David's The Oath of the Horatii is in Toronto right now and so is the sketch treatment of the painting by Ingres. They are part of the AGO show Drama and Desire: Artists and the Theatre, "featuring artwork inspired by the theatre, presented 'on stage' with live performers, full-scale sets and period lighting." It's a fantastic summer show. There's a bunch of hilarious Neo-Classical paintings, over-the-top romantic paintings and etchings of scenes from Shakespeare, there's work by Ingres, Delacroix, Degas, Aubrey Beardsley...tons and tons of really canonical drawings and paintings from the history books. The whole thing is staged in a fabulously cheesy theatrical setting with velvet drapery, proscenia and chandeliers, interactive props, and actors in costume wandering around spouting sonnets. When I'd just read the promo I didn't really get the concept. Well, actually I was expecting something sort of exactly like what it is, only bad. But the art is really worth looking at, with or without the theatrical theme, so there's no sense that the curators are trying to force an idea. Instead, the theatrical context is just a really fun environment for spending time with a bunch of great art and enjoying all the cheese factor that's also in the work.
Dude on the Right: okay guys, give me all your swords.
Dudes on the Left: Sure thing boss, catch!
Dude on the Right: Whoa Jesus Christ! One at a time, I'm not a fucking sword juggler! Can't you see there are people convalescing here?
Wikipedia:
"The mother and sisters are shown clothed in silken garments seemingly melting into tender expressions of sorrow. Their despair is partly due to the fact that one sister was engaged to one of the Curiatii and another is a sister of the Curiatii, married to one of the Horatii. Upon defeat of the Curiatii, the remaining Horatius journeyed home to find his sister cursing Rome over the death of her fiancé. He killed her, horrified that Rome was being cursed. Originally David had intended to depict this episode, and a drawing survives showing the surviving Horatius raising his sword, with his sister lying dead. David later decided that this subject was too gruesome a way of sending the message of public duty overcoming private feeling, but his next major painting depicted a similar scene - Lucius Junius Brutus brooding as the bodies of his sons, whose executions for treason he had ordered, are returned home."
(VB via SM)
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David's The Oath of the Horatii is in Toronto right now and so is the sketch treatment of the painting by Ingres. They are part of the AGO show Drama and Desire: Artists and the Theatre, "featuring artwork inspired by the theatre, presented 'on stage' with live performers, full-scale sets and period lighting." It's a fantastic summer show. There's a bunch of hilarious Neo-Classical paintings, over-the-top romantic paintings and etchings of scenes from Shakespeare, there's work by Ingres, Delacroix, Degas, Aubrey Beardsley...tons and tons of really canonical drawings and paintings from the history books. The whole thing is staged in a fabulously cheesy theatrical setting with velvet drapery, proscenia and chandeliers, interactive props, and actors in costume wandering around spouting sonnets. When I'd just read the promo I didn't really get the concept. Well, actually I was expecting something sort of exactly like what it is, only bad. But the art is really worth looking at, with or without the theatrical theme, so there's no sense that the curators are trying to force an idea. Instead, the theatrical context is just a really fun environment for spending time with a bunch of great art and enjoying all the cheese factor that's also in the work.
- sally mckay 7-14-2010 2:54 pm
Dude on the Right: okay guys, give me all your swords.
Dudes on the Left: Sure thing boss, catch!
Dude on the Right: Whoa Jesus Christ! One at a time, I'm not a fucking sword juggler! Can't you see there are people convalescing here?
- joester (guest) 7-14-2010 5:30 pm
Wikipedia:
"The mother and sisters are shown clothed in silken garments seemingly melting into tender expressions of sorrow. Their despair is partly due to the fact that one sister was engaged to one of the Curiatii and another is a sister of the Curiatii, married to one of the Horatii. Upon defeat of the Curiatii, the remaining Horatius journeyed home to find his sister cursing Rome over the death of her fiancé. He killed her, horrified that Rome was being cursed. Originally David had intended to depict this episode, and a drawing survives showing the surviving Horatius raising his sword, with his sister lying dead. David later decided that this subject was too gruesome a way of sending the message of public duty overcoming private feeling, but his next major painting depicted a similar scene - Lucius Junius Brutus brooding as the bodies of his sons, whose executions for treason he had ordered, are returned home."
(VB via SM)
- sally mckay 7-15-2010 1:19 am