-Many impressive exhibitions dot the country this time of year. But if I had a chance to travel to only one museum now, it would be the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Why? Because currently on display are three blockbuster exhibits focusing on the paintings of Frans Hals, Frederic Edwin Church and John Twachtman.-The first major exhibition of works by portrait painter Frans Hals to be held outside the Netherlands can now be viewed in the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. It contains more than 60 paintings and small oil sketches from all phases of the artist's remarkable career.
"This is the most significant exhibition of Hals' work ever shown in the United States," said J. Carter Brown, director, National Gallery of Art. "It offers visitors the opportunity to see the full range of his genius, including the development of the bold, innovative techniques and the incredible range of blacks for which he is so well known."
Several of the paintings have been cleaned especially for the exhibition. "When the varnish is removed, the richness of Hals' colors are revealed," said Arthur Wheelock, curator of northern baroque painting at the gallery.
Hals was born in Antwerp in 1581. By 1591, the family had moved to Haarlem, where Hals studied under painter Carel van Mander.
When in his 40s, Hals dwelt among the rich. But his popularity was temporary. In 1666, he died penniless.
For 200 years after his death, Hals' paintings were ignored. In 1800, Hal's "Willem van Heythuysen" was auctioned for "the trifling sum of 51 guilders."
However, in the late 19th century, artists and critics began to marvel at Hal's vibrant, impressionistic technique. Praising his works were such painters as Manet, Whistler, Sargent, Cassatt and Courbet. Vincent van Gogh revered him.
In 1969, "Willem van Heythuysen" sold for 12 million German marks. At the time, no single work of art had ever sold for more.
When reviewing the current exhibition, Paul Richard of The Washington Post wrote, "To seize the passing moment, to make the transitory permanent, is difficult to paint. For example, take his suddenness, his astonishing exactitude, his ability to tear an instant out of time - say, the dawning of a smile, or the quick and casual gesture of an arm tossed across a chair back, or the flash of recognition in slightly bleary eyes of the `Merry Drinker'."
The show remains at the National Gallery of Art through December. It then travels to the Royal Academy of Arts in London and, in May, to the Frans Halsmuseum in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
-Large-scale landscapes by 19th-century American artist Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900) fill the walls of the National Gallery of Art's East Building. This exhibition of 49 paintings is the first in more than 20 years devoted to Church's most important works. They include "Heart of the Andes," "Cotopaxi," "Aurora Borealis," "Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives" and others.
Church was the leading landscape painter in America in the 1850s, 1860s and 1870s. He and other members of the Hudson River School are credited with having established the nation's first significant school of painting.
Born into a prominent business family in Hartford, Conn., in 1826, Church later became an apprentice to Thomas Cole, America's first important landscape painter. Cole found the young painter to be highly talented and dedicated. He once said that Church had "the finest eye for drawing in the world."
At the age of 23, Church became the youngest person to be accepted as a full member by the National Academy of Design. One writer observed that Church had "taken his place, at a single leap, among the great masters of landscape."
Like other painters of his day, Church traveled widely in America. But he also explored less familiar places such as South America, Newfoundland, Labrador and the Near East.
Also on exhibit is his "Niagara." When unveiled in the spring of 1857, it made Church the most famous American painter of his day. Many other artists had tried to capture the majesty of the falls, but failed. Church, however, chose a view from the Canadian side across Horseshoe Falls. He skillfully adjusted the elements of the scene so his painting gives an overwhelming illusion of reality. Perhaps his most important innovation was to dispense with a foreground so the viewer feels he is hovering just above the falls.
"Niagara" was shown as a one-picture special exhibition at a commercial gallery. Visitors paid a quarter each for admission.
But like the spectacular views of mountains and valleys, his career had its highs and lows. In the 1870s, his painting style was no longer fashionable, and he retreated to his dream house, Olana. He remained financially secure until his death at age 73, thanks to previous artistic successes and shrewd investments.
Church's landscapes will be on display through Jan. 28, 1990, and will not travel.
-The third painter whose works are attracting attention at the National Gallery of Art is American impressionist John Henry Twachtman (1853-1902). Drawn from private and public collections, his landscapes, painted on his Greenwich farm, represent an important passage in his career from 1889 and 1901.
This exhibit is the third and final show in a series focusing on masters of American impressionism. The first two artists featured were William Merritt Chase in 1987 and Childe Hassam in 1988.
Brown said, "We are very pleased to conclude this series of focused exhibitions with a show that reveals the artistic maturity of John Twachtman, one of the most admired of all American impressionists."
During the Greenwich period, Twachtman chose to explore a single location - his farm in Greenwich, Conn. He paints it under various kinds of light and during different seasons. As a result, he captures the moods evoked by changing conditions as well as creating canvases of harmoniously interrelated forms.
The exhibition includes two of his most famous paintings - "Winter Harmony" and "Hemlock Pool."
After the exhibit closes on Jan. 28, 1990, it will open in the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn., on March 18, 1990, and continue through May 20.