Washington DC-Day 2

This was a colder and rainy day (off and on), so we did some indoor activities. Our first stop was the National Gallery of Art. When I was little, I had a small hanging mirror in my room with a Renoir painting in the middle. It was a picture of a little red-headed girl, and it now hangs in Eden's room. The National Gallery of Art has the original of this painting, so I was excited to show it to Eden. After the art museum, we had lunch at Potbelly, and then on to the National Archives, where we viewed the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights (no photos allowed of that, of course). We ended our "inside" day attempting to get into the Ford Theater (Judah wanted to see the spot where Lincoln was shot), but we couldn't get in due to tickets being sold out. So, we decided to go uber it to Union Station, where we did a little shopping, and picked out some DC shirts and sweatshirts for the kids.

This is "A Girl With a Watering Can" by Renoir (1876). 

Impressionist art is one of my favorite kinds of art. This is where the artist applies paint in small touches rather than broader strokes. This places emphasis on the artists perception of the subject matter as much as the subject itself. Impressionist art captures the image of an object as someone would see it if they just caught a glimpse of it. Many of these paintings are bright with lots of color. The focus of these paintings is not on detail but bold colors. Among some of the greatest impressionist artists are Manet, Monet, and Renoir. 

Van Gogh self portrait-Eric likes Van Gogh paintings (and so do I). While his style of painting did change some over time, he is best known for his thick use of paint (known as impasto). This is one of my favorite things about his paintings. This technique makes brushstrokes more visible and adds a lot of texture.

Here is an example of his "impasto" style. Look at that texture!

This was crazy...look at how good she is doing!

This was hilarious. Each kid brought a camera of some kind on the trip. Asher was wanting to get just the right picture of some pieces of artwork he liked. He was taking it very seriously. 

"Wait, mom, I have to get this picture of Mary and baby Jesus."

This is the only Leonardo Da Vinci painting in the US.

On to the National Archives

This is the Petersen House, where Abraham Lincoln died in after he was shot. We didn't go in it, but at least we were able to see it.

We let the kids eat at Shake Shack at Union Station, but Eric and I wanted something different for dinner. When we got back to the house, Judah and Eric walked to "We the Pizza" to get Eric and I a slice of pizza for dinner-YUM!