“With etching there is an element of danger and mystery. You don’t know how it’s going to come out. What’s black is white. What’s left is right.”
— Lucian Freud, March 2007
More than three hundred years separate the lives of Rembrandt van Rijn and Lucian Freud, two great masters of the human form. Both artists made printmaking an integral part of their art practice, and both have created extraordinary images using the etching process. Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–1663), better known today for his paintings, was hailed in the seventeenth century as “a great virtuoso” for the astonishing range and variety of his work in the etching medium. Contemporary artist Lucian Freud is the grandson of the psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. He was born in Berlin in 1922 but has lived in England since 1933. Celebrated internationally as both a painter and a printmaker, he has been called the “Rembrandt of our times.”
Now, a provocative exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario juxtaposes the etchings of Rembrandt and Freud, encouraging visitors to make new connections between these two influential artists. Rembrandt / Freud: Etchings from Life showcases remarkable and uncompromising images of the human face and the human body. These are powerful works of art that go beyond surface appearances to reveal the inner life of their subjects. The exhibition includes self-portraits, nudes and portraits of family, friends, animals and landscapes.
The AGO has an extensive collection of Rembrandt etchings, thanks to a major gift in 2006 from Esther and Sam Sarick. The Mira Godard Gallery, the McMaster Museum of Art and several private collectors have generously loaned Freud etchings to this exhibition.
The AGO and the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) continue to host Sunday afternoon concerts by talented RCM students through spring 2010. Concerts are held in the AGO’s Walker Court from 1:30 to 2:15 pm, and are free with admission.
This Sunday’s concert, January 31, features soprano vocalist and pianist Taylor Strande, who has been hailed as "the best on stage with natural acting ability and a clear arcing lyric soprano" by Classical 96.3.
Most recently, Strande has been seen as Josephine in Comedy on the Bridge and Despina in Cos fan tutte with The Glenn Gould School, and has also performed with the New Music Ensemble in Pierre Michaud’s Constat dune metamorphose among many other roles. She completed her Bachelor of Music from the U of T, and is pursuing an artist diploma from the Glenn Gould School.
Next Sunday’s concert – Connie Kim-Sheng on piano.
The AGO and the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) continue to host Sunday afternoon concerts by talented RCM students through spring 2010. Concerts are held in the AGO’s Walker Court from 1:30 to 2:15 pm, and are free with admission.
This Sunday’s concert, January 24, features violin duo Shannon Bowles and Hanna Matthijsse.
Matthijsse has been featured as soloist with the Glenn Gould School Sinfonia, was a finalist in the 2009 Glenn Gould School Concerto Competition. She has performed as a chamber musician on CBC Radio, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, and with the Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, and is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School.
Bowles has performed as concertmaster of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, associate concertmaster of the Symphony of the Kootenays, and as a member of the Calgary Youth Orchestra and Nelson Songfest Orchestra, among others. She has recently completed her undergraduate studies at the Glenn Gould School.
Could this be an engagement portrait of a Dutch girl aged four? Her ring, the carnations, the fan, and the peacock all refer to love and marriage. Only upper class marriages were arranged at such a tender age and this girl, with her expensive silk clothes and jewelry, was clearly from a well to do family.
In the 1600s, rich Dutch girls attended school to learn reading, writing, religion, music, dance and French. Instead of going to university – which was forbidden – they went to Paris to absorb fashionable French culture first hand. At an early age, poor girls stopped school to work full time.
Join us on Feb. 28, 2010 as we try to set a new Guinness World Record for the most people “Tutting” at one time.
Professional dance artist Mark Cabuena from the Toronto dance crews “Grand Illusion” and “For the Funk of It” has choreographed a simple “Tutting” routine that you will learn, practice and perform on the day of the event. Not only will you impress friends and family, you can help us set the Guniness World Record for the most people dancing simultaneously by “Tutting” continuously for five minutes!
But that’s not all!
Everyone who participates in the event will receive 1 free general admission to the Art Gallery of Ontario and be entered into a contest to win a King Tut weekend in Toronto! One lucky winner will receive one night accommodations for two at the Westin Harbour Castle, two VIP tickets to see King Tut, and $500 in shopping certificates courtesy of Scarborough Town Centre!
Also the first 100 adults and first 100 youth to complete the registration process will receive 1 free ticket to see King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs (Please note this exhibition is time ticketed and therefore is subject to availability. Tickets valid until April 18, 2010.).
The AGO and the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) continue to host Sunday afternoon concerts by talented RCM students through spring 2010. Concerts are held in the AGO’s Walker Court from 1:30 to 2:15 pm, and are free with admission.
(Image courtesy Royal Conservatory of Music)
This year’s first concert on January 17 will feature the Meiden Quinet, with piano and strings.
Violinist Hanna Matthijsse has been featured as soloist with the Glenn Gould School Sinfonia, was a finalist in the 2009 Glenn Gould School Concerto Competition. She has performed as a chamber musician on CBC Radio, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, and with the Via Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, and is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School.
Violinist Shannon Bowles has performed as concertmaster of the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, associate concertmaster of the Symphony of the Kootenays, and as a member of the Calgary Youth Orchestra and Nelson Songfest Orchestra, among others. She has recently completed her undergraduate studies at the Glenn Gould School.
Canadian violist Ronelle Schaufele recently performed at the Euro Festival in Leipzig, Germany and completed an Artist in Residency program at the Banff Centre of the Arts. Her performances with various orchestras include the Okanogan Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Currently principle violist in the Urban Village Chamber Orchestra, she is completing an Artist Diploma Program at the Glenn Gould School.
Hannah Wolkstein is a cellist currently studying at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. Hannah has attended the Meadowmount School of Music, Encore School for Strings, Henry Mancini Institute, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Innsbrook Institute, Quartet Program and the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France. While attending Interlochen, she was a member of the World Youth Symphony and performed with Itzhak Perlman.
Pianist Markéta Ornova has performed as a chamber musician throughout Italy, the Czech Republic and Austria, and at numerous summer performance festivals, including the Orford Arts Center in Quebec, the Toronto Summer Music Festival and Academy, the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Maine, the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival and Orvieto Musica in Italy. Having recently completed the four-year Performance Diploma at the Glenn Gould School, she is now pursuing the post-graduate Artist Diploma there.
Hang onto your hats! It’s hard to imagine a windier place than the artist’s vantage point for this landscape – a chalk cliff one hundred metres above the English Channel.
Impressionist Claude Monet painted many views of these popular rocks near the fishing village of Étretat on France’s Normandy Coast. He became especially adept at painting the shimmering effects of light on water.
Why is this landscape such an unusual shape? Monet painted it on an armoire door supplied by his hotel manager as partial payment of the bill. Lucky manager, who sold the painting in the 1920s!
Time to stop playing the field and settle down? Bernini was the most famous sculptor in 17th century Europe. Yet his personal life was a scandal.
At age 42, the bachelor’s tumultous love affairs came to an abrupt end when patron Pope Urban VIII forced him to repent and marry. In his search for forgiveness, Bernini became deeply pious.
He cast this sculpture of the dying Christ three times – for the king of Spain, the king of France, and one for himself. His suffering Christ – naturalistic and emotional, offered the artist hope for eternal salvation.
