Developed in collaboration between MFA Boston and NGS, Into the Modern presents a selection of over 100 Impressionist works from MFA Boston’s (clearly impressive) permanent collection. In NGS’ ten-year history, this is the second time we have the privilege to view French Impressionist works on such a large scale in Singapore. This blog Wording Art has also turned 10 (!!!), and I have loved sharing about Impressionism throughout the years, and so it’s super timely to end the year with nineteenth-century French Impressionism.

Nature and the Impressionists

Into the Modern begins — perhaps a little surprisingly — with the Barbizon School of painters, before Impressionism was fully formed. Located about 60km outside Paris, artists gathered in the village of Barbizon and painted in the nearby Forest of Fontainebleau. Artists like Théodore Rousseau embraced these scenic landscapes untouched by modern developments. I have a soft spot for Rousseau’s paintings of nature, so it was wonderful to see Pool in the Forest. The Barbizon artists painted nature in a Realist style, and influenced the next generation of painters to radically approach nature through Impressionism.

1874: The First Impressionist Exhibition

The reproductions of two prints and a photograph (most right) on this gallery wall offer a look into the annual Salons held in the Palais de l’Industrie from 1855 onwards (where it was previously held in the Louvre). Artists could submit whatever artworks they wanted to the prestigious Salon, but only those that met the academic criteria of the time would be accepted.

It’s probably not surprising that the Impressionist style of loose, rapid painting especially en plein air (in the outdoors) did not fit what the Salon wanted. A group of Impressionist painters gathered together to form the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc (Anonymous Society of Painters, Sculptors, Engravers, etc.). They staged their first Impressionist exhibition in 1874, independent of the Salon, which later came to be a landmark moment for the Impressionists.

Very interestingly, Renoir and Monet painted the same ‘models’ in the portraits above: Monet’s first wife Camille, and their son Jean. Monet made many paintings with Camille and Jean set within lush gardens or fields. In Renoir’s take, Camille looks directly to the viewer (although I find her face not well-portrayed), while the toddler happily wanders off.

I just realised that a reproduced version of Meadow with Poplars was shown at Impressions of Monet at Gardens by the Bay last year! Now we get to see the real thing!

I particularly loved this stretch of four paintings by Renoir, Monet and Cézanne, showing how they depicted people within landscapes.

Waterscapes and Landscapes

This landscape painting looks very much like a Renoir, but reminded me of Cézanne somehow… Turns out Renoir visited Cézanne in the village of L’Estaque in 1882, which Cézanne regularly visited and painted since the 1860s. Together, the two artists painted the same view of the mountainous terrain.

I really like Renoir’s painting of The Seine at Chatou, which was known as a boating spot in the Parisian suburbs. Particularly, I love the details of the girl’s red hat and flowers, and the small boats in the distance.

A Little Post-Impressionism

It’s also a treat to see more of Cézanne’s works. While he shared the Impressionists’ penchant for painting nature, his compositions look quite different as Cézanne began exploring his own painterly style (flatter and with a kind of slanted perspective). Retrospectively then, he’s better known as a Post-Impressionist.

Camille Pissarro’s career was probably the most varied among the Impressionists. His early influences came from the Barbizon School of painters, later becoming the ‘father of Impressionism’. He helped to establish the Société anonyme des artistes peintres, sculpteurs, graveurs, etc, and acted as a mentor and father figure to key Impressionist figures.

The two paintings pictured here marks Pissarro’s late period when he explored Pointillism. After meeting the Neo-Impressionist artists Georges Seurat (not included in this exhibition) and Paul Signac (included in this exhibition but not pictured in this post), Pissarro experimented with the technique of placing dots of complementary colours next to each other. Seurat is best known for the Pointillist technique, which is actually so painstaking! Pissarro brought his own take on Pointillism in these scenes of ideal rural life and labour.

City Life and Paris

At this point, we reach the final Gallery 3 of Into the Modern at National Gallery Singapore. Out of the countryside and into the city! This is my favourite section of the exhibition, as we shall see…

Perhaps the ultimate ‘painter of modern life’, to borrow Charles Baudelaire’s words, was Édouard Manet. Although he did not exhibit in the Impressionist Exhibitions, he did his fair share of challenging the artistic status quo. In 1865, he exhibited his scandalous painting Olympia (which somehow managed to get accepted!) at the Salon. The stark image of a nude figure who confronts the viewer in Olympia was modelled by Manet’s favourite model, Victorine Meurent. The exhibition includes a print etching of Olympia. Meurent also appears in Street Singer below.

