Two Museums in Washington, D.C.

The Freer Gallery on the Smithsonian Mall is one of the most wonderful art museums I have ever visited. A retrospective exhibit of works by the very productive and inventive Japanese artist Hokusai (1760-1849) was featured there yesterday. Hokusai was a master of printmaking, drawing, painting, and more: he also published a number of books of manga. Several of his very large paintings on screens are among the most impressive works in the exhibit, but works of all types are represented. 

The collector Charles Freer (1854-1919), principal donor to the museum, assembled one of the most comprehensive collections of works by this artist. This was a rare opportunity to see them.

In the Freer Gallery: giant posters -- with dragons -- announcing the exhibit.

Dragons were especially interesting to Hokusai, as were ocean waves, which are the subject of his most famous work of art, "Great Wave Off the Coast of Kanagawa." Hokusai lived to the age of 90, and did some of his most remarkable works in the last two decades of his life, but he was convinced that he would achieve mastery only if he lived to be 110!

The Spy Museum: Evelyn's photo. (The rest of us are in the curve of the S.)

The exhibits at the Spy Museum are fantastic and range through a big variety
of subjects, including historical events (like the assassination of Trotsky by
a Russian agent), technology of spy materials, famous people in the history
of spying, videos of spies telling their stories, and much more.

The code breakers at Bletchley Park in England during
World War II were a hidden history for decades, but now
not so secret.

Julia Child's job in World War II was in intelligence.
I enjoyed the display of photos about her activities.

After the Spy Museum we proceeded to a wonderful restaurant for dinner, but that will be a separate post. All posts on this blog -- maefood dot blogspot dot com -- are copyright © 2019 by mae sander. If your are reading this elsewhere, you are reading a stolen version.