The Capitol Dome

skill is not part of Dada. 2 So skill has been played low but I am the son of craftspeople; I put a lot of store in skill. WdG: Does that speak to the irony in art, that you were talking about? PW: Yes. I mean irony like, "we'll put a manhole cover in the middle of the floor, and there's my art." As long as it's sincere, any type of art grips me. But how can you tell if a manhole cover lying on the floor is sincere? WdG: What is the favorite painting you've done? PW: I am so critical of my own work. Frequently it takes years before I really take satisfaction in my own work, because I see the flaws or things I could have done more perfectly or better. Years ago, my first studio in DC was with this old couple—Evelyn and Gardner Patterson— who lived in Logan Circle. He was many things, and was in charge of the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton. I came downstairs one day and I said to him, "I am just not satisfied with what I am doing. I am never satisfied with what I am doing," and he said, "that's how it should be." And that was my lesson on that. People who are satisfied with what they SPIRIT OF WASHINGTON (1842), 60" x 60" oil on canvas Recreating long-lost interiors is especially satisfying. This is Charles Bulfinch's original Capitol Dome with the open oculus and viewing area. When the Washington family refused to part with the first president's body, which had been planned for the crypt beneath the Rotunda, Horatio Greenough's massive neoclassical sculpture was commis- sioned instead. The nudity proved problematic, however, and it was moved outdoors. THE GREAT CHEESE (1837), 48" x 108" oil on canvas The East Room of the White House was not decorated at all until Andrew Jackson took on the job, creating one of the most extraordinary interiors in the building's history, full of color and magnificence. The painting shows the reception Jackson held for eating the 1000-pound cheese he had been given. 37 THE CAPITOL DOME

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