19th century lovin'

As a big fan of the 19th century, I was uber excited to see the Courbet show at the Met. The place where good photos go to die (Also known as my place of employment) is only 2 blocks away. So, two Saturdays ago, I treated myself to a leisurely stroll through the museum to see the show. The poor tourist students from Jersey in front of me took forever to pull out a 10 from her purse after studying the admissions plaque for 15 mins. "one student please". As she attaches her button, I shove a dollar to the bored museum worker "one please" - yielding the exact same result of a colored button. Really, next to the admissions price plaques, there really should be a detailed report detailing the amount of support and donations received annually by the Met. I am all for supporting museums and art institution in need, but in the list of all the art institutions that needs your support in New York, I am fairly certain that the Met is on the near bottom of the list. So, don't miss those cute little italicized words "suggested donations" emphasis on the "suggested" part. I set the ipod to "my fav. chinx mix" and was ready to go.

The image on the announcement poster was "The Desperate Man" a self portrait of Courbet. It's such an arresting image. On posters and cards, Courbet's manic gesture fill the entirety of the surface without borders. In retrospect, it's a pretty classic "in-your-face" way to blockbusterized it. But at the time, the handsome and urgent face got me so excited "aw man! this is going to be the most awesome show ever! I am so excited, i'll be totally blown away!"

I am never quite sure if it's me who has changed or the caliber of shows these days. I remember in high school or college, I'd walk into museums and galleries, and be inspired. My life was changed because I saw the Open Ends show (2000). I was still studying Art History 101 at the time, we were still on Mesopotamian art in the big Gardner's "Art Through the Ages - Volume I" I remember walking through that show, everything looks so new, so spectacular and yet, still so relevant! There was one Felix Gonzales Torres piece with the golden candy wrappers, (they were a delish lemon flavor) I am fairly certain that you're suppose to take only one or two, and not a few handfuls. I just wanted to collect as much as I can, as souvenirs of what I saw to make sure that I wouldn't forget it. I walked out of there wanting to change the world and felt that the possibilities of art are endless. That exhilarating post museum glow is the holy grail of art spectatorship. That show was probably the sexiest thing of the new millennium by far. So, that. Was what I was hoping for every time. It is with these high expectations that I climbed the main stone steps onto the second floor where the Courbet exhibition was.

Pussy curating from the Met is almost expected. "SELF-PORTRAITS...text text text" goes the pictures right to left. "FIGURES...text text text" goes the pictures right to left. "WILD ANIMALS...text text text" goes the pictures right to left.... You get the point. yawn.
but walking through it, you really have to admit that it's a large collection, there is alot of pictures in there. whether it is selective enough. i am not so sure. The question of whether Courbet painted a picture for a commission or his craft was constant reoccurring thought throughout the show. With every picture, I can almost imagine him at the easel either looking bored and just wanting to get shit done, or getting really excited because he really wanted to capture the force of the ocean with those waves. Even Rembrandt is not exempt from bad brush days sometimes.
However, as with any good painter, you get that wow factor come face to face with the real canvases. We've already looked at the pictures tons of times, on the internet and in art books. When you stand in front of the painting the way it was meant to be seen, there is something very majestic and deliciously lickable about the paint that brings the painting to life. Especially with Courbet, where he, more so that those before him had such a reverence to his subject matters. I feel that if Courbet would have owned an instantly gratifying digital camera, he'd never painted again.

As I make my way through the show grasping on to the promises made by "The Desperate Man" image, I was really expecting a journey, 10 minutes into the show, we all kinda know that it's all leading up to "The Painter's Studio". The satisfying portrait studies for the "Painter's Studio" fueled that anticipation. Having gone thorough some fantastic paintings of trees, portraits, and dead bunnies, I almost laughed out loud when I turned around the last corner to exit the show. There, mounted on the wall was the same cheesy discolored reproduction of "The Painter's Studio" from my 19th C. art history book blown up to the size of significance. If only the last corner I turned in the show was of the pussy and the dead bunnies, it would have been a much sweeter note to end on.