REVIEW: ‘Modern Antiquity’ ready to open at Musée Picasso, Antibes

LOS ANGELES — Modern Antiquity: Picasso, de Chirico, Léger and Picabia in the Presence of the Antique is a beautifully realized art exhibit that serves as a bridge between classicism and the preeminent artists of the early 20th century. The show, which recently closed at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles and is set to open at the Musée Picasso in Antibes, France, uses the power of juxtaposition to show how the past and near present are forever connected.

These four great painters did not live and work in vacuums. They may have reinvented their styles and relied on expressive modernism to find their calling, but many of their greatest works still hold an evident relationship to the great paintings and statues of the past.

Giorgio de Chirico is probably the one artist to make this connection evident to the audience. The exhibit features several of his oils on canvas depicting scenes of classic statues in shadowy expanses. Take a look at his “Square with Ariadne”. Although the Greek figure is carved out of stone, she has a modern sensibility. She lounges in the sun, perhaps waiting for the shade of the nearby arcade to cover her over. There is nothing alive in the painting, and yet de Chirico is able to add a sense of sexuality and mystery. A similar theme can be found in “The Soothsayer’s Recompense”.

Fernand Léger, the great French Cubist, provides the exhibit with its cover image. In “Nude on a Red Background,” we view a woman who seems lost in time. Her figure is robust and shapely, seeming to fit perfectly with the Belle Époque scene. But in her stateliness there’s also something ancient, like this woman is a product of some bygone era.

Francis Picabia, a personal favorite, offers some of the most engaging additions to the exhibit. His “Rubi” and “Sphinx” can strike audience members dumbfounded, leaving them for hours just staring at the lines and multiple scenes all occurring at once.

The problem with his inclusion in Modern Antiquity is that he seems too unique to fit into the overall theme. He certainly touches upon classical images in his “transparency” works, but the subject matter is so deemphasized that the paintings become more about their technique than what they depict. This leaves Picabia as the odd man out.

Pablo Picasso’s additions are evocative and interesting, mostly because they are pulled from his early career during the 1920s. “Four Nudes by the Sea” still impresses with its lazy display of flesh, while “Studio with Plaster Head” is a fine example of abstract art.

Of the antiquity pieces, there are many statues and unidentified heads from as early as 330 B.C. They are displayed right next to their 20th-century cousins, as if nothing has changed in 2,000 years (and yet everything has). Seeing this give-and-take between time eras and cultures is wonderfully educative. Suddenly the works of Picasso and company take on a new light, as if we had been missing something all along.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Modern Antiquity: Picasso de Chirico, Léger and Picabia in the Presence of the Antique

• Recently closed at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, running Feb. 16 to May 20 at the Musée Picasso in Antibes, France

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