One of the exhibitions of the summer is “Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome,” on view now at the National Gallery of Canada. The show will travel to the Kimbell this fall. This morning the Kimbell blasted a press release that featured this quote (emphasis added):
“Before Caravaggio’s paintings were inspiring filmmakers and adorning wine bottles and jars of pasta sauce,” commented Eric M. Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum, “they were emulated and studied by his contemporaries. ‘Caravaggiomania’ was born in the 17th century, when patrons and artists alike became captivated by the emotional drama and approachable realism in his paintings. This exhibition is a rare opportunity to view some of Caravaggio’s greatest works alongside those of influential Baroque painters who imitated his style.”
I understand what the Kimbell is trying to do here, really, I do. On the list of art museum violations, this is somewhere between rolling through a stop sign and going 35 in a 25. But still, the first part of that quote is nails-on-a-chalkboard and it provides a teachable moment. [Image: Caravaggio, St. John the Baptist in the Wilderness (1604-05). Collection of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.]
It should go without saying that Caravaggio and exhibitions of and about his work are not important because Caravaggio has influenced Ragu jars. Art museums should appeal to and trust the intelligence and the curiosity of their audience. Great artists deserve to be examined and celebrated on the highest possible terms, not at the lowest, commonest, contemporary-commercialist denominator. We want leading art figures and art institutions to show and to tell us why artists matter… and Caravaggio’s import as an artist has absolutely nothing to do with what’s in aisle six at Safeway.
If you don’t think that the way institutions communicate about art matters all that much, consider this: Last week we saw what happened when an institution, in this case the Central Indiana Community Foundation, failed to communicate with its community about a sculpture it hopes to fund. A small band of opponents of the sculpture seized on that lack of discourse and defined the sculpture on false terms. Now that project may not be realized. Art institutions and leaders best make the case for art by engaging in discourse at an elevated level, not by dumbing it down.
Approachable realism…, even if I would be able to discern it in C’s paintings, I would spend sleepless nights figuring out what it means.
One of my favorite places on earth is the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, which I have been privileged to have visited at least 9 times over the past 20 years. The kitsch sold in the obligatory museum gift shop ranges from the ridiculous to the sublime. It’s what happens when an artist and their work enters the cultural oeuvre. How many caricatures has Munch’s Scream engendered? That’s what Koons and Warhol played with. Oh well, Caravaggio’s work will survive this.
Officer, please tear up that ticket. I took Lee’s quote to refer to the range of Caravaggio’s 21st-century reach, from high (Caravaggesque filmmaking) to low (reproductions on pasta sauce jars). The gist of his remark isn’t that different from saying that Impressionism may show up on calendars now, but it was radical when it emerged. I’ve only met Lee once, but he struck me as the opposite of a panderer.
[...] Rome. (It’s currently at the National Gallery of Canada.) What prompts his irritation (“‘Great Moments in Press Releases”) are the opening lines quoting Kimbell director Eric Lee on how the late Renaissance master’s [...]
I agree with the above comments. I don’t think the average art-loving-slash-art-educated museum-goer will misconstrue what’s meant (though the totally uninitiated might, and you’re right that it then becomes a missed teaching opportunity). Clearly he means that BECAUSE of Caravaggio’s importance he’s been adopted by commercial and pop-cultural institutions as a symbol that evokes a wider and deeper (and, yes, kitschier) meaning, a touchstone of sorts. Could he have said it differently (read: better)? Probably. But we know what he means nevertheless.
[...] Press release quotes that make me snort-laugh. [...]
Ha. You know what, get them into the museum and teach ‘em there, when they are a captive audience. A press release’s goal is to make the art relatable to broad interests and to emphasize popular appeal. On the other hand it’s hard to imagine anyone on a museums mailing list who wouldn’t be familiar with ‘Caravaggio’ and the importance of that name, or the need to make him sound like some proto- Pop artist.