Simply..Degas in Dunoon....

20/10/2018

This wee town has been host to a Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition, Andy Warhol and now a tiny Degas!

The restored Burgh Hall has been a great success on every level (see here). I particularly like the idea of just one painting and associated talks and classes, and sixty or so people had already visited today when I arrived at about 2pm.

A quote from Degas which I had not heard before...

A painting is an artificial work existing outside nature, and it requires as much cunning as the perpetration of a crime.

14 Comments

cath

21/10/2018 08:32:39 am

This morning I was reading a short article about the Slow Art Walk in the Cobra Museum in Amstelveen, The Netherlands. As I understand it is a guided walk, lasting an hour, using a strategy for looking at four paintings, called Visible Thinking. I also found out that there's an International Slow Art Day. All interesting enough for me to want to find out more. Such coincidence you visited an exhibition of one painting. What a great idea.

Freda

21/10/2018 01:43:58 pm

That is a coincidence! I will look up Slow Art Day - sounds like a great idea. Thanks Cath.

Lotta link

21/10/2018 12:45:35 pm

How wonderful! The one painting idea really appeals to me - a perfect way to honour a work and really get to know it. I don't think I share Degas' thoughts in that quote though!
Just a thought... if you were submitting just one of your own pieces for a 'one painting' exhibition, which one would it be? :-)

Lotta

21/10/2018 12:48:50 pm

Also thinking that the Burgh Hall would be a great place for an art class/weekend if you ever felt inspired to teach again...

Freda

21/10/2018 01:49:07 pm

It is a good venue and I did exhibit my Harris Collages there and sold 19! See (19 Nov 2013/)

Freda

21/10/2018 01:45:10 pm

I don't know how I would ever choose! I'll be thinking of that for days now Lotta..

Linda

22/10/2018 01:36:52 am

I really like the idea of a one-painting exhibition. I think most of us get 'picture-blind' after a while, and stop really looking and taking in, I know I do.
(One of the best exhibitions I ever saw was in Christie's saleroom in London - because the works were for sale, they actually expected that people would be looking at them very closely!)

Freda

22/10/2018 03:44:28 am

The chance to look at this one through a hand magnifying glass was much appreciated!

Rosemary

22/10/2018 07:22:04 am

I was interested in the Degas quote. I am not an artist, nor am I knowledgeable about art theory, but this reminded me of something I saw on a CD sleeve 'Art is the lie that helps us understand the truth.' (Picasso) You probably know that backwards, Freda, but it got my poor ignorant cogs going. Does this mean : each artist, working from his perception of the facts, attempts to communicate her/his perception of the truth ? The way there is not truthful, but consists of cunning, as you quote - suggestion/distortion. This takes an intense degree of effort, concentration, instinct and integrity, the driving force being the hope of consolation and satisfaction. This is my mumbo-jumbo response to your post, but it gave me something enjoyable to think about.

Freda

22/10/2018 02:29:30 pm

I didn't. Know this Picasso quote Rosemary so thank you. It links with Degas' use of the word artificial. (the lie?)and reminds me of how fiction help us make sense of reality. Perhaps the artist is doing something similar? As you. say- enjoyable to think about!

Mary

22/10/2018 03:54:23 pm

Love the attention that may be given to one piece of art...and the accompanying dress. Perfect.

The one thing that really annoyed me at Georgia O'Keefe's Santa Fe gallery was watching people race from one painting to the next to take photos with their phones (where allowed), but never really appreciating what was in front of them at the moment. Seems they could not simply savour the experience.

Freda

22/10/2018 06:59:47 pm

Another lovely thing about this set up was no jostling crowds!

Susan

23/10/2018 12:05:49 am

I very much like the concept of an exhibition of one painting.

Misquoting but there's something about ... 'art helping us notice what is there' (what we already know subconsciously being brought into our awareness).
Re. scrutinising paintings: I was once closely trailed by a security guard at the Royal Academy (London), for having my nose an inch away from the impasto!

Freda

23/10/2018 03:43:51 am

Who'd be a security guard! Though you would get a good look yoursself at quiet times..

Simply..Degas in Dunoon....

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