Left: Maurice Denis, Marthe offering Bernadette a bunch of grapes, Le Pouldu, September 15, 1890. Right: Maurice Denis, Noële and Her Mother, 1896. Photographs © 2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

“You press the button, we do the rest” said the slogan on George Eastman’s first Kodak camera, which enthralled thousands of would-be photographers when it debuted in 1888. No longer was photography relegated to professionals with expensive, cumbersome equipment—Eastman’s handheld made easy work of the process, creating shutterbugs of amateurs and artists alike. Many post-impressionist painters and printmakers found themselves swept up in the Kodak craze, taking thousands of snapshots of their travels, families, models, and muses. Some of their photographs were exchanged with fellow artists; some were used as studies for future pieces. And some, perhaps, were never meant to be seen.

Two hundred of these prints are on display in the Phillips Collection’s latest installation, “Snapshot: Painters and Photography, from Bonnard to Vuillard,” which makes its stateside debut tomorrow after an initial showing in Amsterdam. Co-organized by the Van Gogh Museum, the Phillips Collection, and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the exhibition explores the work of seven artists known to be transfixed by this new medium. A few may be familiar: Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, Félix Vallotton, and Maurice Denis were all members of a post-impressionist school known as the Nabis, a group of avant-garde painters influenced by the work of Paul Gauguin. The remaining three—Henri Rivière, George Hendrik Breitner, and Henri Evenepoel—are lesser known, but were equally as enamored with Eastman’s technology. Curators combed through Parisian attics and peeked into dusty shoeboxes in the Hague to uncover these artists’ photos, many of which have never been shown before.

Not even Juliette Lewis in a wedding dress could save last night’s episode. Josh Lucas, Juliette Lewis, and Callum Keith Rennie in The Firm, “Chapter Six.” Photograph by Ian Watson/NBC.

So the last time we saw Mitch, he was bundled up in a police station being arrested for the murder of Martin (who took a dive off of a sketchy hotel balcony and ended up inadvertently redecorating the sidewalk). I say this because, like you, presumably, I have no idea what’s going on in the show these days. I can just about get my head around the single-episode storylines, but then things flash back and forward a few weeks and I’m totally, irrevocably lost. Maybe it’s because the show is so bad these days that I have to get drunk to watch it, or maybe it’s because I can’t bring myself to care—who knows? Either way, it appears Mitch is being pursued by the police, some Chicago gangsters, AND some goons hired by his boss; Sarah Holt is an innocent victim/evil murderess/Army vet (or even worse, an insurance broker); and Martin is in some way connected to some grand scheme Mitch’s firm is also embroiled in, but he really wants to be a whistleblower. Got that? Me neither. Here are the winners and losers from last night’s episode, “Chapter Six.”

Manet’s “Masked Ball at the Opera,” now on display in the French Galleries in the National Gallery of Art’s West Building. Photograph courtesy of the NGA.

MUSEUM EXHIBITS

The French paintings at the National Gallery of Art have a brand new home. Following a two-year renovation and reorganization at the hands of curator Mary Morton, the French Galleries in the NGA’s West Building are now open on the second floor, with Monets, Manets, Cezannes, and Gauguins galore. Morton’s curation groups paintings by theme, so one room groups view paintings, another places women artists together (including six remarkable works by Mary Cassatt), and another has what appears to be an “Eastern boudoir” motif. Jokes aside, there are some outstanding works to be seen here, so it’s well worth a trip if you haven’t visited recently.

Also at the National Gallery: In advance of the London Olympics, an exhibition in the West Building looks at how cities have historically spruced themselves up for major events. “From the Library: The Fleeting Structures of Early Modern Europe,” February 4 through July 29, draws from the museum’s rare-books collection to explore the temporary structures built in the 15th and 16th centuries for everything from royal weddings to coronations.

Also in the West Building through July 8, “The Baroque Genius of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione” brings together around 80 prints and drawings by Castiglione, an influential Italian baroque artist.

Tonya Beckman Ross, Michael Milligan, and Katie deBuys in The Gaming Table at Folger Theatre. Photograph by Carol Pratt/Folger Theatre.

It’s fitting that the Spice Girls just announced a 2012 reunion, because Girl Power is apparently running wild at the Folger Theatre this month. Eighteenth-century dramatist Susanna Centlivre—whom we could dub “Old Spice” if we were feeling uncharitable—might lack the more enduring fame of many of her restoration comedy counterparts (Colley Cibber, John Vanburgh, William Congreve), but as a new adaptation of her 1705 play The Basset Table proves, she’s well worthy of a comeback tour.

Director Eleanor Holdridge has assembled an all-female creative team for the Folger’s production, which runs though March 4 (read our interview with her here), while dramaturg David Grimm has updated the script and renamed it The Gaming Table (basset, a European card game beloved by society mavens for its dramatic high stakes, is presumably too obscure a term for contemporary audiences). In Centlivre’s play, women are far more than just supporting characters. There are stereotypes, yes—such as the pious Lady Lucy ( Katie deBuys), and the manipulative, shallow compulsive gambler Mrs. Sago ( Tonya Beckman Ross). But there’s also Valeria ( Emily Trask), who eschews romance in favor of dissecting small animals; as well as the business-minded and savvy Lady Reveller ( Julie Jesneck), who’d rather take possession of a man’s pocketbook than his heart.

Cary Grant and Irene Dunn in The Awful Truth. Photograph courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

AFI Retrospectives

As awards season (thankfully) starts to wind down, the AFI ends its annual break from retrospective series—January usually being spent letting folks catch up on the end-of-year prestige films—and begins four new collections of older films, three of which will be with us until early April. Here’s what you can look for at the AFI in the coming weeks, all starting this weekend:

Screen Valentines: Great Movie Romances: Better for you than a box of chocolates and more enduring than a bunch of flowers, the shortest of the new retrospective series fills the month of February with eight classic romances spanning more than a half-century of cinema. Things get underway tomorrow with Cary Grant and Irene Dunn playing that most romantic of couples, the would-be divorcées, only they’re going to have to last a year apart before they’re granted their walking papers. They’re both desperately trying to find someone to replace the love of their life, but maybe, just maybe, the awful truth of The Awful Truth is that they’re really made for each other. The series also includes probably the best of the bunch, The Lady Eve, on Valentine’s Day itself, and other titles include selections with the Hepburns, Katherine (The African Queen) and Audrey (Two for the Road), as well as more-modern favorites in Dirty Dancing and—for fans of a kinder, gentler Ryan Gosling than is on display in this week’s Blu-ray pick— The Notebook.

Louise Schlegel and Blair Bowers in The Gallerist, closing February 19 at Atlas Arts Center. Photograph by C. Stanley Photography.

DON’T MISS

Signature Theatre presents the world premiere of Really Really , a drama by Paul Downs Colaizzo, January 31 through March 25. The show is set at an elite university where a night of partying has dramatic consequences.

February 2 through March 4, Constellation Theatre Company presents Federico García Lorca’s Blood Wedding . The 1933 Spanish tragedy is about a wedding disrupted by murder and old feuds.

February 4 through 19, the Kinsey Sicks return to Theater J with their new election-year show, Electile Dysfunction: The Kinsey Sicks for President! The drag “beautyshop quartet” skewers politics in this world premiere production.

Rock duo the Kills perform at 9:30 Club tonight. Photograph by Flickr user giovanni.

Thursday, February 2

In a White Stripes–less world, the Kills have stepped up to fill the bluesy boy-girl rock duo void. They’ve got a bit of a spooky edge—their songs have been used on the soundtracks of True Blood and Friday the 13th—but they’re still catchy as hell. Their show at the 9:30 Club is sold out, but lots of people are selling extras on Craigslist.

Doors at 7 PM at 9:30 Club, sold out.

A big-band supergroup composed of members of a bunch of DC Americana and roots-rock bands, the Natty Beaux play covers of American classics. Head to the Hamilton to see them perform hits by Elvis, Jerry Lee Louis, Ray Charles, and more. Best of all: It’s free.

Doors at 6:30 PM at the Hamilton, free