Giacometti Exhibition

 L'Homme Qui Marche at
the Galerie Maeght also
appeared at the LAM exhibition

I first became enchanted by the works of Alberto Giacometti when I visited friends in Vence, near Nice, in 2002. They took me to the famous Galerie Maeght which has a major Giacometti collection of 35 major sculptures, 30 drawings and nearly 100 lithographs. [The Kunsthaus in Zurich and the Giacometti Foundation in Paris also have significant collections of the artist’s work.] SO, great excitement that there has been a major exhibition of Giacometti’s work in Villeneuve d’Ascq near Lille which I was able to visit last week at L.A.M. a superb modern art gallery set in rural wooded parkland.

La Galerie Maeght

This major exhibition set his work in context with examples of work by Joan Miro and Picasso among others, and traced his artistic development from his early beginnings in Borgonuovo, Switzerland as the youngest son of Giovanni, a well-known post-Impressionist painter. He, Alberto, moved to Paris in 1922, to study under the sculptor, Antoine Bourdelle, an associate of Rodin. While there, he also experimented with Cubism and Surrealism, and was eventually regarded as one of the leading Surrealist painters. Among his associates were Miro, Picasso, Max Ernst, Hjorth and Balthus. Between 1936 and 1940 his sculpting concentrated on heads, often preferring familiar models like his sister and Isabel Delmer, a close friend. It was around this stage of his development that he began to elongate the statues of Isabel, often small, carving and reducing them to almost paper-thin proportions.

 Giacometti 

 Annette Giacometti 1954

 L'Homme  Qui Pointe  1951

In the fifties, after his marriage in Switzerland to Annette Arm, his sculptures grew larger and even thinner, but always now based on Annette, his model for the rest of his life. Perhaps his largest sculptures, were Grande Femme Debout, 1-1V, [1960] created for a major project for the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York in 1958 but he was dissatisfied with the relationship between sculptures and site and finally withdrew from the commission. His worldwide fame was firmly established in 1962 when he was awarded the Grand Prize for sculpture at the Venice Biennale and he finally visited New York in 1965 for a major exhibition of his work at the Museum of Modern Art. During the prolific fifties and sixties, in addition to his wonderful sculptures, he Paris Sans Fin, published in 1965 and for which he wrote the text as the final flourish to his artistic life.
continued to produce many, many lithographs; indeed his final work was of 150 lithographs containing memories of all the places where he had lived, all in a book,

 Roland Dumas

The Fondation Giacometti was established in 1993 by the French state after the death of Annette who had been the sole holder of his property rights. She had worked vigorously to collect a full listing of his authenticated works, gathering documentation and location of all his manufactures to counteract the rising number of counterfeited works. In a sad and scandalous coda, in 2007, Roland Dumas, former French foreign minister and executor of Annette Giacometti’s estate, was convicted, with Jacques Tajan, a leading auctioneer, of illegally selling Giacometti’s works and both had to pay the Fondation 850,000 euros.

Giacometti's art flourished despite the scandal and today his exceptional and highly individual works, particularly the famous, pared-down sculptures, are universally recognised as great art and continue to intrigue and delight new generations of admirers. 

Heilig Bloed Processie

 The Chapel of the Holy Blood built 1134-1157, to
house the Holy Relic.

Thursday last, Ascension Day, is BIG in Brugge! As I had dear old friend Derek staying, we decided to buy a seat on the Dijver where the Holy Blood Procession starts. I have never seen the whole length of the procession before, [around two hours to pass] contenting myself once just walking along with it, taking photos from time to time. Last year with a visiting friend, we sat on the ground near the Stadstheater to watch. But the seat on a bench gave the best experience I think.

Brugge residents, 1700 of them this year, perform the historical re-enactments.

 1887 statue in Brugse Markt of
Jan Breydel & Pieter de Coninck

The parade is roughly divided into two halves; the first, Religious with stories from the Old Testament, the Creation to the prophets, followed by the New Testament, the Birth to Pentecost; the second, Historical. The historical half tells the narrative of the journey of the Relic to Brugge and then representatives of the Noble Brotherhood of the Holy Blood guard the priests who carry the Relic with great attendant ceremony. The centrepiece of the Procession is the Holy Relic, a cloth with allegedly the blood of Christ on it, brought to Brugge by Thierry, Count of Flanders after the 12^th century Second Crusade. The actual procession was instituted in 1303 to celebrate the deliverance of Brugge from French tyranny by the folk heroes, Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck in the previous year.

