Schwitters in Britain at Tate Britain, London

Schwitters in Britain, Tate Britain, London on from 30th January 2013 to 12th May 2013.

The Tate Britain has compiled an extensive and in depth exhibition on the German artist, Kurt Schwitters. Schwitters was an important figure in the early 20th century European avant garde movement and ceaselessly produced numerous works of art throughout his life, whether he was an exile in Norway, England on the Isle of Man or living his last years in Great Britain.

Perhaps due to the enormous number of works available the Tate has put on a chronological view of the artist’s work. We see that even though Schwitters’ main artistic preoccupation was with abstraction and encompassed also sculpture and poetry he was a talented portrait painter. He painted many portraits of his fellow detainees when he was interned as an ‘enemy alien’ in Hutchinson camp on the Isle of Man. Amazingly, bearing in mind the fact that he was effectively a prisoner of war, he managed to produce over 200 works during his internment; whether they were paintings, assemblages or portraits. We see also towards the end of his life that he turned to portraiture in order to make ends meet but his figurative work was entirely commercial. His portrait of Henry Pierce for example is accomplished and true to life.

One of Schwitter’s main concern as an artist is what is known as Merz . This, he explained as “ art which denotes the combination of all conceivable materials for artistic purposes and technically the principle of equal evaluation of the individual materials…. A perambulator wheel, wire netting, string and cotton wools are factors having equal rights with paint.” Thus we see him producing abstract and expressionist paintings and pieces and combining all numbers and varieties of different materials to create a whole. This can be seen in all of his abstract works on display, particularly in the first room of the exhibition. His painting “Yes - What ?Picture”, created in 1920, is made up of diagonals that radiate from the centre of the picture and are counterpointed by circular and rectangular forms made from cardboard, coloured wood and canvas. We see how his creative process is channelled through the exact choice, distribution and symmetry of the materials he chooses. I found that there was an unnecessarily large number of his abstract paintings on view, especially in the first room, as many of the paintings were similar.

The relationship of his art with nature was also of profound influence and this can be seen at different points of his life; particularly when Schwitters was living in Norway. In his painting, ‘Half Moon’ we see how the curve of the wood is cut to resemble a sliver of the moon and how each part combines to create an idealistic but also figurative work. His famous painting of the roofs of houses on the Isle of Man – painted on linoleum as there was a shortage of canvases - portrayed his desire to paint the landscapes he saw around him. In many of his abstract paintings is a collection of beautiful greens and blues, denoting perhaps elements of the outside world.

Schwitters was also interested in creating oral pieces of art; he performed his most famous work, the Ursonate, at the beginning of his London solo show in December 1944 and it is exhibited in this show. For me I did not find it especially enlightening or interesting other than what we can learn from what was happening in the art world at the time. Schwitters’ small sculptures on the other hand are marvelous. He made them from natural materials such as stone, bone and wood and usually combined them with plaster or even dried fruits and wire. Many of them are painted in bright colours. Playful and creative; Schwitters himself saw these works as the marriage of painting and modelling into one art and a challenge to the traditional boundaries that separate painting and sculpture.

Of course it is Schwitters immense installation work; the Merz barn, that was his passion and for which he was renowned. In every place he settled it is amazing to see that Schwitters would tirelessly construct these large-scale sculptural works which were made from plaster and found objects such as twigs, stones and rubbish. His work often funded by art charities such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Photos of these monumental and impressive installations as well as detailed footage are on show. Moreover the exhibition ends on a movie and installation created by a contemporary artist, Laure Prouvost who is responding to the history and legacy of Kurt Schwitters. Her film is thought provoking and challenging.

It is hard not to admire this Avant Garde artist simply on the basis of the tremendous variety and scale of his work. Schwitters was a prolific artist and was an immensely important figure in the history of modern art. For me his sculptures were an absolute delight! It seems rather poignant to learn that he struggled throughout his life to make ends meet and needed help from sponsors and friends. The exhibition is definitely a must.

Schwitters, Tate Britain, London, by Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com

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Louvre: Visiting the Italian Paintings Collection

Musee du Louvre, Italian section. By Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com

The Musee du Louvre is as most art lovers know one of the grandest and largest museums in the world. Not only is it in one of the biggest palaces in the world but it was also the glorious former residences of the illustrious Kings of France. Ranging from the thirteenth century to the late nineteenth century, the Italian section houses masterpieces from the likes of Andrea Mantegna, Giovanni Bellini, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio to name but a few. It presents its 600 treasures in chronological manner from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century; paintings which form the remnants of the collections of Francis I of France and Louis IX.

As you enter the Italian section you are immediately confronted with some iconic frescoes, one of which was by the illustrious artist Sandro Boticelli. We learn that this fresco used to decorate the walls of Villa Lemi in Florence, home to the Tonne Bonno family who had ties to Lorenzo da Medici, ruler of Florence. It is a mythological depiction with Venus in pink as the goddess of love and beauty, surrounded by the three graces. Based on Neoplatonic ideals the graces represented giving, receiving and responding. It is amazing that such a work of art can have survived so well the test of time. What is also important to notice is the richness of the very rooms in which the art is housed - the grand marble stairs, frescoed ceilings, gold leaf and intricate architecture.

In the first two rooms are mainly religious paintings and alter pieces. Works by artists such as Bernardo Daddi, Guido di Petra and Fra Angelico can be seen. The ‘Bataille of San Romano’, 1435-1440, is featured depicting a brilliant composition of soldiers in Florence’s war with Sienna in the fifteenth century. We see tightly packed soldiers ready for action and details such as a soldier blowing the trumpet. The Grande Galerie is next with a mind boggling corridor-like room with painting after painting lined after each other. Built between 1565 –1610 it linked the Louvre to the Tuileries palace and was used for the scrofula ceremony during which the king would lay his hand on the sick. You should head for the popular painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo and his famous four seasons paintings . Painted in 1573, Arcimboldo created four works of art depicting each season. Seen from afar the painting looks like a normal human portrait but if you move up close to it you can see that the figure is made up of various different fruits and vegetables which form one coherent whole. Each season is made up with the appropriate material so for example spring is composed of flowers whereas winter is made from tree trunk. Much debate has gone on to understand the meaning of the paintings but it is clear that each season represented the four ages of man so childhood, adolescence, maturity and old age. Moreover the paintings testify to the sovereign’s ability to rule the diversity of the people.

Of course the Italian section is home to the most famous painting in the world – the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci – and it is almost always thronging with people and admirers so that at times it can be quite difficult to get close enough. Painted in Florence and probably completed when the artist was at Francis I’s court between 1503-1519 the Mona Lisa or known by her other name, La Joconde, stares out to us in complete serene, all knowing and passive contentment. The identity of the sitter is said to be the courtier Lisa Garadina who married in 1495. As a portrait we see how approachable she is; there is almost an open dialogue between her and her viewers and the painting is finished with a refined sfumato or smoky technique. Many people travel continents and countries to get a glimpse of the Mona Lisa and she never fails to amaze. Opposite her is another magnificent painting – the largest in the Louvre – entitled “Les Noces de Cana” by Paolo Veronese, known as the painter for the aristocracy. Based on an episode from the gospels where Christ is invited to a wedding feast in which he performed his first miracle it is a symbolic scene and foreshadows Christ’s last supper. We see how Veronese meticulously paints over 130 figures in the work, each one different to the other. Amongst the many paintings to be admired in this section is also a magnificent portrait of a young woman painted by the renowned artist Antonio Pisanello. Pisanello was one of the most renowned portraitist during the first half of the fifteenth century. In this painting he unusually paints the young woman’s profile, set against a background of bushes, flowers and butterflies. We learn that the identity of the sitter is possibly Margarite Gonzaga as the three colours of the Gonzaga family are enscribed on the back of the sleeve. It is a remarkable picture not only for its artistic simplicity and beauty but also because it marks an important social custom of the times. In an age where there were no photos people had to rely on paintings in order to see someone they had never met or commemorate someone special in their lives.

