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The Italians (View Essay)
In view of international standards, the exhibition Titian to Tiepolo: Three Centuries of
Italian Art held by the National Gallery of Australia in 2002 attracted attendance figures
well below the 250,000 visitors required as an entry mark to “Blockbuster” status.1 It
cannot be refuted however, that The Italians was conceived as a “Blockbuster”. Whilst
the majority of artists on display would not be known to the general public the inclusion
of works by the great names of Italian art as Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael shows
an attempt to popularize by appealing to those attendees desirous of seeing Masterpieces
of incalculable value. This essay will argue that the integrity of The Italians exhibition
and associated scholarship was critically compromised from its conception as it was more
of a financial exercise in timely profit making as opposed to a considered curatorial
endeavour.
Moma Thematic (View Essay)
In 2001, the Tate’s international collection of modern and contemporary art moved to its
specifically redesigned site at Bankside in South London. The move provided the
opportunity to ‘clean house’ so to speak and remove the old ‘isms’ associated with the
chronological historical display thus rearranging the institution for the new millennium.
Similarly, in New York, with the majority of its collection destined for storage during
rebuilding, the Museum of Modern Art was also “rethink(ing) the institution from top to
bottom”.1 In rethinking the institution, MoMA and Tate Modern were not thinking solely
of the collection. The institution is more than just the collection it is rather the public
perception of that collection. Thus, the directors of MoMA and Tate Modern were
looking not only to reinvigorate the collection but also to reinvigorate the way in which
the public responded to that collection.
Tassi Attribution (View Essay)
A River Landscape with Shepherds and Boating Scene is an idyllic representation of
country life. The influence of Northern artists can be seen in the use of cool, silvery tones
and the low placement of the horizon which emphasises the large expanse of sky. The
attribution for this painting has been given to Agostino Tassi (1578-1644) and indeed, it
contains many motifs which have found a basis in his work. For example the Shepherd
herding sheep over a hill (Fig. 1), boating parties in a river landscape (Fig. 3), the bare
branch and hanging ivy motifs, and the prominence of birds and architecture. A thorough
examination of details, however, will reveal that whilst the inspiration for these motifs
may have derived from Tassi’s work, their method of formation, stylistically and
technically, is not conducive with an attribution to Tassi but rather with an attribution to
Filippo Napoletano.
Gestures of Despair (View Essay)
Throughout the medieval period, images of the crucifixion have undergone a
considerable transformation in their depiction of grief with particular emphasis on those
gestures displayed by Mary and John. From its earliest incarnation in the Rabbula
Gospels of A.D. 586 to its most emotive point in the frescoes of Duccio in the fourteenth
century we see an evolution from an emphasis on Divinity and the Christ Triumphant to
an emphasis on humanity and the Christ Patiens.
Rosa Attribution (View Essay)
“The association of beauty and horror was frequent in what were accounted sublime
scenes; and it was Salvator [Rosa] who helped to establish this conjunction.”1 A
Shipwreck on the Coast presents the epitome of the sublime in combining the horrific
theme of the shipwreck with the wild beauty of the coastal landscape. An attribution for
this painting has been given to Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) as it features many of the
motifs which were identified with his oeuvre. Most notably the craggy precipices, the
splintered trees and wind swept bluffs.
Quest for Arcadia (View Catalogue)
Ruins represent the primary element in both the myth and actuality of Arcadia. The true
Arcadia, situated in the mountainous Pelopennese region of Greece, holds the ancient
ruins of the city of Mycenae. The poet Alpheius wrote of Mycenae in the second century
“This birthplace of heroes was now scarcely above ground… So, as I passed thee by, did
I see thee, unhappy Mycanae, more waste than any goat-fold. The goat herds pointed thee
out and ….said, ‘Here stood the city rich in gold, the city that the Cyclops built.’” For
Alpheius, the ruins of Mycenae stand not only as a document of a civilisation lost, but
moreover they embody a sense of the narrative of both Gods and mortals. They evoke an
emotive nostalgia for an archaic meaning forever lost. Thus Alpheius sets the tradition for
the poetics of ruins.
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