Washington art. (The Roving Eye).THE painting might be an American icon, but for 200 years an Englishman owned it. The "Lansdowne" portrait of George Washington is probably the most reprinted painting in American history. Anyone who uses money has seen the picture on the front of dollar bills. And now, with a new American owner, the painting is coming to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. during its first tour of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . "I imagine people are going to be struck by the size," said Austen Bailly, an assistant curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, also known as LACMA, is the official and world-renowned art museum of the County of Los Angeles, California, located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. where the painting will be displayed. Standing eight feet tall, the piece expresses a "moral, heroic look. And even though it seems staid and hard--because of the wooden teeth--the image conveys something impassive." An accompanying exhibition, called George Washington: A National Treasure, features plenty of other art and programs centered around the theme of the founding father as cultural icon A cultural icon is an object or person which is distinctive to, or particularly representative of, a specific culture. An example is the bowler hat which could be considered an English cultural icon. Others include tea, The Beatles and association football. . It opens Nov. 8 and runs through March 9. Bailly expects heightened interest in the Lansdowne painting with the surge of patriotism since Sept. 11. But that's not why the painting is on tour now, she said. The portrait has traveled to the United States only three times since artist Gilbert Stuart painted it for the Marquis of Lansdowne in 1796. It has hung in the Smithsonian Institution since 1968 when it was loaned from the Earl of Rosebery Earl of Rosebery is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1703 for Archibald Primrose, 1st Viscount of Rosebery, with remainder to his issue male and female successively. and later Lord Harry Dalmeny in West Lothian, Scotland. The Smithsonian bought the painting for $20 million in 2000 with donated money. Houston's Museum of Fine Arts Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, chartered and incorporated (1870) after a decision by the Boston Athenaeum, Harvard, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pool their collections of art objects and house them in adequate public galleries. kicked off the tour in February. Other stops have included Las Vegas, Seattle, Minneapolis and Oklahoma City. |
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