With apologies to JSSargent
Miss Gen X Watercolour Study 22″ x 30″
Copyright 2009 Jean Burman
Okay apologies also to my American friends for the headline… but it got your attention didn’t it? ~grin~
And not before time either I hear you say! I know I’ve been AWOL but it’s been a hectic and tumultuous month… with many a blank canvas, idle keyboard and empty white screen before me. *Sigh*. But whilst my creative get-up-and-go “got up and went”… I busied myself in the real world checking stuff out.
Confuscius say: Try as you might to get photo straight -
photo taken hastily before security throw you out -
always going to be crooked!
Not the least of my comings and goings over the past month included a much anticipated visit to The Queensland Art Gallery… where some of my favourite artists on the planet had gathered “posthumously” for the American Impressionism & Realism Exhibition – a landmark Exhibition from the Met (you know… THAT Met… The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York).
As an aside… how they let these priceless artworks (by the likes of greats such as John Singer Sargent, Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, James McNeill Whistler and Thomas Eakins) out of their sight… let alone out of the country… and half way across the planet to delight us here… is anyone’s guess. But it apparently had something to do with the recent renovation in the American Wing at that famous institution… and the need to house the works [someplace else] until the repairs were done.
Australia would seem to be an “extreme solution”… but there you have it. And it’s all good news for us besides.
Incidentally… this is the first time these works have travelled away from the Met… and we should be so honoured to have them visit us here in Queensland. Speaks volumes I guess for the clout that the folks at the Queensland Art Gallery have in seeking out and hosting Exhibitions of this callibre. Last year we had The Picasso Collection. Before that… Renoir to Picasso from the Musee de l’Orangerie in Paris. Oh what bliss (grin)
I thought it was kind of weird and eerie though how Michael Jackson appeared in the promo video clip leading up to the event. Why Michael? Why now? How could they have known before it happened? Yes… he is (or was) an American Icon… and I do get the connection. But how strange it all seems now he has gone. Take a look.
American Impressionism & Realism Promo
Okay… where’s Michael? Who moved him? And why? Is he no longer an American Icon? Perhaps this was someone’s misguided idea of showing respect… but I think he should have stayed in the clip. I feel sure he would have liked that. But oh well.. au revoir now to all that. And at least he’s still on the front of the brochure!
Getting on with the show. For me the standout was the JSSargent room. And I wasn’t alone there either. It was a complete joy to see the faces of people as they rounded the corner into the room where these collossal works were hung. Priceless in fact. The faces I mean (as well as the artworks!).
But my very favourite surprise was the Robert Henri which I wasn’t expecting… hadn’t been advertised… and just showed up unannounced around by the Homer. I’ve loved that guy ever since I first picked up a copy of The Art Spirit
A “must read” for all artists who haven’t!
And the Winslow Homer of course… wow so awesome
Another Sargent…
and then there… by the Sargent was Australian artist Hugh Ramsay’s beautiful “The Sisters”. You can see the influence.
Ramsay travelled extensively and was hugely influenced by John Singer Sargent which is clearly evident in the exquisite treatment of the silk in the gowns worn by his sisters in this scene. Ramsay died from tuberculosis two years after completing this work… and his sister Jess who is the subject on the right… died four years after that from the same disease.
Just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how much talent or potential you’ve got… life (and death) go on regardless. Such a loss. Such a senseless loss.
But then isn’t all loss senseless?
All I can say is… if you’re in Queensland… or even if you’re not… get yourself on a plane, into a car, onto a bus or train… to see this Exhibition for yourself.
You won’t regret it.
It’s incredible.
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Sailing the Catboat Winslow Homer
