDS: UNWINDING @ADDISON/RIPLEY

Reynolds, who received her MFA from George Washington University, has exhibited her work for more than four decades, from surreal paintings to the abstract wooden sculptures that is her recent specialty. Inspired by origami, the works in Unwinding inspire the gallery to quote artist Barbara Hepworth: “in a way carving is close to writing music—in so far as the composer takes in his whole work from beginning to end before he begins to write it down. Once you start it has its complete logic—it’s an inevitable procedure.”

September 7 – October 12 at Addison/Ripley, 1670 Wisconsin Ave., NW. Tuesday – Friday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and by appointment. Opening reception Saturday, September 7 from 4-7 p.m. FREE

NEWLY CONNECTED @ KOREAN CULTURAL CENTER

This group exhibition on Embassy Row explores the experience of Korean immigrants, echoing the powerful show on the global refugee crisis just up the street at the Phillips Collection. Artists Namwon Choi, Kyoung eun Kang, and Kieun Kim, “each express their personal emotional transitions after emigrating, including the anxiety of life in a foreign environment, the hope and comfort that comes with adaptation, the process of forming new relationships with both people and places, and the resulting discovery of one’s newly formed identity..\

September 6 – 27 at Korean Cultural Center, 2370 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Open Monday – Friday 9 a.m.-noon and 1-6 p.m. Opening reception Friday, September 6, 2019 at 6 p.m.FREE

YUN SUKNAM @ NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

In conjunction with the exhibition Portraits of the World: Korea, the National Portrait Gallery hosts a rare lecture from a woman known as the “founding mother” of feminist art in Korea. The now 80-year old Yun led a traditional life in Korea, and in her 40s developed a longing to pursue the arts, and her supportive husband sent her to study art in New York in the 1980s. Read more about Yun in Smithsonian Magazine.

Wednesday, September 11 at 3 p.m. at the National Portrait Gallery. FREE

ARABICITY | OUROUBA @ MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE

This group show spanning two decades art from the Arab world launches the only gallery on the area to showcase contemporary art from the Middle East. Featured artists include Chant Avedissian, Ayman Baalbaki, Hassan Hajjaj, Susan Hefuna, Tagreed Darghouth, Adel Abidin, Raeda Saadeh, and Said Baalbaki.

September 14 – November 23 at the Middle East Institute, 1763 N St. NW. Open Monday-Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. FREE