Taipei - the Arts | Ah Min Goes Beijing

18 August 2010

Exhibition: From Manet to Picasso, Masterpieces from the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Taipei Fine Arts Museum 台北市立美术馆

Marine View with a Sunset, by Claude Monet, 1874
http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/104452.html

Entering the unpretentious exhibition hall, I was greeted by the glow of sunlight from this tiny (49.5 x 65.1 cm) painting. Foggy but yet emitting a warmth that could almost be felt on my cheeks. A short paragraph accompanying this Impressionist painting, tells the story, "In the twilight view of the basin, two sailboats glide along the Seine..."

I wish I could take photos of everything to show you, but there are rules to follow in a museum gallery:

1. No photographs ~ Wow, no one tried to even steal a shot with his handphone. This will never happen in Middle Country.

2. No pens ~ Ok, I'm the country bumpkin. Even kids know this. Many children were sitting cross-legged outside the barrier posts, armed with coloured pencils, trying their very best to capture the works of these great artists. A nice museum worker handed me a pencil to continue my scribbles.

3. No food and drinks ~ That's the easiest. :)

Artist I am not. So I'll just post some photos of my scribbings and postcards from the gift shop for your viewing pleasure (and a good laugh!). :p

Above is a painting of Madame Renoir made by artist Renoir. His works are mainly portraits. I thought it was very nice of his wife to pose for him (to practise/). And I do hope the both of them won't mind my over-simplistic sketch of the painting. ^^ ^^

Left: "Portrait of Emilie Ambre as Carmen" by Eduoard Manet, 1880

Right: "Woman with a pearl necklace in a Loge" by Mary Stevenson Cassatt, 1879

An innocent remark by a four-year-old boy with reference to these two ladies above, "好丑!" (Translate: So ugly!) "好漂亮!" (Translate: So pretty!), made everyone in the hall laugh. ^^ ^^

Please excuse me, Madame Emilie, I didn't mean to make a bad sketch of you. To prove your beauty, I'm posting your lovely portrait printed on my ticket here: