Masterpieces from The Met, New York

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Italy c.1485/90–1576 / Venus and Adonis (detail) 1550s / Oil on canvas / 106.7 x 133.4cm / The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 / 49.7.16 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Italy c.1485/90–1576 / Venus and Adonis (detail) 1550s / Oil on canvas / 106.7 x 133.4cm / The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 / 49.7.16 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) was the exclusive Australian venue for the major exhibition ‘European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’. This was an extraordinary opportunity to experience these important works from one of the finest collections of European painting in the world, the majority of which rarely leave permanent display in New York.

Installation view of ‘European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’ featuring Rembrandt’s Flora c.1654 / Photograph: Natasha Harth © QAGOMA

Installation view of ‘European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’ featuring Rembrandt’s Flora c.1654 / Photograph: Natasha Harth © QAGOMA / View full image

The exhibition presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in which The Met — during the renovation of their galleries for European paintings — could share these masterpieces with the people in Australia. Max Hollein, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

‘European Masterpieces’ included portraiture, still-life, landscape and figure studies and was a must-see for art-lovers and anyone with an interest in history, society, beauty, religious iconography, mythology and symbolism.

LIST OF WORKS: Discover all the artworks

DELVE DEEPER: More about the artists and exhibition

THE STUDIO: Artworks come to life

WATCH: The Met Curators highlight their favourite works

Caravaggio

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), Italy 1571–1610 / The Musicians 1597 / Oil on canvas / 92.1 x 118.4cm / Rogers Fund, 1952 / 52.81 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi), Italy 1571–1610 / The Musicians 1597 / Oil on canvas / 92.1 x 118.4cm / Rogers Fund, 1952 / 52.81 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

Beginning in the 1420s, with a finely painted, emotionally charged altarpiece panel, The Crucifixion by Fra Angelico, and ending in 1919 with one of Monet’s late Water Lilies, a precursor to abstraction, ‘European Masterpieces’ is a remarkable survey of 500 years of European art featuring 65 paintings charting Western art history’s most iconic movements including Titian’s Venus and Adonis 1550s, Caravaggio’s The Musicians 1597, Rembrandt’s Flora c.1654, Vermeer’s Allegory of the Catholic Faith c.1670–72, Turner’s Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute c.1835, van Gogh’s The Flowering Orchard 1888, Renoir’s A Young Girl with Daisies 1889, Degas’ Dancers, Pink and Green c.1890, and Cézanne’s Still Life with Apples and Pears c.1891–92.

Fra Angelico

Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro), Italy c.1395–1455 / The Crucifixion c.1420–23 / Tempera on wood, gold ground / 63.8 x 48.3cm / Maitland F Griggs Collection, Bequest of Maitland F Griggs, 1943 / 43.98.5 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro), Italy c.1395–1455 / The Crucifixion c.1420–23 / Tempera on wood, gold ground / 63.8 x 48.3cm / Maitland F Griggs Collection, Bequest of Maitland F Griggs, 1943 / 43.98.5 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

Monet

Claude Monet, France 1840–1926 / Water Lilies 1916–19 / Oil on canvas / 130.2 x 200.7cm / Gift of Louise Reinhardt Smith 1983 / 1983.532 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Claude Monet, France 1840–1926 / Water Lilies 1916–19 / Oil on canvas / 130.2 x 200.7cm / Gift of Louise Reinhardt Smith 1983 / 1983.532 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

The exhibition traces the development of art and artists from a time when creativity was closely controlled through the patronage of church and state, to a period in which our contemporary idea of the independent artist was born. As this superbly representative historical account of European painting makes clear, artistic innovation – seen in works of art that have challenged and sometimes changed the world – is far from an invention of our time.

