Mondrian: Perfect Harmony at the Complesso del Vittoriano

Mondrian: Perfect Harmony at the Complesso del Vittoriano

Composition No. 12 with Blue © Mondrian/Holtzman Trust

One of the best places in the world to view the work of Piet Mondrian is undoubtedly the Gemeentemuseum in the Hague, where Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage created a Municipal Art Gallery designed to fully exploit natural light wherever possible. When I visited the museum as an art student over twenty years ago, the dazzling colours and light in Mondrian's early landscape paintings had an enormous and lasting impact on me – these works were sheer perfection. I was genuinely excited, therefore, when I discovered that the current Mondrian exhibition at the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome would consist almost entirely of works on loan from the Gemeentemuseum's vast collection of works by the Dutch painter.

Mondrian's primary coloured Neo-plastic paintings are truly iconic and instantly recognisable the world over. They are represented at the close of this retrospective by a handful of paintings in the final room, and include the Composition with Large Red Plane, Yellow, Black, Gray and Blue (1921) used in the poster campaign across the city, as well as Composition No. 12 with Blue (started in Paris in 1936 and completed after his move to New York in 1942), on loan from the National Gallery of Canada. As familiar as these paintings may be, no reproduction can ever quite match the thrill of the encounter with real paint on canvas – the dynamism of Composition No. 12, with its flickering optical effects, kept me transfixed.

Study for Five Trees along the Gein with Moon (1907)
© Mondrian/Holtzman Trust

Perhaps the greatest achievement of this exhibition, however, is in the way it traces the logical progression of Mondrian's artistic journey from his origins as a painter of Dutch impressionist landscape paintings in the style of the Hague School, through the various artistic movements of the twentieth century, until the influence of cubism set him on the path towards first, De Stijl and eventually, total abstraction. Symbolism, luminism, pointillism, and the vivid colors of fauvism, all played a part, as did his interest in theosophy, and it is these earlier paintings and varied styles which will surely surprise and delight any visitor with only a passing knowledge of the artist.

The Red Cloud © Mondrian/Holtzman Trust

Whilst Mondrian would eventually pare down his artistic vision into vertical and horizontal lines and blocks of saturated primaries, this tendency can also be seen in his charcoal studies of trees, which are well represented in this show, and in the architectural forms such as the lighthouses, windmills and churches that break the flat Dutch landscape, or even gorgeous splashes of colour such as a solitary salmon-coloured cloud in an azure sky in The Red Cloud (1907).

The awkward spacial layout and lack of natural lighting at the Vittoriano make this exhibition space less than ideal for showcasing the shimmering beauty of Mondrian's early landscapes, but this is nevertheless, a must-see show and an excellent introduction to the artist's entire oeuvre.

Mondrian: Perfect Harmony continues at the Complesso del Vittoriano until 29th January, 2012.

Copyright on paintings in this post as indicated (web-resolution, fair use rationale).

Merry Christmas - Buon Natale from Rome!

If you are visiting Rome over the holiday period take a stroll along Via del Corso and admire the red, white and green Christmas lights. Representing the Italian flag on the 150th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy, the decorations stretch the entire length of the main shopping street from Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo.

Buon Natale!

RomaEuropa Festival 2011: The Irrepressibles at the Auditorium Conciliazione

The Irrepressibles on stage in Rome

The 2011 edition of the RomaEuropa Festival closed on Wednesday evening at the Auditorium Conciliazione with an utterly captivating performance by The Irrepressibles, the genre-smashing British band lead by charismatic singer and composer Jamie McDermott. After wooing public and critics alike with their first studio album and accompanying show Mirror Mirror, the Irrepressibles brought a new stage piece entitled Nude to this year's Rome arts festival, including songs which will appear on their forthcoming album, as well as several from their earlier outing.

As an Irrepressibles first-timer, I really wasn't sure what to expect from this performance - there was certainly a buzz of eager anticipation in the Auditorium foyer before the show. After an hour of waiting, however, the concert still hadn't started because of some mysterious “technical difficulties” – Roman audiences are used to ten or fifteen-minute delays, but by now people had become audibly restless, if not fractious! All was quickly forgiven, however, when Jamie McDermott finally emerged from the shadows into a dim spotlight, wearing a studded leather jacket and an electric guitar, and began to sing.

With its projected images and lighting effects designed by Ami Jane Cadillac for Lavish productions, Nude is very much a multimedia performance piece, but the heart of the show is the music - traditional rock instruments such as drums, guitars, and keyboards are married with orchestral instruments like violins and cellos, resulting in a unique and enchanting blend of Baroque pop and electronic soundscapes. The glue that holds it all together is undeniably McDermott's bewitching vocals. At first listen, superficial comparisons to Antony and the Johnson come easily to mind thanks to McDermott and Antony Hegarty's gorgeous soaring falsettos with a touch of vibrato, but clearly the Irrepressibles have been influenced by many other artists and McDermott wears those influences on his sleeve to create a willfully eclectic mix, as if he has managed to assimilate just about every New Romantic band from the 1980s and then produce something refreshingly new.