Feast your eyes then on Carvaggio’s Alof de Wignacourt, Pisanello’s Seasons, the gigantic ‘Les Noces de Cana’, Giuseppe’s Arcimboldo’s seasons, Titian's Pastoral Concert and many more. The Mona Lisa is of course the crowning star but she is flanked by great masters as well as those less known who still deserve a visit.

VisitMuseums.com - The Louvre

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Visit Museums and Exhibitions: Manet: Portraying Life, Royal Academy of Art, Lond...

Visit Museums and Exhibitions: Manet: Portraying Life, Royal Academy of Art, Lond...: Manet: Portraying Life, Royal Academy of Art, London. Review by Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com The Royal Academy is hosting...

Manet: Portraying Life, Royal Academy of Art, London

Manet: Portraying Life, Royal Academy of Art, London. Review by Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com The Royal Academy is hosting one of the first major exhibitions in England of the renowned nineteenth century French artist Edouard Manet. Born in 1832, from affluent parents, Manet devoted his artistic career to portraiture and genre paintings and focused his work on a direct observation of the external world; an ideal that was expounded by Realism. We see an artist intent on recreating what he saw in his world and his personal social setting so that both his family and friends take on a profoundly important role as does the relationship between artist and sitter.

One of Manet’s most constant preoccupations was to envelop his characters with the atmosphere of the world in which they and he belonged. Moreover most of his portraits were for the private world in which he circled and he did not need commissions.The portrait of his step son, Leon Leenhoff - who posed in seventeen of Manet’s portraits - is one of the first paintings you come across in the exhibition. Entitled ‘Boy blowing bubbles’ it is a rather endearing but slightly severe portrait of a young boy blowing bubbles in which it is hard to determine the age of the sitter. Blowing bubbles was a common factor previous artists used to depict the transcience of human life but here it is perhaps the sombre setting and delicate rendering of his facial features that is of interest. Manet’s warm portrait of his wife, “Mme Manet at the Piano” is a delightful rendering of his attractive and distinguished looking wife - the renowned piano player and socialite Susan Leenhoff . The sense of intimacy in the setting and between the sitter and the artist can be felt as is the opulence of the room; seen in the subtle reflection of the lustrous chandelier in the canvas. We are given a glimpse of the artist himself in the many photos that are on display throughout the exhibition and Manet comes across strongly as an urbane man, a socialite, smartly dressed and lively who greatly enjoys the company of people but who also wanted to prove himself and be accepted by the salons and art critics.

During his career Manet developed a roughly painted style with photographic lighting, which was often not embraced by his critics. In his self portrait we see this sketchy style and roughly blocked in details like his hands and cuffs. Interestingly here he does not portray himself as a serious artist engaged in painting but as a witty and seductive man about town. One gets the feeling in the first room of the exhibition that the family portraits are a little crammed together. Subsequently there is a whole room devoted to the painting, ‘Music in the Tuileries'. Here we see a painting solely inspired by city life and Manet’s life long interest in leisure. Inspired by the artists Hals and Velasquez the painting depicts in great detail Manet’s friends, artists, family and himself in the garden as they gather round to listen to a concert. It is probably the most ambitious group painting he painted yet it was savagely attacked by critics of the day for its decline in perspective and for the characters that have their back to us.

Manet’s close relationship to his artist and friend Berthe Morisot culminated in what I think is one of his best portraits in the exhibition. Even though this is one of the smaller paintings on show it is immensely beautiful and captures her personality and soul. Morisot’s gaze is level and direct as she stares out to us and we can see the minute detail of her black dress and the violets that she clasps to her chest. Manet had a lifelong preference for using black in his paintings, influenced by Velasquez, and became masterful at painting the gradations of black. Compared to the Morisot portrait I found some of the other portraits in the exhibition, such as the one of Emile Zola and Rouviere, a little lifeless and stiff. Manet sometimes seems to lose the personality of the sitter. Yet we see in his unusual painting, ‘In the Garden’, finished in 1870 a beautiful painting of a couple and their baby relaxing in the garden. It depicts the artist Giuseppe de Nittis enjoying domestic life with his wife and child in their villa garden to the west of Paris. The reflection of light is masterful as are the soft colours he uses to paint the garden. It is a serene picture and depicts yet again the experience of life as Manet sees it. During his lifetime he was never interested in mythology, allegory or historical subjects purposefully sticking to the everyday and to modern life. His paintings of the professional model Victorine Meurent, particularly the one on display in the last room of the exhibition give her a strong personality and sexual charge and he would subsequently use her in his genre paintings such as the famous painting “Le dejeuner sur l’herbehttp://www.visitmuseums.com/work-of-art/le-dejeuner-sur-lherbe-123”.

