Not what you think. I’ve always wanted to visit the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg but not much else in Russia so that seems like a long way to go for a museum. Now I don’t have to go (or not anytime soon). The exhibit at the Foundation Vuitton was an amazing collection of art from the Hermitage. I learn something new almost every day, and this was one of those times that I said to myself, “how come I never heard of this man before”? Sergei Shchukin was one of the greatest collectors of French modern art very similar to Gertrude Stein and her family. The collection included Monet, Matisse, Picasso, Cezanne, Gauguin, Van Gogh and of course the important early 20th century Russians. Once Lenin nationalized the collection and Stalin asserted that art was “bourgeois” the collection was placed in public art collections at the Hermitage and Pushkin Gallery in Moscow.
This is the first time since the work was initially collected that it makes its appearance in France, where most of it was created and first exhibited. If you are a Matisse fan as I am hope you can imagine seeing so many of the most iconic works in one place so unexpectedly. We will be learning about all these artists this semester (unless you are in the ancient art class-sorry but more is coming for you in the next few days).
On a side note: The color on the outside of the museum is a temporary site specific work by Daniel Buren. If you want to see more of his work go to:
Monet, ” Seagulls, River Thames in London”, 1904Monet, “Luncheon on the Grass”, 1856. Certainly a different take on this theme than Manet’s “Luncheon on the Grass.”Monet, “Vetheuil,” 1901Edward Burne-Jones, “Adoration of the Magi”, tapestry, 1886-1902. It’s so interesting to see this painter’s work in tapestry that looks like one of the Raphael cartoons for tapestry since this artist is a Pre-Raphaelite.Picasso, study for “Saltimbanques”Gustave Courbet, “Chalet in the Mountains”, 1874. Unusual to see a small landscape by this artist known for his massive figurative paintings.Pissarro, “Avenue de l’Opera, Snow Effect”, 1898Matisse, “Bois de Boulogne”, 1902Cezanne, “The Aqueduct,” 1890Photo of one of the rooms showing the collection as it was in Moscow.Matisse, “The Red Room”, probably his most famous painting that you will be learning about this semester.
Degas, “Dancer Posing fo a Photographer”, 1875. An interesting image considering that Degas himself used photography to capture dancers and then paint them in his studio without the model.Gauguin, “The Flight”, 1901. Most of his religious paintings were completed when he was still in France so it’s unusual that he did this in Tahiti, including local people in the image.Gauguin, “Sunflowers”, 1901. Gauguin and Van Gogh were close friends and worked side by side until Gauguin left Europe for the South Pacific. Wonder if he was thinking about his old friend when he painted this.
Picasso, “Woman with a Fan”, 1909Sub Sahara, wood sculpture, 19th century. It’s easy to see how much Picasso was influenced by these figures he would have seen in the museum in Paris at the turn of the century.Picasso, “Absinthe Drinker”, 1901. Shchukin said of Monet and Picasso: “If, with Claude Monet everything flows, Picasso’s hand makes everything solid….where in Matisse’s work, there are just silhouettes, with Picasso, there are just volumes.”Matisse, “The Goldfish”, 1912Matisse, “The Pink Studio”, 1911matisse, “Still Life with Blue Tablecloth,” 1909Matisse, “Arum Lilies, Irises, and Mimosa” in a Blue Vase”, 1912Malevich, “A Non-Stopping Station”, 1913Malevich, “Suprematic Architecture Model”, 1927Tattling, Counter Relief, 1916
Poetry Without Words 