Member's Lounge, Corcoran Gallery of Art

Paul J. Kennedy was a faculty member of the Corcoran College of the Arts and Design from 1971 to 1974. On March 12, 1973, in a letter to Roy Slade—the Dean and Director — Kennedy requested to create a portfolio for the school: "I propose to photograph the Corcoran [Gallery of Art] not as a building where art is displayed but as a piece of art in itself. By photographically exploring every floor and room only then will we be able to see the total beauty of this building we call the Corcoran." The commission resulted in sixteen photographs that documented the beauty of the building. The Beaux-Arts style building was designed by Ernest Flagg in 1897, and Kennedy’s photographs successfully present the building as a regal home for the Corcoran Gallery and the school. The Flagg Building has remained a binding identity for the Corcoran School even through its acquisition by the George Washington University. The Member’s Lounge was a room in front of the Atrium and Grand Staircase. Members of the Corcoran Gallery could engage in conversation and rest in this lounge space. The intimate space with chairs and a coffee table created a comfortable atmosphere where sunlight poured in from the large windows facing 17th Street. The lounge provided a home-like space in the Gallery, isolated from the outside world.

Ingrid A. Steffensen-Bruce (Author), Marble Palaces, Temples of Art: Art Museums, Architecture, and American Culture, 1890-1930 (Volumes I and II), PhD Dissertation, University of Delaware, Summer 1994

HOME: Selections from the Corcoran Study Collection, Luther W. Brady Art Gallery, Washington DC, November 14, 2019 - March 13, 2020

Paul Kennedy: Photographs, Corcoran Gallery of Art [1869-2014], Washington DC, December 15, 1973 - January 27, 1974