National Gallery of Art - East Wing. December 2021
Of memories and dynasties
The National Gallery of Art's East Wing opened June 1, 1978, the design offspring of the prolific I.M.Pei. The first non-neoclassical building on the Mall was greeted with much fanfare. I arrived in Washington a year later, so the gallery itself was still a "phenomenon". I remember being impressed by the stark clean lines and towering spaces. The connecting tunnel under 4th Street and its people mover were novel as well at the time. Everything about the new museum was ultra modern, even the oddly shaped elevators. My late-teenage self thought "this must be the way modern art, especially sculpture, should be displayed". Years later in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia I would view that nation's outdoor modern sculpture park {See: Jeddah Corniche Sculpture Park} with many of the same artists. Were those sculptures better off in a park along the sea or had they just been abandoned to the elements? The East Wing preserved its collection in an angular temple to modern art.
I recall a visit there with Georgetown friends MA and CL where we took a memorable portrait of ourselves in one of the small glass pyramids that let light into tunnel below. In the days of film cameras, a good selfie in a mirror was an accomplishment! We were so young and edgy. We were at the East Wing, we "got it".
In the end, I was never sure if I liked the East Wing or not. At times, it felt too out of place filled with "art" I didn't understand. It always seemed empty. However, over time it became an old friend that I visited every so often. Even if "too" modern, its hulking mass was already part of Washington history. As the Eiffel Tower's modernity became part of Paris, so the East Wing became a fixture on the Mall. 43 years later its renovation plods along - a sure sign it has become family with its Greek and Roman cousins. Now other buildings on the Mall equal the East Wing in modernity, but it did trailblaze the path for the others. Who can dislike a building that hosts an enormous blue rooster on its roof in view of the Capitol?
In my travels, I encountered Pei's other creations repeatedly. The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong became an iconic part of the skyline showing that his native China was now in charge there. The Louvre's pyramid entrance was suddenly that palace-museum's new icon proving that Paris retained a "cutting edge" in all things art and architecture. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Lake Erie in Cleveland joined his architectural club proclaiming that Cleveland yet lived as a city. The Museum of Islamic Art in Doha (I must write about that), my favorite amongst all his works, overlooks the ultra modern city on water's edge showing that Arabs not only have culture, but their OWN culture and not just some echoes of Western hand-me-downs . Pei left his mark worldwide and I was lucky to see his creations again and again.
Fast forward to Duhok, Iraq in 2019.
The sponsor/benefactor of the university where I worked had a dream of building a medical college. I don't know why exactly, but I.M. Pei's son was passing through Duhok and was invited to speak to the students at the university. Teaching during his presentation, I missed it, but I was required that evening to attend a dinner with select students and faculty at Duhok's Rixos Hotel {See: Friday Morning Coffee}. I was mildly curious about Chien Chung, the real offspring of such a noted architect whose work I admired, so the "command" to attend the dinner didn't chafe too much. I was actually suspiciously amused that I had been singled out as a native English speaker who could maintain a normal conversation (unfortunately, a skill lacking in some of my colleagues).
I had no expectations before the dinner, so I arrived clean slate about the man. Unfortunately, he came across as a clueless wealthy man riding the coattails of his father. I am not being harsh, just honest. He was polite and skilled in the art of conversation, but I had the general impression he had no idea where he was or who he was talking to. Having spent some of my life with the 1% (where I.M. Pei came from and lived his whole life - along with his family), I could see the guy was well-meaning but not much else. He was the rich son of a rich and famous man. If he were to design a medical college there in Duhok, it would just be our university benefactor's glomming onto the bits of glitter that fell from our dinner guest's father's reputation. The building would be a "Pei" design (not really) built by Pei (fils not père). In the end, the university never moved ahead with that project. I assumed Chien Chung had been on an exploratory junket just so he could regale his 1% friends back in Manhattan or Beijing that he had "been in Iraq" (I can hear the gasps).
I was left to ponder creativity, talent, and artistic legacy.