It’s so interesting to compare a self-portrait with a portrait of the same person… Manet’s portrait of Victorine Meurent and Meurent’s Self-Portrait were painted over a decade apart, and they certainly present different views of the model and artist. In Meurent’s Self-Portrait I find it intriguing how she is almost fully turned to the side, and she appears quite fierce or confrontational here.

Renoir’s Highlight Piece

A highlight of Into the Modern is definitely Renoir’s Dance at Bougival! I can’t believe we get the chance to see this in Singapore, as it supposedly rarely leaves Boston on loan. This is probably the best work by Renoir in my opinion. A couple dances in a café in Bougival, a popular recreation town along the Seine outside Paris. Dancing outdoors in a public setting — isn’t that so modern?

Degas and Cassatt

I was drawn to Degas’ painting because it depicts the ‘simple’ experience of a Visit to a Museum. It’s also the perfect sisterly activity to do, as Degas paints fellow Impressionist artist Mary Cassatt and her sister, Lydia, in the Louvre. Degas and Cassatt were close colleagues and friends, and it’s nice to see artists painting each other in this manner.

Hailing from America, it is a shame though that Cassatt’s works in the MFA Boston collection don’t feature in this exhibition. Mary Cassatt played a huge part not only in contributing to the Impressionists’ output, but she also advised American patrons to buy Impressionist works, especially the Havemeyer family. The original Havemeyer art collection now largely resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as in the Shelburne Museum, which you can read more about here.

In the lecture hosted in conjunction with this exhibition, the eminent art historian Griselda Pollock spoke about Mary Cassatt and how she was a key player among the Impressionists. As Pollock puts it, the Impressionists were the first egalitarian artist group where women could play equal roles as men. I also got to ask Prof. Pollock a question about Degas and Cassatt in relation to Visit to a Museum — which will remain as one of the best moments of my life! As anyone who works on women artists would know, Pollock’s work is highly influential in the field, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to ask her a question about Cassatt and her appearance in Degas’ painting. :)

Still Life

I really liked seeing this section of the gallery focusing on the Impressionists’ work on still life (paintings of still, inanimate objects). I feel that the individuality and uniqueness of each of the Impressionists’ painting styles come through really well in these still lifes. Also, can you spot Renoir’s signature in the lower right of Mixed Flowers in an Earthenware Pot?

Cézanne’s paintings of fruit in his still life paintings would be the most well-known among them all. Even now, he still astonishes us with an apple…

Immersed in Monet

The exhibition ends with a roomful of Monet’s paintings. How amazing is that! I also love the look of the curved walls in this room (as you can see in the cover picture), as it reminds me of the display of Monet’s Water Lilies at Musée de l’Orangerie (my dream to visit one day!)…

Poppy Field in a Hollow near Giverny is one of my favourites in this selection. Many of these works were created after Monet settled in Giverny in 1883 for the rest of his life.

Of course, don’t miss The Water Lily Pond! This is one in a series where Monet painted a view of the water lily pond in his Giverny gardens, featuring his Japanese-style green bridge — perhaps coloured a little differently in the sunlight in this painting.

I love the delicate pinks and blues that Monet captures in his paintings of Antibes. Antibes Seen from the Plateau Notre-Dame is displayed earlier in the exhibition, as you can see above in this post. I also especially love the detail of the tiny sailboats in Cap d’Antibes, Mistral. I need to see it again — it’s another of my favourites.

When travelling in Antibes, Monet wrote to Alice Hoschedé (who later became Monet’s second wife) in January 1888: ‘I am painting the town of Antibes, a little fortified town all golden in the sun that stands out against beautiful blue and pink mountains and the eternally snow-capped range of the Alps.’ I think Monet perfectly captured the pastel beauty of Antibes as he described.

Be sure to visit Into the Modern at National Gallery Singapore to see all of these beautiful Impressionist works and more! The exhibition is ongoing until 1 March 2026.

