Musings on (online) auctions and the timelessness of Morandi's still lives

I have been to a couple of auctions in London and I thought there was something uniquely intriguing about the whole process. The theatrical antics of the auctioneer (the Tobias Meyers and Oliver Barkers of this world), the palpable tension in the room when the most anticipated pieces are unveiled and people start bidding for them - it's an exciting ritual. But that's all on hold for the foreseeable future, and online auctions allow auction houses to (more or less) carry on with their business and investors to bid from the comfort of their home. Win/win.

But auctions are a pretext, I saw this piece in the news this morning and I immediately knew I wanted to write about it. The first reason is sentimental because Giorgio Morandi and I share the same birthplace, Bologna. His home and study are a mere 5' walk from where I grew up so he's an artist I feel a strong cultural and emotional connection with. The second reason is that I believe his work is timeless and universal, which perhaps explains why this sublime still life fetched $1.6M in New York last week.

Inspired by the masters of the Italian Quattrocento, Morandi's iconic compositions share the same coherent structure and apparent simplicity. His work was also heavily influenced by Cezanne (whose wasn't) and we see this in the purity of the forms he painted time and time again, almost obessively and to the point of near abstraction despite always staying loyal to his representational style. I am spellbound by the subtle intensity of the powdery tones of the greys and the pinks in this Natura Morta from 1951. And although it feels like time is suspended, as it probably should be in a still life, through his relentless investigation of this genre Morandi breathed life into these jugs and vases turning them from simple everyday objects into powerful symbols of the depth and honesty of his lifelong research.

#giorgiomorandi #stilllife #modernart #auctions #sothebys #artblog #artblogger #beyondthecanvasblog

Giorgio Morandi, Still Life (1951)

Photo Sotheby's

Is it curtains for the blockbuster exhibition?

The numbers are in. According to The Art Newspaper's yearly survey, Ai Weiwei is officially the world's most popular artist. His travelling show Root attracted over 1.1 million visitors across four Brazilian cities. Scrolling down the Top 20 list I see some of the usual suspects: Van Gogh is there, of course, as is the crassly commercialised Treasures of Golden Pharaoh show. King Tut's belongings first went on an American tour in 1976 as the result of a political deal brokered between the US and the Egyptian government. Soft power at its finest and, lo and behold, the modern blockbuster show was born.

But this is 2020, a pandemic is raging dictating new rules and changing the way we live our lives. And let's not forget about climate change, that'll remain a pressing issue long after we will have put COVID-19 behind us. And I have questions, many questions. How will museums tackle the challenge of crowd management at a time where social distancing may become part of the 'new normal', how will they address the question around the bigger work force needed to make it all possible, will they be able to afford the expensive media campaigns to promote the events as well as the high costs to cover the artworks' insurance? And although this is likely to only benefit the bigger museums, is there an opportunity to refocus on existing collections? What role will social media and digital solutions play in this drastically changed scenario? Last but by no means least, what of the environmental impact of these thousands of globetrotting objects being flown from one museum to the other and the millions of people who move with and for them?

I may be wrong, but I am getting a sense that the blockbuster exhibition model as we know it has run its course. Who knows, this unwelcome pause might well end up being the catalyst for the museum world to think of new, safer and more sustainable ways to facilitate access to art. And for us art lovers to perhaps think more freely about what it is that we expect from the art show experience and from museums as a whole.

#aiweiwei #tutankhamon #blockbusters #museums #artblog #artblogger #beyondthecanvasblog

Ai Weiwei poses in front of his installation Straight, Royal Academy of Arts, 2015.

Photo: © Dave Parry Courtesy Royal Academy of Arts, London.

The Game Changers: Caravaggio's Death of the Virgin - Louvre, Paris

This is not just my favourite Caravaggio, this is the ultimate Caravaggio. For me, this is the painting that demonstrates the full extent of his groundbreaking aesthetic revolution. His innovations are stylistical and, perhaps more importantly, iconographical.

The realism of the depiction of the Virgin's death is brutal. Mary is shown on her deathbed with her modest dress coming undone, the head lolling to one side, the hair dishevelled. Her throat is swollen, her hand is limping as if the wrist was broken and her feet are bare - we are most certainly looking at a cadaver. There is no ascension into heaven, there are no angels waiting, the faint halo is the only giveaway of her holiness.

Caravaggio breaks with all religious iconographic conventions by showing us the mother of Christ dying like all mothers, surrounded by her grieving children. One of the apostles is rubbing his eyes with his fists like a small child. There is nothing sacred or spiritual about this somber scene, they all look like peasants. The red swath of cloth hanging from the ceiling like a theatre curtain dominates the upper part of the picture and creates a distinct visual continuity with the Virgin's dress. Maybe that's her stairway to heaven.

It will come as no surprise to learn that this extraordinary painting was rejected by the monks who had commissioned it. They thought Caravaggio's treatment of the subject was indecent and asked b-lister Carlo Saraceni to paint a new altarpiece for their church. In this one, Mary - who is supposedly dead - looks very much alive as she sits upright in prayer. Order restored, but Caravaggio's revolution was in already motion and couldn't be stopped.

#caravaggio #masterpiece #louvre #artblog #beyondthecanvasblog

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Death of the Virgin (c.1605)

Musee du Louvre, Paris

Carlo Saraceni, Death of the Virgin (1610).

Santa Maria della Scala, Rome