Emil Nolde exhibition
- from: 25.09.2008
- to: 19.01.2009
- In: Paris
Emil Nolde exhibition
agenda
From September 25th, 2008, to January 19th, 2009
Practical
Grand Palais, Paris
German Expressionism is a subject new to France. Emil Nolde (1867-1956), one of the main representatives of the movement, has never before benefited from a retrospective. For the first time in France, an ambitious exhibition pays homage to this great figure of modern art by bringing together 90 paintings (with the exceptional inclusion of a polyptych, La vie du Christ (The Life of Christ) from the Nolde foundation in Seebüll, Germany) and 70 watercolours, engravings and drawings.
The collection is presented in chronological order broken down into 12 thematic sections (the enchanted mountain, a country, the years of combat, Bibles and legends, graphical work (2), Berlin nights, Welt, Heimat, Phantasien and "non-painted painting", the sea and the seasons). For the general public, this will therefore be a great discovery; for connoisseurs, a unique opportunity to see paintings brought together from all around the world and illustrating his work in its entirety.
Originally an ornamentalist sculptor in wood, Nolde came to painting late. Trained in Munich and Paris in 1900, he distinguished himself very quickly through a fierce painting style, with lessons learned from Van Gogh. The young artists of Die Brücke asked for his help and he was involved in all the struggles to impose a new art, until his exclusion from the Berlin Secession of 1911. Divided between his roots in the land of Schleswig, on the Danish border, and his fascination for the city, Berlin, between his taste for solitude and the spectacle of society life, this farmer's son, both rough and gentle, constructed a unique work which is often misunderstood. In 1937, blacklisted by the Nazi regime, he was the "star" of the exhibition of so-called "degenerate" art then, in 1941, he was banned from painting. International recognition was soon forthcoming after the war, and Nolde was held up in his lifetime as one of the most important artists of our time.
Nolde is remarkable for his extraordinary harmonies of colour, uncompromising strokes and an unrivalled narrative verve. The human being is at the centre of his preoccupations, represented majestically in his portraits and scenes of motherhood and couples. Landscapes and still lifes are so many colourful daydreams, where contemplation of ordinary life, of nature, is transformed by the boldness of the palette. His religious subjects overturn all attempts made in this field in the modern period and struggle to rediscover the roots of a primitive religion, close to mankind. Alternately scathing and serene, Nolde paints both the social scene and all humanity. Of rare longevity for the period - 89 years - he lived through both wars and leaves an abundant body of work which continues a dialogue today with the most contemporary art.
- Updated: 16.10.2008