A special promotion is also ongoing, where you can get 25% off the exhibition ticket until 1 February 2026. Additionally, present your exhibition tickets to get 10% off Pierre Hermé macarons at the pop-up at Padang Atrium, Level 1, until 31 December 2025. My sister bought those Pierre Hermé macarons, and they’re sooo good!

Overall, I thought Into the Modern was an excellent exhibition. It’s wonderful to see so many people queuing (!) to see it. If you have seen the show, let me know what you think by rating it below!

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HKPM is the Hong Kong ‘branch’ of the Palace Museum located in the Forbidden Palace in Beijing, China. So it already boasts a stunning display of artworks and artefacts in the galleries. This exhibition is, to me, extra special as HKPM collaborated with Château de Versailles to bring almost 150 artefacts together from both collections to explore how China and France mutually inspired and influence each other during the 17th and 18th centuries. Cross-cultural interactions between China and Europe, especially during the eighteenth century, is exactly the line of research that I’m getting more and more interested in these days!

Setting the Scene: The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles

The opening video piece, titled Symphony of Time and Space: The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles, immerses you in the architectural spaces of the Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles. I loved the shots where details from both palaces are juxtaposed against each other.

In the centre of the gallery is the display of the elaborate key used to open the main door of the Royal Chapel of Versailles. It’s shown alongside the Qing emperor’s seal and a jade book recording Qianlong Emperor’s Ten Great Campaigns.

Louis in Versailles

The first artwork we encounter in the exhibition is the famous portrait of Louis XIV — an excellent choice! The original Portrait of Louis XIV by Hyacinthe Rigaud was made in 1701, which now resides in the Musée du Louvre. The image of the Sun King was so popular that Rigaud made numerous copies, like this one shown here. I still remember my professor in my first-year art history class enthusiastically telling us that Louis XIV wanted to show off his regal legs… because he was known to be a great dancer! I was so excited to see this painting and I struck my best dancing pose, hahaha!

I was very taken by the fine rendering of Louis XV’s clothing and regalia in Drouais’ portrait. Another example of a beautiful portrait of a Louis.

The Qing Emperors

As the exhibition covers the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the artefacts on show cover a few generations of Louis’s and Qing emperors. In France, we begin with the Sun King Louis XIV (r. 1643–1715), his great-grandson Louis XV (r. 1715–1774), and finally Louis XV’s grandson Louis XVI (r. 1774–1792). Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were guillotined in 1793, but this exhibition doesn’t touch on the grisly revolution in France at the end of the eighteenth century.

In contrast, this period saw the ‘golden age’ of the Qing dynasty. The three most powerful emperors of their time: Kangxi Emperor 康熙帝 (r. 1662–1722), his son Yongzheng Emperor 雍正帝 (r. 1723–1735), and the Yongzheng Emperor’s son Qianlong Emperor 乾隆帝 (r. 1735–1796).

My favourite Chinese portrait was of the Yongzheng Emperor. In this hanging scroll Yongzheng Emperor holds a ruyi (如意). The ceremonial sceptre is so named to symbolise good fortune, but also acts as a means to display sovereignty. I also couldn’t help but notice his sharp, pointy nails…? Qianlong Emperor also grew long nails — as you can see below, alongside the exquisite details of his court attire. The dragon motifs, of course, represent the emperor.

Everyday Life

The next section of the exhibition focused on the everyday objects that populated both of the royal residences. Some objects were made in France and given to the Chinese court, and vice versa. Most of these objects in this section were scientific instruments, reflecting the scientific exchanges between China and France (particularly in Europe’s Age of Enlightenment) during this period.

The interest in science also meant the proliferation of these wonderful and strange-looking clocks in the Chinese courts! These are ‘musical automation clocks’ as elements of the clock, such as the green palm trees in the clock pictured above, would turn and rotate while music played. It’s like how wind-up music toys work, but in fancy, ornately decorated gold clocks that also tell the time.

Porcelain Trianon and Madame de Montespan

I loved learning about Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, more commonly known as Madame de Montespan. A formidable woman known for her beauty and wit, she officially became Louis XIV’s mistress in 1674. Madame de Montespan ousted the preceding woman for the role before she was eventually ousted herself… This portrait depicts Madame de Montespan when she was around 23 years old, a few years before she worked her way into Louis XIV’s affections.

