Guest conductor falls ill at NSO

Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos/photo from Columbia Artists Management, Inc.

Just before the nightingale's recorded song filled the Kennedy Center's Concert Hall last night, guest conductor Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, who has led the National Symphony Orchestra more than 200 times, dropped his hands, slumped at the podium, and stood with downcast head, his body supported by the railing, almost as if he had been overtaken by sleep.

The audience murmured faintly.

The musicians were in the middle of the third section of Pini di Roma by Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) which the program said includes "a thrill in the air....a nightingale sings." The production slowed for just a few seconds, and notes softened. Near the maestro sat two female violinists, clearly stunned by the event.  They exchanged glances, immediately lay down their instruments, and rushed to the conductor's aid, helping him to a sitting position on the steps of the podium

As fast as cymbals chime, Mr. Fruhbeck's body straightened, he lifted his hand and baton, and from his sitting position where he remained for the duration of the piece, he led the performers through the last few minutes of Respighi's fiery finish.

When the music stopped, the conductor rose and stood without assistance, and facing the audience, placed his hand on his chest momentarily, acknowledging the orchestra members and the audience, and walked off the stage by himself.

The crowd clamored and cried to see him again who obliged the demands, returning to the stage without assistance to wave and accept gratitude from the well-wishers. He turned and walked off, but the vociferous crowd, which it had been all evening, wanted more.

Suddenly, the lead violinists, no doubt exhausted and emotionally wrung, quickly stood and literally marched off the stage ending the accolade from the packed house, fuller than I have seen it in a long time.

Throughout most of the evening's performance I had marveled at the hearty enthusiasm expressed by the audience, happy and glad to be at a concert on a Friday night with springtime advancing, robins chirping, and daffodils ready to parade their grace and color for Washingtonians to admire. (Good riddance, Winter!)

Earlier, before intermission, the guest pianist  who turned 23 on March 5 and was making his NSO debut, Daniil Trifonov, delivered a rousing "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini" written by his Russian comrade, Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943). Mr. Trifonov's fingers moved up and down and away from the keyboard as fast as if he were touching a hot stove. He crouched over the piano like cradling a newborn. (You can never go wrong with Rachmaninoff.)

"Bravo!" the mostly standing audience shouted repeatedly at his finish, producing four encores which Trifonov answered energetically with an unusually lengthy, but well received, piece that may have been Chopin's Op. 18 Waltz. This led to three more encores after the encores, extending the evening's entertainment well past the customary terminal hour.

(I must mention Mr. Trifonov's apparel which was in keeping with our present relationship with his motherland: a black suit, white shirt, skinny black pencil tie, and hair which slung to the music.)

Daniell Trifonov/photo from www.classicalsource.com

Mr. Fruhbeck and Mr. Trifonov were not the only guest artists: Kelley O'Connor (not in green but wearing an elegant and stylish long black gown with halter top design) beautifully sang the love sick parts of Candelas from El amor brujo by Manuel de Falla (1876-1946) whose works Maestro Fruhbeck has recorded in their entirety.

Kelley O'Connor/photo from www.mask9.com

Ms. O'Connor's mezzo-soprano's voice was frequently almost overcome by the sounds of music. Probably because she has appeared with the National Symphony several times, the audience did not respond as enthusiastically as it does to most "newcomers."

Oh, and there was more entertainment: The delicious "Nuages" and "Fetes" from Nocturnes by Claude Debussy (1862-1918) began the evening.

Three long consecutive nights conducting at the Kennedy Center would be demanding tasks for anyone, let alone someone with the history of Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos which includes 2011 Conductor of the Year by Musical America, the Gold Medal awarded by Vienna, "Emeritus Conductor" bestowed by the Spanish National Orchestra, and in the past year alone, he has led orchestras in New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Pittsburg, San Francisco, Detroit, Saint Louis, Houston, Seattle, among some cities. Not bad for an 80-year-old. 

