Josefa de Óbidos and the invention of the Portuguese Barroque temporary exhibition at Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisboa - The 20th of June 2015

The temporary exhibition of Josefa de Obidos, which I was keen on seeing, provided viewers with a thorough insight into who she really was as far as painting in Portugal is concerned, together with the role she played in regards to the Portuguese Barroque painting, of which she became the most highly reputed exponent in Portugal.


In one of the several exhibit galleries a series of life still paintings set the painting scenario of the epoch in regards to the compositions, which in Spain (through 1630-40) had in Francisco Barrera one of the greatest inspirations, which in turn followed similar Flemish model schemes including allegorical personifications of each season and displayed fruits to be found at a particular time of the year.

Still life with fruits, birds and landscape by Juan Van der Hamen y Léon - 1632 (left). Summer (from the series Four Seasons) by Francisco Barrera - 1638 (right).

 

Still life with a basket of cherries and a basket of apricots by Juan Sanchéz Cótan - 1600

A series of still life paintings in the manner of the Sevillan bodégon by Josefa de Óbidos and/or her father evoking the months of the year did naturally catch the viewers' attention, not only because they were made more understandable thanks to the inscriptions placed underneath the major theme of the composition adapted to motifs of the represented season but also because of the reference to festivities therewith associated, which most people would identify themselves with.

 

 

 

March by Josefa de Óbidos and/or Baltazar Gomes Figueira - oil on canvas - 1668 (left). April by  Josefa de Óbidos - 1668 (right)

 

Still life with cakes by Baltazar Gomes Figueira - 1660-70

Still life with fruits, vegetables and flowers by Josefa de Óbidos - 1660-70 (left). Still life with watermelon and grapes by Josefa de Óbidos - 1670 (right)

"Agnus Dei", the lamb of God, seems to have been created after the widely known Zurbarán's composition. It is in fact said she follwed Zurbarán's works rather closely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Immaculate Conception (after an engraving by the Flemish artist Raphael Sadler) by Francisco Zurbarán - 1628-30 

 

 

A series of gilded and polychromed terracota reliquary busts of the Virgin Mary, St. Sebastian and a holy nun did invariably catch the viewers' attention and set the epoch. According to provided information they all came from the Monastery of Alcobaça. 

 

The Annunciation by Josefa de Óbidos - oil on canvas - 1676 (left).Virgin Mary with Cistercian Saints by Josefa de Óbidos - 1660-70 (right). 

Josefa's earliest works are said to have been painted in copper and it is almost certain that her father had her prepared for a career as a small format painter, which seemed to be a lot more appropriate for a female artist working in a household environment.

 

 

 

 

 

Virgin with the child - oil on copper -1660 (left). Virgin with the child - oil on copper - 1667 (right)

We came across quite a few rather interesting paintings of Jesus seen as a child encircled in garlands of flowers, which belong to a series of such similar compositions Josefa replicated throughout her entire career as a painter.

Jesus, Salvator Mundi as a child by Josefa de Óbidos - 1684

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The adoration of the shepherds by Josefa de Óbidos - 1669.

Despite the religious motif of the painting one should note the artist still life skills and the detail of the basket of chouriços, clearly highlighting the peculiarity of the composition.

 

The rest on the flight to Egypt by Baltazar Gomes Figueira - (left).  The Holy Family by Josefa de Óbidos - 1672 (right)

 

 

 

   

 

St. Teresa of Ávila before the Holy Spirit by Josefa de Óbidos - 1672 (left). The ecstasy of St. Teresa of Ávila by Josefa de Óbidos - 1672 (right).

18th century figurative Portuguese sculpted Salvator Mundi (left). The praying Virgin by Jan Van Kessel I- 1648 (right)

Late 17th century sculpted figures from a retable and the holy family sculpted by Friar Cipriano da Cruz completed the setting of the religious scenario of the epoch.

 

 

 

I felt the exhibition was very well organised and above all representative of the epoch in which Josefa de Óbidos lived.  Assembling so many of her works and some of her father's further added to the insight of who she really was.

The beauty of red - 16-18th century red chalk drawings; Adam and Eve by Jan Gossaert and Aqua - Faiance from the Museum Collection - Temporary exhibitions - Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisboa - The 20th of June 2015

I decided to spend Saturday afternoon at one of my favourite Museums in Lisbon, Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, which had four temporary exhibitions I was keen on seeing. I ended up starting with  small collection of red chalk drawings dating back to the 16th -18th century.

