The art of emotion
The Louvre Abu Dhabi ignites artistic taste in all its observers, writes Florence Kerr.
There is a scene in the movie Good Will Hunting where Robin Williams’ character Sean silences the poor unruly genius, Will. In his impassioned speech, Sean deploys his greatest weapon: emotion.
‘‘So if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written ... Michelangelo? You know a lot about him. Life’s work, political aspirations, him and the Pope, sexual orientation, the whole works, right? But I bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling.’’
I thought of that scene when I stood in front of Vincent Van Gogh’s selfportrait. I’d read all kinds of things about his genius, his wives, his place in history. I looked at his paintings in photos and yawned.
Then I went to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which had a collection from the Louvre in Paris on show for its opening. Let me tell you, you can read all you like about Van Gogh, but you won’t know what it’s like to stand in front of his self-portrait until you do it.
I can’t describe why that self-portrait did anything but make me yawn, because I am not an art connoisseur. And I can’t tell you about Leonardo da Vinci’s painting style. But what I can tell you is how I felt standing face-toface with da Vinci’s La belle Ferroniere – overwhelmed. I was a step away from one of the greatest painters the world has known. A step away from one of da Vinci’s masterpieces.
I think he may have loved her – he painted her face on an angle that was very flattering – no double chins. I wonder whether she knew that her face would become one for the ages.
I also wondered, as I stood in front of Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1 whether Anna Whistler knew her son would make her famous. You can feel the devotion James Abbott McNeill Whistler had when he painted his mother in the piece more widely known as Whistler’s Mother.
Before the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the closest I got to what I presume was good artwork was an art competition I had to cover as a junior reporter some 10 years ago, where a guy won $10,000 for what looked like a ripped piece of cladding. I didn’t like it then. I still don’t now. That’s art – beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If art doesn’t evoke any emotion, then it has missed its mark.
There were pieces I deplored in Abu Dhabi. Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Blue, Red, Yellow and Black, circa 1922, mystified me. Why in the world would anyone think that a canvas with painted-on squares deserved to be under the same roof as da Vinci? Mondrian fans could give me all the reasons why. I don’t care – it’s how I feel.
But that’s art - it’s a journey, not a destination. The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a journey that will change you irrevocably – for the better.
I learned that I hate contemporary
art. You can blame photography for that. But I love photos. I’m a mess. Art has made me a raving lunatic. Never in my years growing up in the small town of Tokoroa would I ever think I would be writing about paintings.
Why would the Louvre Abu Dhabi take me through an emotionally enriching journey to stump me at squares? Why? It’s art.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi – the building that protects the masterpieces of some of the world’s greatest artists (and Mondrian) is art in itself.
There are 55 individual buildings with 26 permanent galleries, all nestled under a star-spangled dome which measures 565 metres in circumference.
The museum will host four temporary exhibitions annually.
Whether you’re an art critic or a novice like me, the art will evoke emotion. The buildings will astound you. And that is why the Louvre Abu Dhabi is a success – to be in its presence is an experience in itself.
The dome in figures:
❚ 7850 unique stars
❚ Eight layers of cladding
❚ 180m diameter
❚ Largest stars: 13m diameter, 1.3 tonnes
❚ Two years’ total construction time
❚ 56m circumference
❚ 800 workers used to construct the dome.
Museum buildings:
❚ 55 individual buildings
❚ 26 permanent galleries
The writer was a guest of Etihad Airways.
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