The program repeats tonight.

patricialesli@gmail.com

 

Sunday is the last day to see 'Dying Gaul' in Washington

 

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

People!  Do you realize what we have before us at the National Gallery of Art for only a few precious days more?  It's a masterpiece of time, one of the enduring pieces of art which students the world over study and observe with mouths open wide.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

The work by an unknown artist has been compared to the Winged Victory of Samothrace and Michelangelo's David, two of the best known and most studied sculptures in art history.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

It is one of the world's antiquities, a treasure which has survived the ages, spending hundreds of years buried in a Roman garden, and later, as a kidnapping victim by Napoleon who stole it from Rome in 1797 and carted it off to Paris for showcasing at the Louvre for almost 20 years.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

Dying Gaul is a marble beauty, a model of a Greek bronze made supposedly upon directive by the King of Pergamon in 228 B.C. to celebrate his kingdom's victory over the Gauls. (See map.) The king may have ordered several statues of his enemy in defeat, his competitors who fought in the nude. 

From William R. Shepherd's 1923 Historical Atlas showing Pergamon around 188 B.C./Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia says the warriors shed their clothing to show their spirit, fortitude, and skill which Polybius (200 - 118 B.C.) wrote was "a terrifying spectacle, for they were all men of splendid physique and in the prime of life."  (Dying Gaul)

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

Meanwhile, Dionysius (60 - 7 B.C.) of Halicarnassus thought their lack of protection was rather dumb and showed the Gauls' "barbarian boastfulness."

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

The sculpture reveals the deadly wound in the subject's chest and his forlorn frustration as he accepts his fate.  He doesn't look so much like he is dying as he is resigned to reality, angry and injured as much mentally as physically and not pumped up to continue a battle any more.  See how his skin glistens with sweat.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

Dying Gaul was found between 1621 and 1623 in an excavated garden in Rome on property once owned by Julius Caesar. 
After word got out about the sculpture, formerly called Dying Gladiator since that's what the "experts" initially thought he was, royalty like King Philip IV (1605-1665) of Spain and King Louis XIV (1638-1715) of France ordered life-sized replicas.  Historians claim Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) had Dying Gaul (or a copy) on his wish list.

Three of the artists Dying Gaul inspired, according to a brochure available at the sculpture, include Diego Velazquez, Jacques-Louis David, Giovanni Paolo Panini.  

What happened to the bronze the king ordered 2,000 years ago? Claudio Parisi Presicce, the director of the Musei Capitolini in Rome which owns Dying Gaul, told the Wall Street Journal it was likely melted down and used for weapons.  This copy was created in the first or second century A.D.

Dying Gaul in the Grand Rotunda of the West Building, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C./photo by Patricia Leslie

At the unveiling of the sculpture in December at the National Gallery of Art, Ignazio R. Marino, the mayor of Rome called Italy's loan of the sculpture to the U.S. an "eloquent demonstration of the close friendship...and fruitful cooperation" between two of the world's most beautiful capitals and two of the world's most prestigious cultural institutions, the Musei Capitolini and the National Gallery of Art.  The presentation and this gift to the American people is one of more than 300 events Italy has staged throughout the U.S. over the last year to celebrate The Dream of Rome and 2013-The Year of Italian Culture.

The American people are grateful to the Embassy of Italy, the president of Italy, the Musei Capitolini, and the National Gallery of Art for the opportunity to see the sculpture on its first trip away from home in almost 200 years.

What: Dying Gaul

When: Now through March 16, 2014, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday.

Where: The Grand Rotunda, the West Building, National Gallery of Art, between Third and Ninth streets at Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. On the Mall.

Admission: No charge

Metro stations: Smithsonian, Federal Triangle, Navy Memorial-Archives, or L'Enfant Plaza

For more information: 202-737-4215

patricialesli@gmail.com





. 

Free organ concert by world award winner at St. John's Mar. 12

Dongho Lee will be the guest artist at Wednesday's free noon concert at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square

 

The public is invited to a free noontime organ concert Wednesday at St. John's Episcopal Church, Lafayette Square, where Dongho Lee, award winner at global competitions, will play Felix Mendelssohn's Aria and Variations, the introduction and passacaglia from Joseph Rheinberger's Sonata No. 8, G.T. Thalben-Ball's Elegy, and Variations on "America" by Charles Ives.

At the annual meeting of the American Guild of Organists in 2010, Ms. Lee placed first and won the audience prize in the National Young Artists' Competition.  She is a world virtuoso, playing in arenas in the U.S., Europe, Canada, and Asia.

Currently, she is the associate director of music at Christ Church, Episcopal in Charlotte, N.C.  Ms. Lee is a native of South Korea, and holds graduate degrees from Yonsei University and Yale's Institute of Sacred Music, and is working on her doctorate at Indiana University. Her first recording on the Pro Organo label in 2011 featured 20th century music. 

