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November 26, 2005
Russia! and MoMA
Yesterday, along with half of the European tourists and art fans in the city, Mom and I visited the "Russia!" exhibit at the Guggenheim. I know nothing about Russian art (and my art critiquing skills are pathetic) but I do have a minor Russia fetish, and the portraits in the ads looked fascinating. Despite the crowds and a little post-Thanksgiving exhaustion, I enjoyed what we saw, and I also got reacquainted with the great upward spiraling exhibit space in the Guggenheim building.
The 18th century portraits were vivid and complex. In some ways they capture the subject's character more than modern day photography does. The play of light, the facial expression and pose, and the exquisite detail convey both the sitter's personality and the moment the artist is trying to capture. They're wonderful to look at. The detail in the fabric of a sitter's dress or shawl can be mesmerizing.
A few of the portraits we liked: Tropinin's portrait of his son (great light, evocative of a certain part of childhood), a profile of Catherine II and one of her in "traveling clothes" (she looks benevolent, proud, and resolute in each, like a proper empress), Briullov's Portrait of Countess Julia Samoilova (great dress, great scene), Nikitin's Portrait of a Field Hetman, and Rubens' Head of a Franciscan Monk. The portrait that has been on the cover of most ads -- Kramskoy's Unknown Woman is also fantastic.
One thing that was missing from the exhibit is a collection of communist party propaganda. True, it's political and not the expression of one artist, but the clear message and high contrast and drama of it is a huge part of Russia's pop culture of the last century. Many modern Russian artists worked on those posters, too. It would have been interesting to see some of the more interesting pieces, but then again it might have been out of place.
Since I'm on the subject of museums, I should mention that museum memberships make fantastic holiday gifts. I got one for Mom last year and we used it to spend the day at MoMA last month. It was great -- while she was waiting for me she picked up a gift membership for me (thanks Mom!) and we were able to visit the "SAFE: Design Takes On Risk" exhibit before it opened to the public. MoMA also put me in a really great mood. The Design and Architecture wing was full of modern design innovations -- there were Eames chairs and Apple products and a chandelier made out of broken dishes. The photography wing is too small for my taste (too much of the good stuff stays in storage), but it's full of fantastic classic photos.
Overall, MoMA left me with a desire to talk about what I saw and to be more creative. It wasn't overwhelming or overly exhausting. The exhibits of recent art were also impressive -- there was a room full of TVs (~120 of them) functioning as a huge self-portait of an artist. They had been positioned throughout the artist's house to tape every part of his daily routine -- from making toast to working on a project to sleeping. It was an introspective, intimate display of the the artist's private life -- the quiet and solitude of living alone was very familiar. There was also a collection of portraits of four sisters over a thirty year period. As you approach it, you're not aware that all of the photos are of the same women -- they change so much. All of the portraits are so well done that it's kind of a tour de force -- you see dramatic changes and a collective aging, but not at the expense of the individual personality of each woman, if that makes any sense.
At both MoMA and the Guggenheim, we had very pleasant lunches at the museum cafes -- cucumber soup at MoMA and mortadella sandwiches at the Guggenheim. Both cafes seem to have "ladies' lunch" fare -- wine, soup, sophisticated sandwiches, so we always feel quite civilized and satisfied and refreshed, like proper museum-going cosmopolitan ladies.
Posted by csageday at November 26, 2005 03:55 PM