I had booked from Paris to see the Cranach exhibition which had started quite recently, but booking on-line was not possible for the From Russia exhibition, which attracted crowds.
So when at the Royal Academy of Arts to see the Cranachs, I bought a ticket for the From Russia and saw it on on the following day.
This exhibition will be a unique opportunity to explore the fascinating exchange that existed between French and Russian art during a crucial period that was witness to upheaval and revolution. All the paintings have been lent by the four principal Russian museums: The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts and The State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and The State Hermitage Museum and The State Russian Museum in St Petersburg. For the first time, works from these museums have been gathered for a single exhibition.
I found it difficult to follow the links between the paintings, mostly because of my lack of pictural culture. But it was great to see a painting like The Dance by Matisse in the flesh, so to speak 
or Gauguin’s Vairaumati Tei Oa (Her Name was Vairaumati).
My favourites were definitely Chagall’s Promenade and Nathan Altman’s Portrait of Anna Akhmatova (honestly, I didn’t even know the name of Altman, before I went to that exhibition).
But I enjoyed the Cranach exhibition much more. Not that I knew more about Cranach than I did about modern painting, but somehow, I found it easier to understand. In fact, I like one-artist retrospectives. One has time to get familiar with the paintings, to see a relationship between them.
As the exhibition booklet puts it, Cranach…
… was one of the most versatile artists of the Renaissance, court artist to the Saxon electors, a staunch supporter of the Reformation, and a close friend of Martin Luther. During the course of his long career, Cranach created striking portraits and expressive devotional works, propaganda for the Protestant cause, as well as his own brand of erotic female nude and inventive treatments of biblical, mythological and classical subjects.
At one point, I noticed that in practically every painting, except for the portraits, there was someone, be it a human or an animal that was looking straight at you. So I walked through the rooms again to find the watching eye
I found the nudes just lovely, like the Venus shown on the exhibition poster, which apparently was found “too risqué for London Underground“, or Adam and Eve.
The Cranach is on till the end of June, but From Russia stops middle of April.
Tu me donnes envie d’y aller mais je crois qu’une fois rentrée en France, je serai attirée par mon jardin!
Comment by fazou — March 21, 2008 @ 11:45 am
The nudes are lovely and sensual - but not risque (to me).
Comment by kenju — March 21, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
What a wonderful opportunity you had to see both exhibitions!!!!! We don’t get the “important” art here but I’m delighted with the exhibitions we do get. I just enjoy art.
Comment by Kay Dennison — March 21, 2008 @ 7:34 pm
Two wonderful shows! I wish I could see the paintings from Russia…I too did not know about Nathan Altman in spite of art history study of that period and this is a wonderful portrait. I will try to see the Cranachs when I’m in London in June. Again I had only a smattering of knowledge of his work so am excited to have a chance to discover more! Thanks for the links to the catalog…
Comment by Sara — March 21, 2008 @ 11:18 pm
for me engaging cranach nude in poster seems sexual yet not erotic. and americans wonder about source of our prudishness…hello, england!
Comment by naomidagenbloom — March 22, 2008 @ 8:42 pm
I also like one-artists retrospectives because they are so educational. I never know enough about an artist to holistically understand his work except at such an exhibit. I find it interesting to see how artists try to get around the cultural restrictions due to conservative religious values in earlier times.
Comment by Tabor — March 23, 2008 @ 11:15 pm
You must have seen some works by Cranach usually kept and exhibited in my local Art Museum…
Comment by Ed — March 26, 2008 @ 11:46 am
I want more art in my life…(big sigh)
Comment by Nectarfizz — March 28, 2008 @ 9:24 pm