St. John's hosts First Wednesday concerts every month from October through June, however, last week's Ash Wednesday services changed this month's presentation to March 12. 

The church is known to many Washington residents and visitors as the welcoming yellow church at Lafayette Square, the “Church of the Presidents.” President James Madison, who served as president from 1809 to 1817, began a tradition for all presidents who have either attended or joined St. John's. A plaque at the rear of the church designates the Lincoln Pew where President Abraham Lincoln often sat when he stopped by St. John's during the Civil War.

Other St. John's First Wednesday concerts, all starting at 12:10 p.m., are:

April 2: The U.S. Air Force Strings conducted by 2nd Lt. Shanti Nolan, with Michael Lodico, organist, performing Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto

May 7: Easter music for trumpet and organ with A. Scott Wood and Benjamin Hutto

June 4: Organist Alan Morrison

************************************************************

Who on March 12:  Dongho Lee, organist

What: First Wednesday Concerts (the second Wednesday in March)

When: 12:10 p.m., March 12, 2014

Where: St. John’s, Lafayette Square, 1525 H Street, NW, at the corner of 16^th and H, Washington, D.C. 20005

How much: No charge

Duration: About 35 minutes

Wheelchair accessible

Metro stations: McPherson Square, Farragut North, or Farragut West

Food trucks: Located two blocks away at Farragut Square

For more information: Contact Michael Lodico at 202-270-6265, Michael.Lodico@stjohns-dc.org.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Baltimore Symphony presents 'From Russia with Love'

Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg was the guest artist at Thursday's performance at Strathmore by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo by Christian Steiner

It was a night of music from Russia. 

Forget Putin but think Shostakovich (1906-1975) and Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), my two favorite composers, who filled the house and the program by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at Strathmore Thursday evening.

What was not to like?

The evening began with Sergei Rachmaninoff's always popular Vocalise followed by the powerful presentation by guest artist, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, who delivered Dimitri Shostakovich's Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor. 

From the first movement, when the sounds from her violin expressed sadness and later, foreshadowing, with singular percussion, a haunted tension led to the fierce passion of the second, the scherzo, and the melodies of the third, culminating in the lively but harsh finale.

The fervor Salerno-Sonnenberg utilized in interpretation matched the color of her red top which matched the blouse Maestro Marin Alsop wore which matched the evening's energy exuded by all the forces on stage.

Members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo, BSO

While she pierced her instrument with her bow, Salerno-Sonnenberg moved up and down, bending at times almost at right angles, frequently grimacing and expressing anguish.

Music and stand were unnecessary since she seemed to play with her eyes closed most of the time, or so they appeared to me in my chair nearby.

She pounded the violin strings, leaving one guessing how the poor instrument was able to endure her strength and intensity without breakage, but it answered in perfect response every time, softly and eloquently as she required, alas, no doubt fearful of going astray.

At times, during a violin respite, Salerno-Sonnenberg stood and turned her back to the audience, becoming a fan to enjoy majestic achievement by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra while Maestro Alsop weaved and led nearby.

Conductor Marin Alsop of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo, BSO

Salerno-Sonnenberg's casual apparel (black skinny jeans) belied her performance which ended with shouts and cheers from the standing gallery and, for the first time, she smiled broadly and saluted her comrades, orchestra members whose output, as usual, was every bit as perfect as one has come to expect. 

The evening ended with Rachmaninoff's splendid Symphonic Dances with noticeable contributions from his beloved piano.  He wrote it only three years before he died, a summation, which he composed for the Russian ballet dancer, Fokine, according to program notes. 

For the encore, the orchestra played Shostakovich's Bolt Ballet Suite, No. 8 Final Dance and Apotheosis which was well received.

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Photo, BSO

Strathmore's love affair with Maestro Alsop continues:  Her contract has been renewed for seven years.

Ms. Salerno-Sonnenberg, a U.S. citizen, was born in Rome in 1961 and emigrated with her family to the U.S. when she was eight years old. In 2008 she was appointed music director of the New Century Chamber Orchestra in San Francisco. 

You can take the music out of Russia but you can't take Russia out of the music.  Amen. 

Thank you to Total Wine & More for sponsoring the show. 

Please, once more I must ask what's wrong with Strathmore that it doesn't install more seats and tables for dinner patrons?  How many years have I been complaining about this?  Think of the missed revenue because of lousy facility management, not to mention customer satisfaction.

