The Paper's reporter Lu Linhan
The surging news learned that on October 16, the "From Monet, Bonaire to Matisse - French Modern Art Exhibition" was exhibited at the Bund One Art Museum (No. 1, Zhongshan East 1st Road) in Shanghai, presenting nearly 80 masterpieces of 29 art masters such as Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism and Fauvism. From Boudin, Monet, Gauguin, Sineck, to Matisse, Picasso, Du Fei, etc., the exhibition includes almost all the masters of the French modern painting school, which can be described as the epitome of the trend of modern French painting. Among them, Bonnar is the focus of the exhibition, showing more than 30 of his works.
Showroom scene
The Paper,Art Review learned that the exhibit was borrowed from the Benberg Foundation, one of France's famous art collection foundations. The Benberg Foundation is a well-known art institution in France dedicated to presenting to the public the art collection of the late collector Georges Benberg.
George Benberg's family was a prominent Christian Lutheran leader in Cologne, Germany, in the 1850s, who left his homeland in the 1850s to settle in Argentina. Since then, the family has maintained close ties with France. George Bernberg, who grew up in France, was deeply influenced by French humanism. As a student, he collected his first painting, a gouache painting by Pissarro, and was subsequently fascinated by the work of Pierre Bonaire. Later, in the 1960s, he discovered his penchant for bronze, and his collection contained a large collection of exquisite copper artworks. With no direct heir, in the late 1980s, George Benberg founded the Foundation, which contains 100 paintings by ancient masters, more than 150 modern paintings and drawings, and 100 bronzes, ancient books, furniture, etc. The exhibition was originally scheduled to be exhibited on October 3, but due to the epidemic and the transportation of exhibits, the organizers had to postpone the exhibition until mid-October. Although the opening ceremony has not yet been held, on the first day of opening to the public, the exhibition has already attracted many art lovers to watch.
The exhibition begins with Impressionism. In 1874, the future of painting was in the hands of a small group of artists who opposed the pedantic ethos of the official salons that had begun to "regress". Unable to find a place to display their work, the Impressionists transformed photographer Nadal's studio into a gallery. Among them, Monet's "Sunrise Impression" was sharply ridiculed by a critic, and "Impressionism" became the name of this Art Nouveau movement.
On the exhibition hall scene, a landscape painting by Eugène Boudin
The innovation of Impressionism lies in its unique artistic style and painting technique. These artists focused on expressing what the eye saw, without allowing any literary or cultural bias to get involved between vision and reality. The first work in the exhibition hall is a landscape painting by Monet's teacher Eugène Boudin, who was an important figure who encouraged Monet to go outdoors. Subsequently, the representative figures of Impressionism, Such as Monet, Pissarro and others, opened the curtain on modern French painting.
Claude Monet, Portrait of his son "Jean" in a Pompom Hat, oil on canvas, 1869, © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Claude Monet, "Boats on Etotta Beach," © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Bert Morisso, The Woman in the Garden (Villa Anulfi, Nice), oil on canvas 1882 72x62 © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
After the Impressionist section, the audience enters the exhibition area of "Nabis" and the works of Pierre Bonner, the founder of the genre. It is reported that this is also the focus of the exhibition, presenting nearly 30 works by Pierre Bonaire.
Exhibition hall scene works by Pierre Bonnard
When the Impressionists gradually disappeared from the painting stage, their paintings and painting styles continued to play an influential and role in different degrees and in different fields, writing a glorious page for world art at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Among them, the "Les Nabis" is one of the schools directly influenced by it. Nabis is taken from the Arabic word "Nabi", meaning "prophet or prophet", and refers to the painter of this school as the prophet of modern art. Among the Nabis, the most famous representative figure is the French painter and printmaker, and the Post-Impressionist avant-garde painter Pierre Bonaire. He was a founding member of Nabis, known for his color, and is known as one of the greatest color painters of the 20th century.
Pierre Bonner, The Coast, oil on canvas, 72x84cm © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Pierre Bonner, Le Canne, 1930 Oil on canvas 76x87cm © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
While studying art in Paris as a young man, Bonnard was deeply influenced by Gauguin and Japanese ukiyo-e, and inherited the rich colors and lively practical spirit of Impressionism, further combining the objectivity of Impressionism with the basic ideas of Symbolism on cultural memory and emotion.
Bonner can be said to be a painter who has been inspired by the past, between Impressionism and Expressionism and Fauvism. Bonner, whose mission was the expression of light and color, once said: "The most important subject of the sensitive painter should be to reproduce the effect of light", from this point of view, he is the last inheritor of Impressionism, but he infiltrated more subjective treatment of color.
In the exhibition hall, Pierre Bonner's "Self-Portrait"
The Fauvist movement was a continuation of Cézanne's explorations during the Impressionist period. Cézanne's work does not place a great emphasis on "gaze", but in a nearly scientific way to study color and different optical effects, his work is very different from other artists, which also reflects Cézanne's solitary temperament in his artistic journey. In addition, during his journey to Tahiti, the artist Gauguin, who expressed the colors he observed and the light full of high intensity and explosive power, also turned to a more simplified way of painting. In the final stages of his life, the colors in Gauguin's works undoubtedly took precedence over painting, and he also tried to borrow this method to express himself with an unprecedented intensity and intensity. In the exhibition hall, Gauguin's work "The Head of a Young Peasant" is one of the late portraits, the picture is simple and simple, the regional color is flat, concise and both form and spirit.