 

It is said that most European artists living in that epoch made use of red chalk, whose colour fluctuates between orange-like shades to a dark brownish red, being able to achieve outstanding results with it. Some years ago I had been to a similar exhibition, but I felt the red chalk drawings sellected for this temporary exhibition were a lot more exquisite.

 

Because of them being behind glass it was rather difficult to photograph the drawings, so I opted for details, which nevertheless give the viewers an idea of the craft involved.

 

 

 

Male with a turban by Giovani Barbieri (1591-1666)

Virgin and child by Denis Calvaert (1540-1610) on the left. Bacchus and Ceres after Bartholomeus Sprangler (1546-1611) on the right.

Rest on the flight to Egypt by Sébastien Bourdon (1616-1671)

 

 

Abraham explaining the machinery of the world by Vieira Lusitano (1699-1783)

 

The sleep of Antiope by Pierre-Antoine Quillard (1701-1733) on the left. Pastoral scene by Jacques Charlier (1706-1790) on the right.

I then headed to one of the first floor exhibition rooms so as to see the guest work "Adam and Eve" by Jan Gossaert.

 

Having been a painter in the Antwerp Guild in 1503 not much is known of this unusual Renaissance Nordic painter of Maubeuge (now part of France). What seems to be known though is that in the compositions quite a few mythological subjects abound and that his paintings are marked by a fanciful use of architecture.

The rather small painting pertaining to the Thyssen collection which was in display is said to have been painted shortly after his return from Rome in 1510 and directly based on the famous engraving on the same subject by Dürer. It is almost certain that Gossaert must have become fascinated by the sculptural nature of the bodies, whose poses are basically the same though the background landscape has been entirely changed.

 

 

 

Before heading down onto the ground floor I still had time to visit a third temporary exhibition, this time of faiance linked to the theme of running water. I must say I was mesmerised by the ceiling of the room where it was exhibited in, which was of exquisite beauty. It displays the partial quadratura which was painted by the Tuscan artist Vincenzo Bacherelli (1672-1745) during his stay in Lisbon (1701-1721)

 

There weren't many ceramic pieces in display but I must confess they were at least  two I felt were outstandingly exquisite, one being an aquarium and the other one a small inner fountain.

 

"Perseus rescuing Andromeda"  made by followers of Bernard Palissy (France or Italy - 17th/19th century) on the left. An aquarium made  by Real Fábrica de Louça, Lisbon in 1780-1816

(To be continued)

 

 

 

 

 

 

A night out ...

I don't recall having been on a night out for quite some time and the fact that I did was solely because it was organised by students of mine (... or rather, colleagues and above all friends) I have given a short course to) whom I feel for and was in no way willing to say no to.

The gathering was at a rather special place, with a lit up church right up in front of the window we sat close to for dinner (which was delicious) and the ambience couldn't have been better, despite the fact that it was almost impossible to talk to everyone but to those who were sitting near during the course of the meal.  

Most of us ended up the night (better said ... early morning) at another rather interesting place, surrounded by hords of foreigners (with a similar taste for "special" places) dancing and singing to the ever changing sound ...

 

 

I don't think any of us though for a minute we had to work the following morning ... and I feel that had it been over the weekend and we might have certainly stayed longer. 

 

 

 

 

People do "make" the places ... and that was particularly noticeable on this night out ...

 

 

 

 

The latest books I've read and film I've seen ...

The latest books I have read are both Art related and so is the film I have seen. Though different in their approach to the artists they focused on, Lucian Freud and Marc Chagall, I must admit both books provided me with quite a thorough insight as to a few aspects of their personal lives I hadn't been made aware of before.

 

Breakfast with Lucian came as a shock to me, because the truth is I ended up realising I had no idea who really was behind those nude realistic and almost rough  paintings I was mysteriously drawn to. Similarly to the biographer I was also fuelled by the impact his paintings had had on me.

"My object in painting pictures is to try to move the senses by giving an intensification of reality, whether this can be achieved depends on how intensely the painter understands and feels for the person or object of his choice".

