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    A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”

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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
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  • Exhibitions & Events

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    A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”

    Featured exhibition:

    Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World

    Now on view

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    6th and Constitution Ave NW 
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    Only have an hour to spend?

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  • Exhibitions & Events

    • Exhibitions
    • Calendar
    • Kid-Friendly Events
    A sprig of flowering rosemary lying against an ivory-white background and the twelve insects that surround it fills this horizontal painting. Stretching nearly the length of the composition with the cut end to our left, the rosemary has blunted, needle-like, gently curling teal-green leaves and small periwinkle-blue flowers along the ash-brown stem. Several insects perch on the sprig while others are seen as if looking from overhead, resting on the white background. The three largest insects perch along the top of the sprig, with an ivory-white butterfly with moss-green and black markings to the left, a black and golden, fuzzy bumblebee near the center, and a lemon-yellow butterfly with red antennae to our right. A tiny red insect, perhaps a ladybug without spots, sits on a leaf between the bee and yellow butterfly, and a small wasp-like insect rests on a leaf in at the lower left. Another mosquito-like insect alights on the surface nearby, next to a beetle with a honey-orange body with black, almost tiger-like stripes. A large cockroach sitting near the lower right corner has six spindly legs, a mahogany-colored abdomen, a black thorax, and tiny, black head. Spaced somewhat evenly across the top of the panel are a brick-red, winged insect to the left, a mint-green, beetle-like bug near a moth patterned with bone white and black, and a black, fly-like insect to our right. Lit from the upper left, the rosemary and insects cast shadows on the surface. The artist signed and dated the work with gray in the lower left corner: “J v. kessel . . f. Ao 1653.”

    Featured exhibition:

    Little Beasts: Art, Wonder, and the Natural World

    Now on view

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    3. Frank Blackwell Mayer

    Frank Blackwell Mayer

    American, 1827 - 1899

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    Two men, a dog, and a horse gather at the wide opening to a barn-like building that fills this horizontal painting. A light-skinned, blond man in a tall, brimmed, straw hat leans with his ankles crossed and hands in pockets against the right side of the opening. His body faces us and he turns his gaze toward the man to our left, whose face is in profile. The blond man's knee-length, olive-green jacket has black lapels, and it hangs open to reveal a close-fitting, ivory-white vest over a white shirt with a sea-blue tie. His brown, calf-high boots have a band of brick red around the top. A slender, brown and white grayhound stands facing our left in profile with its front legs stiffly straight and its hindquarters pressing against the man’s right leg. The tanned, dark-haired man near the jamb to our left bends over to work on the underside of a horse’s hoof, which he holds between his knees with his left hand. He wears a loose red shirt with an open collar and rolled-up sleeves, over wrinkled brown pants. Short black locks emerge under the edges of his olive-green cap. A wooden box of tools, with a handle for carrying, sits on the dirt ground in front of him. The horse being shod, overlapped by the workman, faces into the barn and to our left, but its head, turning to our right, is silhouetted against a landscape visible through an open window at the back of the barn. The view is dotted with haystacks and framed by tree branches. A stirrup hangs on a strap flung over a saddle on the back of the horse, whose rump stands between the laborer and a woman, who is deep in shadow. Placing her right hand, on our left, on her hip, she appears in front of the grids of window panes. She seems to have pale skin and dark, loosely bound-up hair, and she looks toward the horse. Red flames flicker in a fireplace between her and the standing blond man. The front opening of the structure is protected by a shallow wooden portico, supported on the left by a slender, trimmed tree trunk with a ring hanging from a screw near the top. Curling red and yellow leaves are scattered on the long, narrow, wooden boards that form the porch roof. Sunlight dapples the barn wall to our left, and a square patch of light falls on the face of the wall to our right, near the ground. A broken plow lies on the ground to our right, with the wooden handle of a tool propped against it. A tuft of long dark hair, like a horse’s tail, hangs on the wall over the tools. Closer to the head of the standing man, a poster is printed with black on white paper. A running man carrying an hourglass and a scythe is enclosed in a thin circle, over the words, “STOP THEIF!!!” in capital letters, though “thief” is misspelled.
    Frank Blackwell Mayer, Leisure and Labor, 1858, oil on canvas, Corcoran Collection (Gift of William Wilson Corcoran), 2014.136.111

    Leisure and Labor

    Leisure and Labor

    Frank Blackwell Mayer · 1858 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  2014.136.111

    Artwork

    ""

    Study for "Leisure and Labor"

    Study for "Leisure and Labor"

    Frank Blackwell Mayer · c. 1858 · watercolor and graphite on wove paper ·  Accession ID  2015.19.1048

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