The costumes this year were amazing, colourful, creative, extravagant, reputedly obtained at a cost of 1 million euros funded by the National Lottery. And then there were the animals, as usual though unexpected to the casual tourists. Two flocks of sheep; a large bull, dromedaries; donkeys including a baby; hawks; rabbits; many, many horses with knights, ladies, emissaries, mounted, or the heavy Flemish horses pulling huge carts with static scenes on board including trees, thrones, courtly theatre, and a convincing [but artificial] serpent writhing realistically. There were marching bands, choirs, dancers, jesters, messengers announcing; peasants sweeping up the detritus from the animals [and receiving enthusiastic support from the watching crowd], choreographed scenes galore with at least four representations of Jesus. A cornucopia indeed much enjoyed by around 100,000 people densely packing the pavements around the city.

In the morning, the Holy Relic was collected from its safe-keeping in the Chapel of the Holy Blood in the Burg, and taken to the Cathedral for its veneration and a celebration of Mass. The Procession eventually finished in the Burg with a Benediction of the Relic.

 The hexagonal golden shrine was
created in 1617.

As we sat and marvelled at the passing spectacle, I was astonished that everyone on the many benches all stood up to venerate the Holy Blood as it passed. It underlined the awe with which, so many centuries later, the Relic still arouses deep belief and reverence in so many. The whole Procession is still loved and respected by both the townspeople of Brugge and visitors who live in a world so far apart from the life of its mediaeval beginnings. Indeed, to be a performer in the procession is a matter of some pride to Bruggelingen; surely a strong element in creating a cohesive society.

 The Holy Relic housed in a glass-fronted gold case closed
at each end with gold coronets decorated with angels.
Bears the date May 3 1388.

 Many small children took part alongside parents

 ... but all age groups were fully represented.

Creative interference!

 Mansfield market place with the nineteenth century
Bentinck Memorial in the centre.

I never imagined that there would be a mention in this blog, of Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, U.K., a fairly unlovely East Midlands town and my birthplace, the town where I lived for the first 34 years of my life. I went to King Edward’s Primary School there and then the Brunts Grammar School. I taught there, danced and socialised, lived and loved there. Oh, mostly happy far-off days!

I bought a copy of The Times on Saturday 18^th May and was totally bemused and pretty incredulous to read in it an item headed ‘Rees-Mogg’s sister is the star in Brexitland’. There is a picture of Annunziata Rees-Mogg in Mansfield market place, described as ‘surrounded by a gaggle of middle-aged admirers’. The article claims the crowd, queuing to see her, was anxious to shake her hand and have selfies with her! I pinched myself. Ms Rees-Mogg, sister of the Right Hon. Member for the 18^th Century, and high profile recruit to the Brexit Party, attracting adoring interest from Mansfield inhabitants! And,

 Annunziata in Mansfield with supporters

standing for the Brexit Party in the East Midlands, virtually guarantees a seat in the European Parliament. Which is the secret to this public adoration and unlikely pairing of former mining town with member of an old, important family definitely situated in the upper crust!!

There is quite an excerpt in the item on 63 year old Laurence Caunt, ex-Labour and ex-NUM [National Union of Mineworkers] who accuses the Labour Party of deserting the working class and decries the fact that Brexit constituencies have Remain MPs. Mansfield and its ilk are now driving Corbyn’s policy of ‘Look both ways’ for Brexit in an endeavour for Labour to reclaim these lost, traditional strongholds. The poignant pity of it all is that the stratum in which the Rees-Moggs reside will simply enjoy the luxury of nostalgia restored and dreams of latter day Empire revived. While the chiefly working class of the Midlands and the North will bear the brunt of the anticipated economic turbulence and austerity. The more I see of Brexit and its destructive social and economic effects, the more inclined I am to wring David Cameron’s neck for his ill-judged, arrogant and careless attempts at Party management.

