July 30
Nancy and I went to the Getty today and particularly enjoyed the on-loan exhibit ‘The Spectacular Art of Jean-Léon Gérôme’ and Spectacular it was, a full life retrospective.
I’d never even heard of the guy! I was taken with his technical skills, his feelings of his subjects in the portraits, and his ability to tell a whole big complicated story in one visually commanding picture. He’s criticized for his theatricality and I could definitely see why, but I liked it anyway.
From the website: “Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904) was among the most officially honored and financially successful French artists of the second half of the 19th century. His brilliantly painted and often provocative pictures were at the center of heated debates over the present and future of the great French painting tradition.”