Although you may be seated at one of the tiny tables for dinner before the concert, it does not guarantee that a pushy patron (comparable to those at the Kennedy Center) will not uplift your chair and dump you right out upon the floor. Or so goes the feeling.

After being dumped, just try to enter the lobby outside the music hall and find a seat to drink your wine or coffee.  Reserved for ushers and closed to patrons until 7:30 p.m., if you please.

Where is a person to go? 

Oh, I forgot: The patio with a temperature of 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Конечно!

Coffee or wine may warm you up on the Strathmore patio/Photo, BSO

BSO performances coming up at Strathmore:

March 15: Bach's Brandenburgs

March 22: Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto

March 27: The Bee Gees and 'Stayin' Alive'

April 5:  Bugs!  (Two performances for young children)

April 5:  Andre Watts Returns!

April 10:  Itzhak Perlman

April 25: Off the Cuff:  Mahler's Titan

May 3: Moo, Baa, Neigh (Two performances for young children)

May 3:  Yefim Bronfman

May 15:  All That Jazz, celebrating Kander and Ebb

May 24:  Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto

May 29:  A Midsummer Night's Dream Concert

June 7:  Summertime Movin' and Groovin' (Two performances for young children)

June 7:  Beethoven's Ninth

June 14:  Casablanca with music

Where:   Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, N. Bethesda, MD 20852.

Park:  For free at the adjacent Metro Strathmore station.

Tickets:  Click here.



Patricialesli@gmail.com

 

Olney's 'I and You' is unforgettable

Rachael Tice and Thaddeus Fitzpatrick in Lauren Gunderson's I and You now on stage at Olney Theatre/photo by Stan Barouh

It hums along at a great pace but the ending will leave you gasping.

While you predict the last scene, be ready to drop jaw.

I thought it was only for teens and college students. I was wrong.

The Olney Theatre Center has gloriously exploded in production:  The King and I, Chorus Line, and now, I and You. 

Jason Loewith, Olney's artistic director, beamed when he talked before and after the production about his focus on new plays and female playwrights, including Lauren Gunderson who wrote I and You and was on hand Saturday night to witness the glowing reception her play received by a stunned crowd.

Loewith proudly announced I and You is a finalist for the 2014 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award.  After you see it, you'll know why and that it will win.

Loewith noted that theatres have to concentrate on sure-fire winners to produce income which enables theatres to survive, thrive, and experiment with new material like I and You.

Rachael Tice and Thaddeus Fitzpatrick in Lauren Gunderson's I and You now on stage at Olney Theatre/photo by Stan Barouh

And back to it: The plot captures an afternoon in the lives of two teenagers, the entire cast, who grapple with the issues of today and always:  self, others, purpose, life and death.  Starring in their conversation is a gift for English teachers everywhere:  Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.  (Were copies sold in the lobby?) The youngsters use the book to read sections to each other while working on a joint Whitman project for a class.

Social media is spot-on.  The girl, Caroline (Rachael Tice) is ill and confined to her home.  She texts her mother downstairs. Anthony (Thaddeus Fitzpatrick), a high school classmate, drops in, seeking help on their project, and his poster reveals he needs it, all right. Maybe a fourth-grader crafted it.

That Caroline likes Elvis movies (!), John Lennon and Jerry Lee Lewis (!), and Anthony favors Miles Davis and John Coltrane without any mention of current artists that I heard, is a reach to older audiences, I suppose.

The play of just 80 minutes takes place in three scenes in Caroline's jammed and "messy" (she says; she don't know what "messy" is) bedroom of books, pictures, posters, red bedding, and a "turtle," the significance of which I still ponder.

Their conversation is so today and so "teen talk." They say what adults wonder about, but don't state or ask.  For a while, Caroline is damaged goods and seeking help.  The roles reverse, and Anthony becomes the wounded.  They call each other "weird."  She calls him "Senator."  He calls her "Senator Shut-In."  They banter and knock each other. She talks exactly like every teenaged girl I've ever been around.

Some parts were just "weird," too, like Caroline showing no curiosity about the dead classmate's name or that her mother never showed up or communicated, wondering what was going on upstairs in her daughter's bedroom where a strange boy had parked himself for hours.

Towards the end the script began to drift a little, but then...

I and You is director Eleanor Holdridge's first play at the Olney where she skilfully managed the actors who obviously revel in their roles.

