Exit Through The Giftshop - Pictures At An Exhibition #23

More memories from viewings past...

1) BAPTISM OF THE NEOPHYTES (1427) - Masaccio

I bought this when I saw the remarkable frescos in the Brancacci Chapel within the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence.  The frescos can only be viewed on short timed visits, you enter through the cloisters next to the church, so the vibrant paintings are not damaged by constant visitors.  Masaccio began his frescos in 1425 but stopped when he had to travel to Rome in 1428 where he died aged only 27.  Filippino Lippi completed them 55 years later.  

St. Peter is seen baptizing believers in a river, a supplicant kneels before him as the holy water runs over his head, the river eddying around his knees.  Again, one is drawn to the remarkable cast of characters - the man who is waiting to be baptized who is obviously already freezing, the acolyte of Peter who is helping the man undress in the queue and, at the back, a man in a green tunic who really looks like he is thinking "What have I let myself in for?" as he looks nervously around him. 

2) LADY WITH CAPE AND HAT (1890) - Gustav Klimt

This was bought at the Royal Academy exhibition of drawings by Klimt and Egon Schiele from the Albertina Museum in Vienna in 2018.  The Albertina has for many years been the main research centre for the artist's life and work.  Klimt drew this haunting composition using black and red chalk aged 28.

Say the name Klimt and one thinks of art nouveau stylized, highly coloured portraits of glamorous women but this earlier drawing of a young woman in a black coat with high collar and a large hat is haunting in it's simplicity; her mournful expression beautifully caught as it is lit from the side.  Klimt was to embark on years of upheaval when in 1892 both his father and brother died and their families were dependant on Gustav for their well-being.

3) VIRGINIA AND LEONARD WOOLF'S WRITING LODGE (1934)

A very happy memory is visiting Monk's House on a sunny day in 2014.  Virginia and Leonard Woolf bought the house in an auction in 1919 for £700 and over the years, as they both became successful, they started making improvements to the rudimentary interior and garden.  They lived increasingly at Monk's House during the 20s and 30s due to Virginia's recurring mental breakdowns which were exacerbated by London life, and became a much-loved part of their life.  After Virginia's suicide in 1941, Leonard lived on at Monk's House until his own death in 1969.

The garden lodge was built in 1934 and, apart from being a place to store apples in the loft, it served as Virginia's writing retreat being only a short walk across the lawn from the main house.  Apart from her articles, she would have written the bulk of THE YEARS and BETWEEN THE ACTS here.  I blogged at the time "We were told that we were lucky that they had a full compliment of volunteers so the lodge was actually open to visitors and it was wonderful to stand there by her writing desk, her glasses and cigarettes still there waiting to be used.  The volunteer said sadly all we could do in there was look and breathe in the air.  That was fine for me."

4) SELF PORTRAIT WITH MONKEY (1938) - Frida Kahlo

Another of the great self-portraits by Frida Kahlo.  This was bought in 2005 at Tate Modern when they had a major retrospective of her work.  It had been a commission painting for the then-president of New York's Museum of Modern Art. Anson Conger Goodyear.  1938 was a pretty good year for Frida: she had made her first notable sale when the actor Edward G Robinson bought four paintings for $800 and she was invited to New York to hold her first US exhibition which, while dismissed by critics, was financially successful. 

She had met the Surrealist André Breton earlier in the year in Mexico who invited her to Paris to exhibit and famously described her art as "a ribbon tied around a bomb".  Frida stares out at us at an angle, coiffed and elegant, defiantly uni-browed and with a mousetache showing, against a background of large tropical leaves.  Her spider-monkey pet Fulang-Chang sits behind her with a protective paw around her neck, as if to guard her against the sudden explosion of interest in her and her art.  

5) PIETÁ (AFTER DELACROIX) (1889) - Vincent van Gogh

I bought this at the wonderful van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam: we wandered over that way one late afternoon and saw a smallish queue outside which we joined more as a dare to see how long we would stand there but to our delight it wasn't that long before we were shifting along and we were in, to discover the nooks and crannys of the modernist interior - and of course revel in the glorious paintings within.

Of course the knowledge that this was painted the year before his suicide makes one read more iinto the subject matter than one should, for most of the year Vincent was in the asylum in Saint Rémy-de-Provence where his access for inspiration came mostly from prints of other artists' work that he had with him as well as the grounds of the asylum.  He had always admired Delacroix and one day, when his print of his Pietá fell in some oils, Vincent decided to do his own.  Although based on another work, Vincent was working from a b/w print so the swirling and turbulant colour is his own imagination and memories of Delacroix's style.  I really love the colours: the many blues he finds in Mary's garments, offset against the paler tones of Jesus' skin and his sheet.  As usual when looking at his work you just feel sadness for the poor guy.

