April 10, 2015
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Guercino Exhibition
We went to Ueno to see this today.
Guercino (1591-1666) was one of the major painters of the Italian Baroque period who further developed the Baroque aesthetics begun by painters Caravaggio and Carracci. Conversely, he was also a painter whose style helped form later academic painting methods, and in the past has numbered amongst the most famous painters in the history of Italian art. Around the mid 19th century, when the art world began to express new values and views, Guercino was dismissed and forgotten, only to be the subject of rediscovery from the mid 20th century onwards. A number of major exhibitions have been held on his arts in recent years, primarily in Italy. The NMWA collection includes one oil painting by Guercino, and this exhibition will provide an overview of his entire oeuvre through the display of approximately 40 oil paintings. This is the first Guercino exhibition to be held in Japan.
The majority of the works in the exhibition were lent by the Civic Gallery (housed in the Palazzo del Monte di Pietà) in Cento. In fact, an earthquake struck Cento in May 2012 and the city suffered great damage. The Civic Gallery remains closed due to damage from the earthquake and there is no set date for its reopening. This exhibition is part of the region’s efforts to rebuild after the earthquake and a portion of the profits raised by this exhibition will be used for the rebuilding of the Civic Gallery.
Can you find the mistake in this picture? Here's a hint.
We also went to see an exhibition about the Amazon at the Science Museum. Cetopsis coecutiens are extremely scary fish!
