National Gallery of Canada

[Johann]

First ever visit to the National Gallery of Canada, and what a Magnificent day it was.

9 am I'm sitting on a bench waiting for the Gallery to open at 10.
Nice morning.

No one was there until about 20 minutes before it opened- the plaza was empty but for a guy who was hired by the gallery to do a chalk drawing on the pavement with a Caravaggio-inspired picture. Then about 60 appeared out of nowhere, and all of them were octogenarians.
"Let's go see some "ART." an old guy groaned. He didn't appear to want to be there.
$15 gets you into the Gallery, main Caravaggio exhibit included, tax included.

Caravaggio and his followers in Rome is the exhibit, with 12 of the Master's works in a showcase with his followers, which number some 60 paintings. The influence Caravaggio had was immense.
This is the only place in North America you will see them (Ottawa Ontario CANADA), except for a gallery in Fort Worth Texas.
Nowhere else will you see these 12 originals in the same place. I was stunned by the majesty and magnificence of these "paintings"- paintings seems to be too weak a word...Hand-of-God creations is more like it. Luminous, powerful, eye-grabbing, striking...all of them.
The switch in styles he was capable of- Wow. Just Wow. There are two paintings here (each named SACRIFICE OF ISAAC), one created in 1598-99 and one created in 1602-03. The image is the same, but the contrasts could not be more different- and wholly complete, within themselves. It's an image of Abraham, about to slice his son's throat, nay, cut his HEAD off his shoulders, as per God's wish. But there's an angel there, directing Abraham to look at the ram to be sacrificed instead. The boy is in sheer terror- he doesn't want to die. No Sir.
The two paintings are the same size, but one is way darker and way starker. The other one has townsfolk milling about in the background, not noticing the act of violence about to occur. It's marvelous.
I opted out of taking the guided tour and I'm glad I did. I can move at my own pace in an art gallery, thank you.

This Art gallery is World-Class. It's a labrynth of treasures after treasures.
When you go in, no backpacks or bags allowed and no cameras are allowed.
Then you hike up a steep inclined floor of formed stone (takes a minute to get up to the top- it's steep enough) and then staff take your ticket.
A sticker is removed from your ticket and placed on your lapel. I saw a not-so-bright lady throw her ticket away and be denied access to the exhibit. She protested, saying "I have my sticker on my lapel! That's proof!" and she was still denied access. She was told *again*, because you are also told when you buy your ticket not to separate the ticket and the sticker because you need both for access.
Apparently this was too complicated for her.

The Caravaggio exhibit opens into a brightly lit space that houses brilliant painting after brilliant painting.
The first (right-hand side) you see is the famous Boy Bitten By a Lizard (1594-96).
It's the Ultimate, Man. Just a stunning Masterpiece of Art. The boy is recoiling, you can almost hear him scream, as another artist noted.
To see it mere inches from my face was incredible.
So were the Picassos, the van Goghs, the Rubens, the Renoir, the Cezannes, the Monets, the Warhol Brillo boxes, the Roy Lichtenstein Rouen Cathedral series of color lithographs, the Rodin "AGE OF BRONZE" statue, the Degas, the Rembrandt (my fave of all), the Delacroix, the El Greco, the Poussin, the Georgia Okeeffe, the Jean Arp sculpture (yes I took notes), the Braque, the Lipschitz, the Gaugin, and on and on and on....

You'll get lost in it Mang.

[Johann]

You can wander around the exhibits at your leisure, and this is the trail of art left in my viewing wake:

I went left to avoid the big guided tour because people crowd around the works, so you have to manouever. The good thing is they linger there for 10-15 minutes at a time, listening to the guide's spiel, giving you time to move around relatively decently.

A Smiling Young Man Squeezing Grapes (1622) by Gerrit van Honthorst (awesome work. I love it.)
The Sorrows of Aminta (1625) by Bartolomeo Cavarozzi (on loan from the Louvre, Paris)
The Musicians (1595) by Caravaggio (on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, New York)- it's Caravaggio, what else do you need?
A Lute Player (1620) by Theodor Rombout (on loan from Philadelphia Museum of Art)- nice black frame- it could be a Caravaggio, if you didn't know the difference..

