A painting

Tags

AGCC, art., Canada., docent, guide, ingres, Museums, NGOC, paintings

Years ago in my first job as a guide-docent at the National Gallery of Canada I came across many paintings from as early as 1200 to today, many periods and artists from Europe and North America. We were trained by the Education dept., as part of our training we were also advised on what to expect from visitors. We were told to be careful with children under the age of 11 and with children between 11 and 16. We were told what not to show and how to avoid controversy or questions which might be delicate to answer. The real concern was not the kids but the parents, some parents who have a certain world view or philosophy of life might object to art depicting topics like nudity, violence, religious or biblical scenes, young naked children, dark colours or modern contemporary art like the surrealist art of Dali, Picasso, Magritte.

So what do you show exactly beyond a vase with flowers and more importantly how do you avoid such art on the walls as you walk through the galleries.

This painting is a case in point,  it is in the National Gallery in Ottawa on the Second floor. The subject is Actaea the Nymph on the sea, by Frederic Lord Leighton, in his Pre-Raphaelite style so loved by Queen Victoria.

So we were instructed by the Education Dept to avoid that corridor and if not, see if we could not attract the attention of the children to the opposite wall where one could look at Italian and French landscapes. Did you notice that Actaea is looking at dolphins? Kids love dolphins, they fascinate them. So one day I had a class of grade 5 student, so around 10 years old, also with our group was their teacher and one parent who appeared indifferent which is often the case.

I was trying to get this group of 20 kids to look at a painting by Camille Corot, The bridge at Narni.

We had just walked by the Venus by Lucas Cranach the Elder and one boy asked me why was the Lady naked.

So back to Actaea, while I do my best to speak of the Corot painting and the ruined bridge at Narni, I suddenly notice that I lost my audience, the kids are all looking at the dolphins. I look at the teacher and ask, what should I do? Teacher says; you better explain the dolphins. The children were oblivious to the naked Nymph and all they wanted to know was the names of the dolphins and where they could see them. Now that was a tough question to answer. After that episode I decided that whatever was in the Museum I would simply present and give honest answers to children’s questions. I have found that they are perfectly happy with that approach.

Kids are fascinated at that age by things they see and are trying to understand  and make it fit in their world view, which is completely different from the adult world.   Renaissance paintings with Biblical scenes of violence as a moral lesson, also attracts them, what they want to know is how was it done, not the violence itself.

Currently at the Art Gallery of the Confederation Centre I have not had this dilemma, with one exception recently. We currently have a study in our Summer show one art work the artist took as a subject La grande baigneuse de Valpinçon by Ingres and modernized or updated it.

So last week I had two groups of 13 year old students and the boys found it quite funny, sort of the funny embarrassed laughter of boys in puberty.

This is where it gets tricky as children enter puberty and their world changes drastically, no longer children but teenagers. Luckily I have lots of other works to show them and start discussions around. Never a dull moment at the Gallery.

Art Weekend

Tags

2017, AGCC, Art Gallery, art., Canada., CCOA, Charlottetown, Confederation, Festival, PEI, Robert Houle, Saulteaux, theatre

This has been a busy weekend with the Opening of the Summer Theatre Festival at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and then on the next night the Opening of the Summer Exhibit at the Art Gallery. In both cases it brought out the whose who of PEI Society from the Lieutenant-Governor to Members of Parliament, Senators, Chief Justice and many others actors on our social scene.

The Opening play is Million Dollar Quartet which tells the story of the meeting at Sun Records in December of 1956 of four greats of the Rock and Roll scene, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins in Memphis.

The reception before and after was a lot of fun with a live orchestra and great food by the new Chef of Mavor’s Miguel Cervantes.

The next night was the opening of the Summer Exhibit of the Art Gallery of the Confederation Centre. This being the 150th Anniversary of Confederation, the exhibit highlights the Collection of the Art Gallery, the best pieces of our 17,000 works of Art by great Canadian artists. The Art Gallery is mandated to show only Canadian Art since the Centre is a Memorial to the Fathers of Confederation.

We also unveiled a new giant painting by Canadian Native Artist Robert Houle Aka Blue Thunder who is a  from St-Boniface, Manitoba. It joins the other great canvasses on the same theme by Jean-Paul Lemieux, John Fox, Jane Ash Poitras, Yvon Gallant, Wanda Koop, Jack Shadbolt.

Robert Houle, Blue Thunder (born 1947) is a Saulteaux First Nation Canadian artist, curator, critic, and educator. Houle has had an active curatorial and artistic practice since the mid-1970s. He played an important role in bridging the gap between contemporary First Nations artists and the broader Canadian art scene through his writing and involvement in early important high-profile exhibitions such as Land, Spirit, Power: First Nations at the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, 1992). As an artist, Houle has shown both nationally and internationally. He is predominately a painter working in the tradition of Abstraction, yet he has also embraced a pop sensibility by incorporating everyday images and text into his works.

