Doménikos Theotokí³poulos (El Greco, 1541-1614), Exhibit in Gallery 28, West Building of NGA, Nov 16, 2014 - Feb 16, 2015

[DonRocks]

You have two weeks left to see this one-room exhibit containing several works by Doménikos Theotokí³poulos, better known as "El Greco."

My advice is to spend as much time looking at the 11 paintings (7 by Theotokí³poulos) as you can tolerate, and then go downstairs to the Lecture Hall (near the furniture exhibit), and watch the looping, thirty-minute film about the life of El Greco. Or, for a slightly different experience, do the two in reverse, but either way, seeing the film is a must.

This great painter, a relative unknown compared to Velazquez, has had an extraordinary influence on Modern Art - artists from Cézanne to Picasso revered him (as well as taking his works, and putting their own spin on them).

Go spend an hour in the gallery enjoying this extremely accessible and manageable exhibit - you'll really appreciate it, and you'll never look at Blue the same way again. The three large paintings in particular will stay with you long after you've gone home - Saint Martin, Madonna and Child (with Saint Martina and Saint Agnes), and Laocoön (speakers on - you can't be expected to know the pronunciation of this four-syllable name even though you may recognize the world-famous sculpture, "The Laocoön Group," unearthed in Rome in 1506).

One criticism I have is that the signage (two signs outside the room, three smaller signs inside the room, and the captions themselves) don't make it easy to discern which 7 (out of the 11) works were executed by Theotokí³poulos, and exactly what the other 4 works are - you can figure it out, but something this small should be nearly instantaneous to glean.

The film will walk you through his life in Crete, Venice, Rome, and Toledo, making it quite clear how he progressed.

You'll emerge from the gallery a better person than when you entered it.

[DonRocks]

Have you gone?

BTW, I refuse to use "El Greco" as the primary name for this thread. The guy's name was Doménikos Theotokí³poulos, as painful as that may be.

On the other hand, if we start calling every Hollywood star by their birth name, nobody will know who we're talking about. It is ironic that Whoopi Goldberg (née Caryn Johnson) took a Jewish last name to help her career (I have always found it somewhat sad that our Jewish brothers and sisters felt the need to take non-Jewish stage names - the list is jaw-dropping, and I hope that one day, the phenomenon will end - I say, "Stand up and take pride" in who you are).

[aaronsinger]

Have you gone?

BTW, I refuse to use "El Greco" as the primary name for this thread. The guy's name was Doménikos Theotokí³poulos, as painful as that may be.

On the other hand, if we start calling every Hollywood star by their birth name, nobody will know who we're talking about. It is ironic that Whoopi Goldberg (née Caryn Johnson) took a Jewish last name to help her career (I have always found it somewhat sad that our Jewish brothers and sisters felt the need to take non-Jewish stage names - the list is jaw-dropping, and I hope that one day, the phenomenon will end - I say, "Stand up and take pride" in who you are).

I remember learning how to pronounce his Greek name... in Spanish class in high school.