London: Royal Academy
On my recent short trip to London, I spent an hour at the Royal Academy's current exhibition "Braque, Miro, Calder, Giacometti". I had no idea about the rationale for bringing these four together, but the names Calder and Giacometti were enough, two artists that I stumble across quite regularly and whom I have come to appreciate more and more. I had intended to go to the Francis Bacon show at Tate Modern. Although I don't favour these sort of big circus type events, Bacon is special in 20th Century painting, and one can only admire his artistic credentials when set alongside the conceptualists and the businessman-artists of the current day. There is also nostalgic appeal as I recall his Triptych in Aberdeens small but superb Art Gallery.
However, the Royal Academy it was, and I'm glad I went. I'm sure the Tate would have been a log jam and the RA is a nice, comforting institution with none of the din associated with the big shows.
I sometimes wonder why we go to large exhibitions, especially single artist ones. If we are not academic specialists, what do we expect to get from looking at such a vast arrangement of an artists work other than being able to see items which are normally in far off galleries, or indeed inaccessible. Understanding art is quite difficult - it often can't be done at one sitting even with a single painting. It is interesting of course to see the range and scope of a great artist and to compare early and late works, or different genres. But these shows often have to be taken in one huge gulp, and the result is naturally indigestion.
I rather like exhibitions which shed light on the process of artistic creation. Influences, collaborations, friendships, rivalries. Sometimes this means an exhibition supported by contemporary references. I remember seeing a big Monet show in Zurich, and while the huge water lilies left me a bit cold, I found the documentation, description and photographs of the garden at Giverny very satisfying.
When we look at art of the 19th and 20th centuries things like this predominate - they are everywhere. Whether they are famous alliances (Picasso/Braque), whether or not artists belonged to distinct movements or groups, the juxtapositions are inescapable, memorably because a lot of them are captured on film by the likes of Cartier Bresson who had access to many during the middle of the last century.
And, finally, that is what makes the RA show. There are no so-called "big hitters" here but a coherent selection that contrasts the work of these four artists and illuminates where they drew on each other. A good example is the friendship that developed between Calder and Miro. Not artistic bedfellows, but you can see how Calder went from bemusement to understanding and assimiliation - in his paintings at any rate, and to a certain degree maybe in some of the sculpture. It is interesting as well to see the two sculptors Calder and Giacometti together. Both great individualists who developed their own styles and added something genuinely new to the genre.
What links the four is their collaboration with the collector and gallerist Aimé Maeght. (The show is sub-titled "Aimé Maeght and His Artists"). This is also interesting, to follow the part played by the patron or gallery owner in all of this. I'm thinking also of the role played by todays movers and shakers - the Charles Saatchis and Steven Cohens of today. I'm not sure it is quite so benevolent, or that it will result in such an enriching legacy for the future.
Well worth a visit in my opinion if you are passing.
