By Tracey Hill for Curtains Up
Splendore a Venezia, a gently paced exhibition with music and fine arts playing a most lyrical duet is on for only 8 more days at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in the Jean-Nöel Desmarais Pavillion.
Bursting with information and surprising facts about the history of opera, art and culture in Venice, the exhibition is a feast for the intellect as well as the senses. Complete with an actual gondola, the backdrop is lavish with dramatic architectural detailing that allows the Baroque masterpieces, musical instruments and original scores to luxuriate in all their glory.
Paintings by Titian, Tintoretto, Bassano, Giovanni Battista, Domenico Tiepolo, Francesco Guardi, Bernardo Strozzi, Pietro Longhi and the sublime Canaletto depict the cultural phenomenon that was occurring in the Venetian Republic from early 16th century to the fall of the Serenissima in 1797. Pair the visual impact of such radiantly constructed artworks with music (that visitors listen to on headsets provided by the MMFA) that links together the socio-political framework of a city brimming with ceremonies, festivals and processions…and you truly sense the grandeur of this rhythmically accomplished era.
After your visit, it is worthwhile to take a look at what is going on across the hall in the Comics at the Museum; 15 Artists from la Pastèque Reinterpret the Collection, on until March 30th.
Frédéric Gauthier, president of La Pastèque says;”We are very proud to celebrate our fifteenth anniversary with an exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, a landmark event in the history of Quebec comics. Our art has waited a long time for this kind of recognition, and now it is becoming a reality on a grand scale.”
Not only featuring comic illustrations by La Pastèque artists, there are contemporary artworks by Joan Mirό, Marc-Aurèle Fortin and Serge Lemoyne as well as objects of whimsy such as a metro turnstile.
And even more….Realms of Shadow and Light; Quebec and Canadian Drawings from the Museum’s Collection, on until March 30th, 2014 at the Graphic Arts Center. Take in some fine drawings that range from topography to pastoral everyday life with recent acquisitions from the 1940s. Understated but hopefully not overlooked by visitors.
Upcoming at the MMFA; Peter Doig, No foreign Lands, from January 25th, to May 4th 2014. A long-awaited exhibition of dazzling paintings by Edinburgh-born, Canada-raised (Toronto, Eastern Townships, Montreal) Doig who now calls Trinidad home. If anyone recalls the famous White Canoe sale at Sotheby’s in 2007 for $11.3 million…then an auction record for a living artist, you well know that Peter Doig is probably the most exciting contemporary painter in the art world today. I wonder if the MMFA will have my tent taken away, because I plan on camping out at the front doors.
