National Press Club in History: Is it art? Or is it offensive?

In 1932, the Brazilian embassy donated to the National Press Club a 4-ft. x 6-ft. painting of a reclining nude by Brazilian artist Antonio Parreiras. It depicted a Greek courtesan known as Phryne, who lay there with a come-hither expression on her face and little else.

It was hung in the Main Lounge, now known as the Holeman Lounge, over the entryway to the bar that leads to the Ballroom. Back then, the lounge was a place for Club members to relax and have a drink before going in for lunch or dinner.

“The men loved her,” one longtime member said of Phryne. “If they were having trouble with their wives and girlfriends, they always had Phryne.”

In 1982, when demolition began on rebuilding the Club, Phryne was in a sad state. Decades of cigarette and cigar smoke, dust and age, faded her vibrant colors. She was stored with an art conservator. When the renovated Club reopened, Phryne was not included in the new décor. The Club had merged with the Washington Press Club, the heir to the Women’s National Press Club.

The women, who had battled so long to gain entry to the Club wanted nothing to do with Phryne. To many of them, the painting was demeaning and insulting. The Club might as well put up a Confederate flag as hang a depiction of a concubine. With the lounge now being used for commercial purposes, such a painting would not fit with press conferences and forums.

But Phryne’s supporters were not deterred, even by the price tag of restoring the painting.

In 1994, a group led by Austin Kiplinger, co-owner of the Kiplinger Washington Editors, formed the Fine Arts Committee of the Silver Owls, and asked the Board of Governors if it could take possession of Phryne. Many board members assumed they could not raise the money for restoration and that would be the last they would hear about it.

They did not count on Kiplinger’s deep pockets. By 1998, the painting was restored to its original vibrant colors. When it was displayed in the Club during its 90th birthday celebration, 90-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond, who had a reputation as a lady’s man, saw her and exclaimed “Is she still alive?” The committee offered it back to the Club, if it would be hung again in its old haunt. By a decisive nine-to-two vote, the Board said no.

The Fine Arts Committee lent Phryne to the Metropolitan Club for several years before giving up on ever having it restored to the National Press Club. It put Phryne up for auction and she garnered $80,000 from an anonymous Brazilian. Much of that money went to the Club Library for its discretionary fund. We don’t know exactly where she is now, but Phryne is not in the Club.

This is another in a series provided by Club historian Gil Klein. Dig down anywhere in the Club’s 111-year history, and you will find some kind of significant event in the history of the world, the nation, Washington, journalism and the Club itself. Many of these events were caught in illustrations that tell the stories.