5 Art Masterpieces to See in Philadelphia
Don’t miss these marvels while visiting Philadelphia’s Museums
“I am interested in ideas, not merely in visual products.”
Marcel Duchamp
Étant donnés @ the Philadelphia Museum of Art
If you visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art on a weekend, you’ll probably find crowds of Rocky enthusiasts running up and down the stairs and waiting in line to have their photo taken in front of the Rocky statue. What you’re witnessing is an Instagram world that Marcel Duchamp would have hated. Even worse, is that you’ll usually find the Marcel Duchamp Room inside the Philadelphia Museum of Art largely empty.
The PMA houses the Walter and Louise Arsenberg collection of Marcel Duchamp, which is the largest and most important collection of the French artist. Duchamp’s impact on the late-20th Century art, specifically Conceptual art and its predecessors, cannot be overemphasized. The collection is massive. It’s greatest hits double-album packed into a corner of this gargantuan institution.
You’ll find Chocolate Grinder (№2) (1914), Bride (1912), The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Eve (The Large Glass) (1915–1923), which draws together Duchampian themes sexuality, humor, language and chance. Prior to Duchamp’s death, The Large Glass was considered his masterpiece. Ironically, it cracked in transit and was restored by Duchamp, who stated that the pattern of broken glass only improved the work. Why Not Sneeze, Rose Sélavy? (1921), by Marcel’s alter ego, is there, as well as replicas of Bottlerack (1961) and Bicycle Wheel (1913) . But the most important work is his magnum opus Étant donnés: 1° la chute d’eau, 2° le gaz d’éclairage . . . (Given: 1. The Waterfall, 2. The Illuminating Gas . . . ).
From 1946–1966, Duchamp toiled in secret making Étant donnés. He’d mostly left the artworld, focused on playing chess, had become largely forgotten, only to emerge as the grandfather of Conceptual Art and framed as one of the most important artists of the later half of the 20th Century. Étant donnés is an installation of a naked woman, reclining, spread-eagle, holding a candle.
“Viewers are not simply presented with an image of blatant female sexuality–a sight not uncommon within an institution of art–but instead find themselves peeping through a door in order to gaze upon an exposed female body that the demarcating door closes off from public access.”
What does that mean? (Many rumors surround Étant donnés–was this modeled after a real dead woman?) The work is largely ignored by art historians because it is deliberately opaque. Most explanations frame Given “to be his final parting joke on the institution of art.”
We know what it isn’t. It isn’t a return to readymades, it isn’t a return to Duchampian themes, as found in the Large Glass. What is clear is how the work is supposed to be viewed–through a peephole. Are we seeing an anti-masterpiece? Just getting a chance to peer through the hole and see it in real life is a real treat.
If you’d like to learn more about the final work of Duchamp, and prepare for your visit to PMA’s collection, I recommend Julian Jason Haladyn’s Étant donnés. The 100-page book introduces different interpretations of Given while arguing that Duchamp’s goal was to intentionally frustrate how his oeuvre was considered.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is a massive institution, which may require three or four hours. I suggest making multiple visits, and check out the Duchamp each time!
Van Gogh @ the Barnes Foundation
The Barnes Foundation is a much smaller museum than the PMA, and personally I prefer smaller institutions. I like to leave feeling inspired and energized, and seeing Vincent Van Gogh’s The Postman (1889) is just the prescription.
The Postman is a portrait of Joseph Roulin, a close friend Van Gogh met after relocating to Arles. The entire Roulin Family were subjects of the artist’s portraits, which is not only unique as a series–how many serial family portraits exist in art history–but also these works financially supported Van Gogh at a time when his aspirations for establishing an artist cooperative were in demise. One must imagine this solitary artist who never married or had children, sitting with this family from 1888 through 1889.
Like so much of our knowledge about Van Gogh, our insight into his thinking, hopes and aspirations is informed by his letters written to his brother. These are catalogued and contextualized in Vincent van Gogh: A Life in Letters.
The collection was built by Dr. Barnes, who made his fortune in the pharmaceutical business, started with 33 French avant-garde paintings, including Van Gogh’s. It’s coincidental, if not ironic, that one of the first works that Dr. Barnes purchased was by an artist who suffered from gonorrhea, which was later treated by Argyrol, the very product manufactured and trademarked by Barnes. In addition to The Postman, the Barnes Foundation has the world’s largest collection of Renoir and Cezanne, as well as works by Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani. There are also temporary exhibitions by contemporary artists. The building was designed by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects and grounds were laid out by Philadelphia-based landscape and urban designers OLIN.
LOVE in John F. Kennedy Plaza
You don’t have to pay to see some of the best artwork in the City of Brotherly Love. There are so many great murals all over–just walk around! A great walk is down The Parkway from the PMA to City Hall. In addition to murals, you’ll also see great public sculptures, including the iconic LOVE (1976) just northwest of City Hall. Robert Indiana is known for this work, which is kind of inspiring, since who doesn’t love Love? but also kind of sad because he has so much other great work that rarely gets shown. I had the rare opportunity to see a retrospective of Indiana in 2013 at the Whitney Museum of American Art and found it really inspiring. The title says it all: Beyond Love. The catalog is excellent primer for his work,
In 2008, Indiana revisited his iconic work and made Hope, a variation for his support for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
On a sunny weekend, you’ll likely have to wait in line to take a selfie with it, but Duchamp wouldn’t be mad: there’s meaning behind it.
The Gates of Hell @ the Rodin Museum
What do you do with an artwork that’s commissioned for a museum that is never built? Build your own museum. Well, almost. The Rodin Museum was actually a gift by a movie-theatre magnate Jules Mastbaum to the city of Philadelphia, where the massive Gates of Hell (1886) are now installed. Gates of Hell is massive; I guess Rodin expected a crowd going through them. They measure 20 feet tall, 13 feet wide and 3 feet deep. There are 180 characters, which Rodin altered, added and subtracted from for decades. You’ll see a few you recognize, including The Thinker, near the top. It’s a masterpiece, incomplete at the time of the artist’s death. When the Rodin Museum was being constructed, Mastbaum had two casts made, one of which is incorporated into the museum’s entrance. The other copy was given to the Musée Rodin in Paris.
The museum is a gem, with a constant rotation of important works inside, such as The Kiss. And it’s a small museum–only a few modestly-sized rooms. But it is a gorgeous neoclassical building with an updated garden, which is also designed by OLIN, in which you’ll find one of the four copies of The Thinker (1880–1882).
Whatever is at the ICA
I believe in contemporary art and the power to expand my thinking and push the limits of human creativity. The Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania never disappoints. It doesn’t have a permanent collection, but it’s always free of charge and showcases amazing work. Every time I visit Philadelphia, I stop at the ICA.
Notes“A Portal into Marcel Duchamp” Philadelphia Museum of Art.“The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (The Large Glass)” Philadelphia Museum of ArtMarcel Duchamp: Étant donnés, Julian Jason Haladyn, Afterall Books. 2010.“Portrait of Joseph Roulin,” Van Gogh, Museum of Modern Art.“5 Artists Who Likely Suffered From Syphilis,” Kelly Hill, Daily Art Magazine, July 31, 2020.“Robert Indiana: The Story Behind Love and Hope,” Guy Hepner Gallery“The Gates of Hell,” Association for Public Art
