Exhibitions

Regular readers of RCA know that I love Old Master sculpture, and they may perhaps remember that a couple of times in the past I have lauded the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence for its excellent exhibitions. Now those two threads have come together, as the Palazzo is currently showing The Springtime of the Renaissance: Sculpture and the Arts in Florence, 1400 – 1460. And here is a payoff: the show, after closing in Florence on Aug. 18, will move to the Louvre, from Sept. 23 through Jan. 6, 2014.

That’s a pretty nice endorsement, in part because the Palazzo Strozzi doesn’t have its own curatorial staff to brainstorm or organize, but rather relies on hiring outsiders. In this case, that meant Beatrice Paolozzi Strozzi, director of the Bargello, and Marc Borman, curator of sculpture at the Louvre. (Their names need no explanation or embellishment.)

The premise of this exhibition is that the “miracle” of the Renaissance occurred predominantly through sculptural masterpieces. Among the artists whose works are on view are Ghiberti, Donatello, Lippi, Brunelleschi and Mino da Fiesoli. It has ten sections, starting with “The Legacy of the Fathers” and ending with “From City to Palace: The New Patrons of the Arts.” Loans, meanwhile came from all over — the V & A, the Bode, the NGA in Washington, in particular.

But I won’t repeat what is in the website material; it’s here.

The Palazzo Strozzi excels in putting a lot of material online, including, in this case, the wall texts, all 48 pages (one question: why green?), an exhibition walk-through — and other things (layout, conservation activities for this show, etc.) that you’ll see at the link above. Speaking of conservation, one of the most significant initiatives here was the restoration of Donatello’s St. Louis of Toulouse, 1425, from Santa Croce (pictured here).

Now, a couple of these pieces were in the Metropolitan Museum’s The Renaissance Portrait from Donatello to Bellini last year, I think. I am particularly thinking of Marietta Strozzi by Desiderio da Settignano, but that one is certainly explainable. And the Met show included 160 items, with more paintings than sculpture, I think — this one has 140 pieces, all sculpture.

I wish I were there to see it, but I all have is the next best thing — the catalogue, which comes in at 550 pages. It’s going to keep me busy for some while.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Museo dell l’Opera di Santa Croce 

Going through my inbox today, I was disturbed to see that I forgot about an idea I had for a post a while back about the Biennale — the one in Norman, Oklahoma, not Venice.

This biennale was sponsored by the National Weather Center, along with the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma and the Norman Arts Council. It was called the National Weather Center Biennale, and asked artists for submissions in an attempt to show “art’s window on the impact of weather on the human experience.”

Some people may think this is a bad idea, as art ordered up isn’t always the best art. Art, in their view, isn’t supposed to do something. But no one minds when a novelist takes up the subject of climate change, as Ian McEwan did in Solar. Ordered up or not, though, art has to stand on its own. It can’t be given points for a making a point. If it works, it works.

The NWC Biennale was open to artists of any nationality over the age of 18 — see additional eligibility rules here. A jury of the sponsors whittled the 700-plus entries to the final 100 and then a jury of Christoph Heinrich, director of the Denver Art Museum, artist Spencer Finch and Jacqui Jeras, a meteorologist at WJLA-TV in Washington made the final call. They chose a Best in Show and winners in three categories of painting, photography and works on paper. Details here.

The winners’ entries were on view from Earth Day, April 22, through June 2 — which is what caused my self-annoyance. But better late than never, I guess.

You can see them here. I rather like the Biennale’s logo, posted here, above.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the NWC

If you can at all get to Washington, D.C., this week, you should go. It’s the last few days for the National Gallery of Art’s  magnificent exhibit, Albrecht Dürer: Master Drawings, Watercolors, and Prints from the Albertina. Arranged beautifully around galleries in the East wing are 91 watercolors and drawings from the Albertina, 27 of NGA’s best related engravings and woodcuts, and 19 “closely related drawings and prints” from the NGA’s collection.

The Albertina’s drawings in this show are almost never on view even in Vienna, art historians in Europe tell me. In fact, they are astonished that these works are on view here (There must be a story behind the loan somewhere.), which is why I am writing this so close to the end. I visited the show in early April, but have been distracted by other things.

If you can’t go, you can still enjoy a look at what you are missing here. Although listed on the NGA website as a brochure, it’s actually a 38-page mini-catalogue, with excellent illustrations.

r if you’d like to read something about it aside from newspaper reviews, Andrew Butterfield has written a piece for the New York Review of Books.

I can’t close this without posting one of Durer’s works: how about his Tuft of Cowslips, a gouache from 1526 that the NGA has blown up for the entry to the show?

Photo Credits: © Judith H. Dobrzynski (top); Courtesy of the NGA (bottom)