Escaping the term time and house renovation chaos I was lucky enough to head to the south of France for the two week Easter break. Visiting the museum helped me make sense of the modern artists working in the south of France in the early 20th century- the colours and contrasts, shapes and subjects had been in my vision for days- the delight in the contrast between cold, damp Northern cities and the hot , arid, south is evident.
My note book says ‘Blue skies, so blue! surrounding mountain strata, limestone, evergreen oak, spring buds, yellow gorse,turquoise rivers, bare dancing grapevines embracing the wind! I was clearly charmed! It was a real treat towards the end of the journey to visit the modern Art museum in Ceret to drink in the art born of this landscape.
The main exhibition was of Sculptor Dani Karavan -an artist born in 1930 in Israel, who lives and works between Paris, Florence and Tel Aviv, a video interview shows him as warm, humble, intelligent. Karavan creates site specific monuments with great consideration to the surroundings, subject, and local people, he seems a great negotiator.
“The monumental achievements of Dani Karavan, draw their inspirations from different artistic fields and reflection on man and his environment: sculpture The monument, architecture, urban planning, nature. Conceived as spaces dedicated to commemorate the history and tragedies of the twentieth century, to highlight the fate of a site, to honor, to question the human condition, they are also places of life, reflection, meditation and communion with nature. They invite the visitor to a particular experience seeking at the same time his mind, his sensitivity and his feelings. Conveying a humanist and universal message, they have in common to advocate the values of peace and tolerance. Dani Karavan is the creator of, Port Bou, Passages, a tribute to Walter Benjamin, German writer and Jewish philosopher who ended his days in the small border town. Managing to reach Port Bou by a mountainous path, not without great difficulty, Walter Benjamin, fearing being returned to Vichy France by the Spanish authorities, committed suicide on the night of September 26, 1940.
The materials used by Dani Karavan are evocative of the spirit that guides his approach: the Corten steel, glass, but above all a natural vortex forming on the sea, an olive tree and a quote from Benjamin in tribute to anonymous victims of conflicts: “Honoring the memory of anonymous is a more difficult honoring famous people that task. The historic building is dedicated to the idea of anonymous memory. ” -google translated from the museum website.
Passages looks a very powerful piece and I found the integrity of the project very touching, I was also very heartened by the sketches accompanying the models and photos- strong, very textural and powerful marks that were also quite simple and uncomplicated, doing the job of representing work but almost naive in nature.
The exhibition also presented for the first time to the public the latest creations by Dani Karavan: a set of sculptures and bas-reliefs in concrete, evoking earthen architecture common to many cultures and the universality that connects these cultures together. The textures of the simple forms were just beautiful.
Many of the works in the permanent collection were donated by the artists, I imagine in recognition of the way they were influenced by the surrounding landscape. I came to the exhibition from the small fishing port of Collioure nearby- the high place of Fauvism is their claim. In 1905, Henri Matisse and André Derain. (Matisse who resided there regularly between 1906 and 1914) invite their friends Marquet, Manguin and Camoin, to join them. it was remarkable walking around the artist trail in the port seeing the scenes painted by these artists, the unbelievably blue skies in the paintings are unbelievably blue! The streets and houses were made for the Fauvist style, it was amazing to gain the added understanding that looking at the landscape through my own eyes gave, aided by the air of relaxation and sleepiness that must have been such a contrast to the cold, damp, dirty streets of Paris in the north.
I shouted out loud in the gallery. To my shame. The curators were very relaxed and I think slightly amused. The painting Dona Ocell by Joan Miro was the source of my surprise, I had no idea that it was painted on really heavily crumpled brown paper.
This gallery is truly about education and photos were allowed so here are the close ups, please excuse the reflections, seeing the real painting bought to mind the texture of the limestone rocks I’d been admiring for days, and the cave art that is so prevalent in southern France.
I really was viewing the mark making process of the paintings so here are some lovely close ups of paintings that particularly caught my eye.
Many of the works were donated to the museum by the artists in appreciation of lessons learnt in the surrounding landscape. Picasso was such a supporter and it was a real treat to see his work in reality instead of represented on the page.
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I don’t think that I have really seen his line drawings before.
Seeing ceramics and how the image wraps around a 3D shape.
I really like the other worldliness of Chagall’s work, this image in particular. It is over 2m wide and has an amazing presense, I had to stand back to enjoy the whole image but it’s even better close up looking at the textural marks on the canvas.
Herbin is an artist that I haven’t come across before and I like his composition, and I really like his colour pallate. It was really evident haveing walked around the town and surrounding landscape , how Herbin and the other artists in the exhibition were influenced by their surroundings, somehow expressing the rhythm of the buildings in the landscape and also the heat, quality of light, and spirit of the community.
