Renwick Gallery

I visited the Renwick Gallery, a branch of the American Art Museum (which I also visited, naturally). The Renwick Gallery is supposedly meant to focus on the crafts and decorative arts. When I visited, the displays from the permanent collection included many oil paintings, plus things made from clay, glass, wood, fabric, plastic, mixed media (the term museums use to mean none- or many-of-the-above, including electronics). Most of the non-paintings are recent works. It felt like a haphazard collection, like overflow from the main museum of things that didn't go in any of the exhibits there but the curators felt ought to be on display somewhere.

It's a small museum. I took a bit over an hour to see it all and take all the notes I wanted.

The special exhibit on decorative art objects from the White House showcased furniture, tableware, and more. I wish I could have taken pictures in this exhibit because some of the objects were stunning. Each item's history was described. Some of these labels told neat stories, explaining when/where/how the object was made/acquired, what various presidents thought of it, and (possibly consequently) if it was later sold or put in the attic (and, if so, when it was re-acquired).

This exhibit included a cool short film, At Home in the White House, which interviewed people who grew up in the White House (and a few first ladies as well) and explored what it was like living in such a historic space. I enjoyed hearing their recollections about how they made the White House their home and what they and their parents thought of particular furnishings and decorations.

I took pictures elsewhere in the museum.