THE GALLERY
The Corcoran Gallery and School are located in the center of the nation’s capitol. The founder, William Wilson Corcoran, had three buildings surrounding the White House. As a financier, he helped found the Corcoran & Riggs Bank, located on one corner. Across Lafayette Park, on the corner of Seventeenth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, was the site of the original Gallery. Although founded in 1859, the first gallery, designed by James Renwick, first opened in 1871. A gala ball, attended by President Ulysses Grant, was held to raise funds for the Washington Monument. The inauguration, as an art gallery, occurred on January 19, 1874. (The story of the founder and early history of the gallery is to be found in the publication “Corcoran”, published in 1976. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 76-457).
When W.W. Corcoran died in 1888, at the age of eighty-nine, he was recognized throughout the country as a great benefactor. With the formation of his collection and gallery, he created one of the great collections of American painting and sculpture and an institution without precedent in American art. His art gallery was the first in our capitol and the third oldest in the nation. In 1891, the Trustees decided to acquire land for a new building for the growing needs of the gallery and school. The present site on Seventeenth Street and New York Avenue, across from the White House, was purchased that April. The building, with facilities for the expanding school and more galleries, was designed by Ernest Flagg. The inauguration, attended by President Grover Cleveland, was on February 22, 1897. A local wag remarked that the buildings of Mr. Corcoran, a Southern sympathizer, had effectively surrounded the White House.
On the Flagg edifice, a frieze runs across the top of the façade. The names of famous artists are carved in stone: “Phidias, Giotto, Durer, Michelangelo, Raphael, Velasquez, Rubens, Reynolds, Allston and Ingres”. The frieze became known as “Who’s Who in Art and who is Allston?” Washington Allston (1779-1843) was a highly respected American painter in his time; today known only by scholars. His name is carved instead of a more famous artist, evident in the original drawing, but Allston is the only American so honored. His name remains, forever, in high places in our nation’s capitol.
The original Gallery building of 1871 was sold to the government in 1901. Much later, in 1972, after considerable restoration, the building was renamed after the architect and opened as the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, to show American decorative arts, crafts and design. On the façade of both buildings, the Renwick and the Corcoran, are the initials “WWC” and the phrase “Dedicated to Art”; a fitting tribute to the founder.
The location of the Corcoran, across from the White House, in the heart of our nation’s capital has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is the abundance of cultural institutions available; an ongoing and ever growing resource and enrichment for students and artists. During the 70’s our nation’s capital became a cultural capital; this phenomena has been written about and referred to elsewhere on this website. In my lecture at the Ringling Museum of Art (under ‘Corcoran’), I refer to “the opening of the East Wing of the National Gallery; the Kennedy Center; the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture; The National Collection of Fine Arts; the Air Space Museum; Arena Stage” joining with the Corcoran; Phillips Gallery; and the vast treasures and many museums of the Smithsonian. What an extraordinary and unique opportunity to enjoy and study art.
For artists, the location offered opportunity. In the late 60’s, Barnett Newman placed his sculpture “Obelisk” on the grass outside the Corcoran; on the corner of New York Avenue and Seventeenth Street. The inverted and broken obelisk, placed on a pyramid, point to point, was large, impressive and a seminal work by Newman. The sculpture was in corten steel; one of these works is on view at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, another was shown in 2006 in the new atrium of the Museum of Modern Art, NYC. In 1968, I was present as the artist, as dapper as ever, watched the installation of this huge sculpture. Traffic and pedestrians came to a halt, gazing in wonderment, as a big crane lifted the obelisk and balanced the point on the tip of the pyramid; then secured safely. The work was not understood nor appreciated by the general public. On one occasion, I was getting out of a taxi, when the driver berated me, “What is that awful thing?!” I replied that the obelisk was a traditional form, like the pyramid; of no avail, the driver still muttered. “You know”, I said, “The Washington Monument is an obelisk”. The taxi driver was even more outraged, “That’s sacred; it’s the monument to our nation’s founding father!”
In the early 70’s, the sculpture “Adam” by Alexander Lieberman was installed on the same corner, and, again, not appreciated. President Nixon was outraged and demanded the offensive abstraction be removed. For some odd reason, the grounds and grass around the Corcoran were under the authority of the National Parks Service. The sculpture was removed; banished to Haines Point on the Potomac. The gigantic work, bright red with swirling forms, could be clearly seen when landing at National Airport. Moreover, the abstract sculpture was clearly visible from the river. Michael Straight, former Deputy Director of the NEA, writes, in his autobiography, that President Nixon was cruising in the Presidential Yacht “Sequoia” and saw the sculpture; he became even more outraged, how ironic.