Saint Cecilia with Two Angels (1620) by Anteveduto Gramatica (on loan from Art Antigua: Lisbon, Portugal) STUNNING PAINTING.
A Musician or Maker of Musical Intruments (1610-15) by Francesco Buoneri- this one is stunning too, and encased in glass with a beautiful ornate gold frame.
Triumph of Earthly Love (1624) by Orazio Riminaldi (a Masterpiece, on loan from Florence Italy)

Here's the introduction to the Caravaggio exhibit, which I wrote straight off the wall it was on:

"MICHAELANGELO MERISI da CARAVAGGIO (1571-1610) changed the way his contemporaries saw the world.
The Artist created a new kind of painting; dramatic, theatrical, profoundly human, yet grounded in mundane reality.
This exhibition explores his art and his legacy through the responses of the painters who looked to him for inspiration."


Soldiers Playing Cards and Dice (The Cheats) (1618-20) by Valentin de Boulonge -on loan from the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Revellers (1618-20) by the same artist, on loan from the Louvre, Paris

Another wall blurb:

The young Caravaggio introduced a new kind of painting to the Roman art world. Mixing acute social observation with comedy, the scenes came from an imagined underworld of Roman society.

The Cardsharps (1595) by Caravaggio is another great work of art, and it hung beside
The Gypsy Fortune Teller (1595), because they were both displayed together for generations in the owner's home.
Both are on loan from the Kimbell Art Gallery in Fort Worth Texas- the only other place this exhibition will be held.

Saint Francis (1598) by the Master is lifelike, and there is no mistaking the Spiritual power coming off the canvas. Almost all of these works are "oil on canvas", and most have their own ornate frames/mounts.
Here's the wall description of Caravaggio's "sacred subjects":

"He made the divine human, confusing the boundaries between the sacred and the profane; just as his works confused art and life.
His saints are tied firmly to our world; their lives are played out in modern times, not some distant past, and , like us, they're flesh and blood."

Saint Christopher carrying the infant Christ (1618) by Orazio Borgianni is beautiful. You wonder about the kind of mind's eye it takes to come up with renderings like this. It's St. Christopher, in disbelief at how incredibly heavy this baby Jesus is, who is sitting on his shoulders. St. Chris is looking back over his shoulder, almost saying "A CHILD SHOULDN'T WEIGH TEN TONS!"
The placard with the piece says that the infant Christ is talking to the saint, telling him:

Christopher, marvel at thee nothing, for thou hast not only borne him that created and made all the world upon thy shoulders.

[Johann]

The next Caravaggio I saw was Saint Francis in Ecstasy (1594-95), a certifed Masterwork.
I bought a fridge magnet of this work in the gift shop.
It's the Saint Francis, being cradled by an Angel, and the Saint is in a real celestial state.
Simply beautiful. The rendering is so pristine, so vibrant, I can't describe it.

Martha and Mary Magdalene (1598) is simply incredible. I overheard a tour guide gush that this was her favorite painting in the whole exhibit. It is gorgeous. The colors and starkness of it is just something to behold.
I'm not an art snob, but I do appreciate this shit.
Caravaggio is a guy who would've inspired me to pick up a brush too.
He would've been a great filmmaker, as would Monet.
Painters with not just brushstrokes. Painters with one hell of an eye.

The next Caravaggio was Saint Augustine (1600), followed by possibly his greatest canvas (but that sure is open for spirited debate)
SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST (1604-05), which the gallery chose to blow up two stories into a banner for the exhibit outside it's walls.
I will try to post images of these works soon so you know what the hell I'm jabbering about.

The next Caravaggios in the exhibit were the two "Sacrifice of Isaac" works I mentioned. You could stare at them for quite a while....
then there was the Masterwork by Orazio Gentileschi Judith and her maidservant with the head of Holofermes (1668-69), which is the other image the gallery blew up 2 stories. Gentileschi was a "follower in Rome" of Caravaggios. I took a photo of it. Will post here perhaps and on FB.
That one is amazing, and if no one told me, I'd believe it was an actual Caravaggio. It's so similar to his style that I can't tell the difference.
It's of a woman, conspiring to hide a beheaded man's head (Holofermes) with her maid, Abra. Blood is dripping from the severed head and these women are on the lookout for cover.

Another wall blurb I jotted:

Caravaggio's art depends upon simplicity and clarity.
His figures are suspended in mid-action so that we may observe them.
The setting -if any- is less important than the characters themselves.
It is their actions and states of mind that are at the heart of his art.
He focused on the human figure and told the story through it's gestures, pose, expression, and costume.
His figures are in half-length, truncated by the picture frame and seen up close.
The result is a sense of directness and immediacy.
We become witness to the scene.

