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Everyone loves The Barnes! This time we’ll see a special Picasso exhibit, along with the enormously rich collection in this wonderful museum. The walls are filled with180 Renoirs, 68 Cezannes, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos, 16 Modiglianis and 7 Van Goghs – plus African sculpture, Asian prints, medieval manuscripts, and decorative metalwork. It also includes magnificent old master paintings by El Greco, Peter Paul Rubens and Titian. It is an extraordinary experience viewing these masterpieces in one place.
“Picasso: The Great War, Experimentation and Change”explores Picasso’s work from 1912 – 1924, during the tumultuous years of the First World War, when the artist began to alternate between cubist and classical modes in his art. In the exhibit, he moves back and forth between the two styles, breaking forms apart and making them whole again. The exhibit features some 50 oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings from the Picasso Museums in Barcelona, Malaga, and Paris, and from private collections. There are also about 15 great paintings by Picasso’s contemporaries – including Matisse, Braque, Leger, and Rivera. There are photos by Cocteau of Picasso and his friends in Montparnasse. The exhibition includes four costumes, the theatre curtain, and the sets designed by Picasso for the avant-garde ballet, Parade. It premiered in Paris in 1917 and was performed by Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, with music by Eric Satie and story by Jean Cocteau.Parade was the first collaboration of its kind and was viewed as a revolutionary approach to theater. Picasso was the first avant-garde artist involved in such a production. Parade may be the ultimate fusion of cubist and classical forms.
The bus departs from the back of the former Ames, Kingston Plaza, at 8am. We return to Kingston at approximately 6:45pm.The cost covers admission to The Barnes and tickets to “Picasso:The Great War, Experimentation and Change. “Our tour is self-guided with easy-to-use digital audio guides that provide expert commentary, music and art history references. Also included is the luxury coach, gratuity, mimosas with breakfast en route, and a selection of wines with delicious hors d’oeuvres on the return trip. Lunch is dutch-treat in the Garden Restaurant or the Coffee Bar of the museum or, if you prefer, across the street at Le Pain Quotidien, Pizzeria Vetri, or Whole Foods.
Dr. Albert C. Barnes was a brilliant man who made a fortune when he developed, marketed and manufactured Argyrol, an antiseptic silver compound used to prevent infant blindness. After Barnes sold his business for $6 billion in 1929, he, with the help of William Glackens and Gertrude Stein, began collecting art in Paris. Over the ensuing years, he acquired some of the most outstanding Impressionist and Post Impressionist paintings, among them Matisse’s “The Joy of Life” and Cezanne’s “The Card Players.” The collection, described as priceless, is estimated to be worth more than $25 billion. It was housed in his home in Merion, PA and became a remarkable museum. The collection was moved in 2012 to its present location on Philadelphia’s showplace Franklin Avenue. The new museum is an exact replica of the original: 24 galleries recreated with the exact proportions and window placement, the same mustard-colored burlap walls, and the artwork arranged exactly as in his Merion mansion. This museum is a national treasure to visit again and again.
To reserve, make your check payable to AAUW (American Association of University Women), include your phone number, address and email, and mail it to: Linda Gold, 1 Jacobs Lane, New Paltz, NY 12561. For further information, call Linda at 845-255-5256 or email artladyLG@aol.com. Specify “art tours” in the space for “subject.” Sign up early to ensure a spot. There will be no refunds unless the spot is filled by someone on the waiting list.
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