Living in DC offers access to a plethora of museums for free! DC’s mall is famous for its collection of Smithsonian museums.
One of the more unknown museum is the American University (AU) Museum, just a 20-minute walk from JR, located on the main campus of American University in the Katzen Arts Center. I visited the museum on a random Saturday and was blown away by the variety of art offered.
The first piece of artwork visitors see is Fred Folsom’s “Last Call at the Shepherd Park Go-Go Bar.” The oil painting was inspired by Folsom’s people-watching at the suburban Maryland nightclub. It features patrons in various states of inebriation, the most arresting being two men pictured mid-brawl. The Last Call series serves as an introduction to Folsom’s surrealist work. Also by Folsom, the next exhibit features Women Smoking. The series of 23 paintings consists mostly of women smoking in the nude in the comfort of their vintage homes. The exhibit can only be described as surprising and uncanny, especially with the morbid context provided by Folsom: “Cigarettes killed my mom at 58 and my sister Susan at 30.” The theme of Women Smoking is especially evident in Danse Macabre (Dance of Death), a painting focused on a woman dancing with a skeleton. A toddler observes the scene, smoking a cigarette from a stool in the corner, while the entire painting is lit by the neon of a retro jukebox.
The second exhibit on the first floor is Looking For Mushrooms, a short film and series of ink sketches by Bruce Conner. The sketches predominantly consist of winged figures and other creatures drawn from Mexican culture, which Conner discovered after moving to Mexico City with his wife, Jean Conner, due to paranoia that an atomic bomb would be dropped on San Francisco, his previous home. Commer’s sketches were also influenced by his use of psychedelics, hence the exhibit’s name. The 16-minute film “Looking For Mushrooms” is Conner’s first color film and comprises images of rural Mexico. Dark noise and constant sounds of nature make up the unsettling soundtrack.
The second floor is home to A Sight to Behold, the AU museum’s permanent installation of 19th and 20th-century American landscape paintings. A Sight to Behold might not be the most interesting exhibit but it is by far the most impressive one. From snowy prairies to arid deserts to the humid Italian landscapes, there are paintings for everyone. Many pieces also feature animals, like cows; my favorite was Peter Moran’s “Pastoral Landscape.” The painting is an image of about seven cows (and a calf!) staring directly ahead at the viewer; above the peaceful scene ominous dark clouds are rolling into view. Overall, the attention to detail in each painting featured is truly a sight to behold. The second floor is also home to a few Otho Branson paintings. Branson’s work is mainly repetitive checker patterns, serving as an excellent palette cleanser before the third floor.
The AU Museum was a great experience and it’s small enough that visitors can see everything within an hour, but is captivating to the point you will want to take more time. The AU Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., so next time you’re bored, why not pop over?
