Skip to main content

in the Peacock Room

Val and I were in Washington, D.C. for a week. He attended a training course in the city and I was on vacation mode, fresh from boot camp. I was so happy because this trip made one of my wishes true: I got to visit the Smithsonian!

---

Freer | Sackler. The docent told me that the highlight of any visit to the art galleries was the Peacock Room. It was originally a dining room in London owned by Frederick Leyland. An American artist, James McNeill Whistler, coloured the room blue and painted golden peacock motifs in it. Because it's a dining room originally, the shelves typically contained ceramics and porcelains. When I visited the room, the shelves were empty; this allowed me to view the room as an artwork (rather than the background of art pieces). 

A shocking artwork at that because there was so much gold in it.


The windows (floor to ceiling painting of peacocks in the middle of the photo) were shuttered the day I visited so I failed to see the room in all its colourful glory. But the dark fixtures allowed me to see the room as it appears at night. It's cozy but I don't think I'd be able to eat dinner in it and hold a decent conversation (I'd be very distracted by the artwork). I also can't see myself eating in this dining room everyday because it's way too dark for my taste (I wouldn't be able to see my food!).

On one side of room (left side of the photo), there's a painting entitled "The Princess from the Land of Porcelain". I didn't notice it at first but the woman in the painting was actually not East Asian. But she's in Asian garb and standing in a room with Asian art. It reminded me of a painting I saw in SFMOMA: Yasumasa Morimura's study of Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring. 

On the other side of the room (right side of the photo) was a painting of two fighting peacocks, entitled "Art and Money", which was a symbol of the conflict between the artist (Whistler) and the patron (Leyland). 

I ended up exiting the room speechless. I haven't made up my mind if I liked the room or not. It was just so many stimuli in such a tiny space! It definitely is a highlight of my trip to the gallery.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
4 comments
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Post a Comment
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Post a Comment
Read more