Today my artist friend Bob and I were in the city for Bob to attend a meeting at Lambda Rising Bookstore to sell his artwork. The meeting was successful and he will be selling his artwork at the DC store. So if you happen to be at the Lambda Rising Bookstore in DC, check out his work and buy some. Congrats Bob!

While we were in the city we decided to go to The Phillips Collection in Dupont Circle. “The Phillips Collection is America’s first museum of modern art. Featuring a renowned permanent collection of nearly 2,500 works by American and European impressionist and modern artists, the Phillips is known for exceptional art in an intimate atmosphere. Housed in founder Duncan Phillips’ 1897 Georgian Revival home and similarly scaled additions-including the latest, which opened in April 2006-The Phillips Collection is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest small museums.” While visiting the museum we were able to see works by Degas, Sickert, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Klee.

The exhibition that I really enjoyed seeing was The Renoir Returns: A Celebration of Masterworks at The Phillips Collection. I’ve been to many museums and seen many paintings before but when we walked into the room housing the Luncheon of the Boating Party I was in awe. I was in awe because I was surprised at how large the painting was. It dominated one entire wall of the room. It’s something like 6 feet wide and 4 feet high. The detail in the painting is amazing. I just loved it. Of course before we left I had to buy a poster of the painting so that I can remember it. I also bought one of those cheesy magnets to put on my fridge.

If you ever get the chance to visit the Phillips Collection, be sure to see the Luncheon of the Boating Party.