A far cry from «Botswanian» elephants or «Cappadocian» lava sculptures were the two exhibitions I saw this week on my return. I must admit I was anxious to see something in the art line again. My list of exhibitions to see is long so somewhat surprising that I started off with two which really did not send me into raptures. The Raphael at the Louvre
This was the period in which his style attained its full maturity, marking without a doubt the apogee of the Italian Renaissance. All of the works presented—church altarpieces, paintings for private devotion, official portraits contrasted with remarkably subtle portraits of friends, as well as a selection of the artist’s most beautiful drawings—attest to Raphael’s extraordinary inventiveness, technical perfection, and unequaled sense of grace. (from the Louvre home page in English)
Guilo Romano and Franscesco Penni (assistants), I knew nothing about, but although I know that Marielle who joined me after our art classes will go and see the exhibition again - I will not. http://www.louvre.fr/en/expositions/late-raphael Of course there are one or two beautiful works but the mightiness of such art in space which restricts it, is not my cup of tea. I’m sure if you could visit the Pope’s rooms in the Vatican and see the frescoes in private, that this would be an unforgettable experience.
I admit that some of the drawings were out of this world. I probably prefer such much more than the paintings. The trial sketches for religious art are more appealing than the finished painting - for me.
Later in the week, I chose to go to «The Circle of Modern Art» Collectors of avant-garde art in Le Havre. What had been staring at me from posters for some time was the fauvist Van Dongen - an artist which I like a lot even if in small doses. The exhibition was not nearly as «modern» as I expected it to be although artists I liked had worked in Le Havre at the period in question. The late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
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| Van Dongen "La Parisienne de Montmatre" before 1908 |
An artist I knew nothing about captured my attention. Eugène Boudin (1824-1898). I found his skies extremely modern and even one of his port landscapes stood out next to the very realistic paintings of Millet or Pissaro.....
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| Boudin -Sunset 1848 |
The 5 main collectors seemed to have special links with certain artists such as Boudin, Monet, Pissaro and Marquet sometimes asking them to visit le Havre. Hence the paintings in this town. Even Braque was inspired by the port and certain artist joined together to form the group called the Circle of Modern Art. The use of colour was in experimentation and some of the first Fauvist paintings were created here. The group broke up in 1910. A great success for a number of years and a decentralization of the art scene in France. It must have given Le Havre an avant-garde image which I doubt if it has today.
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| Charles Canoin Porte de Marseille 1896 |
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| Canoin 1906 |
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| André Derain "The Old Tree" 1904 |
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| Claude Monet 1874 |
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| Felix Valloton "The Waltz" 1893 |
There was one room of nudes which was called The Private Collections. For the sake of appearances, their owners would discreetly have at hand these works but not in public rooms - in a study or an office or a smoking room this reserving them for the collectors or close friends! «La Saltilbanque au Repos» must I would think have caused a scandal and even when it was donated to the MAM in 1956, this nude still shocked some members. There is a charming Renoir in the same collection so you seen, if only for a handful of paintings, it was worthwhile my going along.
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| Renoir "L'Excursionniste" 1888 |
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| Charles Canoin 1905 |
and just for fun......
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| Robert Frémoin - Les Collectionneurs 1910 |
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