Iconic works from Paris in Seoul

Arts & Design

Published: 10 Jun. 2011, 20:06

Iconic works from Paris in Seoul

Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night Over the Rhone,” said by many to be one of the finest works of art in history, is housed at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. To see it, you usually have to catch a flight to the European capital - but for the next few months it will be in Seoul as part of a touring exhibition of the famed museum’s collection.

The exhibition “Musee d’Orsay: Dream and Reality” opened last week at the Hangaram Museum at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul with a total of 134 works, including more than 70 paintings, photographs and drawings.

This is the third, and largest, exhibition of the Musee d’Orsay collection in Korea. The museum brought its collection here in 2000 and 2007, with 44 artworks displayed in the 2007 show.

This year’s exhibition includes well-known works by some of the most famous artists in history such as Van Gogh’s “Starry Night Over the Rhone,” the Impressionist leader Claude Monet’s “Camille Monet on Her Deathbed,” Auguste Renoir’s “Young Boy with a Cat,” Post-Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne’s “Card Players” and the Barbizon school painter Jean-Francois Millet’ “Spring.”

Musee d’Orsay director Guy Cogeval said in a press conference last week at Hangaram Museum that its “Starry Night over the Rhone” is the most beautiful among the three “Starry Night” paintings by the beloved artist, noting that it is one of the representative works in the French museum’s collection.

The exhibition in Seoul also includes drawings and photos that were never publicly appreciated as masterpieces, according to a press release from the Hangaram.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)’s “Starry Night”(1888), top, Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)’s “The Card Players”(Between 1890 and 1895), left, and Henri Rousseau(Le Douanier, 1844-1910)’s “War” (Circa 1894) are part of the paintings on display at the ongoing exhibition “Musee d’Orsay: Dream and Reality” in Hangaram Museum of Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul. c)Photo RMN/Musee d’Orsay-GNC media

The exhibition is separated into four parts: “Human and Legend,” “Human and Nature,” “Human and Modern Life” and “Solitary Human.” With this categorization, visitors can delve into the life and emotions within the paintings, the exhibition organizers said.

Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings, of which Korean art fans are known to be fond, account for a large portion of the exhibition.

“Personally, I enjoy the 17th-century painter Nicolas Poussin and Symbolist artists [in the late 19th century], but many people worldwide have more joy and love for Impressionist paintings,” Cogeval said.

“Impressionist art does not have any special topic or theme but, with their light and color tones, lead even those who don’t have much knowledge about fine art to feel a little something and be inspired,” he added. “That’s the power of Impressionism.”

But the exhibition organizers noted that the title of the exhibition is “Painters’ Dreams and Realities,” which distinguishes it from exhibitions that simply focus on Impressionism.

For example, the first section, “Human and Legend,” has some neo-classical paintings such as Alexandre Cabanel’s “The Birth of Venus” and Symbolist paintings such as Gustave Moreau’s “Cleopatra.” These paintings are based on Greek mythology, Medieval legends and history.

The Musee d’Orsay is currently undergoing a renovation of some of its exhibition rooms, which may have prompted the museum to organize the touring exhibition, which continues in Singapore Oct. 25 to February 2012.

Regarding the renovation, Cogeval said that the changes to the museum will enhance the way the artworks are presented in the future.

“It does not matter which artworks an art museum holds in its collection, but it matters how the museum presents them,” he said.

“I didn’t like Monet up until the 1990s. Later, I came to realize that it was not because of his paintings but because of the ways that European art museums exhibited them.”

*The exhibition runs through Sept. 25 at the Hangaram Museum in southern Seoul. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Admission is 12,000 won ($11) for adults. Go to Nambu Bus Terminal Station, line No. 3, exit 5, and walk five minutes. For more information, call (02) 325-1077 or visit www.orsay2011.co.kr.

By Kim Tae-rim Contributing writer [estyle@joongang.co.kr]

한글 관련 기사 [아주경제]

고흐 ‘아를의 별이 빛나는 밤’ 한국에 왔다

한가람미술관, 오르세미술관 소장품전 4일 개막

‘고흐의 별밤과 화가들의 꿈`은 어떤 모습일까.

4일부터 서울 예술의전당 한가람미술관에서 프랑스 파리 오르세미술관 소장품을 소개하는 전시가 열린다.

국내에서 오르세미술관 소장품 전은 이번이 세 번째다. 이번 전시는 회화 73점과 데생 24점, 사진 37점 등 총 134점이 전시돼 역대 오르세 소장품전 중 최대 규모다.

주목할 만한 작품은 반 고흐의 ‘아를의 별이 빛나는 밤’(La nuit etoilee, Arles)이다. 잘 알려진 ‘별이 빛나는 밤’(The Starry Night.뉴욕현대미술관 소장)과는 다른 작품으로, 반 고흐가 1888년 파리 생활을 접고 찾아간 프랑스 남부 아를 지방의 밤 풍경을 담은 것으로, 밤하늘에 떠 있는 별과 강에 비친 불빛들을 서정적으로 담아낸 작품이다.

오르세미술관의 소장품 4000여점 중에는 빈센트 반 고흐의 ‘의사 가셰의 초상’과 에두아르드 마네의 ‘피리부는 소년’ ‘올랭피아’ ‘풀밭 위의 점심식사’, 장 프랑수아 밀레의 ‘만종’, 귀스타브 쿠르베의 ‘세상의 기원’ 등 유명한 그림들이 포함돼 있다.

3일 전시에 맞춰 방한한 기 코즈발 오르세미술관 관장은 “오르세 미술관 밖에서 이처럼 많은 수의 작품이 대거 전시되는 것은 관장으로서도 깜짝 놀랄 일”이라며 “현재 오르세 미술관의 절반 정도가 공사 중인데 올해 말 공사가 끝나면 이번에 한국에서 소개된 작품들을 포함해 다시 소장품이 공개될 것”이라고 말했다.

이 전시는 19세기에서 20세기 초반까지 파리를 중심으로 활동한 거장들의 작품이 `신화에서 역사까지``자연-인물``현대적인 삶``우울,고독 그리고 죽음` 등 5개 섹션으로 나눠 소개된다. 전시장을 따라 고갱,드가,고흐,르누아르,밀레 등의 대표작을 보며 미술사적 의미까지 조망할 수 있다.

스마트폰 보급 추세에 맞춰 스마트폰을 이용한 음성 안내(오디오 가이드) 서비스를 제공한다. 아이폰과 안드로이드용으로 제작된 유료 애플리케이션을 내려받은 뒤 와이파이 존이 설치된 전시장에서 실시간 스트리밍으로 음성 안내를 받을 수 있다.
전시는 9월25일까지. 성인 관람료 1만2천원.학생 8000원.((02)325-1077~8.

◆오르세미술관= 파리 센 강변의 폐철도역을 개조해 1986년 개관한 미술관으로, 한 해 600만명 이상이 찾는 파리의 명소 중 하나다. 특히 루브르박물관에 있던 작품 중 1848년부터 1914년 사이 작품을 집중적으로 옮겨놓아 인상파 컬렉션으로는 세계 최고의 미술관으로 평가받고 있다.