03.14.07
Posted in Academic, Art, Paris Life at 11:21 am by rachel
I caught a sneak peak last night of the Samuel Beckett exposition that opens today at the Centre Pompidou. It was difficult for me to imagine exactly how an art museum would present the work of a novelist, playwright, and poet, but with all of the audio and video pieces, as well as paintings influenced by or favored by Beckett, the show pulls it off and you can spend hours taking it all in.
I recently took on a small side project of creating a Samuel Beckett crossword, which forced me to research and rediscover the work of one of my favorite authors of the twentieth century. As Professor Tom Bishop discussed in a talk he gave last fall, Beckett criticism often focuses on pessimism, the failure of language, the human condition of blindly, senselessly marching towards inescapable death. Bishop points out, however, that no character in Beckett’s work ever commits suicide, and there is a strange sort of optimism that one can read once they put down the existentialist lens. Godot never arrives, but Bishop asks, would it necessarily be a good thing if he did? The waiting continues, the characters continue to be.
Rather than attempt to delve deeper into Beckettian criticism, I thought I’d list some of my favorite Beckett quotations here, as a primer for those new to his work.
“Il faut continuer, je ne peux pas continuer… Je vais continuer.”
“You must go on. I can’t go on. I will go on.”
“Tant quil ya de la vie, il y a de l’espoir.”
As long as there is life, there is hope.
“Rire ou pleurer c’est la même chose à la fin.”
“Laugh or cry, it all comes out the same in the end.”
“Mais à cet endroit, en ce moment, l’humanité c’est nous, que ça nous plaise ou non. Profitons-en, avant qu’il soit trop tard.”
“But at this place, at this moment of time, all mankind is us, whether we like it or not. Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!”
Permalink
02.18.07
Posted in Art, Paris Life at 9:09 pm by rachel
I stood in line and froze my toes to finally see the free Robert Doisneau exhibition at the Hôtel de Ville (a show that ended yesterday, helas). It was worth the frost bite to see other works from the famous photographer of “Le baiser de l’hôtel de ville.”
Doisneau’s vision of Paris is beautiful, touching, and at times downright hilarious. He has shown in his photographs that a very human Paris exists; a Paris filled with love and serendipity. The Paris that I want to live in and perhaps help to create.
Permalink
02.14.07
Posted in Art, Travel at 12:37 pm by rachel
Madrid is just a quick 1.5-hour flight from Paris, but it feels like a far-off place. From the moment we exited the metro station, we were surrounded by sunlight and color.
We enjoyed the late-night schedule, eating tapas and walking around the city from 10pm on. That didn’t mean we missed out on mornings, however: we just couldn’t pass up the churros dipped in thick hot chocolate and delicious coffee.
The highlight of our tour was the Reina Sofia modern art museum, famously housing Picasso’s Guernica, which is presented in the context of the Spanish Civil War. Also of note were many other masters of modernism and new realism, with a focus on Spanish artists with which francophiles like myself should become more familiar. We also particularly enjoyed the Chuck Close exhibition, which was a retrospective of his portrait art from the 1970s to today (last year MoMA had an exhibition of his self-portraits).
Despite the high elevation and resulting chilly winter weather, the Spanish sun lit each day, amplifying the rich colors of the city. We probably had more ham than was good for us, and the prices for shoes and clothing were irresistable. In all, we were captivated by this cheerful city and look forward to discovering more of Spain in the future.
Permalink
02.02.07
Posted in Academic, Art, Paris Life at 5:36 pm by rachel
The Musee d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (that’s a mouthful) is currently showing an exhibition on Georges Rouault and Henri Matisse - two students of the symbolist painter Gustave Moreau. The show begins with late 19th-century oils by Moreau and some early works by Rouault and Matisse while still students of the great maitre. The exhibition continues through several decades of art spread over five rooms.
I have a bias towards Rouault, since my work involves visual representations of religious subjects (and I gave a talk last spring on his Miserere series of prints from the 1920s). I must say, nonetheless, that I thought the Rouault pieces outnumbered the Matisse ones. A variety of works are presented, from woodcuts to pastels, gouaches decoupees (notably Matisse’s colorful Jazz) to book illustrations (both artists illustrated Baudelaire’s Fleurs du Mal at different points in their careers). These represent a half-century of artistic production on the part of the two artists with similar artistic beginnings and quite divergeant paths.
The exposition runs until February 11.
Permalink
01.18.07
Posted in Academic, Art, Paris Life at 8:50 am by rachel
If you are unfamiliar with any late-nineteenth century art movement but Impressionism, I invite you to explore the paintings of the post-impressionist Nabi group. Similar to the art nouveau decorative aesthetic, the Nabis (a name that means “prophet” in Hebrew) broke with naturalism to paint subjects beyond the visible. Paul Sérusier even went so far as to paint a proto-abstract work inspired by Gauguin’s theories and entitled The Talisman.
The youngest member of the group, Maurice Denis, was also the group’s theorist. Denis wrote in his journal from age 15 about a rebirth in painting, and one that would push the religious experience into the modern world. In his work we see this combination of the modern aesthetic and spiritual subject matter. The Musée d’Orsay is showing room after room of his paintings from 1889 to 1941, in an exhibition that ends January 21. It is well worth the extra euro or two.
Permalink
Next entries »
I caught a sneak peak last night of the Samuel Beckett exposition that opens today at the Centre Pompidou. It was difficult for me to imagine exactly how an art museum would present the work of a novelist, playwright, and poet, but with all of the audio and video pieces, as well as paintings influenced by or favored by Beckett, the show pulls it off and you can spend hours taking it all in.