[Johann]

Another work named Saint Francis (1606-07) was the final original piece, and it's as vivid and striking as any other painting Caravaggio created.
Biblical Art.

After two hours of wandering around these Italian Masterworks I took a break and looked forward to seeing the modern art in the permanent collection. The gift shop is spacious and has lots for any art lover to browse: prints, posters, fridge magnets (cool ones- no crappy stuff here), books, artist-related items, postcards, and on and on.
The prices seemed reasonable too.
I'll go back to the gift shop (you don't need a ticket to go to the shop- it's open to the public)

The modern art gallery is excellent as well, with all kinds of cool exhibits/displays.
Previously this summer I went to the Museum of Civilization in Hull, and in their permanent collection of Native art there is a beautiful miniature sculpture of a motorcycle made out of bone, teeth and stone by Jamasee Padluq Pitseolak (say that 3 times fast..), and the National Gallery of Canada bought his piece called My First Bike (2005), a bicycle sculpture made of antler, serpentine, black stone, ivory and metal. There is nothing like it on earth. I took a photo of his mini motorcycle. Will post here sometime.

The Andy Warhol Brillo soap pads boxes were cool. Made in March and April 1964, they are silkscreen ink and house paint on plywood, and they're stacked two high, 7 boxes.
The placard has a quote from Andy:
"With art, JUST GET IT DONE".

Most impressive to me was the cast bronze with stone base sculpture by Jacob Epstein: ROCK DRILL (1913-16)
It's like something out of H.R. Giger. It's like a future stormtroop robot with Art Deco design. Bitchin
Epstein (a Brit) also did Mask of Billie Gordon (1914/ in bronze) and I want it in my home!
It's a face, a mask, of a woman, and damn if it isn't the most intriguing thing I've seen in a long time.

Architect/Painter El Lissitzky (1890-1941) has a piece hanging in the gallery, one I really loved: Proun 8 Stellergen(1923)
can't even describe it...

Jean Arp's Cyprian Sculpture (1951) is cool.
Lyonel Feininger's Yachts was nice.
Henri Matisse's Nude on a Yellow Sofa (1926) was lovely.
And his bronze bust/head was awesome too: Henriette II (Large Head) (1927)
Georgia O'Keeffe's Lake George with Crows (1921) was very nice, which hung next to Paul Klee's Angst (1934)

The Picassos were outstanding indeed.
The Small Table (1919)
Woman in a Hat with Flowers (1944) - which is an image of Picassos' mistress and principal model Dora Marr, who helped him find the studio where he would paint Guernica

and the van Gogh's, which were something to behold for me. The way the paint is applied to the canvas- I stared at his Vase with Zinnias and Geraniums (1886) for almost 20 minutes. Right beside it was Bowl with Zinnias and other flowers (1886)- equally amazing
the third van Gogh the National gallery has is The Iris (1889)- the first painting Vincent did after entering the asylum

There is one Auguste Renoir: Claude and Renee (1902) and it's gorgeous

[Johann]

National Gallery of Canada's website is www.gallery.ca

[oscar jubis]

Thanks for all this J. Fantastic!

[Johann]

I learned yesterday that the Incredible Caravaggio exhibit I attended last year attracted 109,000 visitors.
The National Gallery is hoping to double that for the van Gogh exhibit.

And in case you don't know, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto is currently housing the first and biggest Picasso exhibit in the history of Canada.
You want culture?
Saddle up!

[Johann]

An original Picasso was defaced by an angry artist at the AGO in Toronto this week. Nail that fucker!
Do you think you're Banksy? Shithead?
The Art Gods are bringin' some heavy juju down on your head...

I'll be attending the Vincent van Gogh UP CLOSE exhibition at the National Gallery soon. Admission is $25, there are over 40 paintings by the Dutch Master and I intend to spend a whole day there, gazing and gawking.
I've browsed around the art gallery gift shop, which has all kinds of van Gogh-related items, even a doll with a removable ear!
Can't wait to check out the exhibit- the first time so many van Gogh's have been in one place in Canada.

I asked a clerk what van Gogh would think of the massive swag and merch in the gift shop, and he said that he wouldn't guess but had heard an unfounded rumour that van Gogh may have killed himself in order to make his works more valuable. He said he heard that Vincent knew that more attention would be paid to his paintings if he was dead.

