Chagall Mosaic Gift to Washington Mall
Detail - Marc Chagall, with Lino Melano, Orpheus , 1971, from the upper right side--Pegasus, Three Graces, Orpheus The nation's capital city added a sudden burst of color this season in the form of Marc Chagall's Orpheus, a glass and stone mosaic. It's a 17' by 10' wall standing in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, Constitution Avenue and Madison Avenue. Evelyn Stephansson Nef, who died in 2009, donated it to the museum. (The composition is one of three new acquisitions in the National Gallery, a must-see along with a Van Gogh, a Gerrit von Honthorst and a loan of the Dying Gaul from the Capitoline Museum in Rome.) The mosaic stands in the garden behind the restaurant, but in front of the heavily traveled Route 1. Fortunately, a lot trees shield it from view of the traffic, providing a reflective space for viewers. The sculpture garden is on the National Mall, but open only from 10-5 daily and 11-...