Louis XIV had the Porcelain Trianon (Trianon de Porcelaine) built near Versailles in 1670 for Madame de Montespan. What was special about the site was how it was decorated to resemble the blue-and-white porcelain that originated from China. The blue and white tiles used to decorate the pavilions of the residence were however made of faience (earthenware), as Europeans had yet to discover the ‘secret’ step in the process of creating porcelain. By 1687, the Trianon de Porcelaine was demolished. The building was simply too costly to maintain. At the same time, Madame de Montespan had fallen out of favour with Louis XIV.

Porcelain in France

In the 1760s, the good people of Sèvres Manufactory in France finally cracked the code in making porcelain: the incorporation of kaolin clay in the recipe. The French could now make porcelain vases of their own (instead of relying on Chinese imports). Although inspired by Chinese designs, the pair of vases pictured above still look very European to me with the style of the cartouche and the lion head handles.

It was common for gold mounts to be added to Chinese porcelain vases in French collections. The Ge porcelain is distinctive for its crackled glaze — so unique and beautiful. This perfume fountain belonged to Louis XV and was kept in his wardrobe!

Madame de Pompadour

From 1745 to 1751, Madame de Pompadour was the official mistress of Louis XV. After stepping down from her role, she became Louis XV’s confidante and political advisor, and continued to be highly influential in the French court. I remember learning so much about her portraits in French art history classes. She commissioned various portraits by leading French artists of the day, as a means to secure power in her public position.

Drouais’ Portrait of Madame Pompadour appears to be related to the larger-scale Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame, 1763–4, in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Madame de Pompadour is depicted in the same bonnet and dress with the striped ribbons and flower pattern. In Madame de Pompadour at her Tambour Frame, Drouais expands the image to show Madame de Pompadour working at a tapestry in her salon at her apartment in Versailles.

Made in France

This exquisite Chrysanthemum pot was commissioned by imperial order in Beijing. Previously thought to have made in Guangdong, the pot was in actuality made in France and later shipped to Beijing. The enameller Joseph Coteau had convincingly painted flowers on the pot’s body in a ‘Chinese style’. On the bottom of the pot is Qianlong Emperor’s collection mark「乾隆年制」and — as recently discovered by the Palace Museum — Joseph Coteau’s signature ‘Couteau’ on the edge.

Similarly, this ewer with stylised lotus scroll was made in France and then sent to Beijing. It was a part of Qianlong Emperor’s collection, with his collection mark「乾隆年制」indicated on the bottom.

French and Chinese Aesthetics

This case of the lobed flower basket with peonies is a very interesting one! In 1775, Qianlong Emperor ordered replicas to be made of ten pieces of enamelware from the Kangxi and Yongzheng periods. Craftsmen in Guangdong and France were tasked to re-create the same flower basket, but there are slight differences. I prefer the more saturated blue colour of the French basket (pictured right), and the painting style of the flowers and leafs. On the other hand, I like the paler yellow on the exterior of the Guangdong basket. The Guangdong basket also appears more functional with the rectangular handle and the slight inward curve of the rim of the basket.

Portraits of Marie and Marie

Queen Marie Leszczyńska, wife of Louis XV, was a fan of Chinese culture and decor. She contributed to the making of the painting The Nanjing Market (below), reproduced from a Dutch illustration. The painting hung in the Chinese Chamber in Queen Marie’s private suite in the Palace of Versailles. Such scenes made by European travellers depicted everyday Chinese landscapes, but usually were error-prone or conjured imaginary pictures of China. The Nanjing Market pictures a row of shops with curved roofs and tall poles between them… It’s a strange and lively picture!

Marie Adélaïde was the daughter of Louis XV and Queen Marie. She is depicted in another gorgeous portrait by Nattier, where she holds a closed fan. The folding fan was a male accessory in China during this period. Interestingly, inspired by Chinese culture, the fan became a part of women’s fashion in the French court instead.

Crossing Cultures: China and France

A painted porcelain portrait! This portrait was based on the Jesuit Giuseppe Panzi’s original painting, who had served at the Qing imperial court. It’s a rare and fascinating depiction of a Chinese emperor through a European’s eyes and artistic style.

I enjoyed this interactive panel, which offered a contrasting view of Chinese and French portrait styles by comparing individual facial features between the Portrait of the Qianlong Emperor on porcelain plaque and other Chinese portraits.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing dynasty, it was popular to incorporate images of European figures on decorative objects (as seen above). In parallel, eighteenth-century French art and aesthetics also included various scenes of Chinese figures — in the craze for chinoiserie. Clearly, both cultures were fascinated by the other. I still find these images of Europeans by Chinese craftsmen and those of the Chinese by European craftsmen mutually strange, though!

