The Exhibition

The Monet to Turner exhibition was really great. I was really blown away by the paintings by Turner, Friedrich, Monet and Corot. Seeing a painting like Haystacks, Midday by Monet, in the flesh, a picture I have pored over in books, was really fantastic.
What a painting. It's like he was so tuned in to the beauty of what is around, what we mostly just glance over, that he could draw it all out, enlarge it in his mind, and put it on to canvas. It is still a picture of some haystacks on the grass, but all those common things vibrate with this amazing glorious beauty. Wow.

At the other end of the scale, I was really struck by Caspar David Friedrich's paintings-- Sort of the opposite to Monet- quiet, reverent depiction of beauty rather than ecstatic depiction of beauty, and detail rather than impression. But still a response to the same beauty, if that makes sense. Here is a quote about his work-

Friedrich's 'gothic' religious interpretations of vertical German fir trees, ancient oaks, sublime mountains and deserted coasts are intensely spiritual...He was highly selective in what he chose to emphasise in nature, but he painted his selection in all its detail- God is in the detail of creation. (Ron Radford)