Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Arts

Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Arts
June 11 to September 16, 2007
Vancouver Art Gallery

As the Cleveland Museum of Art undergoes an extensive renovation and expansion it is sending out a touring exhibition of select works from its collection. The Vancouver Art Gallery is the fortunate first stop and only Canadian stop of the tour.

The exhibition includes 80 paintings and sculptures from the most well known and important European artists spanning the late 19th to the mid 20th century. Luminaries include Monet, Picasso, Rodin, Cézanne, Mondrian, Matisse, Renoir, van Gogh, Magritte, Gauguin, and Dalí.

The exhibition takes up the entire first floor of the VAG. It is organized into major chronological and stylistic groupings—Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Surrealism, Expressionism, and Modernism.

Its popularity is obvious. The ticket line-up was 10 minutes long. It took three hours to view all the exhibits at my usual leisurely pace, all the while taking notes. Here are some of my impressions of the artists and works.

Claude Monet
Spring Flowers

The exhibition starts with Monet's overflowing floral still life. It's an early work, painted in a realistic style.

The Red Kerchief

More significant is Monet's portrait of his wife. He captures a fleeting moment of her passing the window. Her bright red kerchief contrasting with the wintery scene immediately draws the eye to her gaze. The slightest glimpse of red in the left window also emphasizes the transience of the moment.

Gustav Courbet
Panoramic View of the Alps

This large scale work fills your view with the majesty and beauty of the Swiss Alps but was sadly left unfinished by Courbet's death.

Henri Fantin-Latour
Marie-Yolande de Fitz-James

The face of the exhibition is the young daughter of the Duke of Fitz-James. Her pursed lips and large dark eyes reminds me of the Mona Lisa.

Camille Pissarro
Edge of the Woods near L'Hermitage

This large scale painting has a real sense of motion in the trees and leaves. You can practically feel the breeze rustling through the brush strokes.

Paul Cézanne
The Brook

The quality of light shining on and through the trees, and reflecting off the water is palpable.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir
The Apple Seller

Renoir's soft brushstrokes emphasize the cheerful domesticity of the scene.

Vincent van Gogh
Poplars at Saint-Rémy

van Gogh's bold, paint loaded brushstrokes create motion and life.

Paul Gauguin
In the Waves

The digital image doesn't do justice to the actual painting, nor do any of the other images to their originals. The colours are much more saturated and intense in real life. The vibrant aqua water is exactly what you experience in the tropical seas and contrast with the woman's red hair.

Auguste Rodin
Age of Bronze

This sculpture is life-like in its detail and seems frozen in mid-motion like Han Solo in carbonite.

The Thinker

Rodin's most famous sculpture is a lot smaller than you expect and would fit comfortable on most coffee tables.

René Magritte
The Secret Life

An image as incongruous as a zen koan. Magritte is my favourite surrealist.

Piet Mondrian
Mondrian's works span the art movements of his times.

Composition with Red, Yellow & Blue

This is the type of art that is associated with Mondrian.

Field with Young Trees in Foreground

But it's good to learn that he was also capable of this lovely impressionistic work.

Pablo Picasso
Picasso is well represented in the modernist room with works that span his entire career including blue periods Woman with a Cape and Life; rose period The Harem; cubist Fan, Saltbox & Melon, Bottle, Glass & Fork, Bull Skull, Fruit, Pitcher, and
Harlequin with Violin


Salvador Dalí
The Dream

A nightmare from the deepest id. The figure's mouth area is covered with ants. The seated background figure with his face in his hands cries blood.

Henry Moore
Three-Way Piece No. 2: Archer

The exhibition ends with Moore's curvaceous bronze sculpture. It's too bad you can't touch the exhibits, as the sensual curves invite caressing.

This is definitely a not to be missed exhibition of the most famous artists of the last 150 years. If you miss it in Vancouver you'll have to wait until 2008 when it makes its next stop in Nashville, Tennessee.

