Presidential Protraits

Living in the Washington D.C. Metro area, there are many museums (Smithsonian and mostly free, I must add) to take advantage of 363 days of the year. I think one has to make it a point to get downtown and be a tourist to really enjoy them, and not think, "I'll get there someday." That someday is today (or yesterday in this case)!

A quick early morning breakfast with "The Best Daughter" and son before they skated off to the NHL Caps vs. LA Kings game gave way for Bill and me to duck into my favorite museum: The Portrait Gallery on F Street. I typically get to this one a few times a year (and feel bad I don't get there more often), and like to admire the traveling exhibits. There is so much to see every time, and you simply cannot see everything on a few visits. So my husband expressed doing a docent "overview" tour since he thought that maybe a good idea since this was one of two times he's ever been in the building.

I want to add  that it was a great idea, and we got to certain parts of the museum I've never been in, much to my delight. Most notably, the presidential portraits on the second floor are truly unbelieveable. Interestingly, each president has their portrait commissioned by their favorite contemporary artist and it's unveiled after they leave the White House (Former President Obama and First Lady Michelle portraits will be unveiled maybe later this year). It is truly an honor to paint the outgoing president and first ladies' portraits, and therefore, every president's portrait is different as they are/were, as you can imagine.

So our tour ended with this large contemporary portrait of Former President Bill Clinton by Chuck Close. It is really a fantastic painting in my opinion, and one of the largest paintings in the gallery, but they are all worth the visit to this great museum!

BSoleille! The bright side of taking advantage of the Smithsonian jewels called museums!
Terri