First I saw Premiums, the mid year show for RA schools. Total fun! Art in all it's forms, performance, video and paintings. I cannot wait till the final show this summer.
It has been suggested that the latest exhibiton 'Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse' was designed to pull in crowds. Obviously it is a diffiicult one; foot fall is needed to pay bills but surely making art available and of interest to all is an honourable objective. And this exhibiton goes so much deeper than mere entertainment. I was really moved, especially by the final rooms. Jonathon Jones' review says it all.
Despite the crowds I soon relaxed into this fantastic show. I had not realised that Monet was a keen gardner. How many people did he employ in his gardens? I wonder. Gardening as a pastime was just coming into it's own in the late nineteenth amd early twentieth centuries, which are the focus of the exhibition. Many of Monet's contemporaries shared his enthusiasm for gardening and depict garden in their work. The impressionists Renoir, Pissarro, Caillebotte, Matisse and Van Gogh are all here. I also loved the input from Klimt and Munch. The finale is the best. As an old man Monet painted weeping willows, and water lilies full of gloom and sadness. This was in response to his widowerhood and the appaling brutality of First World War. There are three large canvases forming sides of a hexagon which he was working on at the time of his death, all portraying simple, sad water lilies. They are currently reunited for the first time, normally being in three seperate galleries in the US.
I wanted to cry. My girl gave me a hug.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment