Rouault and Chagall
February 6, 2009, 4:03 pm
Posted by John McGreevy
See here for a stimulating review of two art exhibits, one on Marc Chagall at the Jewish Museum in New York City, one on Georges Rouault at the McMullen museum at Boston College. The Rouault show, expertly curated by Steve Schloesser, S.J., from Boston College, firmly locates Rouault within the Parisian Catholic avante-garde of the mid-20th century. New Republic art critic Jed Perl wishes more scholars would explore the links between religion and twentieth century art. He asks: could the Rouault show have occurred anywhere but at a Jesuit college?
There was a very evocative and “expertly curated” show of the Rouault series on war and peace at the Museum of Biblical Art here in New York (near Lincoln Center) within the last two years. Anyone who is interested in religion and the visual arts should know about that museum. Ena Heller is the director. As much as I admire the Jesuits and their institutions, I think it would be unfair to say they are the only ones concerned with religion and contemporary art today. The Museum of Biblical Art has just done a (separate) show on Chagall too, by the way.
The Boston College Show was spectacular. It is an unfortunate fact that it will not travel to other venues in the U.S. Too bad Jed Perls excellent review in the New Republic came too late for both the BC and MOBIA shows, here http://www.tnr.com/currentissue/story.html?id=969b46d5-a290-4076-b9bf-2d71bbc67ef8.
Rouault and Chagall were both good friends of the Maritains. I don’t know whether the painters knew each other but would be very surprised if they didn’t. The Maritains had a circle of friends whicj included them and other artistic luminaries such as Jean Cocteau, the novelists Julien Green and Bernanos, the composers Satie and Lourie and lesser lights. Raissa was herself a poet.
Two of Jacques’ major works were about aesthetics, and their influence was wide, extending as far as the American South to Allen Tate, the poet and New Critic, and to Flannery O’Connor.
Strange bedfellows?
I read a great article in “America” last fall. It gave access to a brilliant slide show and a video. I saved the article and slide show to my harddrive, but failed to access the video.
Of Clowns And Christian Conscience
The art of Georges Rouault
By Franco Mormando | NOVEMBER 24, 2008
http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11223
A video and a slideshow
By Franco Mormando | NOVEMBER 17, 2008
Art Show is at: http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/artmuseum/exhibitions/archive/mystic-masque/selected/popup4.html
Video file name is: Rouault_256K_Stream from stream.bc.edu, but I don’t know how to access it from the web.