What are You Looking at?

[RichardB]

The Cezanne exhibition at Tate Modern has received widespread acclaim by broadsheet art critics. They had the advantage of attending before the public were allowed in, and could therefore appreciate the paintings without being jostled and subjected to the crush one associates with a tube train.

Typical. Last time I was in Paris I made sure to book in advance (and by no means cheaply of course) for a Vermeer exhibition at the Louvre, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see such a large proportion of his fairly small output in one place. I think I spent around 20 minutes in the exhibition, not getting near enough to any of the paintings to take them in properly, before giving up and leaving. That's the last time I go to any of these blockbuster art shows.

As for Cézanne, I completely agree that a lot of his work seems awkward. Ι wouldn't go so far as to say that the weird shapes of the bathers are the result of poor technique - I'm sure they look exactly the way he wanted them to look, even if I find it difficult to work out why! Even so, I would be happy with just the late landscapes.

[Serial_Apologist]

Typical. Last time I was in Paris I made sure to book in advance (and by no means cheaply of course) for a Vermeer exhibition at the Louvre, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see such a large proportion of his fairly small output in one place. I think I spent around 20 minutes in the exhibition, not getting near enough to any of the paintings to take them in properly, before giving up and leaving. That's the last time I go to any of these blockbuster art shows.

As for Cézanne, I completely agree that a lot of his work seems awkward. Ι wouldn't go so far as to say that the weird shapes of the bathers are the result of poor technique - I'm sure they look exactly the way he wanted them to look, even if I find it difficult to work out why! Even so, I would be happy with just the late landscapes.

I'm always reminded of the Pete and Dud sketch, in which Peter Cook remarks on the way the Mona Lisa's eyes follow you around the exhibition, and Dudley Moore asks if the bums of Les grandes baigneuses also do this!

Well, the title of the thread is What are You looking at?

[RichardB]

I'm always reminded of the Pete and Dud sketch, in which Peter Cook remarks on the way the Mona Lisa's eyes follow you around the exhibition

That sketch is a masterpiece in itself to be sure.

[Belgrove]

China’s Hidden Century at the British Museum is definitely worth a visit, featuring objects from the final ‘long’ century of Imperial China, when its interactions with other empires charted decline and decay. Here are items ranging from the Imperial Court, the military, the decorative arts and the everyday objects used by the artisanal and peasant classes. The costumes of the Court are quite astounding in the craft required to make them and their staggering opulence. Despite being more than a century old, the colours of the intricately worked fabrics are still vivid. China seems so other worldly, a medieval society emerging into the modern world. The attendant descriptions of the objects is informative but does not seek to graft current sensibilities onto them. The Opium Wars are treated as matter of history, the only criticism being a contemporary quote from Gladstone which needs no further gloss. The tiny shoes worn by upper class Han women is attended by a description of the Lotus Foot, which needs no further comment as to how women were treated (interestingly, the ruling Manchu’s did not practice feet binding). This is rather refreshing compared with the hectoring tone with which the Tate now describes its exhibits.

What was noticeable was how many attendees observed the exhibition via their phones rather than actually looked. What do they do with all those photos? Better to get the excellent catalogue as a record and marvel at the objects with your own eyes.

[Cockney Sparrow]

What was noticeable was how many attendees observed the exhibition via their phones rather than actually looked. What do they do with all those photos? Better to get the excellent catalogue as a record and marvel at the objects with your own eyes.

It was the same at the Vermeer in Amsterdam - a forest of arms and mobiles. My tactic was to wait my turn and then, standing at the front for once and just look - not, as a tall person, looking over others in front so as to not obstruct their view.

[Belgrove]

The mark of a good show is if it contains a work I could happily sneak out with, and there are several in the National Gallery’s latest. ‘After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art’ is an eclectic collection of (what used to be called?) Post Impressionist paintings, sculptures and ceramics. There are some stunners, some from private collections which I’ve not seen before; there are humdrum works too, some by artists whose existence is probably only known by those with more specialist knowledge. It may seem a bit scattergun, but then the period it covers is one of flux and transition into a fragmentation of styles and themes. So it’s better to say it’s representative of an epoch.

It starts with some heavy hitters - Rodin, Van Gogh, Cezanne (some of which were seen recently in pokey over-crowded galleries at the other place), and a stunning section of Gauguin works. He has become something of a bête noire among wokeish commentators and curators, indeed he raised eyebrows during his lifetime, but his paintings are astonishing. The Wave crashes past purple rocks, stirring the littoral waters into swirls of greens, blues and violets, and onto a blood red beach; as abstract in form and colour as anything you can imagine, yet still instantly recognisable as a wave. And a remarkable primitive yet sensuous carving made whilst in Tahiti is inspired by Mallarmé’s l’après-midi d’un faune, making one wonder whether Gauguin ever heard Debussy’s take on the subject, or whether Nijinsky saw and was inspired by its flattened reliefs?

A couple of Klimt’s cool, haughty, dangerous women oxymoronically lowers the temperature whilst simultaneously raises it. Some Picasso’s and Seurat’s too. So it’s a hotch-potch of styles and techniques.

Considering the revolutions that were also occurring in music during this time, the period is one of cultural upheaval that has had lasting significance. All tolled, the culture of our present age seems less vital, indulgent and shallow in comparison.

On until mid August.

