Dreams and Reality: Masterpieces of Painting, Drawing and Photography from the Musee d'Orsay, Paris is currently exhibiting at the National Museum till 5 Feb 2012.
It took me quite some time just to type out the title of this wondrous exhibition. Phew. Have absolutely no idea why the title is such a tongue twisting string of words.
Please do yourself a favour and visit it. For Singapore students, it really is worth the price. Basically, you get to visit this exhibition for free. My friend, with his usual succinctness, expressed it well. "We don't pay any entrance fees. And get to see masterpieces by Van Gogh and Degas. This is definitely worth it."
Upon entering the hall, we saw a beautiful painting of Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. She has emerged from the waves, spawned from the brain juice of Ouranos, the Sky God. (Sorry, you don't really have to know that.) Her face is captivating, with an expression of dreamy wonder.
This artwork is big and, I suspect, will entertain my army mates and JC friends really well.
There's also this lovely work, splashed with pastoral patches of colours and light. It speaks of a knight who traversed through a field of perdition and wasn't tempted by his desires. He had ignored the ladies frolicking about him and will go on to perform a great deed. (This tale sounds familiar, hmm. I'm not sure what that great deed is. Perhaps he scored a string of A1s for his O levels.)
Now, to the realistic portrayal of people. Portraits are always engrossing. They offer their subjects up for scrutiny. We are granted license to look at strangers without a gnawing sense of discomfort. We see them and it feels as though they're looking at us too.
Beautifully painted.
I'm not really sure who did the following painting. Apparently, it was by someone famous. Can't really recall his name now. Perhaps it'll come back to me in time.
Oh oh, just remembered. This artwork was by Henri Rosseau, a poet-cum-painter. I shall refrain from further commentary.
I'm wondering what the lady is doing. Her posture is, erm, weird.
What are you waiting for? This is a rare chance to catch one of Van Gogh's Starry Night painting without travelling to Europe/US. Van Gogh had committed suicide at the age of 37, having only sold one painting in his lifetime. He painted this piece one year before he passed away; hence, there are 36 stars in the painting.
Look at the lady above. She's waiting for you. Don't disappoint her.
(Although she may just be afraid of getting tanned. Rather understandable - Estee Lauder/ SKII probably doesn't exist during her time.)
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