{"id":12839,"date":"2014-06-30T18:46:36","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T01:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=12839"},"modified":"2014-06-30T18:59:04","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T01:59:04","slug":"intimate-exhibit-shows-small-small-world-of-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/intimate-exhibit-shows-small-small-world-of-art\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Intimate\u2019 exhibit shows small, small world \u2014 of art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Woody’s [rating: 3.5]<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cMound of Butter,\u201d oil on canvas by Antoine Vollon, is part of the Legion of Honor\u2019s \u201cIntimate Impressionism\u201d exhibit. Photo, courtesy National Gallery of Art.<\/p>\n

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George Seurat\u2019s oil on panel, \u201cSeascape (Gravelines),\u201d is a prime example of the technique he labeled Pointillism. Photo, courtesy National Gallery of Art.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe Artist\u2019s Sister at a Window\u201d is a Berthe Morisot oil on canvas. Photo, courtesy National Gallery of Art.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Artistically speaking, does \u201csmall\u201d translate into \u201cintimate\u201d?<\/p>\n

In the case of \u201cIntimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art,\u201d the current show at San Francisco\u2019s Legion of Honor, the answer is a definite \u201cprobably.\u201d<\/p>\n

All in all, the 21 artists on display created the 68 paintings, mainly oils on canvas, not for exhibit or salons but for drawing rooms or to share with friends and relatives.<\/p>\n

The title is mildly misleading, however.<\/p>\n

The 19th century artworks (which range from a tiny 5×7 \u2014 that\u2019s inches, not feet \u2014 to about 24×29) represent pre- and post-Impressionist artists as well as the eight mainstream Impressionists.<\/p>\n

All the usual suspects are paraded \u2014 among them Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul C\u00e9zanne, Claude Monet (the most prolific, yet under-represented in the Legion show), and \u00c9douard Manet (though he\u2019d appeared in none of the famed original Impressionist exhibits in France).<\/p>\n

The pieces that most drew my attention, however, were done by others \u2014 Antoine Vallon\u2019s \u201cMound of Butter,\u201d George Seurat\u2019s \u201cSeascape (Gravelines)\u201d and Berthe Morisot\u2019s \u201cThe Artist\u2019s Sister at a Window.\u201d<\/p>\n

I found Vallon\u2019s painting exceptionally fascinating.<\/p>\n

Oddly, I loved his oh-so-yellow dairy product and the knife swathed in it, his delicate see-through cheesecloth and the accompanying two oh-so-white companion eggs, but couldn\u2019t bring myself to like the gestalt.<\/p>\n

Seurat\u2019s Pointillism has always been one of my favorite genres, so this 1890 oil on a panel made my color-ometer jump off the scale.<\/p>\n

And Morisot\u2019s fixed-figure study caught my attention simply because women were virtual pariahs in the Parisian movement, a direct reflection of the tenor of the times.<\/p>\n

Individual Legion rooms were devoted to Renoir, Jean-\u00c9douard Vuillard and Pierre Bonnard (the latter two being studio-mate post-impressionist Nabis, a group of artistic rebels).<\/p>\n

Each contained material I\u2019d call must-see\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Check out, for instance, Renoir\u2019s wistful \u201cYoung Woman Braiding Her Hair\u201d and, nearby, his \u201cWoman with a Cat,\u201d both sensual, both typical in regard to the artist\u2019s palate and palette. And his flora spectacle, \u201cPicking Flowers,\u201d and his \u201cPortrait of Claude Monet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, Vuillard\u2019s \u201cChild Wearing a Red Scarf,\u201d an oil on cardboard, as well as several of his works with faceless figures disappearing into the canvas.<\/p>\n

And Bonnard\u2019s \u201cThe Yellow Curtain,\u201d in which a woman pulls it back to find \u2014 well, your guess is as good as anyone\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Other items worth viewing include Degas\u2019 \u201cHorses in a Meadow,\u201d a far cry from the more familiar images of \u201cDancers Backstage,\u201d ensconced later in the exhibit; Eugene Boudin\u2019s \u201cYacht Basin at Trouville-Deauville,\u201d a colorful oil on wood depicting a multitude of flags that garnish sailboats; Paul Gauguin\u2019s \u201cSelf-Portrait Dedicated to [the writer Eug\u00e8ne] Carri\u00e8re,\u201d C\u00e9zanne\u2019s \u201cThe Battle of Love,\u201d a Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec\u2019s 1885 oil on wood (\u201cCarmen Gaudin\u201d), Vincent van Gogh\u2019s \u201cFlower Beds in Holland\u201d (a rarely seen work with a gloomy background that contrasts sharply with the bright colors he\u2019s known for); and a striking Manet still life, \u201cOysters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regrettably, much of the exhibit, which is on tour while the National Gallery revamps its D.C. facility, is over-framed with mega-ornate woods.<\/p>\n

And that adds to my overall impression that \u201dIntimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art\u201d doesn\u2019t compare well with last summer\u2019s \u201cImpressionists on the Water\u201d at the Legion \u2014 or, for that matter, with previous impressionist exhibits at both the Legion and the de Young.<\/p>\n

Still it contains sufficient exceptional material to more than enough merit a trip to the museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIntimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art\u201d will be shown through Aug. 3 at the Legion of Honor, <\/em>100 34th Ave. (at Clement St.), San Francisco, in Lincoln Park. Closed Mondays. Tickets are free for members and children 5 and under, $11 to $24 non-members. Information: (415) 750-3600 or contact@famsf.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Woody’s [rating: 3.5] Artistically speaking, does \u201csmall\u201d translate into \u201cintimate\u201d? In the case of \u201cIntimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art,\u201d the current show at San Francisco\u2019s Legion of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12839","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"