 Boris Johnson

And now, late to post the above, I hear that Theresa will be pushed from her post on June 7. Which means that the fifteen or so eager candidates to replace her will all be jostling for media attention with the focus reliably on Boris. If he can persuade M.P.s that he can out-Farage Farage, then political considerations may well cause Members to swallow pride and ethics and place him on their list of two. And then the 130,000 elderly Tory Party members, Boris-adorers apparently, will assuredly vote him in as Prime Minister, the least qualified, most ill-equipped ever. As Martin Fletcher of The New Statesman online, suggests., “He is a congenital liar, serially disloyal, untrustworthy, irresponsible and hopelessly chaotic”. One could add his lack of the work ethic, inability/ unwillingness to properly prepare for important public occasions,; disrespect for business, for Northern Ireland, for any complexity in almost any situation, for truth. Boris does have many gifts, not least his way with words, his oratory. If only the rest of him lived up to those standards. As it is, or may well be, impending catastrophe is approaching. A little postscript to add this Saturday morning; I heard on Radio 4, one contender for the leadership, Rory Stewart, an immensely able and honourable man, saying he would not serve in a Boris-led government. SO interesting!!

 Rory Stewart

 Theresa May's resignation speech.

 Nigel Farage at the launch of his new Brexit Party.

They Shall Not Grow Old

 An example of the revolutionary update of the original film

I had wanted to see this film since its release last November and missed it in California where I spent Christmas at my daughter’s. The film’s two screenings near her, were sold out, days before the due date. But, at last, it came to Brugge on Sunday May 12^th and it didn’t disappoint!

They Shall Not Grow Old is a staggering technical achievement; Peter Jackson used the WW1 film archives of the Imperial War Museum and by some technological/digital restoration and skilful colouring, managed to translate the old black, grey and white, faded photographs and film of century-old ghosts into rounded, almost contemporary visuals of living soldiers complete with colour. It really was amazing to see the undersized, underfed, deferential rookies put through six weeks of strenuous training during which all gained weight and some gained height! The first part and the closing demobilisation sequences retained their black and white but the colour of the main part of the film, much of which was of rarely-seen battle sequences showing the horrors of Nomansland, and of countless bodies torn to pieces and scattered across churned-up earth and deep mud,

 Rest and relaxation, behind the lines.

added a horrible immediacy and authenticity. More than anything I have ever seen, the unspeakable nature of close combat, the blind terror and urgency of battle, followed by long fallow periods of ‘housekeeping’ and comradely joking about, were conveyed in heart-stopping, often sickening, sequences. Strangely enough, the intensely close relationships among the men amounting almost to love, was the overwhelming sensation felt by a spectator who was drawn in, emotionally. Captured German soldiers were treated well, with the strong emotions of fellow sufferers who instinctively knew, and empathised with the experiences and predicament of their erstwhile enemies, transparently evident.

 Post-gas attack, 1918

There was no narration; Jackson decided to use only audio excerpts from the 600 hours of BBC and Imperial War Museum interviews. The interviews came from 200 veterans with the voices of 120 being used in the film, their names recorded at the end of the film. Peter Jackson said that he wanted the film to be “120 men telling a single story” and for this reason, names of regiments and locations of battles were not included. This is the story of what it was like to be a British Tommy on the Western Front. The result is a moving and haunting narrative of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances, maintaining unbelievable levels of cheerful acceptance of concentrated and horrifying experiences punctuated by filth and tedium and rats. Such ordinary, extraordinary men in what effectively became an extended brotherhood, demonstrated in word and deed, sustained care and love for each other. Distressingly, we learn that many, many of those not numbered among the one million dead, came home to vanished jobs, and friends and family who not only knew nothing of the privations and horrors experienced, but who did not want to know. Silence and stoicism from the ex-combatants were demanded.

Miraculous transformation.

The closing credits of the film feature an extended version of the song " Mademoiselle from Armentieres", which was particularly popular during the war. The audience learns that the film is dedicated to Jackson’s grandfather who fought and died in WW1. The title was inspired by the line "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old" from the 1914 elegy, "For the Fallen" by  Lawrence Binyon.

