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A sideways look at Salvador Dali in 1965 at Cadaques, Spain by Tony Saulnier, Paris Match
A series of 30 photographs of modern day artists at work, including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro, Rene Magritte, and Jeff Koons, are on view at the Sofitel Hotel near Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C.
The pictures in Revealed come from the periodical, Paris Match, and were selected by Picasso's grandson, Oliver Widmaier Picasso, an audiovisual media producer based in Paris, who was not available for the Washington opening.
In 1959 Kees Van Dongen sketched an unknown starlet, Brigitte Bardot, in Paris/Izis, Paris Match
A smart, 28-page guide which includes anecdotes and quotes from some of the artists accompanies the show.
Raoul Dufy at his home in Perpignan, France, 1949/Izis, Paris Match
Henri Matisse is seen shortly before he died, in his hotel apartment, bedridden and drawing religious subjects on the wall with a long instrument. When he was unable to hold paint brushes, he used scissors to cut up paper and pinned the pieces to the wall. "Scissors can be more evocative than pencils," the guide quotes Matisse.
And Picasso: "To my sadness and perhaps to my joy, my work is shaped by my love affairs." Picasso did not try to hide any of his lovers from the others, cruelly reading many of their letters to his ladies-in-waiting, the guide says.
Guests at the Sofitel opening of Revealed, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie
Some of the other pictured artists in the exhibition are Pierre Soulages, Marc Chagall, Jean Cocteau, and Francis Bacon. None of the 30 artists are women.
Sofitel's Dominique Colliat helped assemble the presentation, which launched at Sofitel in New York, and is also scheduled for Sofitels in Beverly Hills, Chicago, and Quebec.
Revealed at Sofitel Hotel, Washington, D.C./Photo by Patricia Leslie
What: Revealed, 30 photographs of modern artists from the collection of Paris Match
When: Now through October 31, 2014
Where: Sofitel Hotel, 806 15th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005
Admission: No charge
For more information: 202-730-8800
Metro Station: McPherson Square
patricialesli@gmail.com
Aristide Maillol, The Three Nymphs, 1930-38, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./Patricia Leslie
An exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art is the only place in the U.S. to see “Arcadia” or “earthly paradise” where, depending upon your mood and acceptance of the surroundings, you may enjoy a stroll through galleries and likely benefit from the emotionally medicinal effects of the exhibition, Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia.
(A suggested sub-title for the display is “Naked People in the Woods” which, indeed, mirrors titles of two of the paintings, Three Nudes in the Forest by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Nude in a Wood by Henri Matisse.)
On a press tour, the museum’s senior curator of European painting before 1900, Joseph J. Rishel, teasingly said, for reasons of modesty, he could not tell his audience about certain drawings by Henri Matisse, and he pointed to a wall several feet away where Matisse hung. (By Jove, let’s go take a look! Unfortunately, I was unable to locate any suggestive renderings.)
Senior Curator of European Painting before 1900, Joseph J. Rishel, talks about Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich's Our Forefathers, c. 1911, Philadelphia Museum of Art/
Patricia Leslie
Whatever viewers may find, Philadelphia hosts another blockbuster show which runs through September 3, 2012.
Henri Rousseau, Pablo Picasso, Robert Delaunay, Paul Signac, Nicholas Poussin, Georges Seurat and Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova of Russia, who may be the only female representative, are some of the 27 artists featured in the display of 60 works organized by PMOA from collections around the world.
Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova, Boys Bathing, c. 1910, Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
The exhibition focuses on three large paintings hung together in one gallery which form “the very foundations of modern art,” according to the museum: Paul Cezanne’s The Large Bathers (1906), Paul Gauguin’s Where Do We Come From? What are We? Where Are We Going? (1897-98) (Question: Do you ask yourself this every day?), and Matisse’s Bathers by a River (1909-17).
According to Curator Rishel, before World War I artists were “fueled by high optimism and sometimes profound unease,” and they “looked inward and toward each other to give creative shape to the common fate of the human condition.”
It is probable that both Cezanne and Matisse saw and/or heard about Gauguin’s Where? What? Where? which may have influenced their own choices for an “earthly paradise.”
It was a time of vast social and technological changes (sound familiar?) and the artists desired a return to a saintly, more simplistic state, a land of make-believe where humans harmonized with nature in Eden-like settings. No rush, no horns, no mean people snapping at you, but tranquility and serenity. Who doesn’t need such an escape?
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Goatherd of Terni, c. 1871, Philadelphia Museum of Art
This magical, mystery tour of beautiful bodies in peaceful landscapes is a certain prescription for malady.
Henri Edmond Cross, Study for "Faun," 1905-06, Musee de Grenoble, France
Robert Delaunay, The City of Paris, 1910-12, Centre Georges Pompidou, Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris
Combine a trip to the exhibit with visits to Philadelphia’s newly re-opened Rodin Museum, the new Barnes, and the historic Eastern State Penitentiary, all within walking distance of the PMOA.
And a good place to eat right in the neighborhood is the London Grill at 2301 Fairmount Avenue. It was every bit as good as Fodor's described, with delicious hamburgers and an arugula salad with tomatoes (sub for fries) to die for. Plus homemade beer! What a ride. Right on the way to the prison.
A trip by Amtrak from Washington to Philly is usually always stress-free and economical. And you can take your food, your luggage, your beverages, and bypass the TSA wardens.
Let us go then, you and I, and return to the forest unashamed and welcoming of nature and its bounty, and forget the turmoil which surrounds us daily in the sea of madness.
What: Gauguin, Cezanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia
When: Now through September 3, 2012 (open on Labor Day), Tuesday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and open late on some Friday nights
Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, the landmark on the hill at 26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Admission (includes audio tour): $25 (adults), $23 (seniors), $20 (students, 13 - 18), $14 (children, 5 – 12), free for children under age 5. Discounts and private tours are available. Check here.
For more information: 215-763-8100 and www.philamuseum.org
Aristide Maillol, The Three Nymphs, 1930-38, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./Patricia Leslie
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