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An Art Museum Update

Hello and I hope that everyone is doing well. There’s a video link at the bottom. I’m putting this in the General Europe category, as museums across Europe (and undoubtedly, the world) have been affected by closures and postponements. But this especially involves an exhibit with art sourced from many nations, showing at the National Gallery in London, a Titian exhibit. The master painter had created several paintings over several years, for Philip II of Spain, a wealthy customer who was pious but also had an eye for female nudity in art. The works eventually were spread to other places in the world, some moving many times. This brings them together, for the first time ever. Titian himself never saw them all at once.

But this exhibit was only open for 3 days in mid-March. We were there one of them. The curator was there with a guest, and I heard him mention that it was unknown how much longer the show could remain open. And now, the National Gallery has been closed for 2 months.

The video below is of the museum director, stopping in while the place has been shut. It shows some art in natural light. Odd seeing the Titian paintings, with just him in the room. Also unexpected was him going in through a different door than what was designed for the public entrance to the exhibit. That’s a reminder that access in the stately building can be configured in different ways for different displays, without permanently changing the building itself.

The audio isn’t outstanding in some parts of the video, but it’s encouraging that the art survives, and will be viewable again, sometime, under some means.
http://email.wordfly.com/click?sid=MTY0Nl8xNjU2N183MDcwNzBfNzI0Ng&l=25467688-469c-ea11-bd94-e61f134a8c87&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NG_2020May_GabrielleVideo_M&utm_content=version_A

Posted by
7891 posts

To continue, again, we managed to see the show on one of the 3 days it wound up being open in March, and really enjoyed it! The single room had some people, but wasn’t absolutely packed by any means. We all mingled, jockeying around for a good view of the art, or to inspect something close up, or to read the printed information on the wall, off to the side of each piece. The excellent audio guide, with a lot of narrative from actor Stephen Fry, enjoyably added to the information about the works.

Regrettably now, in retrospect, using the prevailing information available at the time, no one was wearing masks, and we weren’t particularly staying away from others, when viewing the film at the start of the exhibit, or in the room containing the paintings themselves. Doing things very differently now.

And the National Gallery has been shut in the meantime. Not that this applies to this Titian show, but for exhibits that are scheduled for one museum, then scheduled to go to another, I wonder how that‘s going to work out. One museum gets shut, without the ability to collect admission fees, and the next one is expecting the show to move to it next, whenever that can happen. And then, all those paintings, exposed to breathing, maybe occasionally coughing attendees. In the case of the Titian exhibit, only for 3 days. How does one disinfect a Renaissance masterpiece? But then, no one’s been around them for 2 months, and any pathogens won’t have survived, so maybe that’s no concern.

Posted by
10344 posts

Isn't it amazing, when you think of it, that today we have an unprecedent depth of access to art through internet graphics?

As just one example, take Van Gogh, when he was in Belgium/Netherlands in the late 1870's-early 1880's, and wanted to expand his artistic visions to include what other artists were doing--he didn't even have (AFAIK) a book showing the paintings the Impressionists were then doing in Paris. He had to go live with his brother in Paris, before he could see the Impressionist paintings, and be inspired to grow (although his paintings after Paris are considered Post-Impressionist).

Maybe this realization can give art aficionados hope that, even in these days of the pandemic, we can still enjoy art in other places that we can't now get to.

Yes, it's not quite like standing in front of an original painting, especially a Van Gogh, where standing in front of it you can see the layering and application of paint--but at least today we have an unprecedent access to great paintings, even when we can't stand in front of the originals.

Posted by
4160 posts

Cyn , Thanks for this , every little bit is encouraging . I think it remains to be seen , with all museums , how the future plays out . A vaccine , with substantial durability will certainly help get things rolling again . Here in New York , we were looking forward , with great anticipation , to a show at The Whitney . The focus was the work of the Mexican Muralists in 1925 - 1945 ( Orozco , Rivera , and Siqueiros ) Fortunately , it has only been postponed , until the museum reopens . https://whitney.org/exhibitions/vida-americana
EDIT - This Orozco mural cycle is at Dartmouth College , in Hanover New Hampshire . Quite a thing to see ! http://www.dartmouth.edu/digitalorozco/

Posted by
10344 posts

Yes, Claudia, almost exactly two years ago I was standing in front of The Night Watch!
Your timely link makes the point that, now with the miracle of internet graphics, I can linger on details that I actually couldn't have appreciated being in front of it.

So even with the pandemic limits on travel, we can still savor many of the glorious things Europe has to offer.

That can help sustain us during these troubling times.

Posted by
9183 posts

@Kent I saw it in 1972 3 years before a lunatic slashed it. I had no clue of its size so when I walked into the room where it was located I stopped dead in my tracks. Unlike seeing the Mona Lisa I was blown away by the Night Watch. Incredibly impressive painting.

Posted by
10344 posts

@ Claudia, Yes, as your link shows, many of the wonders of Europe travel can still be available to us, even during the pandemic, with internet graphics! Supplemented with imagination and dreams, and the dreams don't have to be just when we're sleeping!

Posted by
3961 posts

Cyn, Thanks for sharing the link. We felt honored to visit the Rijksmuseum last September. We have been receiving frequent email updates from the museum. Appreciate the ability to revisit The Night Watch online. The day we visited the museum it was unusually quiet. We were awestruck by The Night Watch! All our favorite museums were in walking walking distance from our B&B. Rijksmuseum.nl