For more information on the Octagon Museum and exhibitions, please see The Octagon Museum.
The Willard Hotel Palm Court 1901 by Frances Benjamin Johnston 
The Willard Hotel 1983 by Carol M. Highsmith |
Two Windows on the Willard: The Photographs of Carol M. Highsmith and Frances Benjamin Johnston
Exhibition at the American Institute of Architects Headquarters Gallery The Octagon, the museum of the American Architectural Foundation, in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects and the Willard InterContinental Washington, is pleased to present an exhibition of photographs celebrating the rich architectural story of the Willard InterContinental hotel. Featuring 35 black & white and color images, the exhibition traces the compelling story of the demise and rebirth of one of America’s best known hotels. First documented in 1901 by the famous early 20th-century architectural photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston, and then 80 years later by contemporary photographer Carol M. Highsmith, the exhibition’s photographs detail the preservation of a building that was and is the heart of downtown Washington, DC and whose 1986 restoration helped spur the rebirth of Pennsylvania Avenue. After its presentation at the AIA Headquarters Gallery September 15 – January 5, 2007, the exhibition will begin a national tour. Two Windows on the Willard is part of a year-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of the re-opening of the Willard InterContinental Hotel, and a century of the “new” Willard Hotel which the architectural photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston photographed in 1906. The newly erected hotel sits on the site of the original 1850 Willard hotel building. Johnston’s significant black and white images are held in the Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs Division. Then, nearly 80 years later, Carol Highsmith undertook a similar series of photographs that ended up documenting the severely dilapidated hotel prior to, and during its restoration that culminated with the building’s grand reopening in 1986. Please also visit www.CarolHighsmithPortfolio.com This exhibition is made possible with the support of the American Architectural Foundation, Willard InterContinental Washington, American Institute of Architects, National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs Program, U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and Restore Media, LLC |
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