Pictures at an Exhibition (or rather: scenes from several Exhibitions)
…in which we announce the final [probably] fixtures of our Autumn term
You, O Denizens, visiting (and/or revisiting) various exciting exhibitions
aka: Honoré Daumier, Partons, madame. . . ces nudités sont révoltantes. . . (à part) je reviendrai tout seul! [Let's leave Madame... these nudes are revolting... (aside) I'll come back later], from 'Au Salon', in Le Charivari, May 5, 1866
Image here: New York, The Met, Rogers Fund, 1922, 22.61.336, at https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/755172
Many of you have commented, over the years, on the coincidental timing of a particular national/international Cultural Thing with one of our courses.
Of course we all know that we’re more likely to register such happy coincidences than the much more frequent absence thereof, and the breadth of Robertian Pearls of Wisdom (TM) in terms of content and chronology nudges the odds of one of our courses at any given time coinciding with, e.g., an exhibition/TV series/In Our Time episode. Besides, we have of course on occasion consciously offered something to coincide with a major exhibition/anniversary.
And yet … sometimes the Coincidence Gods seem to be doing their best to make us notice, acknowledge, and revere them!
Unbeknown to Robert, I’d been making a mental back-burner note of several exhibition-related coincidences… and then last night, as we were making the final decision on the last of our Short and Sweets for autumn, as promised back in May, his chosen soundtrack was his favourite rendition of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.*
*[Claudio Abbado/Berlin Philharmonic, lest you should be interested.]
OK, Coincidence Gods …
With all due Modest-y [see what I did there? Sorry-not-sorry…], I hear you and I revere you!!
Most immediately, the Impressionists have been having A Bit of A Moment recently.
Not surprising, naturally, given that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the sensational art exhibition of the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc in the photographer Nadar’s studio.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Femme dans un paysage, Cagnes, 1905 X 1910
Recently sold by Sotheby’s. Image here: https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/modern-art-day-auction-l24007/femme-dans-un-paysage-cagnes?locale=en
We know that you are cultured and well-travelled bunnies, O Denizens, and you may well have already enjoyed, for example, Oscar Murillo’s Monet-inspired extravaganza at the Tate, Robert Wilson’s Monet-inspired Star and Stone: a kind of love … some say at Rouen, or the intriguing immersive Tonight with the Impressionists: Paris 1874 at the Musée d'Orsay (especially if you’ve been heading that way for some Parisian Olympic action). You may, even as I type, be trying to work out where to display your very own newly-purchased Impressionist treasure (see right for an inferior image from a recent auction) within your home.
Regardless, if, like Robert, you have a particular soft spot for the Impressionists, we’ve got you covered! Our latest Impressionist foray commences with The Art of Joy: Renoir tomorrow [and no - it’s not too late to register!].
It seems that we’re also tangentially in sync with the British Library. If your interest is piqued by their upcoming A Silk Road Oasis: Life in Ancient Dunhuang, you may enjoy the archive version of our Short and Sweet course on The Silk Road - currently available via our Cabinet of Curiosities - and/or our August offering of Ibn Battuta: The first global tourist?.
[Sidebar: In the longer term… I have a Short and Sweet on a fascinating (and indeed, some might say, infuriating) medieval woman, whom we meet via her own words. (Spoiler: she’s from East Anglia and was prone to some extravagant weeping.) Alas, we can’t currently schedule a Joanna-course, as my quest for a job outwith Wright History is ongoing, but trust me: she’ll be there as soon as possible, so watch this space!]
But enough on that front….
It’s time to announce our shiny new courses, which complete (probably) our Autumn programme.
First up, by popular demand, the next instalment in our Roman adventures:
This one was always on the cards, of course - not least because several of you have told us how much you’ve been enjoying our recent spate of Things Roman.
Although the Flavians are not explicitly the focus of the recent British Museum Legion exhibition, which we know many of you enjoyed in person, there was a good deal of Flavian action therein.
We were the very very grateful recipients of a surprise gift from an incredibly kind Denizen, in the form of the exhibition catalogue (for which thank you again in this forum!), and having explored our exhibition-related treasure, Robert couldn’t resist bumping this one up to NOW!
Our final (probably) announcement for Autumn is also something which, as many of you know, has long been on Robert’s wish-list, and is coincidentally, it transpires, relevant to several Big Exhibitions which you may have enjoyed or be planning to enjoy…
Turner, Constable, and the Romantic English Landscape
This one is probably self-explanatory - not only in terms of general rationale but also Robert’s personal enthusiasms, so nuff said!
Finally, you may have noticed that I’ve included some “probably” caveats with regard to whether we’ve now got our Autumn term in its final form…
Unfortunately, we don’t currently have enough confirmed registrations for our planned in-venue Pickering day schools to be sure that we can go ahead with them.
We know that many of our In-Real-Life Pickering Denizens are as sad and disappointed as we are that we cannot, given our current circumstances, offer our now-traditional Fridays course this Autumn. Although we’ve offered two day schools, we absolutely understand that this format is not necessarily what the Pickering Posse wants - and we can only trust that you will appreciate why we have had to change things, for now at least.
I’m afraid, however, that as things currently stand, we may have to cancel September’s The Mughals, as we do not have enough confirmed registrations. Needless, I hope, to say, we don’t want to cancel. We do, alas, have to set a decision date - mostly to give enough reasonable notice to Pickering Memorial Hall, but also so that we can offer an alternative online course.
Reluctantly, therefore, if we do not have enough confirmed registrations for The Mughals by 21 August, we shall cancel the course. If you would like to see Robert In Real Life in September, do please let us know as soon as possible.
Many thanks, of course, to those of you who have booked and paid for The Mughals at Pickering. If it transpires that it cannot go ahead, we’ll be in touch right away to arrange a refund on your registration.