Museums you've visited (or want to see)

[Wanderer]

A forgotten Belgian impressionist, in Ghent:

https://www.mskgent.be/tentoonstellingen/albert-baertsoen

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Baertsoen

The MSK organises such interesting exhibitions! I remember reading about their Jan van Eyck exhibition that was to take place back in 2020 (and which eventually only lasted for about a month before lockdowns began) and wishing I'd be able to visit.

[pjme]

Ah, the Van Eyck exhibition. I had tickets ...for the day the exhibition had to close....

In Den Bosch, and well worth a visit: https://www.hetnoordbrabantsmuseum.nl/en/visit/exhibitions/2022/07/symbolism-in-flanders/

[Wanderer]

Early October 2022: Museum visits in beautiful, autumnal Vienna (temporary exhibitions in parentheses):

Museum für angewandte Kunst
Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste
Naturhistorisches Museum (BRASILIEN - 200 Jahre Beziehungsgeschichten)
Leopold Museum (HAGENBUND - Von der gemäßigten zur radikalen Moderne)
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (Lebensnah - Realistische Malerei von 1850 bis 1950)
Kunsthistorisches Museum (Idole & Rivalen)
Albertina (Basquiat - Die Retrospektive, Francesco Clemente, Hauenschild Ritter – Muntean/Rosenblum : Zwei Künstlerkollektive in Österreich, Tony Cragg - Sculpture: Body and Soul)

[pjme]

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp is open again after 11 years of difficult (costs & delays) renovation and revamping.
But the result is very impressive! I was happy to see some old favorites: Rubens' Adoration of the magi, the Fouquet madonna, Ensor's oyster eater, Van Eyck's saint Barbara  and a wealth of known and unkown Flemish artists of the early 20th century - Rik Wouters, Jules Schmalzigaug, Leon Spilliaert...

The architects worked wonders in preserving the atmosphere of a 19th century art-palace in combination with new rooms , fit for the 21st century.

https://kmska.be/en/about-kmska

Don't miss it if you visit the Low Countries!

[Irons]

Took the grandkids (4 & 6) to the Natural History Museum in South Kensington yesterday. Even with crowds and filthy weather we had a great time. "Dippy" a Diplodocus was in residence, you do wonder why and how some dinosaurs evolved at such massive sizes. With free entry and popularity a system in place of booking a slot which saves joining a long queue. Pic below I took of a Stegosaurus.   

[Que]

Early October 2022: Museum visits in beautiful, autumnal Vienna (temporary exhibitions in parentheses):

Museum für angewandte Kunst
Gemäldegalerie der Akademie der bildenden Künste
Naturhistorisches Museum (BRASILIEN - 200 Jahre Beziehungsgeschichten)
Leopold Museum (HAGENBUND - Von der gemäßigten zur radikalen Moderne)
Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (Lebensnah - Realistische Malerei von 1850 bis 1950)
Kunsthistorisches Museum (Idole & Rivalen)
Albertina (Basquiat - Die Retrospektive, Francesco Clemente, Hauenschild Ritter – Muntean/Rosenblum : Zwei Künstlerkollektive in Österreich, Tony Cragg - Sculpture: Body and Soul)

What a wonderful list! 

[pjme]

Last Tuesday:

Brueghel in Den Bosch

"For many years, those who wanted to admire the world-famous works of the Brueghel family of painters had no choice but to travel to the world's greatest museums in Paris, Berlin, Milan, and Boston. Now, for the first time in history, the  Noordbrabants Museum is bringing together the best of five generations of Brueghel in a unique, ambitious, and game-changing collection of eighty paintings and prints – all under one roof. It's a family reunion in 's-Hertogenbosch!"

Very good and interesting show. "From generation to generation, the family business remained an international success. In the exhibition you get a look behind the scenes at three creative family businesses"

"The exhibition also takes a fresh look at the powerful women of the Brueghel dynasty. Who were they and what was their role in the family's success? Among others, we'll meet Mayken Verhulst: one of the most important female artists of her time as well as a shrewd businesswoman, mentor, artist's daughter, teacher, wife, mother-in-law, and grandmother."

[Irons]

Not a museum but a statue. Strange that we go to much trouble and expense to sightsee abroad but in our own backyard.....

This year is the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of the David Wynne sculpture 'Girl with a Dolphin' located near Tower Bridge. Must admit missing out on this which I plan to rectify hopefully next month. To add to my interest is the recent (last week) disclosure that former Wimbledon tennis champion Virginia Wade posed nude for Wynne. Who would have thought it!        

