Smithsonian Castle

Long time I was thinking that the Smithsonian Castle had been somehow transplanted from Europe and I was wandering how. Actually it was created here in America: Renwick was the architect.

Today the Smithsonian Institution manages most of the museums located along the National Mall in DC, and not only. One notable exception: the National Gallery of Art.

It all started with the bequest of James Smithson, a British mineralogist and chemist, born in Paris as the illegitimate son of the Duke of Northumberland, died in Genoa: today his remnants repose in a sarcophagus inside the Castle.

Nobody knows the reasons behind his bequest, actually not much is known about his life. His scientific works were brought to the Castle, and destroyed by a fire in 1865. All we know for sure is that he left an immense fortune.

I like to visit the Castle now and then, to enjoy a cup of coffee in the great lobby and then to walk toward one of the rooms that host a lot of stuff, from a Gibson guitar and a velocipede up to some fine examples of modern art. If you want from me a judgment, I find the sculpture of Max Ernst very exquisite.

Max Ernst - Parisian Woman
1950, cast 1960
bronze

Alberto Giacometti - Standing Nude III, 1953
bronze

César's Thumb
bronze

• George Rickey
• The Peacock Room at Freer Gallery
• A New Whistler Exhibition at Freer
• Robert Indiana: The Meaning of Iconic
• Smithsonian Castle Before the Storm
• Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
• The Statue of Niō
• A Luóhàn and a Demon
• The Haupt Garden
• Chigusa
• Noh and Kyōgen Theatre in DC
• Reconfiguring Beauty: Thomas Wilmer Dewing
• Seasons
• Sufis - Piety and Poetry
• Masters of Mercy: Budha's Amazing Disciples
• Kobayashi Kiyochika at Freer: Sumida River by Night, 1881

(Washington, District of Columbia)