Paul Gauguin, Head of a Young Farmer, oil on canvas, 37×37cm, © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
In 1905, the capital of culture, Paris, hosted an exhibition that was considered the first artistic event of the 20th century. Young painters led by Matisse exhibited works of sharp colors, rough brushstrokes, deliberate distortions, and anti-naturalism at the Autumn Salon, which led to their canonization as "Fauvism". The art historian Verch called the group of young people "primitive people" in the exhibition catalogue. Fauvism, a modernist trend that caused an uproar, disappeared by 1908, and Matisse, the oldest artist in this group, became the main artist of Fauvism.
Henri Matisse, The View of Antibes, 1925, oil on canvas, 73x84cm© Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Henri Matisse, The Cliffs and Huts of Aval, 1920, oil on cardboard, 38 x 45 cm, © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
As the founder of Fauvism, Henri Matisse is also one of the most noteworthy artists in the exhibition hall. His signature style gradually took shape during the "Fauvist" period, that is, the use of pure color to abstractly express the form of people and things, and boldly matching colors to make the picture rich in color and strong contrast, constituting a visual impact. In the exhibition hall, Matisse's "View of Antibes" perfectly presents the beautiful scenery of the famous French resort, where Matisse lived for a long time. As a Fauvist leader, Matisse focused on exploring the richness of color and shape in a serene and pure art form. The extensive brushstrokes of the painting are enough to see Matisse's early expressionist tendency to pursue emotional expression. This is an important work to understand the evolution of Matisse's artistic style.
In the second half of the exhibition hall, the organizers showed the audience an area dedicated to paintings on paper, such as pen drawings on paper, gouache on paper, watercolors on paper, etc.
Spectators watched in front of Picasso's work on paper
For a long time, twentieth-century painters didn't seem interested in pastel texture. The use of this artistic material peaked in the eighteenth century, but after the end of the Enlightenment, no outstanding work of art used this medium. Pissarro was one of the first painters to bring pastels back to life, enhancing their artistic texture with an unprecedented expressiveness. In this section, the works of Picasso, Rouao, Lottrec, Segunzac and Foran are presented, showing the richness and diversity of their use of drawings, watercolors and pastels.
Picasso, Pierrot and Harlekin Arlequin, 1971, © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Among them, Picasso is undoubtedly the star of this section, attracting many viewers to stop and observe. Picasso's pastel painting Pierrot and Arlequin was a work created near the end of his brilliant life. The two in the painting are Picasso's friends in his later years, and their distinct personalities are portrayed by Picasso with witty lines, and the atmosphere is relaxed and humorous. He incorporates the imprint of art from different periods into the painting: the depiction of the human body has a distinct cubist color, and the figures are surrounded by a dreamy atmosphere inspired by surrealist poets.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, "Fighting Pigeons", oil on cardboard, © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, The Jockey, 1899 Gouache, Watercolor Lithograph © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
In addition, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Jean-Louis Fawland are also important artists in this section. Toulouse came to Paris to study art, coinciding with the prosperity of the Parisian entertainment industry, and the famous Moulin Rouge was an important symbol of this period. Toulouse is often haunted here, using paintbrushes to record dancers, celebrities, prostitutes, etc., and to paint posters for the Moulin Rouge. He often depicts weddings, circuses, racecourses and street scenes with quick and expressive brushstrokes. In portraiture, he pursued naturalism, boldly outlining patches of color without any styling effect.
Jean-Louis Fawland, In the Box, Feather Pen and Chinese Ink, Watercolor, 1880 © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Foran began his career as a cartoonist for several Paris publications, such as Le Monde paris and The Parérique. Foran often participated in the fanatical debates hosted by Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas at the Café des Novostis in Montmartre, and since then Foran has been a loyal follower of Degas, participating in the Fourth Independent Exhibition in 1879, gradually joining impressionist circles, and continuing to participate in Impressionist exhibitions in 1880, 1881, and 1886.
Although Foran's reputation was not as high compared to that of his contemporaries, he began publishing his satirical paintings regularly in magazines from 1887 onwards. During the First World War, the 62-year-old Foran still went to the battlefield and painted many battlefield paintings. Foran's illustrations express the patriotism of his contemporaries.
The final section of the exhibition presents landscape paintings by these artists in the Mediterranean region. Due to the development of railways in the early 20th century, many painters were able to explore and create in the Mediterranean region, where summers are hot and dry, and winters are mild and snowy, with plenty of sunshine. A succession of names in art history have been inextricably linked to the Mediterranean coast, such as Picasso, who was often stationed in all corners of southern France; Matisse, who lived in Nice for a long time; Picasso, who painted for a long time in the small village of Serre, not far from Collioure; and Signico, who often spent hot summers in Saint-Tropez on the Côte d'Azur... These artists show us their fascination with the Mediterranean region with their wonderful colors and treatment of light.
Paul Signac, The Bell Tower of Saint-Tropez, 1896, oil on canvas, © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
Paul Signek, The Flowering Tree (Almond Tree), oil on canvas, © Fondation Bemberg and RMN
The exhibition will be on view until February 20, 2022.
Editor-in-Charge: Li Mei
Proofreader: Liu Wei