 

 Celebration.

Extract from For The Fallen:

They went with songs to the battle, they were young, 

Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. 

They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; 

They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them.

Lawrence Binyon

Vincent At Eternity's Gate

 Vincent Van Gogh's The Sower 1888

 Starry night 1889

Vincent Van Gogh, so reviled in his short life but revered by posterity, continues to fascinate. There was a splendid film about him [Loving Vincent. My blog, Jan 3^rd 2018] which I remember especially for its artistry and the large number of artists involved in its production. The current film, At Eternity's Gate by Julian Schnabel, about Vincent's last years, is also stunningly artistic, the photography often consciously mimicking the artist's brush as Vincent strides through fields of grass and corn and crops, with sustained close-ups of his feet scything through the blades of green with a rich array of colours tumbling and juggling together in a brightly-hued kaleidoscope of shapes and shades.  His long gazes to the sun and the clouds dazzle the screen as he searches for meaning and shape.

Irises

Vincent's near-perpetual state of emotional and artistic upheaval and exhaustion is readily conveyed by the narrative and by Willem Dafoe's depiction of the artist; he seems to be frightened and inept or over-confident and aggressive, socially, but hugely involved artistically in surveying landscapes to translate them into vivid hues and curving shapes on canvas or paper. He wrestles intellectually with the fleeting nature of life; man, flowers, leaves, trees, clouds, and tries to capture representations of them in his highly individual style to keep them forever blooming, forever fresh, in his giant sketchbook.

 The Yellow House in Arles.   1888

He finds a yellow house in Arles but quickly manages to create ill feelings with the locals and with a party of children and their teacher on a field project, the latter teacher reporting the confrontation with him to angry parents and town officials. His saviour is always his beloved brother Theo who lives in Paris but who frequently dashes to Arles to rescue his brother from his self-inflicted misery. Theo arranges for Paul Gauguin to live with Vincent to Vincent’s exhilarated delight but the situation soon sours due to the emotional and psychological incompatibility of the pair. Gauguin soon departs in spite of Vincent’s brutal self-mutilation when he severs part of his ear as a desperate token of friendship. The severed, bloody earlobe is then given by Vincent to a local girl who is so horrified that she reports on him to the authorities and he is sent to a mental hospital in nearby St Remy-de-Provence and banned forever from living in Arles. When he is eventually released he goes to live nearer to Paris in Auvers-sur-Oise where he spends the final, troubled days of his life in a frenzy of drawing and painting.

 Gauguin's painting of Van Gogh at work

The film ends with his death from a gunshot wound to the abdomen, possibly from an accidental shot from a rifle used by two teenagers playing at Cowboys and Indians, and teasing Vincent. He dies less than two days later telling the police that his injury was self-inflicted. I had never heard this murder theory before and it could be true but, whatever happened, one comes away from the viewing with immense pity and sadness for Van Gogh and huge admiration for his single-minded devotion to his art in the face of unrelenting derision, dismissal and contempt. He may well have been bipolar and epileptic; he may well have been accidentally murdered; he may well have harmed his health with his over-indulgence in absinthe, but today he is worshipped for his innovative, ground-breaking, highly individual use of line and colour. His Post-Impressionistic style is copied by thousands and has inspired millions to become active in art. Indeed, there is a whole school of Impressionistic painters who are inspired by the Impressionists and who consciously mimic Van Gogh’s style and colours. It is ironic that this supreme artist, who only ever sold one painting, now has auctions realising huge sums of money for his canvases.

 Van Gogh's self portrait with his bandaged ear.

The actor, Willem Dafoe, gives a flawless performance as Vincent; he learned to paint for the film to help him emulate Van Gogh’s intense involvement and febrile imagination. He becomes Vincent in his exhilaration and depression; in his joy as he watches the sun rise and his despair at the setbacks of life. We feel Vincent’s total love for, and dependence on, his brother Theo through Dafoe’s intense portrayal of Van Gogh’s inner demons and desperate need for love. A mesmerising performance.

