April 12, 2013

The good, the bad, and the ugly



My first visit to Musée d’Orsay was simply unforgettable.  This is a top-notch museum, situated in a stunning building that was once an old train station, where I had the pleasure of viewing “The Angel of the Odd: Dark Romanticism from Goya to Max Ernst.”  

The good- this exhibition was an excellent contrast from the fifth floor galleries that are full of flowery Monets.  I especially enjoyed the thematic combination of plastic arts, movie scenes, text and literature.

The bad- from a purely visual standpoint, I think that it was slightly heavy on the Ernst.  However, it is an interesting way to incorporate modern art into the show and encourage the audience to think a bit beyond the immediate form of the objects before them.

The ugly- just about every character from Goya’s ghosts to Delacroix’s demons were rather hideous, although wonderfully animated.  The figures and landscapes of these works are undeniably ugly and they also lead our imaginations towards countless other dark spaces and places.


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