Caskival 4: "Bung Love"

Caskival 4
"Bung Love"
Saturday, August 5, 2007
Dix Barbecue & Brewery

The fourth annual cask tapping event is a showcase for local microbreweries to demonstrate their brewing flair and creativity. Contributing casks this year are Russell Brewing, Storm Brewing, Yaletown Brewing, Longwood Brewpub, Swans Buckerfields Brewery, Spinnakers Gastro Brewpub, Howe Sound Brewing, Dix BBQ & Brewery, Big Ridge Brewing, Taylor's Crossing Brewpub, Central City Brewing, High Mountain Brewing, Mission Springs Brewing, Dockside Restaurant & Brewery, Old Yale Brewing, Dead Frog Brewery, and Crannog Ales.

Although 32 cask ales were advertised, there were "only" 26 different beers being poured. Four ounce taster glass times 26 beers equals 104 ounces equals 6 1/2 pints equals about twice as much beer as I can handle in an afternoon. Deciding which ones to try was the hardest part.

Dockside Black Cherry Ale
4.5% abv
Drinking this was like drinking cherry flavored cough syrup. It even looked like cough syrup with its dark reddish colour. Consume strictly for the medicinal value when the Vicks supply runs out.

Crannog Three Fingers Cherry Ale
7.5% abv
Far more successful was Crannog's sour cherry beer. With it's pale amber colour, and refreshing crispness it goes down far too easy for it's high alcohol content. You'll need three fingers to signal the bartender to scrape you up off the floor.

Storm Ginger Ginseng Pilsner
5% abv
This one brings back childhood memories of the ginseng soup that my parents would force us to drink to improve our health and boost our chi. The full woody smell and taste of the ginseng overpowers the ginger. An interesting experiment for the Asian market. Just feel the chi flowing.

Storm Wormwood India Pale Ale
6.5% abv
The smell and bitter flavor of wormwood dominates this un-IPA-like IPA. Just pour into a glass over a sugar cube balanced on an absinthe spoon, and pretend you're on the Left Bank of Paris.

Storm Basil India Pale Ale
5% abv
With its intense infusion of basil flavor this pale gold IPA would go great with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in a nice tomato sauce.

Russell White Peach Honey Blonde
5% abv
This blonde ale was fairly light in the flavor department. The honey was distinguishable but the peach was barely there.

Yaletown Darjeeling India Pale Ale
5% abv
One of the flavors I love to pick out of a good IPA is the bergamot essence more familiar to Earl Grey tea. The addition of real Darjeeling tea which is part of the Earl Grey blend to this IPA works wonderfully.

Taylor Crossing Fig & Anise Pale Ale
5% abv
Licorice fans will love the flavor although the fig is hard to distinguish.

Big Ridge Candied Apricot
5% abv
This hefeweizen has a subtle aftertaste of apricot. It's light mouth feel makes for a refreshing summertime beer.

Big Ridge Honey Mocha Ginger Lemon Cream
5% abv
Despite the unwieldy name, this ale displayed an amazing range of complexity and flavor. The lovely aromas of flowers, tea, lemon, and ginger were reflected in the flavor. Like eating a lemon cream pie, with a nice cup of honey ginger tea. Definitely my favorite of the wildly experimental brews in the festival.

Spinnakers Scottish & Scotch
8.5% abv
What better chaser with a Scottish ale than a nice Scotch? In this case, real 18 year-old Talisker single malt was added to the brew! A soft peaty smokiness makes this complex and subtle beer a real slow slipper.

Longwood Imperial Stout
8.3% abv
This highly unusual stout at first smells like an IPA with its bergamot aroma. It tastes like an IPA but finishes like a stout. Another one of my favorites this festival.

Dix Hop Complex India Pale Ale
6.3% abv
This straight ahead IPA was my favorite IPA of the festival with an intensity of flavor that lingers long on the tongue. And unlike most of the other beers being tasted they might actually have some available after the festival.