Charles Marville (1813-1879) Exhibition, Sarah Kennel, Curator - National Gallery of Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art

[sak20011]

For those of you who know and love Paris, or photography, please consider visiting Charles Marville: Photographer of Paris at the National Gallery. The exhibition closes this Sunday, January 5.

Though not a household name,  Marville was an extraordinary photographer working at an extraordinary moment. Hired to document the ancient streets of Paris before their demolition in the 1860s , he left a riveting and haunting record of a city on the cusp of modernity, looking both forward and backward at once. As you can see from the attached, his prints are glorious and place him squarely in the pantheon of the greatest photographers of that city--at least, according to the Wall Street Journal.

And if that's not enough to intrigue you, note that the Garden Cafe (in the west building) is featuring a menu designed by Michel Richard. There's a light bouillabaisse, a rich mousse au chocolat, duck confit, cheese board, a nice, minty carrot salad, etc--all for 20.75. Perfect place to take Aunt Mildred or your mom for a nice lunch.  Plus you can also see the new Van Gogh acquisition upstairs.

nota bene: I have been involved in this exhibition, so I am by no means objective (I do not work for the restaurant however).

National Gallery of Art, Charles Marville Exhibition Web Page

[DonRocks]

nota bene: I have been involved in this exhibition

From The Wall Street Journal:

The 98 prints and three albums chosen by associate curator of photographs Sarah Kennel, whose decade-long project this has been, reveal that Marville was an artist of rare quality.

You are indeed a master of understatement.

Note to our New York members: this exhibition is moving to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and will be on display January 27 - May 4, 2014.

You should be very proud of what you've accomplished.

[DonRocks]

This exhibition closed in Washington, DC yesterday when the NGA closed at 6 PM.

sak20011, I went around 4:45, and wanted you to know that for the next 45 minutes or so, I not only saw the splendid five-room exhibition, but also took note of how many patrons were there. At several points, I made cursory sweeps through the five rooms, and there were about 75 people in attendance - amazingly, at 4:45, there were 25 people in the very first room (which was a long, narrow corridor). The beginning of the exhibition started to clear out around 5:30, and the crowds became more clustered in rooms 3, 4, and 5. This was a serious art crowd, not just tourists blitzing through, and you would have been very proud to have seen it.

As I figured, this is a complex enough subject where I need to see the exhibition more than once. I will read my (hopefully autographed) catalog cover-to-cover, then head up to the Metropolitan Museum of Art this Spring and see it again there. It should be interesting to see how both museums cover the exhibition.

Reminder: if you scroll up to my previous post, you'll note that the exhibition will continue in New York City from January 27 - May 4th. I know that black-and-white photography will never have the crowd appeal that an exhibition of a major Impressionist does, but this is just as fascinating and important, and from a historical perspective, even more so. sak20011, having seen both this and your André Kertész exhibition from years ago, there can be no doubt that you are one of the world's elite when it comes to late 19th and early 20th century European, and especially French, photography - your knowledge and expertise positively oozes through your work.

Now, about those public urinals ...

[The Hersch]

I wrote briefly about this wonderful show in a post about The Source. Even if you don't see the exhibit, the catalogue is quite beautiful.

[DonRocks]

I wrote briefly about this wonderful show in a post about The Source. Even if you don't see the exhibit, the catalogue is quite beautiful.

And I suspect sak20011 would be honored and happy to autograph copies of the catalog for anyone here who asked her to. Great gift idea!