ArtPalaver: Annie and Ansel at the Corcoran

If you want to see "Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005" at the Corcoran, you'd better act fast:  the exhibit closes this Sunday, January 13.  You would be wise to order tickets ahead; friends told me they were shut out last Sunday, and the Corcoran website now says that it's likely that tickets will sell out for Saturday and Sunday, January 12 and 13, and that you should call Ticketmaster at (202) 824-0786 "to confirm ticket availability prior to your arrival."  I recommend using this link to order online (the link is somewhat buried on the website). You've got a bit more time to see the Ansel Adams exhibit.  It closes January 27.

As Dubliner learned the hard way a few weeks ago, the Corcoran is closed on Tuesdays.  Check out hours and directions on their website.  Tickets for these exhibits are $14 (plus service charge if you order ahead).  The Corcoran offers brunch in the atrium on Sundays.  It used to be a gospel brunch; the website doesn't say whether it still is.  Regardless, but particularly if they do still feature live music, I wouldn't recommend it for this Sunday. With the crowds tonight it was so loud in the atrium I thought my head would explode.

If you are interested in a bite to eat before or after your visit to the Corcoran, tapas at Taberna del Alabardero, Peruvian food at El Chalan, and Italian at the revamped Spezie are all within a few blocks.

Corcoran Gallery of Art
500 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC  20006
(202) 824-0786
nearest metro:  Farragut West (blue/orange line)

Comments

[contessa]

OK, here's an easy way to tell a professional photographer from an amateur. I tried to take basically this same picture in Petra this summer (every tourist does), but in mine, the white facade in the background is nothing but a blur of light between the crevice.

For Indiana Jones buffs, this is where the last scene in original film was shot, with Jones galloping a horse up the steps.

[mbpalaver]

The exhibit includes lots of family snapshots. I don't know that much about Annie Leibovitz (or Susan Sontag for that matter), so wasn't that interested in her family photos for the subject matter, and to my untrained eye they didn't seem any more impressive than anyone else's family photos as a matter of quality. So photos like the one above stood out. (Though I'm guessing she also had a better camera than you, Contessa.)