Modern paintings consciously echoing Vincent's style.
Lee Tillor

 Willem Dafoe
He learned to paint quickly, like Van Gogh, and to
almost stab the canvas with the brush.

Landmark Exhibition

 Brugge flower market, Wednesdays.

I had assumed that there would be no market of any size this morning, as happened during the first two weeks of January when there were three stalls only. But I had not appreciated that the May 1^st holiday, Labour Day, is Big in Europe though hardly noticed in the U.K. En route to coffee with the girls and later, buying a hot chicken on the market on the way home, I loved the carnival atmosphere; a band, a procession, more crowds than normal and with an excess of great holiday humour abounding. Plant and flower stalls in profusion plus the usual cheeses, hams, bread and cakes, fruit and vegetables for sale. This is quite my favourite market but this morning did seem special with the light-hearted atmosphere and the larger-than-normal crowds. Lots of Socialist red about, too!!

Mah Jong on the terrace last summer!

 St Francis, praying by Francisco de Zubaran
1660-70

My energy

 remains stubbornly restricted though better than it was in March. I tend to go somewhere or do something in the morning when the energy is relatively high. Thus Mah Jong here with the girls on Thursday [quite a favourite activity] and a wander down to Oud St Jan to see the exhibition of Spanish Baroque in Sint Janshospitaal on Friday morning. The artists on exhibit from Spain's Golden Century are Pedro de Mena; Bartholome Esteban Murillo and Francisco de Zubaran.  As I entered, I bumped into a friend who knows lots about the period of the exhibition and his explanations and comments were so useful and illuminating. The Spanish Baroque is frankly, too Catholic for me but several paintings and sculptures were brilliant in their execution. I loved a Mater Dolorosa by Murillo, far more affecting, haunting and aesthetically pleasing than several others with the same subject by different artists. The Murillo has a mysterious, ethereal quality which strongly appealed to this non-believer. But my absolute favourite was a Zubaran of St Francis praying, with an interesting and arresting composition; the central oblique figure dominating the canvas and the most unbelievable artistry in the realisation of his robes. Apparently, realism was all in the Spanish Baroque and the repairs and imperfections in the close-up of St Francis’s tunic were breath-takingly skilful and yes, stunningly realistic.

 Mater Dolorosa
Bartholome Esteban Murillo

The exhibition features 22 works of art including six of Pedro de Mena’s hyper-realistic sculptures; all is arranged to follow the chronology of the story of Christ to give a narrative to the experience. Works like those of De Mena, often commissioned for churches and convents in the seventeenth century, were carried in processions during the Counter-Reformation through city streets to offer protection to the inhabitants from disease, war and death. Spanish Baroque sculptures used precious materials to represent various body parts; beautifully-painted glass for realistic eyes; ivory for teeth; paper-thin marble for finger nails, and so on, and the effect is amazing. One notable statue, Ecce Homo by De Mena uses real twigs for the crown of thorns to great effect. De Mena was perhaps the first notable Spanish sculptor to both create a statue and then paint it himself, professional painters before him having been commissioned to undertake this highly-skilled work. Many of the exhibited works belong to one collector, now resident in Luxemburg but with a strong personal connection to Brugge, hence the joint locale for the exhibition. First shown in Sint Jans and subsequently moving to the Musee Nationale d’Histoire et d’Art in Luxemburg. Clearly these works of art, rarely exhibited outside Spain, have touched a nerve; over 10,000 people came to see them in Brugge before Easter and they are here until October 6th.

 Ecce Homo by Pedro de Mena

Notre Dame; une petite histoire but a long blog.

I seem to have become slightly fixated on Notre Dame and in particular, its history since the calamity of the fire. The glossy Notre Dame magazine about which I wrote last week has really stirred up my feelings and interest! I have had an absorbing time online learning of some significant events in its turbulent story following its creation between 1160 and 1260 A.D.

Abelard and Heloise in a 14th
century manuscript of the
Roman de la Rose. 

Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars
burned at the stake adjacent to the apse of
Notre Dame. 1314..