[smittims]

I too have found so many people seem to want to experience life via a smart phone rather than in reality. When on a train I look out of the window to see things I woudln't otherwise see, but the people around me are glued to their screens; they might as well not be there . Certainly it's absurd to visit an exhibition and not look plainly at the exhibits. It seems new technology can degrade life as well as enhance it . Like alcohol, it can be a good servant but a bad master.

[Serial_Apologist]

The mark of a good show is if it contains a work I could happily sneak out with, and there are several in the National Gallery’s latest. ‘After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art’ is an eclectic collection of (what used to be called?) Post Impressionist paintings, sculptures and ceramics. There are some stunners, some from private collections which I’ve not seen before; there are humdrum works too, some by artists whose existence is probably only known by those with more specialist knowledge. It may seem a bit scattergun, but then the period it covers is one of flux and transition into a fragmentation of styles and themes. So it’s better to say it’s representative of an epoch.

It starts with some heavy hitters - Rodin, Van Gogh, Cezanne (some of which were seen recently in pokey over-crowded galleries at the other place), and a stunning section of Gauguin works. He has become something of a bête noire among wokeish commentators and curators, indeed he raised eyebrows during his lifetime, but his paintings are astonishing. The Wave crashes past purple rocks, stirring the littoral waters into swirls of greens, blues and violets, and onto a blood red beach; as abstract in form and colour as anything you can imagine, yet still instantly recognisable as a wave. And a remarkable primitive yet sensuous carving made whilst in Tahiti is inspired by Mallarmé’s l’après-midi d’un faune, making one wonder whether Gauguin ever heard Debussy’s take on the subject, or whether Nijinsky saw and was inspired by its flattened reliefs?

A couple of Klimt’s cool, haughty, dangerous women oxymoronically lowers the temperature whilst simultaneously raises it. Some Picasso’s and Seurat’s too. So it’s a hotch-potch of styles and techniques.

Considering the revolutions that were also occurring in music during this time, the period is one of cultural upheaval that has had lasting significance. All tolled, the culture of our present age seems less vital, indulgent and shallow in comparison.

On until mid August.

Definitely a must-see, must tell my friends about - thanks Belgrove.

[Serial_Apologist]

I too have found so many people seem to want to experience life via a smart phone rather than in reality. When on a train I look out of the window to see things I woudln't otherwise see, but the people around me are glued to their screens; they might as well not be there . Certainly it's absurd to visit an exhibition and not look plainly at the exhibits. It seems new technology can degrade life as well as enhance it . Like alcohol, it can be a good servant but a bad master.

Some may argue that anything such as mobile phones or games shows that enhances and improves the capacity for attention and concentration must me A Good Thing. Isn't concentrated focus on the here and now the ultimate ideal of Mindfulness, especially as practiced in Eastern spiritual practices, or us when we truly listen to worthwhile music? But one can also argue that such a means for mental capacity enhancement also has an effect of accentuating that sense of the isolated individual in his or her separate mental box who existentially is at odds with a world in which competitiveness with the rest of humanity over such scare resources as decent healthy surrounds, nutritious food and fulfilling jobs already literally at a premium. It merely reinforces a political socioeconomic model for which we have been culturally preconditioned by the way we've been educated to see "human nature" - not as optimally in terms of social and spiritual interconnectedness - as nature intended by endowing us with intelligence - but of the One perpetually against the Many.

This is the Big Thing I have in general against "social media" [sic].

[smittims]

Thanks; plenty to chew on there. I think it may be relevant to mention five 14-minute talks on Radio 4 (available on BBC Sounds) in which...

'Oliver Burkeman explores the insidious way in which Convenience has warped our existence.'

[Serial_Apologist]

Thanks; plenty to chew on there. I think it may be relevant to mention five 14-minute talks on Radio 4 (available on BBC Sounds) in which...

'Oliver Burkeman explores the insidious way in which Convenience has warped our existence.'

In my warped way I read that as public conveniences closing have warped our existence! - thanks again, Ill check that one out.

[kernelbogey]

I've visited the Pallant House Gallery in Chichester for the first time last week when staying over after a visit to the theatre.

There is a Gwen John exhibition on at the moment; this didn't particularly excite me, though to be fair I didn't give it much time.

I also went swiftly around the permanent exhibition, which is of twentieth and twenty-first century British art. Loads of artists I'd never heard of - but everything very fresh.

We had a cup of excellent coffee and some cake in the garden, under the shade of exquisitely pollarded and trained London Planes.

This is well worth an excursion - and Chichester is a charming city.

[vinteuil]

.
... one of my niche interests - staffage - finally gets an exhibition of its own. And tied in with one of my favourite architects, Soane -

https://www.soane.org/exhibitions/fanciful-figures

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffage

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f...ndon-zrszdcnk2

.

[Serial_Apologist]

.
... one of my niche interests - staffage - finally gets an exhibition of its own. And tied in with one of my favourite architects, Soane -

https://www.soane.org/exhibitions/fanciful-figures

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staffage

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f...ndon-zrszdcnk2

.

I'm reminded of the figures depicted in Canaletto's paintings of London.

[vinteuil]

I'm reminded of the figures depicted in Canaletto's paintings of London.

... a good comparison!

https://antoniocanal.com/php/canaletto-drawings-staffage.php

Staffage is also important in the work of Caspar David Friedrich
.