After the play, Ms. Tice and Mr. Fitzpatrick excitedly talked a little about their backgrounds and how jubilant they are to be at the Olney. For the role Ms. Tice auditioned in her hometown, New York, where Mr. Fitzpatrick is a transplant from the University of Alabama where he studied theatre. This spring Ms. Tice makes her film debut in Slider.

They are such a twosome and will travel next to Rochester to act in the play there, another stop in the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere.

For her terrific and special effects, lighting designer Nancy Schertler gets special kudos.  Those dark colored bulbs in the beginning didn't fool me. I was hoping they would light up sooner or later. 

Other important people in the production:  Dan Conway, scenic designer, Ivania Stack, costumes,  Matthew M. Nielson, sound, Becky Reed, stage manager, and Amy Marshall, managing director.  Bravo!

What: I and You

When:  Extended until March 30, 2014

Where: Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, MD 20832

How much: Tickets start at $48.50.

Parking:  Abundant, free, and on-site

For more information:301-924-3400

For more area productions and reviews, click DC Metro Theater Arts.


.


Patricialesli@gmail.com
 

Latino art closes today at the Smithsonian

Luis Jimenez (1940-2006) born El Paso, TX , Man on Fire, 1969, made of fiberglass and acrylic urethane, and standing about 6.5 feet tall, opens the exhibition, "Our America:  The Latino Presence in American Art."  Gift of Philip Morris, Inc., Smithsonian American Art Museum/photo by Patricia Leslie

 

Hurry! 

Only one day left to see a marvelous array of color, images and explosive art selected by E. Carmen Ramos, the curator of Latino art for the Smithsonian American Art Museum whose collection supplies the exhibition for "Our America:  The Latino Presence in American Art" up through March 2 at the museum.

Amalia Mesa-Bains, born Santa Clara, CA 1943, An Ofrenda for Dolores del Rio, 1984, rev. 1991. Museum purchase, Smithsonian American Art Museum. The label said Ms. Mesa-Bains made this memorial in honor of the famous Mexican actress (1905-1983)/photo by Patricia Leslie.

 

Amalia Mesa-Bains, born Santa Clara, CA 1943,  close-up of An Ofrenda for Dolores del Rio, 1984, rev. 1991. Museum purchase, Smithsonian American Art Museum/photo by Patricia Leslie

The variety and subjects of past and present by 72 artists whose 92 pieces are included will astonish and amaze. Modern, abstract, stories, sound, film, photography, and sculpture are here for all to see.

Melesio Casas, b. El Paso, TX 1929, Humanscape 62, 1970. Museum purchase, Smithsonian American Art Museum.  The centerpiece of Casas' oil is the former mascot for Frito-Lay corn chips which Chicano activists successfully lobbied the company to remove, according to the label. Casas surrounds the mascot with "brown" objects meant to critique "rich cultures" which stereotype Chicanos.

The presentation advances the Smithsonian's goal "to build a significant collection of Latino art," said Elizabeth Broun, the museum's director, in a statement.  The effort took three years to put together, and the outcome "truly represents the Latino experience in this country," she said.

Pepon Osorio, born Santurce, Puerto Rico, 1955, El Chandelier, 1988. Museum purchase, Smithsonian American Art Museum. According to the label, the inspiration behind this work came from "elaborate chandeliers hanging in humble apartment homes" which the artist saw while working as a social worker in New York City/photo by Patricia Leslie

If you miss the show in Washington, you may still see it in other U.S. cities since it travels to Florida International University in Miami for exhibition from March 28 - June 22, 2014; the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA, Sept. 21, 2014 - Jan. 11, 2015;  the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Feb. 6, - May 17, 2015;  the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, Oct. 16, 2015 - Jan. 17, 2016; and the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington, March 5 - May 29, 2016.

Arturo Rodriguez, born Ranchuelo, Cuba, 1956, Sin Titulo, from the series, "The Tempest." Gift of Liza and Pedro J. Martinez-Fraga, Smithsonian American Art Museum.  The label copy said Giorgione's The Tempest (c. 1505).was the inspiration for this painting.

 

Ester Hernandez, born Dinuba, CA 1944, Sun Mad, 1982. Gift of Tomas Ybarra-Frausto, Smithsonian American Art Museum

 

What: Our America:  The Latino Presence in American Art

When: Closes Sunday, March 2, 2014.  The museum is open from 11:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Smithsonian American Art Museum, 8th and F streets, N. W., Washington, D.C.

