The art of portraiture in the Louvre collections: Periodical exhibition at the National Gallery
The new National Gallery-Museum of Alexandros Soutsos inaugurates its exhibition activity with an imposing exhibition dedicated to “The art of portraiture in the Louvre collections”.
The Exhibition “In Search of Immortality – The Art of Portrait in the Louvre Collections”, which covers more than 3000 years of history, starts from the deepest antiquity, from the kingdoms of the Middle East and Egypt, runs through the Greco-Roman period, with the emblematic portraits of Homer, Alexander the Great and the Roman emperor Trajan, to end up in the funeral masks of Fayum.
The selection of works continues with the predominance of Christianity, when idealism overlaps the personality of the individual, to ultimately lead us to the triumphant emergence of the human form in the years of the Renaissance.
Finally, crossing the ostentatious Baroque, with its official portraits of kings and nobles, but also with its sudden shocking psychological deviations, the exhibition introduces the philosophers of the Enlightenment, referring to the French Revolution with the shocking portrait of Jacques-Louis Davutt ( Mara “), but also to Napoleon, initially triumphant, in Antoine Jean Gro.’S masterpiece” Napoleon crosses the Bridge of Arcoli “, and later defeated and exiled, with his shocking funeral mask. Finally, the exhibition reaches the time limits of the Louvre museum’s collections with characteristic works by Engr and Delacroix.
No social category is absent from this rich collection: women, children, families, represented by masterpieces of great artists. Among the great artists we will find the names of Botticelli, Veronese, Greco, Velasquez, Rembrandt, Goya, Reynolds, David, Engr, Delacroix and others. They are the faces of history and the living history of art itself.
The curators of the exhibition chose a non-linear historical presentation of the works, but a thematic organization of the material, based mainly on the social function of the portrait in each era. Each era is represented by characteristic works that illustrate the function and symbolism of the portrait in that period.
The history of the event
The planning of the first periodic exhibitions of a new museum is traditionally linked to its director’s vision for politics and image. Especially when it has an imposing hall of periodical exhibitions, which exceeds an area of 2000 m2 (Hall “Antonios E. Komninos Foundation”), which is inaugurated with this emblematic exhibition.
For a long time I had come to the idea that if every year the museum had to and could organize two large exhibitions, alongside numerous smaller ones, they should cover both the Greek history of art and the art of other countries. The presentation of the permanent collections presumably gave us a panorama of the history of modern Greek art, the first therefore significant exhibition could and should have been dedicated to an exhibition event, which would be a tribute of the new National Gallery to a big brother foreign museum.
We chose the Louvre, not only because of the huge wealth of its collections but also because of the traditional ties between the two countries Greece and France. These ties are eloquently highlighted by the multifaceted anniversary exhibition “Paris-Athens, the birth of modern Greece, 1675-1919”, which is currently dedicated by the Louvre Museum in our country, celebrating with us the 200 years of Polygenesis. An exhibition that is the fruit of cooperation between the National Gallery and the Louvre, alongside other Greek museums.
Four years ago, I met at the Louvre with the now honorary president and director of the famous French museum, Jean-Luc Martinez. I had asked to meet with him to discuss my proposal, as I watched the National Gallery construction site move towards the completion of the building.
His response to my idea was enthusiastic. He suggested to me the exhibition of “Portrait in the Louvre Collections”, an exhibition that had already been presented in Japan, but which he willingly accepted, in collaboration with the competent directors and curators of the museum, to modify it and enrich it with new representative masterpieces from the rich collections of the museum, especially for the National Gallery.
The collaboration with the Louvre Museum established deep friendly relations with the Honorary President and Director Jean-Luc Martinez, who honoured us with repeated visits during the preparation of the Paris-Athens exhibition but also to closely monitor its work. new National Gallery. But also the new president and director of the Louvre, the distinguished art historian Mrs Laurence des Cars greeted and embraced with warmth and enthusiasm both our cooperation in the Paris-Athens exhibition and the exhibition of portraiture.
EXHIBITION FACTORS
IDEA-COORDINATION:
Marina Lambraki-Plaka, Director of EPMAS DILIGENCE: LOUVRE MUSEUM Ludovic Laugier, Curator of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities Côme Fabre, Curator in the Painting department
Coordination of the exhibition:
Aline François-Colin, Deputy Director of Cultural Planning Nicolas Lesur, Exhibition Coordinator of the Louvre Museum NATIONAL GALLERY-ALEXANDROS SOUTSOS MUSEUM Efi Agathonikou, Director of Collections Katerina Tavantzi, Curator of EPMAS
Financial support:
Marina Makri Public relations-communication: Irini Tselepi Architectural study: George Parmenidis, Christine Longuépée, Iphigenia Marie
From 1/12/2021 to 28/03/2022
Opening hours:
Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday 10.00 – 18.00.
Issuance of tickets until 17.00 Wednesday 10.00 – 21.00. Issuance of tickets until 20.00
Location:
National Gallery – Museum Al. Soutzou, Vassileos Konstantinou 50, Athens
Information / Reservations:
