Monday, August 15, 2022

Art Glut



We seem to be on a bender lately. With art, that is.

          Last week we went to Boston for an interactive experience with Impressionism. Works by Monet, Degas, Renoir, and friends were projected on walls and ceilings and floors, enveloping you in color as music played.


 Through computer magic, portions of famous works were mixed together, then floated across your view, swooping and morphing and mixing. Fabulous. It had me thinking even if I don’t do drugs, this was the next best thing.

 

 

         Then this weekend we drove up to Williamstown to the Clark Museum, where there’s an exhibition on Rodin. It’s not often you come away from a show admiring the artist less than when you went in. 


 

          I learned that while Rodin was obviously a gifted clay sculptor, he seemed to me like a talented general contractor.


 Yes, the bronze figures were created from molds from his clay sculps, resulting in memorable works like The Kiss, and The Thinker. But he would also re-use pieces, an arm from that statue, a torso from that one, to build another work. He also didn’t carve his own marble figures, instead directing and supervising someone who chipped the actual stone. 

          The exhibit was in the huge new wing, all sharp corners and reflecting pools, which is surrounded by scenes that might have come right out of a Constable painting.

 We ended the day by going full-circle, back to the remarkable collection of Impressionists in the original wing of the Clark.

Can you imagine this scene of Venice not painted in the Impressionist style? How else to capture the play of light on the water?


 

 

10 comments:

  1. I so agree with you about Rodin. As a teen I admired his work, then went to the Rodin museum in Paris as a student, emerged completely done with him. So full of cliches, nothing exciting at all. He was good at marketing to people who wanted predictable "art", meaning just home decor, really.
    About the impressionist light and sound show, hmm. It sounds like a bit too stimulating to me, satiety would probably happen in minutes. Especially with music added in. Worth a try though.

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    1. I didn't expect to enjoy the light show as much as I did. I just sat and let the sounds and colors wash over me.

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  2. I forgot to say Canaletto did okay with a very serene version of the light.

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  3. Famous glass artist Chihuly does the same. Has a team of glass blowers that he directs but he gets all the credit.

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    1. That must rankle with a glass artist like yourself.

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  4. I have only seen one immersive art display (Van Gogh) which blew me away. There is another on at the moment with the work of some of our first peoples. I hope to get to it soon.
    I didn't know that about Rodin. Big sigh.

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  5. I went to college in Cleveland, with a Thinker outside the Art Museum. It was impressive, but sad to know it was one of several. During our "troubles" the Weather Underground (probably) blew him up, changed him forever to a unique work of art.

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  6. I didn't know that about Rodin and don't really care one way or the other. I think the light and sound show would have been too much for me to handle, I'd be having a headache from the constant movement and changes.

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  7. That first exhibit sounds fantastic.

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  8. A glut of art is a nice problem to have. :)

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Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear what you think.