Saturday, November 13, 2010

Save Your Nickels

I don't have what it takes to be an art critic.  It's not just that I don't have the background; it's also that I don't think I'd ever have the confidence to tell the rest of the world that someone's work was bad or undeserving when the range of artistic preferences is so broad.  That being said, I will tell you right now that if you've been thinking about going to see the exhibit, Trésor des Médicis, at the Musee Maillol, DON'T.  It's a hot ticket at the moment with lines out the door and around the block to prove it.  But trust me.  While the items on display -- paintings, manuscripts, decorative objects, prints and drawings, furniture -- are as truly magnificent as their former owners, this may be one of the worst curated and worst organized exhibitions I've seen in a long time.  The rooms are tiny, the traffic flow poorly designed, the supporting text not well linked to the works of art on display.  And with tickets priced at 11 euros (more if you buy in advance through FNAC), that adds up to a real disappointment.  And fair warning to those who've been thinking about checking out the museum for the first time, just a handful of works by the sculptor Maillol from the museum's permanent collection are on display and only tucked into corridors.  Consider yourself warned and for that matter lucky:  there are over 200 other museums and galleries in Paris beckoning.

4 comments:

Jane, Naples, Florida said...

Thank you for taking the time to post about this exhibit. Very
interesting! I enjoy your blog
and always learn something!

Jane
Flora Doora

Starman said...

I went to this exhibit and I agree with your assessment of the way it's presented. But I do think it's worth the visit.

Sweet Freak said...

Et voila - you *are* an art critic! I trust your opinion and value the advice, so merci!

Sasho said...

Wow. I was just talking about this museum with someone a few days ago. I've never been. He was extolling its virtue of usually being deserted.

What a pity that the exhibit is so poorly displayed. That looks like a Bronzino on the poster. Those beg to be properly lit; when they are, they glow. (I just realized that for me, they bring Holbein to mind. It's partially the blue background but also the extremely fine portraiture.) And I abhor crowds at an art exhibit.

Still, I'd rather be there than here in California at the moment.

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