Last Saturday Morning Walk-Through
January 9th, 2009Last Saturday morning, early, 8AM, Director Matthias Waschek, Tim Reichman, and a crew of bleary-eyed gallery assistants met for a walk-through of the Old Masters exhibition.
I would like to share some of my notes with you:
What’s the light situation?
-Entrance Gallery: much variation
-Cube Gallery: very little
-Main Gallery: a little
When the Old Masters were originally displayed, candles were expensive. Instead of today’s paraffin, they were made from precious beeswax. To use this form of artificial light was a sacrifice for the poor and a show of status for the wealthy.
Matthias said, “It was literally like burning a $100 bill.”
-side chapels were dark
-windows were shaded by urban density
How would artists deal?
-Caravaggio used viewers’ eye process of adjusting to the light, then guided the eyeA painting was a piece of theater.
- It’s dynamic in the way it looks and the feelings that may go through the viewer.
Sensuality and Morality: “Frustration is the mother of solution.”
Protestants: Read the Bible over and over-no need for illustrations.
Catholics: Viewed Biblical stories in paintings.
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
-viewers would be looking at an interpretation of something in pop culture they knew
-The story comes to mind. Potiphar lures Joseph into her bed. Joseph pulls away. Potiphar takes the cloak, proof of her lie that Joseph tried to rape her. Do you go through life with appearances of truth? Do you relate to him or her?
There is something alluring about these paintings, yet something keeps temptation at bay.
The arrows in Sebastian’s body. The skull under Mary’s ecstatic face.
Paintings were always hung tilted.
-makes easier to see
-creates air circulation to prevent humidity build-up in walls
-creates sculptural element
