221208: Fondation Beyeler: Venice – From Canaletto and Turner to Monet

Fondation Beyeler: Venice – From Canaletto and Turner to Monet See Venice and paint „Too beautiful to be painted“ was – according to his wife - Claude Monet’s reaction when he first saw the splendour of the Serenissima in 1908. Nevertheless he painted the beautiful city. In many letters Alice Monet reported that her husband attempted to catch the stunning Venetian light by painting the Serenissima innumerably at different times of day. Nonetheless, these paintings are not among his best. „Venice – From Canaletto and Turner to Monet“ - a title one could have easily given to one of those blockbuster exhibitions in Vienna - is currently presented at the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel. William Turner visited Venice long before it was discovered by mass tourism - he was there for the first time in 1819. Initially Turner was influenced by Canaletto’s classic Venetian veduta style, but during the following 25 years his views of Venice increasingly immersed into the Laguna’s ambient fog. The highlights of this exhibit are not so much comprised of Monet’s, Renoir’s or Signac’s, but rather of graphic works and historic photographs. It is more the pastels and etchings by James McNeill Whistler or John Singer Sargent’s aquarelles that impress the viewers and mediate what Venice is all about. The precise imagery and the usage of the triad black, white, and a powerful blue marvellously encapsulate Venice in two of Edouard Manet’s paintings, which he created during his stay in 1874. Everything else comes across like picturesque wallpaper. Fondation Beyeler 4125 Riehen/Basel, Baselstr. 101, until 25.01.09 www.beyeler.com

Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville

221208

Fondation Beyeler
4125 Riehen / Basel, Baselstrasse 101
Tel: +41 - (0)61 - 645 97 00, Fax: +41 - (0)61 - 645 97 19
Email: fondation@beyeler.com
http://www.beyeler.com
Öffnungszeiten: Mo-So 10-18, Mi 10-200 h

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