We were told or ‘O-ween du muh waun’ by Robert Houle, 2017

Me and the artist

This great canvas represents the Delaware in the classical pose from the celebrated propaganda painting of Benjamin West, The Death of General Wolfe which is in the National Gallery of Canada.

The Death of General Wolfe by Benjamin West, 1770. The Official story as told is of Wolfe dying on the Plains of Abraham in September 1759 during the famous battle against French General Montcalm. This scene was pure fantasy but it was necessary for propaganda purpose in England to raise taxes to pay for the Seven Year War, the tax raise led a few years later to the American Revolution.

In his painting Houle presents a different narrative, he rejects the fantasy painting of West and presents not a battle scene, stating that who won the battle is not really important and should not be celebrated. For Houle on this anniversary we should celebrate today’s Canada. Further being from the Saulteaux First Nation the idea of 150 years does not apply to his people since they have lived in North America for 15,000 years.

 

I also got a very nice gift this weekend, I often give tours to school children aged 8 to 12.

Once class sent me several thank you notes designed and written by the students.

Each card as a personal message addressed to me as a thank you from a student. I am very proud of this gift and happy that for some kids the day at the Art Gallery meant something.

 

Profitons de nos vingt ans!

Tags

art., Manon, Morrell, painting, PEI, Pilar Lorengar, Red Head, wendell Dennis

For Spring here is the late great Pilar Lorengar 1928-1996 singing the gavotte of the Opera Manon by Jules Massenet. With the wonderful orchestra  DELL´ACCADEMIA DI SANTA CECILIA, which we heard so often in Rome under the baton of conductor Giuseppe PATANÈ.

Adorable! Divine! Divine!
Est-ce vrai? grand merci!
Je consens, vu que je suis bonne,
A laisser admirer ma charmante personne!
Je marche sur tous les chemins,
Aussi bien qu’une souveraine,
On s’incline, on baise ma main,
Car par la beauté je suis reine!
Je suis reine!

Mes chevaux courent à grands pas.
Devant ma vie aventureuse,
Les grands s’avancent chapeau bas…
Je suis belle, je suis heureuse!
Je suis belle!

Autour de moi tout doit fleurir!
Je vais à tout ce qui m’attire!
Et, si Manon devait jamais mourir,
Ce serait, mes amis, dans un éclat de rire!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Bravo! Bravo! Manon! Bravo!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Obéissons quand leur voix appelle
Aux tendres amours,
Toujours, toujours, toujours,
Tant que vous êtes belle,
usez sans les compter vos jours, tous vos jours!

Profitons bien de la jeunesse,
Des jours qu’amène le printemps;
Aimons, rions, chantons sans cesse,
Nous n’avons encore que vingt ans!
Profitons bien de la jeunesse!
Profitons bien de la jeunesse,
Aimons, rions, chantons sans cesse,
Nous n’avons encore que vingt ans!
Profitons bien de la jeunesse!
Rions! Ah! ah!
Ah! ah!
Le coeur, hélas! le plus fidèle,
Oublie en un jour l’amour,
L’amour… L’amour,
Et la jeunesse ouvrant son aile a disparu sans retour.
Sans retour.

Profitons bien de la jeunesse,
Bien court est le printemps!
Aimons, chantons, rions sans cesse,
Nous n’aurons pas toujours vingt ans!
Profitons bien de la jeunesse!
Profitons bien de la jeunesse!
Aimons, chantons, rions sans cesse,
Profitons bien de nos vingt ans! Ah! Ah!
Profitons bien de la jeunesse!
Aimons, chantons, rions sans cesse,
Profitons bien de nos vingt ans! Ah! Ah!

 

Also today we bought a painting by Wendell Dennis entitled Still Waters. It is the harbour at Red Head PEI near Morrell, a lobster port.

 

1 May 2016 and today

Tags

art., Charlottetown, life, Music, Neighbourhood, PEI, PEI Symphony

Well it has been one year since we moved to Charlottetown,PEI. Last year when we arrived the weather was sunny and cool like today. We are well settled in our new home, busy with various volunteer jobs. Today I walked in the neighbourhood in late afternoon and took these pictures.

We should not forget that they too came with us and are now also well settled in their new home.

The Haviland Club on Dundas Esplanade which until 1919 was the US Consulate in Charlottetown.

The Government Bog in front of the Gates of Fanningbank, the Residence of the Lieutenant Governor.

Low tide in the bay at the entrance into the Strait of Northumberland.

The houses on West avenue

Today we are invited to Fanningbank (Government House) for the reception given by the Lieutenant Governor and PEI Symphony Board welcoming the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Maestro Alexander Shelley and violinist James Ehnes who came to Charlottetown for a concert to start the celebration of the 150th Anniversary of Canada. I just hope they don’t ask me to do a tour of the house, since I volunteer as a docent.

Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra
Colin Davis conducting. Mozart, Magic Flute, the march of the Priests.

 

 

classes in Art

Tags

Art Gallery, art., CCOA, Charlottetown, museum

For the last 4 years I have worked in National Museums here with school children presenting Art to them. I was trained at the National Gallery in Ottawa for 3 years and have read quite a few books on the topic and how to do it.

In Ottawa, I did presentations in school rooms and in the galleries of the National Gallery of Canada. My groups are about 20 to 25 students, which is fairly large and demanding. What helps of course is having a school teacher present who is also interested and engaged and on whom I can depend if a student misbehaves or if there is some problem.

National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Art Gallery, Confederation Centre, Charlottetown.

 

In the last two days I had 5 classes of grade 4 – 5 students in age 10 years old.

They came from Charlottetown, Summerside, Stratford. Some came by school bus and others like this morning came on foot. On the whole it went well and the exercise was about introducing them to Art in general, explaining how to look at Art and doing some exercise so they understand that art in itself is a large concept and not confined to what bourgeois society tells you it is. The students for the large part have never been to a museum, so it is a very new experience for them. The art I was showing them is all on display in the galleries and it is all contemporary, some is installations, all very modern with no easy reference, as I told them it is not about meaning but about observing and looking closely, trying to understand what the artist is trying to achieve and what the artist is conveying.

Getting 10 year olds to look closely at something can be difficult, attention span is short and by today’s standard anything you look at as to be self-evident, not so with contemporary art.

Some kids are good at observation, others have imagination, others have skill at drawing, others do not have a clue. In a class of 25 kids, at least 7 will not be interested and look bored, another 4 will try to wander away, look at other things in the gallery, will not be able to focus. Some will be talkative, others will be silent and withdrawn. From time to time there may be one autistic child or a child who is so painfully shy they stand apart of the group. By job is to try to include everyone and get everyone to share, talk and ask questions. I always make a point of encouraging them, there are no wrong answers, encouraging them to feel free to draw whatever they want, some children have a hard time with that concept, they prefer to be told what to do, being imaginative does not come easy in a world preparing them to be good little consumers.

I also realize that some parents are largely absent from their children lives and leave it up to the State to look after them, some come from troubled homes. Some children are never spoken to at home, there is no conversation between adult and child, no sharing, that is very sad to see. Parents themselves may never have been to a museum or art gallery, never read a book, have just basic education, enough to get a job and pay the mortgage. They have kids but what to do with them, in other words their parental skills are poor.

I had one autistic child in one group, he stood apart from the group in silence, he was lost in thoughts, he was in his own world, the teacher told me that at first he did not want to come to the gallery and would wait outside in the great hall. He appeared fearful or maybe not understanding what was going on. He did change his mind, was it something I said, I do not know. Once in the gallery he became animated, the art works seemed to speak to him and he had a keen interest. He even asked me questions , he noticed things other kids did not, he certainly appeared much more mature and very intelligent.

Next week the new Summer program will be installed in a period of 4 weeks, I am looking forward to it.

We were packing

Tags

art., culture, Food, island, lobster, moving, NB, oyster, PEI

Last year at this time we were 2 weeks away from moving day.  Had to plan the move but also the road trip with the dogs in the back seat of the car. Leaving Ottawa proceeding to Montreal on the 417 and then joining highway 20, up on the South shore of the Saint Lawrence river, at Rivière du Loup joining highway 85 and then highway 2 upon entering the province of New Brunswick.

I had decided to make a stop half way to PEI. However now in hindsight, our half way stop was too early in the day at Rivière du Loup and we should have proceeded to Edmunston in New Brunswick, sort of getting us over the hump so to speak, but I was concerned about the dogs and their comfort. I remember that the next day the road from Rivière du Loup to Edmunston and then to Fredericton to Moncton to the bridge unto the Island seemed endlessly long, Highway 2 hugs the Maine border in that area to then swing out across New Brunswick to the sea.  It was all highway driving and the portion in New Brunswick from the provincial border of Quebec was very scenic, a new highway built at great cost but well worth it. As you drive along the Maine Canada border  into moose country in New Brunswick on the way to Fredericton, I found that part long with warnings all along the road to call police if you see a moose on the road, they can be very dangerous and fatal if they charge your car. The dogs slept on the back seat wrapped in their blankets, though our Nick was mighty apprehensive of this long car ride which he did not understand, while Nora did not seem to care at all, just curious about the new smells.

We did move 4.5 tons of personal effects and goods, which seems like a lot but is the average weight for a couple moving. The moving truck would arrive a few days after our own arrival in Charlottetown. The weather was good all along and the move was done easily with the help of our friend Blake.

