Degas to Picasso Exhibition

(28 January 2010- 25 April 2010

How better to start this blog than with my recent visit to Budapest. I went there in Reading Week and whilst in Buda, tried to cram as many galleries in as I could. The first place I visited was the Museum of Fine Art- it sits in a prime position at Varosliget (Hero Square). I had read that the ‘Degas to Picasso’ exhibition was taking place and thought it worth a visit.

The Museum itself holds over 100,000 art works, both Hungarian and International, and includes six departments- Egyptian, Antique, Old Sculpture Gallery, Old Painter Gallery, Modern Collection and a Graphics Collection.

We initially arrived at the building on a Sunday afternoon and were shocked to discover a long queue stretching out of the grounds and down the adjacent street. There seemed to be mostly smart professionals, groups of students and local middle-aged couples. Due to their only being a couple of hours left until closing I decided to come back on the Tuesday (as they are all closed on Mondays). I later discovered another exhibition had been closing and Sunday was the last day to visit it, hence the eager public.

When I arrived on Tuesday morning there was no queue at all, once we walked inside we stood in line to buy tickets (which took a ridiculous amount of time considering there were only 5 people in front of us) and received a programme (they tried to give us just one- even though there were three of us), the programme itself wasn’t very informative and didn’t talk about the ideas behind the exhibits which was a shame.

The exhibition houses 55 works that provide an overview of French painting from the middle of the nineteenth to the beginning of the twentieth century. They are all borrowed from the Pushkin Museum in Moscow.

Impressionism, Symbolism, in addition to the Avant-Garde movements such as The Fauves and Cubists are covered, including Artists such as Courbet, Corot, Degas, Manet, Monet, Renoir, Gauguin, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, Cezanne, Matisse and last but not least- Picasso.

This exhibition doesn’t only show off the fine collection of important trends in Modern French painting, it is also a tribute to two internationally acclaimed Russian Art Collectors- Ivan Morozov and Sergei Shchukin, who devoted most of their income at the time to purchasing new French works. They even opened up their palaces to the public, allowing young artists and art students to experience these new and exciting works.

The exhibition is divided into 8 separate chapters; Realism, The Barbizon School, Impressionism, Cezanne, Founders of Modernism, Symbolism, The Fauves and The Start of the Avant-Garde. It serves to unite the pioneering artists who were neither understood nor accepted by the public opinion of the time.

Chief Curator- Irina Antonova.

The exhibition itself is divided into two large sections (each being at the ends of a large, open space corridor). Walking in I noticed many members of staff; they were very efficient and reasonably friendly. The audience appeared to be middle-aged and smartly dressed; bar a couple of children I was the youngest there by years. These people seemed to be very appreciative of the art in front of them and genuinely interested in what the exhibition had to offer. The rooms weren’t too full with people and at no point was there anybody in the way or jumping in front of my line of sight (my pet hate as due to my lack of height I normally have somebody twice my size that stands right in front of me).

The walls in which the paintings hung were painted dark grey, with a dark grey carpet. The lighting was surprisingly dim with the use of specific spotlights to illuminate each piece. Each painting was hung in its typical chunky, heavily detailed frame, all of which were hung on the walls with what appeared to be metal rod hooks hidden behind the painting. Absolutely no fittings were on show, a very clean finish. I noticed some paintings were hung at a slight angle in order to stop any light bouncing off the surface and back at the audience viewing it.

The first room I entered had been specifically designed and created for the requirements for the exhibition. I noticed that it was actually part of a larger room (3 of the perimeter walls were part of the building but one was an assembled wall). In the centre of the room were 2 deliberately constructed walls, which enabled space for all the selected pieces. This layout then helped form a natural route for walking around the room.

It was lovely to see Manet’s ‘White Water Lilies’ alongside ‘Haystacks at Giverny’ as I have read much about his work in the past. However I found myself really disliking Cezanne’s ‘Bridge Across a Pond’, this painting really doesn’t appeal to my senses, an angular bridge jutting out of bushes. I found it quite a cold and miserable painting, my least favourite form the collection.

As I moved from the first room into the second I was faced with Gauguin’s paintings full of rich, vibrant colour. I loved ‘The Two Sattimbanques’, that gaunt expression on the woman’s face tells a thousand tales. The collector of these paintings- Sergei Shchukin didn’t care for Picasso’s work but knew they were works to buy and collect. (Something I found quite interesting) Another painting I enjoyed was ‘The Bather’ by Henri-Charles Manguin. I really appreciated the calm and balanced composition with the strong colours typical of Fauves.

Overall it was worth visiting whilst in Budapest, however I really enjoyed paintings such as these when I was younger and its safe to say that my tastes have changed considerably. I did appreciate the rooms in which the work was situated.