Rossetti

Dante Gabriel Rossetti is an unusual painter. Superficially Rossetti and Mucha have a lot in common, they both paint women with long flowing hair surrounded by symbolic items. But their tones and colours are different, and they create different moods. It was nice to see both exhibitions in the same week though, and to be able to think about the two artists together.

The exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum is interesting. I enjoyed the variety of items there, they show the breadth of Rossetti’s work and career. The early sketches are small and simple, and I loved the imperfections in some of them, they show a young artist trying to find his way. You can see the gradual development of the painter, the influence of the other Pre-Raphaelites, the move from small drawings to his paintings of women.

I liked two paintings of his rooms, some pieces of jewelry that he painted placed next to the paintings, and I liked the photographs of models and other painters. I guess in that sense the whole exhibition reminded me of the Mucha too. I enjoyed being back with the Pre-Raphaelites, seeing these colours, the women and the themes and symbolism. The colours always get to me, though I must admit I also really loved seeing all the small sketches, like a series of sketches of Elizabeth Siddall. And I loved seeing the portrait he did of Maria Zambaco. A close friend once told me about Maria Zambaco, so seeing the portrait reminded me of him too.

I think I’ll go back again later on, just to see some pieces again. It is nice to have this exhibition so close to home and to be able to go and see it again when I feel like it.

At the museum they had a great book on Schiele, which I could not resist. I love Schiele’s drawings, because they always seem so simple, but they are so unusual and there is so much emotion in them. This book has a lot of drawings and watercolours and it looks great. Just a lot of pictures and very little text. The Van Gogh has a great bookshop for modern art anyway, always a temptation.

I must own up to an even tougher moment at the museum though. I went for a coffee just before midday at the cafetaria, and spent about three minutes staring at a piece of cake. It did look good, and I was hungry. I reached out for a plate to put it on, and then I managed to change my mind and walk away with just the coffee. It was a close thing though.