[Brian]

Did she have to pose upside down??

[Irons]

Did she have to pose upside down??

While balancing on a dolphin. She did win Wimbledon so anything possible.

[Wanderer]

2023 has been a good year for museum-going (temporary exhibitions in parentheseis)


Rome, January 2023

Musei Vaticani
Galleria Borghese
Galleria Doria Pamphilj
Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna e contemporanea (Domenico Morelli. Immaginare cose non viste)
Palazzo Altemps
Castel Sant'Angelo
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme


Paris, February 2023

Musée d'Orsay
Fondation Louis Vuitton (MONET - MITCHELL)
Musée du Louvre


Berlin & Potsdam, March 2023

Museum Barberini (Sonne. Die Quelle des Lichts in der Kunst)
Altes Museum
Neues Museum
Alte Nationalgalerie
Neue Nationalgalerie (Die Kunst der Gesellschaft 1900–1945. Sammlung der Nationalgalerie)
Gemäldegalerie



Amsterdam, March 2023

Rijksmuseum (Vermeer)
Van Gogh Museum


Paris, May 2023

Musée du Luxembourg (LÉON MONET - Frère de l'artiste et collectionneur)
Musée Bourdelle
Château de Versailles (Chefs-d'œuvre de la chambre du roi, l'écho du Caravage à Versailles & Le Petit Trianon sous l'Empire)
Musée Gustave Moreau
Hôtel et Dôme des Invalides - Musée de l'Armée (La Haine des clans. Guerres de Religion, 1559-1610)
Musée des Plans-Reliefs
Musée du Louvre
Musée de l'Orangerie (Matisse. Cahiers d'art, le tournant des années 30)
Musée Rodin
Sainte-Chapelle
Musée d'Orsay (Pastels. De Millet à Redon & Manet / Degas)
Musée Cernuschi - Musée des arts de l'Asie de la Ville de Paris
Musée national Jean-Jacques Henner
Musée Nissim de Camondo


And in Greece:

Archaeological Museum of Olympia
Archaeological Museum of Delphi
Acropolis Museum - Pope Francis returns the Vatican's fragments of Parthenon to Greece
National Gallery (Κωνσταντίνος Παρθένης, η ιδανική Ελλάδα της ζωγραφικής του)
National Archaeological Museum (The past is now. George Lazongas: Myths and Antiquity)

[ritter]

To close the commemorative Picasso year (2023 marks the 50th anniversary of his death), the Reina Sofia Museum here in Madrid just opened an exhibition centred on the artists work in 1906 (when he sojourned for several months in the town of Gósol in the Leridan Pyrenees). I visited it today, and it was well worth the while (despite some logistical shortcomings).

The idea is that 1906 is a transitional year, with Picasso ending his rose period and being on the cusp of revolutionising art with Les Demoiselles d'Avignon in 1907. The subtitle of the exhibition is "The Great Transformation".

Some great rose period paintings, prefiguring the neoclassicism of the 20s and 30s, also some works that show the first influences of African masks, and —as the centrepiece of the show— the rare opportunity to see the portrait of Gertrude Stein (on loan from the Met in New York).







As for the logistical problems: i) the catalogue was not ready for the opening of the show, and will only be available in January  , and ii) the exhibition is in separate rooms on the second floor of the museum (where the permanent exhibition of 1900 - 1950 art is housed). The price of admission is included in the general ticket to the museum, but you have to say you want to see the Picasso exhibition (for which you get an allotted time window). Many people (Spaniards and foreigners) had not understood this, and were being turned away from the rooms in which the show was being held. Not a very clever system, I'm afraid.

Since the years around 1906 were also those of the saltimbanque etchings, and of several male nudes, some of the informative material posted on the walls mentioned "homoeroticism" and "gender fluidity" in Picasso's work of that time. A bit far fetched, TBH, and IMHO a misguided attempt to introduce a "queer perspective" into the appreciation of the artist's output (who, unfortunately, seems to be the victim of a —negative— reevaluation of his immense and titanic legacy due to a 21st century "rejection" of his personalty).

[Florestan]

Since the years around 1906 were also this of the saltimbanque etchings, and of several male nudes, some of the informative material posted on the walls mentioned "homoeroticism" and "gender fluidity" in Picasso's work of that time. A bit far fetched, TBH, and IMHO a misguided attempt to introduce a "queer perspective" into the appreciation of the artist's output (who, unfortunately, seems to be the victim of a —negative— reevaluation of his immense and titanic legacy due to a 21st century "rejection" of his personalty).

