Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
You're on underground level 0 (the riverfront entrance leads to level 1). To see the
core of the permanent collection—and the artwork described in this chapter—head up-
stairs (via the escalator near the ground-floor cloakroom) to visit levels 2, 3, and 4, where
you're most likely to find the permanent collection.
Paintings are arranged according to theme, not artist. Paintings by Picasso, for ex-
ample, are scattered all over the building. Special exhibits are on levels 2 and 3.
Anno Domini 1900, a new century dawns. Europe is at peace, Britannia rules the world.
Technology is about to usher in a golden age.
Claude Monet (1840-1926)
Monet captures the relaxed, civilized spirit of belle époque France and Victorian England
with Impressionist snapshots of peaceful landscapes and middle-class family picnics. But
the true subject is the shimmering effect of reflected light, rendered with rough brush-
strokes and bright paints that look messy up close but blend at a distance. The newfangled
camera made camera-eye realism obsolete. Artists began placing more importance on
how
something was painted rather than on
what
was painted.
Europe ruled a global empire, tapping its dark-skinned colonials for raw materials, cheap
labor, and bold new ways to look at the world. The cozy Victorian world was shattering.
Nietzsche murdered God. Darwin stripped off Man's robe of culture and found a naked
ape. Primitivism was modern. Ooga-booga.
Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Matisse was one of the Fauves, or “wild beasts,” who tried to inject a bit of the jungle into
civilized European society. Inspired by “primitive” African and Oceanic masks and voo-
doo dolls, the Fauves made modern art that looked primitive: long, mask-like faces with
almond eyes; bright, clashing colors; simple figures; and “flat,” two-dimensional scenes.
Matisse simplifies. A man is a few black lines and blocks of paint. A snail is a spiral
of colored paper. A woman's back is an outline. Matisse's colors are unnaturally bright.