Interesting to ponder, no?

[Chris Knipp]

That is a silly idea about Van Gogh, who killed himself for multiple reasons, but surely not to increase the value of his paintings. Since they had very little value he would not have conceived of their gaining great value through any cause. I am glad for your dedication to the National Gallery of Canada, though, and spending much time and money to experience its riches.

[Johann]

Glad to be somewhat cultured! I take any chance I get to expand my culture.
I like the Arts very much. Music, cinema, painting, etc. It's all a kaliedoscope.
The National Gallery is probably my favorite place in Ottawa- I walk by it everytime I cross over the bridge to Ottawa from Hull.

I'll post about the van Gogh exhibit after I've attended. Wish you all could go and see it. It's here until September.
The 40+ paintings were collected from various collectors and sources. I'll try to write as much as humanly possible about the exhibit, to give you as detailed an account as I can. Can"t wait.

[Chris Knipp]

Will look forward to your description. I imagine you can get onto Van Gogh's wavelength, madmen both.

Apparently London was once called The Big Smoke too, like Toronto.

[Johann]

I guess I can "relate" to van Gogh's mad passion.
Wish I had his talent with a paintbrush, tho..

[Chris Knipp]

His talent is acknowledge to be unusual (he's not particularly my thing).

[Johann]

I will be posting about the Vincent van Gogh: UP CLOSE exhibit soon.
Here's a couple reviews of films about van Gogh I saw yesterday at the National Gallery theatre.


DEAR THEO

This is a gorgeous 10 minute short film that uses Vincent's actual words (from the final letter to his brother Theo) to illustrate his mindset (and madness) in his final 2 days of life.
I didn't catch the actors names or who directed it, but it was made in Paris.
The camera flies around the sky in some shots, as a crow. The crow (played by two real birds I read in the credits) is animated and expressive (more than other crows- these are trained) and the camerawork was quite lyrical and artistic, in the same style as Vincent's paintings, totally evoking his thoughts and mindset.
In fact it was his landscapes come to life in my view.
Vincent is shot (self-inflicted), and he lays on a bed, groaning in disbelief that he missed a heart as big as his.
He writes to Theo, as a friend sends for a doctor.
Vincent died two days later. Theo died 6 months later, they say of a broken heart, but officially by syphillis.
The famous brothers are buried side by side, and thier graves are completely overgrown with Ivy, fitting, considering their relationship.
It's only ten minutes, but it's passionate, and the van Gogh brothers themselves might admit that it hits home, had they ever heard of cinema.

[Johann]

Vincent van Gogh: PAINTED WITH WORDS

Vincent van Gogh wrote hundreds and hundreds of letters, and every now and then he was chastised by friends and family for being too persistent. This film is a 1 hour BBC production with all Britsh actors but it doesn't matter- the spirit of van Gogh is here in full force.
In full force because every line was from his pen.
His letters are vivid, honest, and very real declarations of his mindset. He had symptoms of bi-polar disorder, manic depression, and we are shown how he would isolate himself for days, one scene has him in a cafe, giving the thousand-yard stare, talking about how being alone affects him. He is committed to an asylum, where his brother Theo tells the staff to let him outside to paint and give him at least a litre of wine with his meals. Vincent smokes a pipe, and drinks Absinthe in great quantities. He longs for a home, he longs for a wife, he revels in nature.
He loves Japanese prints, believing that they are the new art form of the day. He incorporates Japanese figures into some of his paintings. He excels at sketches, and Theo was the one who encouraged him to explore Art, which he did with a Vengeance. He is mentally unstable, and he would have been a fascinating man to know, but one would constantly worry about whether or not he'd make it. One contemporary said:
He'll go mad or leave us all far behind.

His relationship with Paul Gauguin is highlighted, who shared his interests but was also seen as a rival. Gauguin complained that van Gogh liked his work but would criticize him on how he painted, while he painted it. This is a really tragic story, Vincent van Gogh.
Supernova talent for rendering nature and doing striking portraits. When he embraced color...LOOK OUT.
His color paintings are marvelous, whether they be sunflowers, grass, landscapes, whatever he painted it was unique and interesting.
He often painted whatever was right in front of him, and he would send his paintings to Theo, who would open them and be astonished.

This is only an hour, but it gives you a good snapshot of van Gogh, again with his exact words from his letters used as dialogue.