Manet had many champions during his career; Zola supported him in the press as did the famous poet Charles Baudelaire who continually challenged him to depict life as it was. Seen as an ‘early modern’ painter Manet’s work was influenced by and simultaneously anticipated the Impressionist style. The Royal Academy presents to us some 50 paintings some of which I must admit I found to be a little lifeless and unfinished. Yet as I walked through the rooms there are many paintings, such as the one of Berthe Morisot or his wife, that leapt out to me. Beware of the long queues to get in.

By Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com

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Dali Exhibition, Pompidou Centre, Paris

Dali exhibition, Centre Pompidou, Paris, by Larissa Woolf Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com

The Pompidou Centre in Paris is hosting a spectacular retrospective of the renowned artist, Salvador Dali. It is a meticulous and thorough exhibition with a chronological overview of the artist’s work and philosophy and the many artistic phases he went through in his life. On show are all of the masterpieces of all his periods including paintings, sculptures, works of art, writing and film footage. He was a controversial and hugely talented artist who created an enormous collection of work that spanned four decades and established him firmly on the world scene as one of the most influential artists of modern times.

Dali was fiercely opposed to modernism and broke away from rigid constraints from an early age. One of his first paintings was a portrait of his father, painted in 1925. Here we see the beautiful forms and sculptural aspects of his father; painted in a grey suit with an austere dark background. Dali used successive layers of paint to create huge depth and his father’s stern, piercing gaze is evident. He produced a painting that was no longer influenced by Impressionism but by Classical Realism. He conveys the complex relationship he had with his father and his whole family – in fact in 1930 he separated from his family when he painted a blasphemous protrait of his mother. Dali quickly became famous for his quirky and grandiose personality; he would regularly make grand statements such as his pronouncement that “I am each morning the only Spaniard who touches the sun”. His relationship with Spain and especially with Catalunia had a huge effect on his painting as was his intense and tumultuous relationship with his soon to be wife, Gala. When living in Madrid he became friends with the poet, Lorca, and Luis Bunuel. This friendship affected his paintings to create a new objectivity; an art without sensation. In this way a new world of dreamlike nature came into being based on devices being derived from a mechanised universe. As well as this was a gruesome assembly of headless bodies and dismembered organs that were strewn around his paintings. This can be seen in his remarkable work, ‘Le Grand Masturbateur’ which at the time created a sensation and still does to this day. We see a grand painting of flesh and stone, a mixture of man and woman. The face is weighed down by guilt and there are symbolic parts and pieces strewn around the picture. Dali invites us to contemplate it like a dream with multiple interpretations. The gruesome painting analyses Dali’s own paranoia and alternately attracts and repels its audience and creator. Maker of a dreamlike universe and world of illusion Dali famously invented the “paranoiac – critical’ method based on Freud’s teachings, which impelled him to continually push past the boundaries of his experiences and the relationship between man, space, matter and reality. He created a surreal world where objects had multiple functions and meanings such as the famous lobster phone. In his unusual interpretation of Millet’s 'Angelus' we see how he portrays the woman in the painting as a praying mantis, getting ready to devour the male, whose sexual organs are hidden by a hat as if she were getting ready for death. In this sense Dali creates art with multiple visions and interpretations and a world that is not fixed and stable but full of ambiguities.

