AN ODD COMBINATION OF EXHIBITIONS

It didn’t take too much pushing to get me out on that cold crisp but sunny day. It was the choice that was so hard. There are so many exhibitions on in Paris that I want to see. This time of course it would be those closing in early January. Two. Oscar Wilde - « Insolence Incarnate » (I think that I would have preferred « Born to be Wild » …and Mexico 1900-1950.

No way will I comment on the Oscar Wilde show. This is the first major exhibition to be held in Paris. The exhibition retraces the life and work of this ardent francophile and speaker of perfect French through more than 200 remarkable exhibits, some never shown before: manuscripts, photographs, drawings, caricatures and personal effects; as well as paintings borrowed not only from Ireland and England, but also from the United States, Canada and Italy, from French institutions including the Musée d’Orsay and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, and from various private collections.

Something more to say even so. His comments, seem to be so simple. For instance:-

I can resist everything except temptation.
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much.

The exhibition was a dazzling experience. For once, I read a lot of his letters…something I don’t normally do in exhibitions. Perhaps not many of us know that he was married and had two sons. But what was the funniest moment of all, when his great great grandson told us that the family had to change their name when he came out of prison - no-one looked kindly on homosexuality during that period - Many of us laughed out loud. Coincidence?

I came out. Two hours had gone by. Mexico was in the Grand Palais opposite. Sure, I hesitated. Two exhibitions in a day now tends to be one too much. However, there was no queue, so I thought I’d give it a go. No queue perhaps but inside it was another matter.

Here is a short video which shows what I would be looking at

Since its independence won from the Spanish monarchy in 1821, Mexico has never ceased to assert its willingness for change and its spirit of modernity.
With painting, sculpture, architecture, urbanism, music, literature, film and the applied arts the country has forged its identity. The exhibition, is the largest event dedicated to Mexican art since 1953. Offering a panorama of famous artists such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo and Rufino Tamayo - and here we go again. I was going to discover painter’s work that I knew nothing about.

With the exception of a couple of paintings, I am going to skip the Revolution. There was so much violence during that period. It began in 1910 and continued for a decade. The paintings were huge and not easy to look out.   Diego Rivera’s (1886-1957) work I knew a little about as he was Frida Khalo' husband who I knew much more about. What I saw of Rivera’s work I liked immensely. Often the paintings were statements. Although he interacted closely with European avant-garde artists, he didn’t want to be part of them so developed his own figurative language. He travelled a lot, lived in both Europe and in New York. From what I read, he was surely a very self opinionated personality and I don’t blame Frida for leaving him - even if she did come back.

Here is some of his work:-

La femme au puits- 1913

On the Back "Paysage zapatiste" -1915

Portraity of Adolfo Best Maugard - 1913

Melcaoliques promenades -1904

Portrait of Amon Gomez de la Serna - 1915

La vendeuse de pinole -1924

Vendeuses d'arum - 1942

Angel Zarraga (1886-1946) was another Mexican painter whose name rang a bell but nothing more. Angel too seems to describe a woman rather than a man for me, so I was a bit surprised that the artist turned out to be a man. He’d worked overseas and even had an exhibition in the Prado in 1907. He participated in the 1909 Biennale di Venezia and exhibited in the Salon at the Piazzale Donatello, Florence. In 1911 he moved to France for good, and only returned to Mexico once at the outbreak of World War II and then only for a short time.

After 1921 his work was influenced by Cézanne and Giotto.

I think in actual fact I discovered his work in the Prado when I was there a couple of years ago. However, the work I saw today was striking.

Angel Zarraga - Petite fille aux fruits - 1915

La poétesse - 1917

La frontière septentrionale du Mexique- 1927

La corne d'abondance - 1927

Another artist who was at once recognizable after you saw her first painting was Nahum Olin (1893-1978). She was the fifth of eight children and had a pretty privileged upbringing even to the extent of living in Paris and learning to speak the language fluently.
She moved to Paris with her husband, where they met Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Jean Cocteau. Afterwards the couple moved to San Sebastián, Spain, where Nahum’s or Carmen's (her real name was Carmen) brother Manuel ran a photo studio. In San Sebastián, the couple started painting. No-one seems to know if they divorced but later they went their separate aways. She had multiple affairs and was described as being sensual and exotic. I gather too that she was the first woman in Catholic Mexico to wear a miniskirt!

Nahui Olin - self portrait as a student in Paaris - 1914

Nahui and Lizardo in Acapuloco - 1927

Gerardo Muriollo(1875-1964) Portrait of Nahui Olin

Nahui Olin : Nahui and Agacino in Manhattan

An artist who really did surprise me because of his caricatures, was Miguel Covarrubias (1901-1957). In 1924, he moved to New York without much knowledge of English but soon made a place for himself with his caricatures, theatrical set designs and some painting….I liked what I saw and found some of his work very funny indeed.

Dancer - 1928

Clark Gable vs Edward Prince of Wales, "Impossible Interviews" - 1932

Joseph Staline

Ion Antonescu (Rumenian Quisling) 1944

Adolf Hitler (no date)

The Emperor Hirohito - 1944

George Gershwin an American in Paris -1929

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954). Her life began and ended in Mexico City. Her work has been celebrated internationally as emblematic of Mexican national and indigenous traditions, and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience

Mexican culture and tradition are important in her work, which has been sometimes characterized as naïve art or folk art. I have a magnet on my fridge door which shows just how naive her work could be. Frida has also been described as surrealist, and in 1938 André Breton, principal initiator of the surrealist movement, described Kahlo's art as a "ribbon around a bomb". Frida rejected the "surrealist" label imposed by Breton, as she argued that her work reflected more of her reality than her dreams.

Kahlo had a volatile marriage with the famous Diego Rivera. She suffered lifelong health problems, many of which were caused by a traffic accident she survived as a teenager. Recovering from her injuries isolated her from other people, and this isolation influenced her works, many of which are self-portraits. Kahlo suggested, "I paint myself because I am so often alone and because I am the subject I know best. » I’ve always been very impressed by that quote for the simple reason that when we do spend a lot of time alone, we tend to know ourselves better than those around us.

Sun and Life - 1947

The Two Frida - 1939

Techucana Child : Lucha Maria or the Sun and Moon - 1942

Self portrait with cut hair - 1940

There were many artists I have never heard of, but their work caught my attention and without knowing it, I had take far more photos that I anticipated. Forgive me for not describing each artist but enjoy their work, knowing that each one of them has contributed so much to this Mexican period between 1900-1950.