Wednesday, September 06, 2006

The Dahesh


Was in New York City last weekend with a friend and we went and checked out the Dahesh museum on Madison and 57th. First time I had ever been there, and as of now, its a spot I certainly recommend going to...especially if you like that Orientalist/Pre-Raphaelite painting style...Alma-Tadema...Gerome...etc. These guys paint so tight and with such vivid color...it just blows me away. The show they currently had was Napoleon in Egypt. Apparently, along with his army, Napoleon brought along a group of artist (The French Army spitefully nick named them "the Savants")- they recorded all that they saw and came across on that Ill fated campaign into the desert. Probably some of the first illustrations of the sphinx and all those juicy monuments from antiquity. So quite a few etchings and a handful of exceptional paintings. Good show.
Here are a couple more Geromes, just for good measure...the first one being the title piece for the show at The Dahesh.


Heres a really good one...think this was at the Bostom Museum of Fine Arts...YOW!