One of the highlights of the show for me were his two paintings ‘Metamorphoses of Narcissus’ and ‘The Temptation of St Anthony’. In the first painting we see a dramatic, colourful and grand rendition of this old myth. The sculptural and immense figures inhabit the painting. Dali also wrote a long and complex poem to amplify the painting in which he expounds the myth of Narcissus and of Ovid. We see how he identifies his wife Gala as Narcissus in the poem. Perhaps here he sees her as his double in the painting. In the ‘Temptation of St Anthony’ we see how Dali takes a biblical story and transforms it into a supernatural painting describing the temptations faced by St Anthony the Great during his sojourn in the Egyptian desert. In Dali’s version St Anthony is confronted by temptations associated with a spider legged horse and elephant. The elephant and obelisk were re-occuring motifs in Dali’s work. We see how the long, spindly legs of the elephant extend higher and higher into the sky, perhaps to symbolise man’s desire to excel. But as the feet of the beasts are planted on the ground so too are man’s dreams rooted in reality.

This exhibition is one of the most thorough and detailed shows of the year; nothing is left out of this grand retrospective of Dali’s life and career. This great surrealist painter and thinker created art at a prolific rate. Make sure to allow a little more time if you want to give this exhibition and this artist justice.

Visit Museums.com Dali Exhibition

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Mariko Mori, Rebirth, Royal Academy of Arts

Mariko Mori, Rebirth, Royal Academy of Arts

Having not heard of Mariko Mori before I made my way to the Royal Academy in Burlington Gardens with no notion of what I was to see or what to expect. Nothing could have prepared me for this exhibition nor the feelings and emotions it made me feel. It is indeed an experience; both subliminal and academic.

Mariko Mori is a well established and prominent artist in Japan. Her art is rooted in both traditional and contemporary culture, between East and West and between the spiritual and material world. Mori explores themes that encompass Buddhism, spirituality, Celtic traditions and cyberspace. She explores her fascination with ancient cultures such as the Jomon period in Japan (13,000 to 300 BCE) and Celtic traditions in Europe and her belief in cycles of death and rebirth. Mankind is put in harmony with its natural surroundings and there is a respect for nature and a connection to ancient ceremonies, meditations and cosmic energy forces which she likes to term ‘universal consciousness’.

Already as you walk up the steps on your way to the exhibition there is an arresting concave shaped object hanging from the ceiling. I must say I found it mesmerising - as I would the rest of the exhibition! Its yellow, pale shape as two embryonic-like objects embrace each other made me think immediately of birth and death, the body and the connection between the spiritual and material world and this was even before I read the introduction to Mori and her exhibition. The first installation of the exhibition is called Ton Na Hiu II and is made of glass and stainless steel. It is a massive concave structure that is positioned at the end of a completely white room. It pulses with a dancing light inside and is both peaceful yet energising, beautiful, womb-like. You learn that it is connected in real time to a computer at the Institute of Cosmic Ray Research at the University of Tokyo and reflects the presence of different types of neutrinos (form of dark matter) within the Earth’s atmosphere. Its Gaelic translation is ‘hill of yew trees’ and is thus associated with fairies, mythical events and rest for transmigrating souls.

Mori uses flat moonstone many times throughout the exhibition. One of the central installations is called Miracle – 2001. Made from cibachrome prints, glass, crystal and metal salt we see several round installations with vibrant, vivid colours inside which are pictures of various sphere like forms and bubbles. All the pictures are oddly both restful yet dynamic filling the viewer with a positivity and energy. There is also an eerie and strange beauty to these hanging pieces of art. Juxtaposed to this is a piece, named White Hole – 2008 which is a beautiful dense white sphere placed on mixed media and paper. The white hole considers the possibility of a presence beyond the all consuming energy of the black hole. To look at it is remarkably beautiful and restful.

I admired every single work of art in her exhibition and many of them inspired strong emotions within me. One of the highlights of the exhibition is called Sand Pillar and records Mori’s attempts to find locations in the world where the winter solstice can be chanelled by the combination of a moonstone and a sand pillar. She use moonstone circles as there is a mystery surrounding the stone circles with is generally believed to be associated with religious ceremony and new cycles of life. Mori tells us that she hopes to install six similar installations in six locations around the world. There is much photographic footage of her experiment and a lengthy explanation of what she is trying to achieve.