Whilst clearly straddling the line between performance art and a traditional pop concert, there is nothing aloof about Jamie McDermott – during the show's finale, in fact, the entire band, who for most of the show play shrouded behind translucent screens, affording us only tantalising glimpses of them - stepped down from the stage and wandered through the audience, closing the evening in a wonderfully intimate way.

A fantastic evening – catch them if you can!

Watch a clip of the meet and greet session with Jamie McDermott signing copies of Mirror Mirror after the concert below or click here to watch on YouTube.

RomaEuropa Festival 2011: Peter Brook's 'A Magic Flute' at Teatro Argentina

The 2011 edition of the RomaEuropa Festival, which embraces not only the visual arts, but also dance, film, theatre, music and performance art, is entitled “Try the impossible”. Peter Brook, the British theatre director renowned for thinking outside the box, would certainly seem to fit the bill with his utterly captivating reinvention of Mozart's most magical opera Die Zauberflöte. In Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne's adaptation the title is no longer “The” Magic Flute of the original, but “A” Magic Flute instead – a less-is-more exploration of the opera, reduced to just seven essential singing roles and two actors, accompanied by composer Franck Krawczyk's arrangements on a single piano. Performed barefoot on a virtually bare stage - the scenery is evoked through bamboo poles which are moved as needed to create the idea of prison bars, tree branches, or temple walls – this is a brilliantly simple, yet highly effective production.

The musical numbers are sung in the original German, whilst the spoken dialogue is delivered in French - with subtitles in Italian – and the cast is an international mix of talented young singers and actors, who perform on rotation during the various evenings. On the Thursday evening performance I attended Australian tenor Adrian Strooper and Turkish-Dutch soprano Aylin Sezer were just perfect as the innocent lovers Tamino and Pamina, coloratura soprano Malia Bendi-Merad was a wonderfully restrained Queen of the Night, whilst bass Vincent Pavesi was an imposing Sarastro.

Without doubt, however, it was Thomas Dolié as Papageno, a fine baritone and great comic actor, and Dima Bawab as Papagena, who delighted the audience most, eliciting a round of spontaneous applause after their duet.

A final mention should also go to the charismatic actor Abdou Ouologuem – his sleight-of-hand “magic” opens and closes A Magic Flute and his elegant presence gently guides the players from one scene to the next.

Unmissable!

Un Flauto Magico (A Magic Flute) continues at Teatro Argentina until 27 November, 2011.

Richard Gere presents 'Days of Heaven' at the International Rome Film Festival 2011

Richard Gere introduces 'Days of Heaven' in Rome

No stranger to the International Rome Film Festival having attended two earlier editions of the fledgling kermesse, Richard Gere was back at the Auditorium Parco della Musica on Thursday to attend a special screening of the newly restored print of Terrence Malick's 1978 masterpiece Days of Heaven. Crowds lining the red carpet at this year's festival have been noticeably thinner than in previous years, but the charismatic appeal of a huge Hollywood star had worked its magic and Richard Gere's arrival was accompanied by hundreds of fans clamouring for a glimpse of the actor as he strolled the length of the red carpet, shaking hands and signing only the occasional autograph. The welcome in Sala Sinopoli was no less enthusiastic, and he was greeted with cheers and rapturous applause when he appeared on stage to introduce the movie.

After the film, it was a contemplative Richard Gere who returned to the stage to discuss the film with Claudio Masenza. Explaining that he hadn't seen Days of Heaven himself for over thirty years, he confessed that he found it difficult to relate to the man he had just seen on screen and that his memories of making the movie, and that period of his life, felt rather dreamlike now. Thanks to Masenza's pertinent questions about the technical aspects behind the making of Days of Heaven, however, this turned into a brief, but fascinating conversation, full of revealing insights into what it was like for the young actor to work with the sometimes exasperating director Terence Malick in what was his first lead movie role. Commenting on Malick's obsessive reediting of Days of Heaven, Gere joked: If they hadn't taken it away from him, he'd still be editing it today!

On the following evening Richard Gere was back at the festival once more for the closing awards ceremony, where he was presented with the 2011 Marc'Aurelio lifetime achievement acting award, joining the ranks of previous winners Sean Connery, Sophia Loren, Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, and the 2010 winner Julianne Moore.

To get a taste of the atmosphere at the Days Heaven screening watch the video of Richard Gere on the red carpet and in Sala Sinopoli below (or click here to watch on YouTube).