Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
5. WATSON AND THE SHARK
The sensational subject matter, muscular painting, and expressions of dread and
anxiety made this John Singleton Copley painting shocking when it was first dis-
played in 1778.
6. PORTRAITS OF THE FIRST FIVE PRESIDENTS
This is the only complete set of Gilbert Stuart's paintings of the first five presidents
(1817-21), including George Washington, still in existence. Sadly another set was
partially destroyed by fire in 1851 at the Library of Congress.
View photo
7. WIVENHOE PARK, ESSEX
Light and shade, the perception of calm, and clarity of detail create an absorbing and
soothing landscape. In this 1816 work John Constable demonstrates his love of the
English countryside.
8. THE RIVER OF LIGHT
Frederick Edwin Church's 1877 oil painting of the Amazon is based on sketches taken
during a trip to South America. The painting radiates an otherworldy air and em-
phasizes the power of nature.
9. RIGHT AND LEFT
The title of Winslow Homer's 1909 painting refers to shooting ducks with separate
barrels of a shotgun. The fleeting nature of the ducks' existence echoes our own.
10. CALDER MOBILE, EAST BUILDING
Alexander Calder's swooping structure, his last major work (installed in 1977), dom-
inates the atrium of the I.M. Peidesigned East Building.
