Highlights Tour of the Kreeger Museum with the Director Helen Chason EdM '86
Thursday, September 6, 4:00pm - 5:00pm
About the Kreeger:
David Lloyd Kreeger (1909-1990) was forty-three when he purchased his first oil painting, Ravens over the Valley of Emek (1948-51), by Mordecai Ardon. Compared with other important collectors whose efforts led to the creation of museums in Washington, Kreeger developed his passion for buying art rather late in his life.
In the years to come, David and Carmen Kreeger would amass more than three hundred works of art (paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures). They would publish three catalogues of their collection and contribute to Washington's fledging Museum of African Art in decisive ways. Their reasons for collecting were quite simply for aesthetic pleasure, the delight that they would find in the visible surface, in the selection and arrangement of color, line, and shape.
The Kreeger collection is mainly comprised of works from the 1850s to the present. The Impressionists are represented by nine Claude Monet paintings, as well as works by Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Camille Pissarro. From his early work to the end of his life, Pablo Picasso's career, can be traced through his paintings at the Kreeger. Other 20th century European artists include Edvard Munch, Max Beckmann, Jean Dubuffet, Wassily Kandinsky, and Joan Miro.
American artists include, among others, Alexander Calder, Clyfford Still, Frank Stella and James Rosenquist. Washington artists represented include William Christenberry, Gene Davis, Thomas Downing, Sam Gilliam and Betsy Stewart.
The Sculpture Terrace features works by Jean Arp, Aristide Maillol, Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, and Francesco Somaini.
Six large-scale works by John L, Dreyfuss grace the Reflecting Pool Terrace through April 2020.
The Sculpture Garden features work by Carol Brown Goldberg, Rainer Lagemann, Dalya Luttwak, George Rickey, Lucien Wercollier and notable Washington, DC artists Kendall Buster, Ledelle Moe, Wendy Ross, and Foon Sham.
The permanent collection also includes outstanding examples of traditional art from west and central Africa and Asia.
Registration Costs: The fee per person is $20 and is limited to Harvard Club members and their guests. If you register for this tour, you are welcome to visit the museum earlier in the day. The museum is closed to public at 4:00 and we must exit the premises promptly at 5:00. There is parking for 20 cars on site.
About Director Chason:
The Trustees have named Helen Chason Director of The Kreeger Museum effective June 1, 2017. Chason has been involved with the Museum since 2004, most recently as Head of Public Relations and Membership.
Chason has lived in Washington, DC, since 1980. She holds an Ed. from Harvard University in Administration, Planning and Social Policy and has extensive administrative experience. "Helen's knowledge of the collection and understanding of the Museum make her the perfect choice," says Museum Trustee Peter L. Kreeger.