Now a year later, we went through our first Winter in PEI, pretty busy with volunteer work with various organizations and lots of social functions. Though some businesses, restaurants close during the Winter months, there is still plenty to do and the amount of Art and Culture is quite surprising for this small Island, certainly well above what one would expect. We did discover that Oysters in Winter are far superior than ones in Summer months, Winter lobster is also a lot better tasting and has far more meat.

Just last week we went to the Pour House for a concert by Guy Davis who is the son of Ozzie Davis and Ruby Dee, a great blues musician. There are all sorts of things going on in Winter from food festivals to art exhibits to cultural evenings, talks and conferences, pub nights, classic movies or art movie nights, kitchen parties, etc, it is a bit of an insider thing, we are enjoying ourselves and the best of it is our friends here an easy going bunch.

The Winter was also much milder than old Ottawa, not so much in terms of snow and more sunny days. The wind however remains a factor, we are on the Atlantic and wind conditions are always something to be aware of.

One year already, how time flies when you are having fun.

Art and the Brady Bunch, 1970

Tags

1970, art., Brady Bunch

Kirk Demarais on everything you wanted to know about The Brady Bunch’s art collection, and a little more. “My work is sure to be a treat for anyone who loves art, or The Brady Bunch, or tedious overanalysis.”

via Pork Chops and Apple Sauce: Appraising the Brady Bunch’s Art Collection — Discover

Views, Nostalgia

Tags

art., Government House, nostalgia, Ottawa, PEI, Rome, shirts, Spo

Here  are some views all mixed up.

Point Prim Lighthouse, I often go to the point in the Summer, there is a great little restaurant open only in the Summer. It is a fairly isolated spot of PEI facing the mainland, Nova Scotia is just across. It is the first lighthouse ship will see when navigating to enter the bay and harbour of Charlottetown. Built in 1845  by Isaac Smith, I believe Sam Cunard had a hand in the financing of the construction cost.

Home in Charlottetown

Opening night at the Art Gallery where I volunteer.

Our favorite Coffee shop Receiver on Richmond Street. That picture was taken a month ago.

The salon of Government House where I also volunteer.

One of my favourite photo of us in Rome at the top of the staircase next to the Capitoline Hill. In the background Sofia Loren’s penthouse.

Two splendid views of central Rome

A shirt designed by the master, our dear friend Dr. Spo of Phoenix

In London, Sept 2016, dinner before the theatre

With our friend Simonetta in Rome at a Christmas party at Palazzo Brancaccio, 2009

Presenting a painting in the European wing at the National Gallery in Ottawa 2015

Canada in Art

Tags

art., Canada., Haida, West Coast

Here is a map of Canada done in the Haida Art style which plays an important role in the development of the Pacific Northwest Coast native art.

Artist, Jennifer Adomeit, 2006, title; Our home and Native Land, words from our National Anthem O Canada.

 

Caroline L. Daly

Tags

Art Gallery, art., Canada., caroline louisa Daly, CCOA, Charlottetown, paintings, PEI, sketches

There will be a Vernissage at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery this Saturday 28 January at 7pm. Featuring the sketches and water colours of Caroline Louisa Daly (1832-1893)

She was the daughter of Sir Dominick Daly, Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island from 1854-1859. The family lived at Government House also known as Fanningbank in Charlottetown.

The Official Residence was built in 1834 and the first Lieutenant-Governor moved in and died promptly in 1835 of pneumonia,the house is on an expose piece of land facing the Strait of Northumberland, very windy and was not then well insulated.

When the Daly family moved in some 20 years later the conditions in the house had been improved. Caroline who was born in Montreal in 1832 when her father, an Irish native of Galway, was serving as Colonial Secretary in Lower-Canada. Sir Dominick would have a long career in the Imperial Service and the family would move all over the world as he was promoted from post to post.

Caroline documented where they lived and what she saw in her sketches and water colours. She left us a wonderful record of life on the Island between 1854-59. We have precious few artistic rendering and documented memories of Fanningbank and thanks to her and her father we have a link to the past. The curator of the exhibit Paige Matthie also did a wonderful job of clearing up a long standing mistake on attribution of those sketches. Many decades ago poorly done research had attributed the work to two fellows also named Daly who lived in Montreal. They had never visited the Island and there was no link between the artwork and them but for some unknown reason it was assumed they were the authors.

The Daly family has also given us more works by Caroline Louisa Daly and other documents related to Sir Dominick.

This is truly a beautiful exhibit and it is opening in a few days.

Fanningbank in Winter

If you look closely you will see on the right in the background the steeple of St-James Presbyterian and people skating on Government pond.

What is interesting, because of her water colours and sketches of Fanningbank during renovations in the 1930’s and later, these art works were used as a reference for historians and architects.

The Ice Sugar Cone in front of Momontrency Falls near Quebec City

Countryside PEI