Art Of The Day Weekly
#305 - from 30 May 2013 to 5 June 2013
55. Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte - Il Palazzo Enciclopedico - la Biennale di Venezia - Photo F. Galli.
IN THE AIR
Venice Biennale, the roaring 55th!
Here we go again! Italy is in the midst of a crisis, wonders about its future, tries to revolutionize its political system but remains loyal to one of its key institutions. The Venice Biennale, known to be the oldest event of contemporary art, having been inaugurated in 1895, will hold its 55th edition. The respectable lady has given the keys of the house – those of the Giardini, the Arsenale and other surrounding venues- to a fashionable curator, Massimiliano Gioni. His youth and enthusiasm pushed him to bite into a colossal theme, the Il Palazzo Enciclopedico. At a time when knowledge is broken down to various specialties, can artists contribute to find a lost unity, the one personified by Bacon, Leonardo or Pasteur? The usual countries – Italy, France, Germany, Great-Britain, the United-States, etc. – all heard the beckon. But we will also be curious to take a look towards the new arrivals– Angola, Kosovo, Paraguay or the Vatican.
• 55th Venice Biennale, Il Palazzo Enciclopedico, from 1 June to 24 November 2013.
LIVE FROM THE 55TH VENICE BIENNALE
Assessing the Encyclopedic Palace
Our correspondents Preston Thayer and Marjorie Och send us the second of their dispatches about the 2013 Biennale.
Venice before the opening
Our correspondents Preston Thayer and Marjorie Och send us the first of their dispatches about the 2013 Biennale.
EXHIBITIONS
Camille Pissarro, The Haymaker, 1884, oil on canvas, 73,5 x 60 cm. Collection Pérez Simón, Mexico.
Pissarro, the top Impressionist
MADRID – He is the number one Impressionist artist, the one who drew up the by-laws of the group and he is the only one among the “major” ones to have taken part in all the eight collective exhibitions held between 1874 and 1886. Yet, as the curators of the retrospective rightly explain, his aura was dimed by that of his colleagues, Monet the first. So this event is a sort of rehabilitation with an additional value since it is held out of France, where the Impressionist galaxy is even more reduced to its heavy weight champions. Over 80 works - views of the Seine, Parisian perspectives, portraits and self-portraits –and among them the venerable with the long white beard – show how Pissarro was a gifted guardian of the temple. But he never dared the chromatic audacities Monet imagined or the virtuoso group scenes Renoir was so successful at.
• Camille Pissarro at the museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, from 4 June to 15 September 2013.
These exhibitions also open this week...
North winds
MUNICH – Why did Scandinavian art have such success at the turn of the 1900s? The Hypo Kunsthalle tries to answer this question by showing in Nordic Art Munch, Hammershoi, Gallen-Kallela or Anna Ancher (photo). From 30 May to 6 October 2013.
Honor to Ginsberg
KARLSRUHE-PARIS-TOURCOING-RENNES - Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), one of the prophets of the beatnik movement, left a lasting mark on the artistic creation of his time. Four European institutions -the Centre Pompidou in Paris, ZKM in Karlsruhe, Le Fresnoy in Tourcoing and Champs libres in Rennes -, got associated to explore his heritage. Dates vary according to the venues, as of 31 May 2013
Titanic, the return
PARIS – The myth of the Titanic will defintely live on for ever: an exhibition at the Palais Expo refers to the cursed voyage in 1912 with authentic objects to illustrate it. From 1 June to 15 September 2013.
AUCTIONS
Art that moves
As of 3 June, we've just been informed that the sale has been cancelled
PARIS – A very successful exhibit, Dynamo, dedicated to kinetic art, is held at the Grand Palais An auction of the same level is being held right next door, at Artcurial. The curator of the former, Serge Lemoine, former boss at the musée d’Orsay, is also a “blogger” at Artcurial. All these coincidences make us tick … But the times have a tendency to combine genres, and we to be used to it. Whatever the case, the works shown are of top quality and the estimates are quite accessible if one compares them to the stars of current art: works by Yvaral starting at €2 000, Lux and some Lumino by Nicolas Schöffer starting at €1500. This is less expensive than designer furniture … The bill will be quite a bit higher for a Mobile blanc - between €100 000 and €150 000 - by Julio Le Parc, crowned by his recent retrospective at Palais de Tokyo. While many Latin-American artists are present with Martha Boto or García-Rossi, the highlight of the evening will undoubtedly be a beautiful ensemble by Vasarely, who is back on the front of the art scene as his foundation in Aix-en-Provence seems to be coming out of its troubles.
• Lumières et géométries, de Josef Albers à Jeppe Hein at Artcurial on 4 June 2013.
BOOKS
Correspondance between artists
What can two great artists, who admire one another and like to exchange, tell one another? When it comes to our contemporaries we will probably never know, as emails and conversations on cell phones are by nature perishable. When it comes to older artists though, we have documents or hand-written letters that can enlighten us … Rodin (1840-1917) and Bourdelle (1861-1929) had an age difference of twenty years, and yet they exchanged 320 letters between 1891 and 1912. Bourdelle always used the “Cher maître”-Dear Master- expression as he never forgot he had worked for Rodin. Rodin for his part went from “Dear Bourdelle” to “Dear old friend”. They confided in one another about art, on pure creation as well as on very concrete subjects– Rodin for example mentions he is looking for “a male model about fifteen years old with round arms”, while Bourdelle describes a castle he visited in Switzerland or drew up lists of antiques he had seen at antique dealers’. The interest of these messages lies in the freedom, the liveliness they express and the human aspect they restore to two great legends.
• Rodin/Bourdelle Correspondance, published by Colin Lemoine and Véronique Mattiussi, Gallimard, 2013, 416 p., €25.
OPENINGS OF THE WEEK
IN BRIEF
BRUSSELS – Histoires de livres, the artist book fair, will be held on 1 and 2 June 2013.
DETROIT – The capital of the car, in face of possible bankruptcy, could be led to cede a part of the collection of the Detroit Institute of Arts, one of the most prestigious of the United-States.
FONTAINEBLEAU – The 3rd Festival d’histoire de l’art will be held from 31 May to 2 June 2013.
LA GACILLY – The photo festival Peuples et Nature will be held from 31 May to 30 September 2013.
PARIS – L’Art du Jardin, the exhibition-installation that combines nature and man's art will be held at the Grand Palais from 31 May to 3 June 2013.
TBILISSI – The 4th edition of the Tbilissi Photo Festival will be held from 28 May to 4 June 2013.