The Phillips is one of many smaller museums in DC but they have a pretty good collection of stuff. Their current exhibition is from the Dadaist school of modern art.
It was an impressive exhibit, but I wasn't overawed. The recent Dadaism exhibit at the national gallery of art was much better. Generally speaking, I think that Dada was a "you had to be there" kind of thing. The movement has really been integrated into the modern day times. A lot of what we see in art, graphic design, and even everyday culture today owes a lot to the Dadaist movement. So when you look back at the origins of the movement, you kind of think you've seen it all before. The Smithsonian exhibit really went into the history and cultural significance of the movement. In some sense the art was secondary. So instead of seeing a piece of art with some straight lines and three primary colors and saying to yourself, okay this is lame, you think, here's a painting with some straight lines, and primary colors and it's cool because now one else had ever thought to paint such a thing.
Their permanent collection had some very impressive works by Renoir, Degas, Van Gough, and El Greco. The Renoir "Luncheon of the Boating Party" in particular was great to see in person.
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