Art Of The Day Weekly
#511 - from 19 April 2018 to 25 April 2018
Ferdinand Hodler, Lake Thun with symmetrical reflections, 1905, oil on canvas, 80,2 x 100 cm © Musée d'art et d'histoire de Genève, photo : B. Jacot-Descombes.
EXHIBITIONS
Monet the American
PARIS – The fire that ripped through the MoMA in New York in 1958 had no human victims fortunately, due to the specific intervention of its director Alfred Barr Jr., who had all the employees leave through the roof. But the collection suffered a great loss, following the total destruction of a version of Monet’s Nymphéas. Barr was determined to make up for this loss, and managed to collect funds to buy a larger and more complete version (W1992). This story alone summarizes the central position Monet - and his cycle of old age- have in the genesis of 20th century American art. Whether he is seen as an admitted source of inspiration as with Ellsworth Kelly, or as a direction among others as with Pollock or Rothko, the confrontation between the old master and his young American heirs offers unexpected similitudes. The exhibition focuses on this aspect by bringing in the greater artists, such as Barnett Newman, Sam Francis or Clyfford Still.
• Nymphéas. L’abstraction américaine et le dernier Monet at the Orangerie, from 13 April to 20 August 2018.