Vera Lutter at Fondation Beyeler, Basel
Sep 28th 2008
on view September 28, 2008-January 25, 2009
VENICE
From Canaletto and Turner to Monet
Canaletto (1697 – 1768), Francesco Guardi (1712 – 1793), J. M. William Turner (1775 – 1851), James McNeill Whistler (1834 – 1903), John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925), Anders Zorn (1860 – 1920), Edouard Manet (1832 – 1883), Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 – 1919), Pietro Fragiacomo (1856 – 1922), Odilon Redon (1840 – 1916), Paul Signac (1863 – 1935), Claude Monet (1840 – 1926).
Venice has fascinated people, especially artists, for centuries. The Fondation Beyeler is devoting a magnificent exhibition to the delightful city on the lagoon and the myths that have formed around it, comprising oil and watercolor paintings from major museums and private collections around the world. For the first time, renowned Venice pictures by famous artists such as Canaletto, Francesco Guardi, William Turner, James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent, Edouard Manet, Pierre Auguste Renoir, Odilon Redon, and Paul Signac will on display together. A large part of the paintings Claude Monet executed in Venice in 1908 will form a high point in the exhibition.
The myth of Venice was largely established by artists. In the nineteenth and twentieth century, the "Serenissima" became a cult destination for painters and photographers. They were all intrigued by the mysterious city and its unique churches, palaces, ships, canals, marketplaces, and colorful everyday life. Especially the atmospheric interplay of sky and sea, light and water, inspired epoch-making works that provided crucial impulses to the development of modern art.
The exhibition is supplemented by historical photographs of Venice from the second half of the nineteenth century. On view in parallel are contemporary photographic works on the city by Vera Lutter and David Claerbout.
Guest curator of the exhibition, which will be on view at the Fondation Beyeler only, is Martin Schwander.
A variety of events, including a reading by Donna Leon and a lieder soiree with a vocal ensemble from the Basel Theater Opera, are planned to accompany the exhibition.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue, published by Hatje Cantz Verlag, Ostfildern, and containing an introduction on art and cultural history by Martin Schwander and new research results by Gottfried Boehm, Alan Chong, Anne Distel, Dario Gamboni, Elaine Kilmurray, Bożena Anna Kowalczyk, Margaret F. MacDonald, Christopher Riopelle, Giandomenico Romanelli, Ian Warrell, and Juliet Wilson-Bareau. The volume, illustrating all the works on exhibit, will comprise 224 pages with 182 reproductions in full color. Price CHF 68.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Fondation Beyeler
Baselstrasse 77
CH-4125 Riehen/Basel
SWITZERLAND
T. +41.61.645.97.00
http://www.beyeler.com/fondation/e/html_11sonderaus/01_aktuelle/intro.htm