Titian

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Italy c.1485/90–1576 / Venus and Adonis 1550s / Oil on canvas / 106.7 x 133.4cm / The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 / 49.7.16 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Italy c.1485/90–1576 / Venus and Adonis 1550s / Oil on canvas / 106.7 x 133.4cm / The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 / 49.7.16 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

Rembrandt

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn), The Netherlands 1606–69 / Flora c.1654 / Oil on canvas / 100 x 91.8cm / Gift of Archer M Huntington, in memory of his father, Collis Potter Huntington, 1926 / 26.101.10 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn), The Netherlands 1606–69 / Flora c.1654 / Oil on canvas / 100 x 91.8cm / Gift of Archer M Huntington, in memory of his father, Collis Potter Huntington,
1926 / 26.101.10 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh, The Netherlands 1853–90 / The Flowering Orchard 1888 / Oil on canvas / 72.4 x 53.3cm / Signed (lower left): Vincent The Mr and Mrs Henry Ittleson Jr Purchase Fund, 1956 / 56.13 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Vincent van Gogh, The Netherlands 1853–90 / The Flowering Orchard 1888 / Oil on canvas / 72.4 x 53.3cm / Signed (lower left): Vincent The Mr and Mrs Henry Ittleson Jr Purchase Fund, 1956 / 56.13 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

Cézanne

Paul Cézanne, France 1839–1906 / Still Life with Apples and Pears c.1891–92 / Oil on canvas / 44.8 x 58.7cm / Bequest of Stephen C Clark, 1960 / 61.101.3 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Paul Cézanne, France 1839–1906 / Still Life with Apples and Pears c.1891–92 / Oil on canvas / 44.8 x 58.7cm / Bequest of Stephen C Clark, 1960 / 61.101.3 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

The Studio

For the duration of ‘European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’ enter The Studio, located within the exhibition space. The Studio offers an array of experiences whether through multimedia interactives or opportunities to draw from life. An immersive theatrical experience will transport you to historical Europe through the exhibition’s themes in distinct zones and vignettes. Draw using supplied materials and take inspiration from their surroundings to create your own work.

A costumed model recreates a scene from Johannes Vermeer, The Netherlands 1632–75 / Allegory of the Catholic Faith c.1670–72 / Oil on canvas / 114.3 x 88.9cm / The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931 / 32.100.18 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A costumed model recreates a scene from Johannes Vermeer, The Netherlands 1632–75 / Allegory of the Catholic Faith c.1670–72 / Oil on canvas / 114.3 x 88.9cm / The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931 / 32.100.18 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

Johannes Vermeer, The Netherlands 1632–75 / Allegory of the Catholic Faith c.1670–72 / Oil on canvas / 114.3 x 88.9cm / The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931 / 32.100.18 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Johannes Vermeer, The Netherlands 1632–75 / Allegory of the Catholic Faith c.1670–72 / Oil on canvas / 114.3 x 88.9cm / The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931 / 32.100.18 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York / View full image

‘European Masterpieces’ publication

The full-colour 240pp hardback publication European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York was available in two special cover editions — either Caravaggio’s The Musicians 1597 (illustrated) or Marie Denise Villers with Marie Joséphine Charlotte du Val d’Ognes 1801.

Discover 65 magnificent paintings spanning a remarkable 500 years of European art

Discover 65 magnificent paintings spanning a remarkable 500 years of European art / View full image

This Australian-exclusive exhibition was at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art from 12 June until 17 October 2021 and organised by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and Art Exhibitions Australia.

Featured image detail: Titian (Tiziano Vecellio), Italy c.1485/90–1576 / Venus and Adonis 1550s / Oil on canvas / 106.7 x 133.4cm / The Jules Bache Collection, 1949 / 49.7.16 / Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Related Stories