How much: No charge

For more information: 202-633-1000 or visit the web site

Metro station: Gallery Place-Chinatown or walk 10 minutes from Metro Center


patricialesli@gmail.com



 

Philadelphia's surrealism show closes March 2

Enrico Donati, The Evil Eye, 1947, Philadelphia Museum of Art. This is a new addition to the collection and is not as large as it appears here. (See below.) Photo by Patricia Leslie

For all D.C. surrealist fans, the City of Brotherly Love just up the road a bit is well worth a rush trip this weekend to see The Surrealists:  Works from the Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

It closes March 2 which, on the first Sunday of the month,  happens to be "Pay What You Can Day."

It's not a big show, just three galleries, but the art is more than enough to keep your mind occupied long past your exit from the museum.

A better perspective from the floor of Enrico Donati's 1947 The Evil Eye. On the left wall is label copy.  Surrealists were intrigued by "the eye" and often made it their subject, portending more government spying. Would this not make a good illustration for the NSA? Or Google? Photo by Patricia Leslie

Oils, photographs, sculpture, furniture, printed materials, rare books, and clothing, all from the museum's collection, are represented in 100 creations by 50 artists who explore their subconscious minds, dreams, and fears.  They made visual, the unconscious; real, unreality; and they exaggerated. 

Valentine Hugo, Dream Painting (Playing Cards and Lotus Blossoms), 1935, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Curator John Vick led a tour and said the surrealists revolted against traditional names and values and practiced their own personal styles. The movement "about diversity, difference, and individuality," became "a real driving force in Europe" in the 1920s, spanning the aftermath of World War I, the entirety of World War II. and the Spanish Civil War (July, 1936 - April, 1939).

What would a surrealism show be without a Dali? Not a surrealism show.  This is a close-up of Salvador Dali's Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War), 1936, Philadelphia Museum of Art/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Vick said it was Philadelphia's "first exhibition [where] we've been able to feature our surrealism collection in a comprehensive format." 

The show unfolds chronologically and geographically as artists fled Paris and Europe for New York, joining thousands displaced by World War II.

Not all the names are familiar (Pierre Roy, Eli Lotar, Esteban Frances, Wifredo Lam) but most are well known:  Joan Miro, Kay Sage, de Chirico, Giacometti, Max Ernst, and hometown boy, Man Ray. Some of the works have never been shown.

Curator Vick said Picasso never really joined the trend, being "slightly outside" of it, however, two of his are thrown in for good measure (Bullfight, 1934, and Head of a Woman, 1937). (Picasso is a draw.)

Salvador Dali painted Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War) in 1936 when the Spanish Civil War broke out, when he witnessed his country torn apart by bloodshed.  The label quotes him describing  Soft Construction as "a vast human bodybreaking out into monstrous excrescences of arms and legs tearing at one another in a delirium of auto strangulation."  The surrealists were fascinated by and often portrayed the desecration of the human body, especially Dali.  (Who would have known?)

 Salvador Dali, Soft Construction with Boiled Beans (Premonition of Civil War), 1936, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Many consider surrealism art to be anti-feminist.

In her self-portrait, Birthday, named by her future husband, Max Ernst, Dorothea Tanning paints herself as a sex tool, grabbing her skirt, clothed in a robe of human bodies.  Pretty, huh? At the same time she reaches for a door leading to a long hallway of open doors (an escape or a prison?). Her expression exudes self-doubt and sadness.  What do you see?

Dorothea Tanning, Birthday, 1942, Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The show contains violence, including violence against women (I could not locate it or them), torment, self-destruction, and exorcism of demons. 

Maybe it will help exorcise your demons when you see theirs and realize yours aren't so bad, after all.  The artists intended to shock, said Mr. Vick, and they still do today.

When: Now through March 2, 2014.  The museum is open every day except Monday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Wednesday and Friday until 8:45 p.m.

 

Where: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia 19130

Admission: "Pay what you wish" on Sunday, March 2.  Customary prices are $20 (adults); $18 (seniors; 65 and over); $14 (students and youth, ages 13-18); free (children, under age 13); and members, no charge.

Getting there from Washington: Train, plane, bus, or car.

 

For more information: 215-763-8100 or visitorservices@philamuseum.org.


patricialesli@gmail.com