I wonder what the notorious and unabashed womanizer Picasso would say about this. 

[ritter]

I wonder what the notorious and unabashed womanizer Picasso would say about this. 

He probably wouldn't give a damn, but one never knows.

But it seems to me that these days we are being expected to believe that precisely because he was a "notorious and unabashed womanizer" (plus the fact that his relationship with his female companions was "complicated", to put it mildly), Picasso's stature as an artist is somehow diminished...

Good evening to you, Andrei!

[Pohjolas Daughter]

@ritter Bizarre that they didn't have the catalogue produced before the start of the exhibition.  And sorry to hear that the system that they tried to have in place for the special exhibition didn't work.  I would have thought that they would have something online and/or over the phone for signing up ahead of time?  Years ago (back in the "dark ages"), I remember just standing in line waiting to go into the Met's special exhibition area (This was for one on Alexander The Great).  Everyone just waited patiently.

PD

[ritter]

@ritter Bizarre that they didn't have the catalogue produced before the start of the exhibition.  And sorry to hear that the system that they tried to have in place for the special exhibition didn't work.  I would have thought that they would have something online and/or over the phone for signing up ahead of time?  Years ago (back in the "dark ages"), I remember just standing in line waiting to go into the Met's special exhibition area (This was for one on Alexander The Great).  Everyone just waited patiently.

PD

Hi PD! More than bizarre, I'd say the delay in publishing the catalogue is plain sloppy!  .

And the confusion concerning admission to the special exhibition area is doubly annoying if one considers that the museum is (including the extension by star architect Jean Nouvel to the original 18th century building by Sabatini —formerly Madrid's main hospital) large enough, and past exhibitions were clearly demarcated and signalled. I didn't have any problems, because I bought my ticket online with a specific admission time to the exhibition.

Cheers,

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Hi PD! More than bizarre, I'd say the delay in publishing the catalogue is plain sloppy!  .

And the confusion concerning admission to the special exhibition area is doubly annoying if one considers that the museum is (including the extension by star architect Jean Nouvel to the original 18th century building by Sabatini —formerly Madrid's main hospital) large enough, and past exhibitions were clearly demarcated and signalled. I didn't have any problems, because I bought my ticket online with a specific admission time to the exhibition.

Cheers,

Yes, unless somebody's printing business suddenly went bankrupt or other serious calamities.  And this was for a major painter/anniversary/Spanish painter and exhibition in Spain.    And you want the people who are bothering to go to the exhibition to be tempted to purchase one on the way out.    Anyway...

Hopefully, you enjoyed your time there.

Best wishes,

PD

[Mandryka]

Bellini is my latest discovery latest discovery in the National Gallery London -- the humanity of these things is astonishing

Circumcision


Agony in the Garden

[Mandryka]

This is Agnolo Bronzino's Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatichi at the Ulfizi in Florence. It's big in Henry James's The Wings of the Dove. The extremely enigmatic main character of the novel is supposed to be the spitting image of the portrait.

When I look at it in the light of the novel, there are three things which come to mind.

1. The joylessness of her expression
2. The black abyss behind her. Death and the void.
3. The book, instead of the child which was conventional n Madonna inspired portraits -- the book  replaces baby Jesus as the instrument of redemption.

. . .  she found herself, for the first moment, looking at the mysterious portrait through tears. Perhaps it was her tears that made it just then so strange and fair—as wonderful as he had said: the face of a young woman, all magnificently drawn, down to the hands, and magnificently dressed; a face almost livid in hue, yet handsome in sadness and crowned with a mass of hair rolled back and high, that must, before fading with time, have had a family resemblance to her own. The lady in question, at all events, with her slightly Michaelangelesque squareness, her eyes of other days, her full lips, her long neck, her recorded jewels, her brocaded and wasted reds, was a very great personage—only unaccompanied by a joy. And she was dead, dead, dead. Milly recognised her exactly in words that had nothing to do with her. "I shall never be better than this."

[Pohjolas Daughter]

This is Agnolo Bronzino's Portrait of Lucrezia Panciatichi at the Ulfizi in Florence. It's big in Henry James's The Wings of the Dove. The extremely enigmatic main character of the novel is supposed to be the spitting image of the portrait.

Would love to visit that museum! 

PD