As part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA)'s celebration of Venice, a smaller exhibition, "Mad on Color," is now displayed in the museum's Upper Hemicycle gallery to accompany the major show "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice," which recently opened to the public in the Gund Gallery. "Mad on Color" runs until Aug. 30, but is by no means as large as its partner in the Gund Gallery. Rather, it presents, on an intimate scale, the way that artists of the 19th and 20th centuries captured and reinterpreted aspects of the same city that so inspired the old masters.
Consisting of only six paintings, the show is something that museum-goers will be able to view relatively quickly, and its location in the area where the Old Master's gallery meets the Art of Europe wing serves as both a good transition between the two spaces and a perfect complement to the main exhibition of "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese."
The column-lined gallery in which the paintings are displayed vaguely recalls a loggia in a Venetian Palace and perfectly suits paintings by artists such as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, James Abbot McNeill Whistler and John Singer Sargent. The show's paintings combine established themes in Venetian art with the brilliant colors for which many of these artists were so well known.
Because Venice consists of a series of man-made islands that are traversed by canals, water has always been a fundamental aspect of life in the city. Not surprisingly, water has likewise occupied a prominent place in Venetian art for centuries, and the paintings in this show demonstrate that legacy quite well.
Renoir's "Grand Canal, Venice" (1881) incorporates these themes, and his use of color on the canvas is particularly appealing, tying in nicely with the show's title. His painting shows the Grand Canal, the city's largest canal and main artery, filled with boats during a typical day.
Renoir also depicts the grand palaces that were built along this main artery, some of the city's most desirable real estate, so that it becomes difficult to distinguish between palace and canal as they recede into the horizon. In doing so, he captures and reinterprets the importance of water and reflection to the city.
Monet's "Grand Canal, Venice" (1908) is also very moving. Awash in the pinks and bright blues for which he has become famous, this work depicts the church of Santa Maria della Salute with its domes rising above elegant palazzos.
There is something very calming about Monet's canvas. Unlike Renoir, Monet does not depict the city's hustle and bustle. Because he paints the canals as largely empty, the scene at once captures the monumentality and serenity of Venice.
Whistler's "Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon, Venice" (1879-80) is the only painting in the show to portray the city at night, and does so with great drama and effect. With its dark coloring, Whistler's canvas conveys the thickness of the night air as well as the silhouettes of the city's buildings as they pierce the night sky and ominously reflect on the water. The only light in the city comes from several small glimmers on the far horizon. In the forefront, several boats seem to be gliding quietly by, attesting to the fact that this mighty city never sleeps.
Venice has inspired artists for centuries, and visitors to the MFA now have a unique opportunity to view different artistic responses to the city. In "Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese" some of the world's most spectacular 16th century Venetian paintings are now on view, and, in "Mad on Color," visitors can experience another, more contemporary interpretation of Venice.