  •
    Read •

    The language of nature

    Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) and Claude Monet (1840–1926) did more than paint a natural setting, they both celebrated nature. van Gogh’s The Flowering Orchard 1888 was inspired by the provençal sunshine and flowering fields of Arles, where Monet’s lily pad-laden sensation Water Lilies 1916–19 was completed in his own garden at Giverny. LIST OF WORKS: Discover all the artworks DELVE DEEPER: More about the artists and exhibition THE STUDIO: Artworks come to life WATCH: The Met Curators highlight their favourite works Vincent van Gogh ‘The Flowering Orchard’ 1888 The arrival of spring in Arles, France in 1888 found Vincent van Gogh ‘in a fury of work’. As he wrote to his brother Theo, ‘The trees are in blossom and I would like to do a Provençal orchard of tremendous gaiety’. Over a period of one month, between late March and late April, the artist dedicated 14 canvases to the subject, working in a range of sizes, formats and styles. His inclusion of the scythe and rake makes this one of only two orchard paintings to hint at a human presence. Inspired by Japanese prints and Impressionism, The Flowering Orchard 1888 speaks to Van Gogh’s rapport with nature as he experimented with colour, light, brushstrokes, calligraphic line and composition. In this composition we see the tremulous brown arching lines of the branches of the fruit trees reaching upwards to the mellow sky. This contrasts with the urgent brushstrokes of greens, creams and reds in the grasses and leaves. Overall, Van Gogh has conveyed an emotional sense of vibrancy and lyrical rhythm. Van Gogh was totally at one with this orchard landscape, immersed in its glory of colour, sound, scent, texture and movement. Indeed, he advocated that it was the language of nature that painters should pay attention to, so they could become absorbed in the spiritual essence of nature itself. In an active artistic career of only 10 years, Van Gogh produced nearly 900 paintings. Claude Monet ‘Water Lilies’ 1916–19 Water Lilies painted between 1916 and 1919 is an almost abstract field of colour. Claude Monet captures the visual sensation of a water-lily pond with few pictorial cues to its scale or depth. The painting represents one moment within the pond’s endless flux, creating a pad-laden pond with dappled sunlight and reflections of sky and weeping willows. With no obvious horizon line, its dappled surface stretches on forever. Monet was the founder of the revolutionary Impressionist art movement and was dedicated to outdoor observation. At age 50, Monet moved to Giverny, north of Paris, as part of his extensive gardening plans, he built a large Japanese-style garden and pond with lilies in 1893 that ignited a 30-year obsession. From 1899 on, he repeatedly turned to the subject, attempting to capture every observation, impression, and reflection of the flowers and water. Early paintings depict a picturesque landscape framed by an arched bridge, with water-lily pads floating above crisp reflections. By the end of his life, he had painted them no less than 250 times. The pond was surrounded by willows and irises, and water lilies imported especially from Japan. Monet even employed a gardener to arrange the plants each day to suit his painting. Monet said ‘Apart from painting and gardening, I am good for nothing. My greatest masterpiece is my garden’. Monet’s works show us the temporary beauty of the moment, and he said: ‘For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment’. By the mid-1910s, Monet’s technique became more impressionistic, as he began to suffer from cataracts that impaired his perception of shapes and tone, his clouded vision led to innovative combinations of colour and looser, broader brushstrokes. The lilies are roughly outlined and he applied paint in short rapid brushstrokes using a flat, square paintbrush instead of the usual round brush. This Australian-exclusive exhibition was at the Gallery of Modern Art from 12 June until 17 October 2021 and organised by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and Art Exhibitions Australia. Featured image detail: Claude Monet Water Lilies 1916–19
  • Read •

