I never realized there was this sculpture garden directly west of the National Art Gallery's West Building on the mall -- but there is, and it has a beautiful fountain in the middle that is used for ice skating in the winter. There are 17 sculptures in the garden, but here are my three favorites:
House I, by Roy Lichtensetin, 1996ish
This plays with perspective. From this side, the three main pieces really angle back and the chimney protrudes above the flat panels, but the whole thing looks 3D.
Girls, by Magdalena Abakanowicz, 1992.
Morbid. These headless figures of children "refers to an account the artist heard as a child in Poland during World War II about a group of children who froze to death as they were transported in cattle cars from Poland to Germany as part of the "arianization" process," according to the garden's brochure.
Thinker on a Rock, by Barry Flanagan, 1997.
Apparently a play on Rodin's Thinker (1880). To me, it also looks like a hare is riding a very roughly sculpted tortoise - like in the story of the tortoise in the hare. But maybe that's just me.
House I, by Roy Lichtensetin, 1996ish
This plays with perspective. From this side, the three main pieces really angle back and the chimney protrudes above the flat panels, but the whole thing looks 3D.
Girls, by Magdalena Abakanowicz, 1992.
Morbid. These headless figures of children "refers to an account the artist heard as a child in Poland during World War II about a group of children who froze to death as they were transported in cattle cars from Poland to Germany as part of the "arianization" process," according to the garden's brochure.
Thinker on a Rock, by Barry Flanagan, 1997.
Apparently a play on Rodin's Thinker (1880). To me, it also looks like a hare is riding a very roughly sculpted tortoise - like in the story of the tortoise in the hare. But maybe that's just me.
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