Exit Through The Giftshop - Pictures At An Exhibition #18

Memories from when galleries and museums were open...

1) SELF PORTRAIT WITH CERISE RIBBONS (1782) - Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun

 

This was bought at the wonderful Le Brun exhibition that was on at the Grand-Palais in Paris which I saw in 2016, the first ever retrospective of her portraits both pre- and post-revolution.  

Elisabeth, aged 27, looks out at us fresh-faced and apple-cheeked, a vision of prettiness with her hair tumbling naturally to her shoulders.  Her soft white dress as accenuated by the bright cerise pussy-bow and sash, and the black lace shawl and jaunty plumed hat.  For a working portraitist, it also served as unoffical advertising, showing the fashionable women of Paris that she could paint them like this too.

2) LADY AGNEW OF LOCHNAW (1892) - John Singer Sargent

A century on from Le Brun, the society painter of choice was John Singer Sargent who, like Elisabeth, gave the sitter exactly what they wanted only with more insight.  The commission came through from the 9th Baronet of Lochnaw Castle to paint his wife Gertrude (née Vernon).  I bought this at the National Gallery of Scotland where she sits in residence.

A glorious portrait, Sargent always managed to give the impression of capturing his subjects 'live', negating the length of time it would have taken to paint.  Her full white dress is accentuated by the mauve sash which also ties in the tones of the silk backdrop and French upholstery of the chair.  She holds a white rose in her lap and languidly drapes her arm over the arm of the chair to hold the chair frame.  She stares directly at Sargent and at us, almost saying "Kiss all this opulence...".

3) STATUE OF EBIH-IL (circa 2400 BC) - unknown

This glorious chap is Ebih-Il, the superintendant of the ancient city of Mari, now in Syria, sculpted at his prayers.  I made his acquaintance at the Louvre in Paris where he is currently residing.  He was discovered in 1934 by French archaelogist André Parrot at the site of the temple of Ishtar.

He is seated on a whicker seat and wears a bulky skirt of animal skin. What makes it stand out however is the marvellous rendering of his face with his happy smile and the vivid blue of his lapis lazuli eyes.  He stands - or sits - just over 20 inches tall and I would head straight for him when the Louvre let me run around with a shopping trolley.

4) THE RAISING OF THE SON OF THEOPHILIS (detail) (1428-1484) - Masaccio and Filippino Lippi

Part of the marvellous fresco cycle which adorn the walls of the Brancacci Chapel within the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence.  The frescos can only be viewed on short timed visits through the cloisters next to the church so the vibrant paintings are not damaged by constant visitors.

I was immediately drawn to this group of observers who rather dispassionately are watching Saint Peter raise a young man from the dead.  Their faces are remarkable and you will definitely have seen them walking along the streets of Florence to find the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. My personal favourite is the man second from the right, turning to his neighbour with a resigned look on his face. Work on the frescos started in 1425 by the painter Masaccio but he stopped when he had to travel to Rome in 1428 where he died aged only 27.  Filippino Lippi completed them 55 years later!

5) THE LAOCOON GROUP (possibly circa 27BC and 68AD) - unknown

One of the most iconic works of art, it's wonderful to see it in 'the marble' and to realise you are looking at a statue that Pliny The Elder wrote about.  If Laocoon and the lads hadn't suffered enough, they are missing a couple of limbs - and a bit of upraised snake - but it does not detract from the overall power of the work and your feeling of helplessness observing it.  The postcard was bought at the Vatican where the statue stands in the Pio-Clementino Mueum.

The Trojan High Priest Laocoon's fate was written about by Sophocles in a now-lost tragedy and by Virgil who tells of him throwing a spear at the Trojan Horse and being killed along with his sons by venomous snakes sent by the god Poseidon.  Sophocles had another take on it and sexed up the tale by having the gods send the snakes to kill his sons in revenge for him breaking his vow of chastity to the god Apollo.  The huge statue was re-discovered in 1506 and Michelangelo was one of the first to inspect it - you can definitely see the influence in his work.  The statue's actual date is still widely open for conjecture and there is no definite idea if it is Greek of Roman.  What most - apart from silly old John Ruskin - are agreed on is it's tragic power.