    Visual Storytelling: Designing for European Masterpieces

    Have you ever wondered what goes on behind-the-scenes when designing for a major exhibition ― specifically ‘European Masterpieces from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York’ at the Gallery of Modern Art. Every exhibition starts with the artwork ― in this case 65 superb paintings spanning 500 years ― that offer a breath-taking journey from the 1420s and the emerging Renaissance to conclude at the height of early twentieth century post-impressionism in the 1920s. LIST OF WORKS: Discover all the artworks DELVE DEEPER: More about the artists and exhibition THE STUDIO: Artworks come to life WATCH: The Met Curators highlight their favourite works’ Visual storytelling Designing an exhibition at QAGOMA is a multidisciplinary process that combines staff from many departments with a variety of skills, such as curation, exhibition design, graphic design, web and motion graphics, workshop, registration and conservation teams, the installation crew, and finally lighting, all coming together where collaboration is the key to success. Visual storytelling underpins the display to create a meaningful and memorable experience for our audience. The challenge with ‘European Masterpieces’ was to display works over 500 years, moving smoothly through art movements from the fifteenth to twentieth centuries. The starting point for an overall design strategy was the GOMA building itself, enabling the design team to take a contemporary approach in contrast to the historic setting where the artworks are on permanent display in their home at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The aim was to source and profile an architectural motif consistent over 500 years that could be applied both in an historical application yet with a modern twist. The arch offered such an opportunity to be adapted to accommodate the three distinct exhibition themes to create an unforgettable journey through the history of European art. Among a variety of design strategies to create an exhibition, exhibition designers combine a range of colour and intensity, a variety of materials and decoration, the construction of physical and visual pathways including transition zones, and ambient lighting to create just the right mood. The arch and its variations was accompanied with a carefully considered changing colour palette for each theme transitioning from dark to light and similarly with lighting tones. The arch ― in part inspired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s architecture, and historical prompts from the artworks themselves ― is repeated with subtle differences throughout the three chapter themes ‘Devotion and Renaissance’, ‘Absolutism and Enlightenment’, and finally ‘Revolution and Art for the People’. The arch: Variations of scale, form and detail The chapter themes have been used to divide the exhibition into three main curatorial groupings, and the arch, varying in scale and detail was a recurring design element throughout these different time periods ― Renaissance, Baroque and ending with the Modern. This connecting architectural element throughout these themes reduces in scale as you progress through time, playing with form to give prompts to the artistic period on display. Exhibition entrance Adopting the forced perspective techniques used in Renaissance architecture, a series of repeated arches decreasing in size and spacing, and a contemporary response to ‘candlelit’ alcoves, greet you at the exhibition entrance. An anteroom at the end of the corridor creates a moment to pause before entering the exhibition. Devotion and Renaissance Light levels start low and focused within ‘Devotion and Renaissance’ to become brighter as you navigate the exhibition. Combined with low height walls, colours of cool blue-grey and cool grey are complemented with warm ambient lighting. A light sandstone grey is used to accent the inside of the arch, a contrast against the cool walls. A single jack-chain curtain is the decorative feature overhead, with arched cut-outs it suspends to help create a solemn space for contemplation, reflecting the past grandeur of the church. To achieve the desired effect for the overhead highlight, both exhibition design and workshop went through an extensive testing and prototyping process, ruling out string, rope, plastic, and opting for a custom metal chain curtain pre-fabricated by the workshop team. Once the suspend arch feature was confirmed, arch openings were scaled and positioned to consider the placement of lighting tracks in relation to the position of artworks to ensure that the chain curtains wouldn’t cast shadows on artworks. Transition zone The transition zone between ‘Devotion and Renaissance’ and ‘Absolutism and Enlightenment’ of suspended pendant lighting, mirrors, checkered flooring, and archways placed within an elongated hallway sets the scene for what is to come next, allowing the visitor to pause before they encounter the next change of colour palette, an increase in the wall scale and a change to the arch form. Absolutism and Enlightenment Colour was introduced in ‘Absolutism and Enlightenment’ for dramatic appeal, creating a rich and vibrant luxury with the deeper wall hues, to give the second chapter a burst of drama through a bolder colour palette. Walls of crimson-red compliment the rich gold ornate frames and draws on the tones found in several of the artworks, a deep teal-green was used as an accent to contrast with the red and build on the exhibition palette. Revolution and Art for the People The last exhibition chapter theme ‘Revolution and Art for the People’ had a playful approach to the arch, interspersed in the meandering pathways. The light pastel palette layered on the walls as a base colour of soft grey, plus the spearmint and fresh light blue provided a foil for the bright bold matching tones inside of the arch of deep green and deep blue. The mix of pastel and bolder accents throughout the space created visual interest and movement, with the addition of pale and deep ochre as a contract against the cooler tones to complete the exhibition palette. These key exhibition design elements transition us from Renaissance altarpieces and chapels of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when Christian traditions of devotion underscored one of the most...
Loading...