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.
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