Over the centuries, artists and composers have diligently drawn inspiration from each other. Sergej Rachmaninov created a symphonic poem inspired by a work by Arnold Böcklin. Igor Stravinsky was so excited when he saw some William Hogarth prints that he sat down and composed an entire opera, and Gerhard Richter has said that at one stage he could not paint without Bach’s Goldberg Variations in the background. In the National Museum’s exhibition “Masters’ Meetings”, it is precisely this mutual fertilization that is in focus. Over the course of a two-week period, they unfold a sort of middle ground between an art exhibition and a chamber music festival. Sparebankstiftelsen DNB’s unique collection of string instruments, Dextra Musica, is displayed together with specially selected works from the museum’s own collection. It is wonderful that the music is brought into the museum, but the selection of works of art is unfortunately characterized by a somewhat external focus. DO YOU SEE THE GREATNESS? To my untrained eye, it is difficult to distinguish an instrument masterpiece from a more ordinary violin or cello. Fortunately, I had a young violinist with me who could point out the little secrets and subtleties of the instrument builders. It is probably unique to see entire quartets of instruments in this way. Not least from Stradivari, who created few violas. Photo: J & A BEARE / RICHARD VALENCIA / KRISTOFFER ELIASSEN / RICHARD VALENCIA Images and instruments in harmony The exhibition is shown in two of the museum’s halls. The pictures hang on the walls together with large collections of instruments in various display cases. Here we can study entire quartets of violins, violas and cellos created by the world’s leading instrument makers, such as Guarneri and Stradivari. A violin in a stand is as lifeless as a chair on a pedestal. There are utility objects that you cannot assess just by looking at them. Fortunately, the museum has understood exactly this. Through a hundred concerts, the public can see the unique instruments in use. During the intense exhibition period, a selection of Norway’s leading musicians come and collect their violins and cellos from the display cases. It is great that the exhibition makes us aware that the instruments on display are not dusty museum objects, but that they are used by musicians every single day. AT THE MUSEUM, BUT IN USE: Great to see that musicians come and pick up the instruments that are on display in the stands and play them. 500-year-old Ole Bull An exception is Ole Bull’s Gaspari Bertolotti da Salo violin built in 1560, which has been loaned for the occasion from KODE’s composer home. Bull’s violin is very special, with its carved head adorned with a pout and with a figure that tenses the muscles on the fretboard. Ole Bull’s widow donated the instrument to the Vestland Art Museum in 1902 in a sealed case and with the express message that it “must never be lent out or played on”. This is shown in the first part of the exhibition, which is dedicated to the young Bergen violinist who in the 19th century became a world star. HAND TROUBLE: In the section devoted to Ole Bull, we find, among other things, Elisabeth Baumann’s portrait of the famous violinist. The image has clear qualities. The head in particular is nicely depicted with the dreamy expression. It is a pity that the hands, which are such an important element in the portrait of a violinist, are not more convincingly executed. One hand is cut off by the image format, on the other the index finger seems to not quite belong on this hand. Photo: Ina Wesenberg BULL WITH THE WEDDING: In the section devoted to Ole Bull, a later version of “Brudeferd i Hardanger” is on display, where it is said that Tidemand made Ole Bull model for the fiddler. Photo: Børre Høstland / The National Museum Masterpieces and masterpieces … I am excited about the idea of intertwining art and music. The little musical taste we got with the wonderful Ekko quartet at the press screening really added flavor. Nevertheless, I am not sure if I think they are able to deliver on the title “Meestermøter” There are quite a few of the selected works of art that I agree to call masterpieces. I think it’s a bit of a shame that the curator here has seen himself so blind to figurative and concrete connections to the music. IS THIS A MASTERPIECE? It is an open question whether this is a masterpiece. In any case, it is not the Skagen painter PS Krøyer’s strongest. He is far more skilled with the summer light by the sea than the lamp lighting in a dim studio. Photo: Børre Høstland / Krøyer, Peder Severin Both Edvard Munch, Kai Fjell and Aage Storstein are represented with weak works which are in no way representative of the individually significant artists. What has been decisive for the choice is that a violin is included in the motif. BADLY DONE: It is a well-known fact that Munch has created both some truly unique treasures, but also a lot of junk. Such as this image here which is anatomically completely crippled (see the arm). It is almost poorly done to show such a weak picture, which is so unrepresentative of our foremost visual artist. Photo: The National Museum Not even where we are dealing with an undoubted masterpiece, namely Munch’s “Brochure”, it is the picture’s musical qualities that have been decisive, but the external and somewhat uninteresting fact that Eva Mudocci was a violinist. NOT MASTERFUL: Aage Storstein’s cubist composition falls apart. The strong scene of abuse in the background is convincingly painted, and could have been a very good picture on its own, but it does not connect with the seated and violin-playing figure in the foreground. The design language has not been completed either. Neither the curtains nor the chair are painted in cubist style. In several of the picture’s elements, one gets the feeling that Cubism does not spring from the motif, but is forced upon it. Photo: Børre Høstland / Artist: Storstein Aage Depicts the musician, not the music Halfdan Egedius is also not represented with the main work “Play and dance” from 1896, a painting that really depicts the experience of music, but an unfinished and not nearly as good oil sketch which only portrays the musician. I also doubt whether Karen Holtsmark’s abstract painting “The Firebird: Stravinsky’s dream” was chosen because it is the collection’s most musical and form-perfect abstract painting. WHERE IS THE MEETING OF CHAMPIONS? Karen Holtsmark’s “The Firebird: Stravinsky’s Dream” is most likely on display because of the musical reference in the title. Photo: The National Museum This, in my eyes, is a weakness of the exhibition, but I am happy when I read in the program that they will also bring musicians into the collective exhibition and explore, for example, themes such as light or vitality in art and music. This is a much more exciting angle. Despite this objection, I experience the project as a whole as having a wonderful surplus character. I love the level of ambition and that for two whole weeks they fill the whole museum with music. news reviews Photo: Kristoffer Eliassen Title: “Mestermøter” Artist: Various Place: The National Museum When: 4.–19. February 2023
ttn-69
“Master meetings” at the National Museum – Reviews and recommendations
