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Masterpiece ReplayedMasterpiece Replayed:
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The Marat painting was a reflection of David's sympathies with those responsible for the French Revolution. Jacques-Louis David became politically active eventually becoming the President of the Jacobin Club. The Jacobins were the political arm of the Revolution and were responsible for the Reign of Terror. |
Jean-Paul Marat, also a Jacobin, was a good friend of the artist David. Marat was notoriously thin skinned and responsible for much suffering through his use of political power. He suffered from a disfiguring skin disease requiring him to spend up to six hours a day in a bath. It was here that he met his murderess, Charlotte Corday. At her trial held days after the murder, she said, "I killed one man to save 100,000." Corday was executed by guillotine four days after she murdered Marat.
David depicts his good friend as a martyr. Marat, remembered for his violent nature is depicted as a suffering hero with gentle facial features.
Title: Group of Bathers, c.1895
Artist: Paul Cézanne (French 1839-1906)
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Permanent Collection: Philadelphia Museum of Art
The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950 (1950-134-34)
Photo by Graydon Wood
Image Courtesy: Phoenix Art Museum
"We hope our visitors come away having enjoyed artists like Monet with a better understanding of the why and the how behind his accomplishments than simply with the thrill of seeing great art," said James K. Ballinger, the Museum's Sybil Harrington director. "This project - with the power of the art and the stature of the artists - can and will enrich our appreciation of one of the magnificent moments in early Modernism."
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Masterpiece Replayed: Monet, Matisse and More features over seventy-five paintings, pastels, drawings, prints, photographs and sculptures created by some of the most beloved names in art. |
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"The show will explore how France's greatest painters created singular masterpieces by using different scales, media and compositions, and how they challenged the very notion of the business of art, the nature of originality and the preconception of what constitutes art," said Thomas J. Loughman, Ph.D., curator of European Art for Phoenix Art Museum. "The exhibition presents a rare opportunity to discover a new story about how artists like Monet, Matisse, Degas and Cézanne worked."
He added, "The exhibition will include some of the most recognizable imagery of the Western tradition. From a pair of works from Monet's series of Grain stacks, to the multiple investigations of the theme of bathers by Cézanne, this is truly an unprecedented opportunity to enjoy French art at its finest, compare different versions of the artists' masterpieces and explore the process of mastery."
Masterpiece Replayed
Phoenix Art Museum:
January 20 – May 4, 2008