Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    I'd love to spend a day browsing through it.
    

       Re: 1 Lorne, I have 3 pictures of Renior famous Dancing Paintings.
    I took them before the guards came up and grab my camera. No one
    told me that you wen't suppose to take pictures. Next time I'm in
    maynard I bring them for you to see.
    
                       REK

    I'm about to visit DC -- anyone know where this museum is? 
    
    (If not, I guess I can check the newspaper when I get there.)
    
	    					Val

    The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is located at 13'th
    and New York Ave., N.W. in Washington, DC.  The building is the
    former headquarters of the Masonic Grand Lodge of the National Capital,
    and is located just east of the White House.  For further information
    about the museum, call (202) 337-2615.
    
    Val, if you get a chance to visit the museum, I (we, in WOMANNOTES)
    would LOVE to hear about it.
    
    					Karen.

    I saw the building last January when I was in DC for a tradeshow
    (wasn't open yet). It's very impressive! I received a brochure about
    the museum this week along with membership information (I joined).
    If anyone is interested in a copy of the info I received feel free
    to send me mail and I'll xerox and (interoffice) mail you a copy...
    
    Elisabeth
    
    node WAGON::RITTNER

    	In the early 1970's, a friend took me to a reception at the
    	Tennent Art Foundation's Gallery in Honolulu, where his
    	Grandmother's paintings were on permanent display.  (She
    	had only recently passed away at the time of this reception.)
    
    	The following is an article from "Honolulu" Magazine (reprinted
    	without permission) about Madge Tennent's works that can be
    	seen in the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington
    	D.C.
    
        
    	       "Among Her Peers:  Madge Tennent in Washington"
    			    
    					by Arthur Tennent
    
    	    Not that I really have any doubts in the matter, but it
    	    is reassuring to hear various cognoscenti declare from
    	    time to time that Madge Tennent's indigenous and univer-
    	    sal art would easily stand the test of time anywhere. 
    	    The most recent expression of those sentiments came from
    	    the staff of the newly formed National Museum of Women in
    	    the Arts in Washington, D.C.  The museum had requested a
    	    Madge Tennent oil to include in its collection of works
    	    from many of the most famous women artists, past and present.
    	    An opportunity not to be missed, our Tennent Art Foundation
    	    trustees agreed to send Tennent's magnificent, life-size
    	    "Local Color" to the museum on a permanent loan basis.
    
    	    At the June 29 gala opening of the museum's permanent
    	    collection, the painting, with all its distinct Hawaiian
    	    flavor, placid symmetry and vibrant colors, created quite
    	    a stir.  Also arriving for the opening were Tennent's
    	    stunning Hawaiian royalty portraits from the Rheem Collection
    	    of Santa Barbara.  The beauty of these portraits, which
    	    I was privileged to see at a private showing, lies in 
    	    synthesizing fine likenesses with the unique touch of
    	    Tennent's highly personal art.
    
    	    That the Washington museum thought highly of "Local Color"
    	    was evident too from its being placed in a most advantageous
    	    spot, the first artwork to be seen, in fact, as you enter
    	    the modern art section.  For a neighbor, "Local Color" has
    	    Elaine de Kooning's "Bachus #3."  It was Elaine de Kooning
    	    (American, 1920-   ) who calmly noted amid the initial
    	    uproar over the notion of a woman's museum that while inclu-
    	    sion in an all-woman museum would have seemed patronizing
    	    25 years ago, now it makes a certain sense in that museums
    	    have too long neglected women artists.
    
    	    One furthur word on "Local Color":  It was painted in 1934,
    	    at the height of Tennent's definitive style, in which
    	    beautifully orchestrated color combines with strong lines
    	    to acheive striking results.  Such is the degree of Tennent's
    	    bold originality that she chose to leave the masterpiece
    	    unsigned.  The same applies to all her later oils, including
    	    the near-legendary "Two Sisters" at our State Capitol and
    	    the luminous "Ehu Bride" at the Hawaii State Library.
    
    	    Besides housing works of such formidable luminaries as Georgia
    	    O'Keeffe, Mary Cassatt, Berthe Marisol and, oh yes, Madge
    	    Tennent, the National Museum of Women in the Arts boasts
    	    a handsome Renaissance-style building that was, ironically,
    	    formerly a men-only Masonic Lodge.  Its six stories have
    	    been renovated and lavishly appointed to suit the elegant
    	    taste of the museum's president, Wilhelmina Holladay.  The
    	    dynamic Holladay was the driving force behind the museum's
    	    acquiring, before opening, a membership of 72,000 and better
    	    than $15 million in contributions.
    
    	    There's no small satisfaction in knowing that some 500,000
    	    visitors are expected to pass through the NMWA's doors
    	    annually.  The timeless quality of Madge Tennent's art has
    	    never been more apparent than now -- worthy of a centennial
    	    celebration in 1989 of the artist's life.