Certainly you should go and visit the Royal Academy to view this incredible range of art and to have the Mariko Mori experience. Perhaps it will not have the same effect on you as it did me but it is well worth a look. As for me I shall be making sure I am aware of every one of this artist’s next steps!

by Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com

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The Northern Renaissance, Durer to Holbein, The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace

The Northern Renaissance, Durer to Holbein, The Queens Gallery, Buckingham Palace

The Queen’s gallery has put on an extraordinarily daring, informative and impressive exhibition on The Northern Renaissance. It includes stunning paintings, tapestries, sculptures, miniature portraits, rare books and manuscripts and works of art and craftsmanship. Painters such as Durer and Holbein are on view teeming with other great artists such as Munzer, Adriaen de Vies, Ulrich Apt and Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

The Northern Renaissance was a period of great change and innovation. It was during this time that challenges to the Catholic Church were being made as well as technical innovations such as the printing press which was to become such a dramatic and powerful new form of expression. Such turbulent times were reflected in the art that was being produced at the time. The Nuremberg Chronicle, created by Hieronymous Munzer, which is on display as you enter the exhibition, reveals texts and illustrations that had never before been seen in a printed book. In the same room is an evocative portrait of the influential and famous Northern scholar, Erasmus, entitled ‘Desiderius Erasmus’, painted in 1517. We learn how he became a leading figure in the humanist movement and how he influenced Martin Luther, the prominent historical preacher whose sermons on papal abuses of power and corruption were so instrumental in the English Reformation.

Erasmus was known to have said of his contemporary Albrecht Durer; “He is an artist that deserves to be immortal” and indeed Durer was the most successful artist in the sixteenth century in Northern Europe. Durer’s print from a woodcut of the triumphal procession of Maximilian 1st, Palm of Victory is impressive. Durer produced many exquisite paintings, some of which figure in the exhibition. One of my favourite pieces in the show is an intricate cup and cover made in 1827 by the firm Rundell, Bridge and Rundell and probably designed by Augustus Welby Pugin. This exquisite piece is made of gold and figures an ornate tree holding a cup, its gnarled trunk like stem housing small creatures dotted with semiprecious stones and jewels. The delicate detail of the cup makes it a memorable and stunning piece of craftsmanship.

There are many paintings to be admired; one of which is by the artist Ulrich Apt, called a ‘Portrait of a Man and his wife’ which is a double portrait of a husband and wife made in the workshop in Augsberg in 1512, probably to celebrate their marriage. Enormous and superb tapestries can be viewed many of which were commissioned by Cardinal Wolseley. It is as if history is coming alive for us. Cardinal Wolseley, we learn, acquired at least 600 of these huge tapestries before his death was ordered by King Henry VIII of England. Without a doubt one of the most prominent paintings in the exhibition was painted by the Flemish Renaissance artist, Pieter Bruegel the Elder and was called The Massacre of the Innocents. It is a priceless work of art depicting the massacre that occurred due to King Herod’s decree in Bethlehem which Bruegel transported to his home town. We see how the murdered children have been painted over to animals in the painting and the scenes of brutality and violence resonate in a harsh and icy landscape. It is without doubt one of the most illustrious paintings of the sixteenth century.

We see a whole room of portraits figuring famous paintings of important patrons and personages such as Sir Richard Southwell and Sir John Godsalve. Moreover there are two darkened rooms in the exhibition dedicated to precious books and miniatures. The latter for me were of especial interest as I found them to be exceptionally beautiful and well preserved. They were first created by Jean Clouet in France and Lucas Horenbeut in England during the reigns of Francis 1st and Henry VIII and were designed as diplomatic gifts for royal courtiers. Often with ornate golden borders the intricacy and the immense detail of each of the miniatures on display had me quite mesmerised.

So much to admire and learn from! The Queen’s Gallery really puts on a tremendous show combining historical facts with great masterpieces. One leaves the exhibition feeling one has entered and left another century ...

By Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, VisitMuseums.com

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