The construction of Notre Dame marked a high point in French Gothic architecture. It stands, dominating the Latin Quarter in the Fourth arrondissement, home of scholars and students over many centuries and has always been regarded as an elegant marker of Paris as a city of high culture, epitomising Paris’s emergence as a centre of learning. Pierre Abelard, the historically famous philosopher, taught Logic and Theology at the great cathedral school of Notre Dame in the 12^th century before the commencement of the present building.  The famous names and historical occurrences associated with Notre Dame enable the world to understand what this majestic cathedral represents in intellect and culture to the soul of France. But its history has been turbulent!

 1572 the future Henri 1V, a Huguenot, married
Marguerite de Valois, a Catholic, at Notre Dame.

The last Grand Master of the Templars, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake in 1314 on an islet next to the apse of Notre Dame. In 1431 the boy King Henry V1 of England was crowned there as King of France to underline English claims to the French throne. From the 16^th century, the cathedral fell victim to France’s political and religious strife and to changing cultural tastes. For instance in 1548 Huguenot Protestants vandalised the church’s holy statues. In 1572, following the wedding designed to end the blood shed in the name of religion, when the future Henri 1V, a Huguenot, married Marguerite de Valois, a Catholic, in front of the cathedral, [and not inside, in Henri’s nod to religious sensitivities) within days, thousands of Protestants, in Paris for the wedding, were slaughtered in the infamous St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

 The beginning of the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre,
four days after the wedding. Spread from Paris, August 1572
throughout France ending in October 1572. Tens of
thousands of Protestants [Huguenots] were killed.

The 18^th century equated Gothic art, the mediaeval period, to the Dark Ages; thus, in the early 1750s the clergy removed the splendid stained glass replacing it with clear, ‘to let in the light’ and priceless sculptures were knocked down to ease the way for processions. The 13^th century spire, judged unsteady, was removed and not replaced but the period of the French Revolution and afterwards, was much more destructive and disrespectful. The Notre Dame bells were removed and melted down in 1791; the 28 statues of the Biblical Kings of Judah along the front portal, were beheaded in 1793 and everything transportable, was looted. Later that year, religion was banished in France, and Notre Dame became an atheist Temple of Reason dedicated to Enlightenment and Revolutionary ideals. Eventually, increasingly little-used, it became a warehouse for storing food. However, it was rescued and returned to the Catholic Church in 1802 in time for the 1804 coronation of Napoleon Bonaparte who had an eye for theatre and for his destiny!

Victor Hugo, 

As many mediaeval Parisian buildings were pulled down in the early 19^th century, Notre Dame trembled but lingered, generally unloved, until Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, published in 1831 re-awakened widespread popular interest and affection for the cathedral, and a massive restoration project between 1844 and 1864 restored it to its former glory It was during this period that Eugene Viollet-le-Duc’s spire was designed and erected; the wonderful Rosette windows restored; the headless sculptures repaired and mediaeval-looking gargoyles created! Twenty one of the severed heads were only recovered in 1977 behind a wall in an old Parisian mansion.

 Hitler in Paris 1940

De Gaulle leading the march down the Champs
Elysees to Notre Dame, Aug. 26th 1945.

In the 20^th century came a succession of traumas: two World Wars with the German occupation of Paris, in the 1940s; student riots in 1968 and the subsequent political turbulence. But de Gaulle marched his troops down the Champs Elysees to a thanksgiving Mass for deliverance in Notre Dame in August 1945. In 1970 his memorial service was held in Notre Dame, attended by world leaders. The only other French president thus honoured was Francois Mitterand in 1996.

The mass devotion of the French to Notre Dame, despite the determinedly secular nature of the State, thus gained huge impetus in the 19^th century and continues today. The popular emotion may be less spiritual than intellectual and cultural for a building in the heart of the nation’s cultural life: the Left Bank, the Sorbonne, the bookshops and the bouquinistes along the Seine all nearby and all delineating the intellectual mirror of the city in which Paris sees itself. The drama of the fire, uncontrollably destructive and theatrically terrifying, assaulted this complex devotion, causing the shared public anguish.

 Outside Notre Dame, crowds listen to the Mass for
Francois Mitterand relayed. January 1996.

 Les bouquinistes de Paris.

 Shared French anguish during the fire.

1.