Final Work: Voltaire

The exhibition concludes with a Portrait of Voltaire. A key figure of the French Enlightenment, the writer and philosopher held a high regard for China.

I’m not very familiar with Voltaire’s work, but I shall leave you reader with two of my favourite quotes from him:

Let us read, and let us dance—two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.

Dictionnaire philosophique (1764) ‘Liberty of the Press’

Doubt is not a pleasant condition. But certainty is an absurd one.

Letter to Frederick the Great, 28 November 1770

The Forbidden City and the Palace of Versailles: China-France Cultural Encounters in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries ultimately focuses on the positive interactions between China and France during these years. Indeed, not everyone agreed with Voltaire in his admiration of China. That being said, I found it very refreshing to learn more about the sincere exchanges largely made between the two royal courts. The exhibition featured so many beautiful artworks, porcelain, and other decorative objects which was such a treat to see. I really hope to see more exhibitions featuring cross-cultural exchanges in the future!

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The exhibition of Impressions of Monet is such a treat, transporting us to Monet’s Giverny right within the grounds of Gardens by the Bay! When I first learnt about Claude Monet (only in uni), I instantly loved his impressionistic artworks. He remains one of my favourite artists, and I count myself very lucky to have viewed his works across Hong Kong, Singapore and London! Visiting Giverny one day remains on my travel list, but it’s so cool that I get to see a replica of Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny right here in Singapore! I also think this might be my favourite exhibition in Singapore in 2024 so far.

Impressions of Monet: The Garden (Part I)

Around the age of 43, Monet and his family moved to Giverny, settling in a house and accompanying gardens from 1883 till his death in 1926. Over the years, Monet transformed his property into what we know and love today. The paint colours of his home (a gorgeous baby pink and dark green combination) were meant to emulate houses on the French Riviera, and his gardens became known for the water lily ponds which inspired his painting series of the subject made in his later years.

Gardens by the Bay in Singapore has rotating flower displays every year (sakura or cherry blossoms, tulips, and roses are the key highlights). I loved that they did something new this time around by centring the floral display on Monet’s gardens in Giverny.

The exhibition Impressions of Monet consists of two parts: Impressions of Monet: The Garden and Impressions of Monet: The Experience. There is much to see here!

I loved seeing the flowers in this show, which are different from the usual lineup at Gardens by the Bay. Closely aligned to the theme, the flowers included here were also the ones that Monet planted in his original gardens.

Painting En Plein Air

Monet was one of the French painters who made up the art movement of Impressionism. Monet was especially known for his obsession in chasing after light effects in nature. This involved taking his easel, canvas, paintbrushes, palette, and painting toolbox out and about to paint outdoors. Or in French, to paint en plein air. This also meant to paint quickly, resulting in the kind of short, rapid brushstrokes that define Impressionist paintings.

Here, a bronze sculpture of Monet shows him painting within the gardens! I also loved that he’s seen in the act of painting Monet’s Garden at Giverny (1895). Fitting choice!

Inside Monet’s House

There are other interactive elements among the garden, like stepping inside Monet’s house and seeing the interiors!

Monet took inspiration from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints from the Edo period, and some reproductions are included within the house too. To see more, check out my post on Life in Edo!

A spectacular setup of Monet’s Giverny maison et jardins is the highlight of Impressions of Monet: The Garden!

Flowers and Paintings

You may have noticed that most of the ‘artworks’ included within Impressions of Monet: The Garden were actually repainted copies. (Possibly due to copyright restrictions?) Monet has such a wide oeurve, and I loved having the chance to learn about some of his works that I didn’t know of before! The exhibition didn’t provide any ‘captions’, so I had to find out what these artworks are for myself!

Woman with a Parasol is one of my absolute favourites by Monet, and it’s nicely included here!

I especially loved seeing these sunflower-looking flowers — they remind me of my convocation earlier in July! Plus, they look a lot like the flowers in The Artist’s Garden at Vétheuil above! The last ‘artwork’ nestled among these yellow flowers is a repainted copy of Meadow with Poplars, about 1875, in the collection of MFA Boston. A repainted copy of a very similar composition, Poppy Fields near Argenteuil (1875) at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, also appears among an earlier section of these yellow flowers (see photo at the beginning of this post).

