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Well, I'm having a difficult time readjusting to the humdrum daily routine after an amazingly joyful weekend at the wedding of two college friends (hence why it has taken me 2 weeks to post!). They were even kind enough to get married in Fort Worth, Texas on the weekend the "Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome" exhibit opened at the Kimbell. Best...friends...ever.
A quick rundown:
The exhibit is broken down into four main parts: "Music and Youth," "Cardsharps & Fortune Tellers," "Saints," and "The Sacred Narrative."
The exhibit in terms of works of art? Marvelous! It's the second largest display of his paintings in North America.
In terms of flow? Not as obvious as it should have been - I'm a museum junkie and I inevitably ended up going against the intended flow at this exhibit.
In terms of information? Oh, boy...
Ok. Most exhibits I attend leave me wanting more since the texts that accompany the works are not detailed or informative enough. The "Caravaggio" exhibit did not commit this crime - quite the contrary. The curator clearly had a lot to say, to the point that the texts became a composite of various facts that weren't necessarily cohesive or did not answer my questions as a viewer in relation to the exhibit. However, there is a lot of information, which is refreshing, but I recommend spending a day just looking at the art, and then returning on another day to read the text.
Seeing the works of Caravaggio juxtaposed with his followers was incredibly interesting. In art history courses the slides of images of the works did not truly depict how obviously talented Caravaggio was when compared to those trying to mimic him. I spent an embarrassingly long time comparing the grapes in some of Caravaggio paintings to those of his followers. His followers' grapes certainly had the styling of paint like Caravaggio's grapes, but they always looked labored whereas Caravaggio's grapes looked effortless (and better). I did find a few new artists that I have since looked up to learn more about them after seeing 1 or 2 of their paintings (i.e. Nicholas Tournier & Valentin de Boulonge), so even the works by Caravaggio's followers is engaging.
