Friday, December 22, 2006

The Art In Munich


This is an image of The Mandrill - a work by German expressionist artist Franz Marc which I’m familiar with. This very staid opening line does not, however, adequately convey the total sense of wonder and surprise that came across me when I stumbled upon it in Munich’s Pinakothek der Moderne – the city’s main showcase for modern and contemporary art. I stood there, almost mesmerized, looking intently at the rich colours, and a torrent of thoughts poured forth.

The few who’ve been to my apartment in Singapore would perhaps recognize The Mandrill from a large framed poster of the same work that hangs in my living room. Yes, it's pretty obvious - I’m definitely a fan of Franz Marc. I began learning more about him when I was in the US a few years back, and it was there that I managed to obtain a large reproduction of The Mandrill. Something about the sheer exuberance of the painting seized me immediately. It is a work I see each day back home, reminding me of a certain place, a certain time, even a certain someone... Yet nothing can really prepare you when you cast your eyes upon the real thing.

Franz Marc is known mainly as a painter of animals, especially horses. He dreamt of a better, ideal world, and saw in animals potent symbols of purity and even abstraction, typically rendering them in vivid, aggressive colours. Marc is also celebrated, together with fellow artist Wassily Kandinsky, as one of the founders of the short-lived Blue Rider artistic movment of the early 20th century. But his promising career was halted with the outbreak of the First World War. Fighting on the German side, Marc was killed in action in 1916.

The Pinakothek der Moderne also featured a wide-ranging retrospective of the work of American artist Dan Flavin. Not acquainted with Flavin? He’s the guy who sticks a normal fluorescent tube on the wall and then calls it art. Surely anyone can do that? But ever since Marcel Duchamps produced an ordinary urinal and declared it art, we’ve seen the movement of everyday items into the previously hallowed halls of high culture. And certainly, Flavin staked the claim to be the first and possibly only person to work exclusively with fluorescent lighting. It's an innovative move. To be properly appreciated, art depends on light. Here's art that itself generates light.

And to be fair to Flavin, this was the first occasion I’ve had to view so many of his works in one setting, and quite a few of them were rather appealing. There is a certain allure in the luminosity, although I’m hard pressed to describe it properly. Nonetheless, here are a few examples:




Besides Franz Marc and Dan Flavin, the Pinakothek der Moderne showcased a good selection of works from 20th century German artists, such as Beckmann, Kirchner, Beuys and Baselitz. There were also examples from the wider world, including Magritte, Miro, Braque and Dali. All in all, a very satisfying place.

Apart from the Pinakothek der Moderne, I also visited during this trip to Munich the nearby Neue Pinakothek, which presents art from the 18th century until the early 20th century, and also the Haus der Kunst (House of Art). It’s located in a former Fascist building at the edge of the Englishes Garten – Munich’s largest public park. Formerly the House of German Art, where examples of state sanctioned art were exhibited, it’s since been transformed into a much more liberal and welcoming institution. Were they still around, the Nazis might have condemned the displays there as degenerate art. But Germany has, as they say, come a long way since. It's become a very different country, and I was certainly happy to have returned this time round.

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hej, I step-in in your Blog accidently and like it :-) If you are a great Franz Marc Fan, you must visit the Franz-Marc-Museum [www.franz-marc-museum.de]!!! It is so wounderfull there. Due to reconstruction the museum is unfortunatly closed until spring 2008. I wish you a Merry Christmas, Greetings from Augsburg, Tina

11:32 PM  

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