 

 

 

At one point in the reading of the book I got confused as to the sequence of women and lovers in his life, which were by the hundreds, not to mention the three children he had with different women all in the same year. He must have undoubtedly been a rather interesting character but I honestly don't know what to feel about some of his personality traits and his total absence of "boundaries".

 

I'd very much agree with what a critic wrote in the Spectator Magazine " Does being an important artist absolve Freud? While his stature as a painter is not, of course, affected by his private affairs, in the end this aspect of his life diminishes him and the myth of himself he took such pains to construct. The enchantment, the wit, the mystery, even the brooding and hawk-like physical beauty lose their allure." 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as the second Art book is concerned, Marc Chagall, early works from Russian Collections, it is a slightly different story. I have always felt a kind of artistic fascination for Marc Chagall's faux naïve domestic-like style embedded in Jewish and Slavic folklore, having a few years back gone almost exclusively to Paris to see a major exhibition of his works of Art, but I knew very little about the years he spent in Vitsbek and the early works of Art created in Russia, which according to most Art critics are among his best.

 

The book was in fact a very well organised catalogue published in conjunction with a landmark exhibition at The Jewish Museum in New York gathering a marvellous group of his works that had never been exhibited in the West. I was able to get into his formative years in Russia and the influence his teacher, the painter Yehuda Pen had in his artistic pursuit.

The film Woman in Gold was also Art oriented once it revolves around the incredible yet succesful attempt carried out by the charismatic Marie Altmann, a Jewish refugee living in the USA with the precious help of a young lawyer, whose origins were also Jewish, to be reunited with a painting by Gustave Klimt which not only depicted her aunt Adèle but which had belonged to her family before having been seized by the Nazis during War World II.

The film, whose main role is brilliantly interpreted by Helen Mirren, often evokes  that  epoch and in particular Mari Altmann's personal experience throughout that period in the form of flashbacks.





Not having been to any exhibition recently has been well balanced by these three recent "experiences".







 

The latest book I have read ...

I have just finished reading quite an interesting book on old age and ageing, "The warmth of the heart prevents your body from rusting". I might have written down many of its extracts, particularly those that had me ponder on my personal perspective in regards to the whole process of ageing but ended up just writing down a few that for some sort of reason impacted me as I read through such an inspiring book.  

 

"A face is always the reflection of a state of mind. To show old age is to show people who are full of experiences and emotions, who have a whole depth of life on their faces. We can read the emotional lives of the elderly in their faces: their loneliness, their tiredness, but also their serenity, their impulses and their desires."

 

 

"There is no such thing as an insurmountable ordeal, all you have to do each time is find a solution."

 

 

"Bien sûr il y a des choses que je ne peux plus faire

Mais d'autres que je peux et ne pouvais naguère

Tout a un fin, ma vie comme le reste

Peut-être demain ou au détour du chemin

Pour l'heure il me semble que j'ai tout le temps

Pour aimer, pour bénir tous ceux qui m'ont rendu heureux

Amour d'instant ou amour pour longtemps

Je les garde au trèsfonds de mon coeur apaisé

Toujours ils me parlent de l'art d'aimer."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last considerations and souvenirs bought on the two day trip to Senegal ...

Despite the unexpected situation surrounding my short trip to Senegal as well as the inconvenience of the first night I must confess I fully enjoyed hat I visited. Gorée island was definitely the highlight of the whole trip with the Lac Rose being the surprise I wasn't expecting.

 

 

Based on the fact that I no longer have any space left in my rather small household to hang any of the artistic pieces I used to buy whilst travelling abroad I had recently decided not to buy any unless it were things to be worn or handicraft that in some way might be exquisite.

 

 

I have broken my promise though, as apart from the piece of African cloth and two special necklaces I ended up buying things mostly because of the street vendors and the empathy that surfaced during our brief conversations. I am not disappointed though, I feel each piece has a story and I'll forever remember them whether I give them to friends or simply keep them.

 

 

 

The latest book I have read ...

The more I read Murakami, (I have just read three of his books), the more I fall for his "captivating" way of writing.

In this particular book characters are presented as orbiting each other and sporadically communicating. There's some sort of disconnectedeness in as much as the characters don't so much relate yet circle each other ... dreams are unfulfilled ... love unreturned ... and there's an unblissful unawareness of what others are feeling ...

 

"Don't pointless things have a place, too, in this far from perfect world? Remove everything pointless from an imperfect life, and it'd lose even its imperfection."