Water Lilies in Monet’s Giverny

It took me time to understand my water lilies. I had planted them for the pleasure of it; I grew them without ever thinking of painting them. – Claude Monet

It was wonderful to see a few water lily ponds (bassin aux nymphéas) throughout the exhibition. It was also the water lilies’ debut at Gardens by the Bay, appearing in a floral display for the first time! We also got to see Monet’s Japanese-inspired green bridges (usually painted in red in Japanese culture), like the ones that he built in Giverny.

Impressions of Monet: The Experience (Part II)

I thought Impressions of Monet: The Garden was wonderful on its own, but there’s even more to see with Impressions of Monet: The Experience! The second part is like what you might expect from an immersive experience: it begins with various information panels on the artists of the Impressionist movement, includes a few reproductions of Monet’s paintings, and has many photo spots and digital elements!

I thought this rather abstract version of Monet’s Nymphéas was fascinating! I’ve never seen anything like it before — it’s in a private collection.

Monet: The Immersive Experience

The major highlight is the immersive experience itself! Produced by Grande Experiences (Australia), the digital experience shows the progression of the Impressionist movement, set to a classical music soundtrack. There was also a fragrance element, with a specially developed scent diffused through the gallery — but to be honest, I didn’t catch it!

My favourite part might be the opening section where the dramatic music shows some of the artistic styles and artworks that preceded the Impressionism movement. For example, I spy Jacques-Louis David (neoclassicism), Eugène Delacroix (romanticism), and Gustave Courbet (realism). Then bam! The music rises to indicate the Impressionists arriving on the scene.

One of my other absolute favourites of Monet’s is his Houses of Parliament series (1899–1904) made in London. I was so happy to see a 1904 version in Hong Kong back in 2016! Monet’s Houses of Parliament painting series is also going to be a subject of the exhibition Monet and London. Views of the Thames at The Courtauld Gallery in London opening soon this month — really wished I could be there!

I liked that the immersive experience also included artworks by the other Impressionist artists! I just wished that the artwork titles were included within the immersive experience too. Above is an expanded view of Paul Cézanne’s The Montagne Sainte-Victoire with a Large Pine (around 1887) at The Courtauld.

An expanded view of Monet’s La Pie (The Magpie) (1868-69) which was last in Singapore at National Gallery Singapore in 2017!

Gift Shop

The final touch of Impressions of Monet: The Experience is, of course, the gift shop! I ended up going home with a high-quality mug with a design of Woman with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her Son (1875) and Woman with a Parasol, Facing Left (1886) photoshopped together.

Overall, I thought Impressions of Monet was excellently done, and I had the best time exploring Monet’s iconic house in Giverny — but in Gardens by the Bay in Singapore! I really think Gardens by the Bay has outdone themselves. Impressions of Monet: The Garden at Gardens by the Bay, with a touch of Giverny, is showing until 17th September 2024. Impressions of Monet: The Experience is showing until 18th February 2025.

Next up in Singapore, I’m looking forward to the immersive experience of Monet Inside (from Seoul, Korea) opening in October. Would the immersive experience be even more epic? Well, I’ll take any reason to see more Monet — whether physically or digitally!

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I think it goes without saying that I loved the show, and to me it’s worth 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. While I had seen a couple of Kauffman’s artworks before, it was amazing to see so much more in person (where I had only viewed them in books or online).

| Cover picture: Detail of Self-portrait at the Crossroads between the Arts of Music and Painting |

Note: Artwork titles are provided here according to those stated in the exhibition. Throughout my research, I’ve noticed that the titles of Kauffman’s artworks are regularly updated.

Before getting into the rest of this post, I also wanted to share about my guest post on the Art Herstory blog. If interested to read more about Kauffman from another perspective, have a read of my guest post titled ‘Angelica Kauffman: Art, Music and Poetry’ here!

Opening: Self-Portraits

The exhibition opens with three of Kauffman’s self-portraits, all dating to the 1780s. The highlight is her magisterial Self-Portrait in all’antica Dress, loaned from the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy. The word ‘all’antica’ means ‘in the style of the antique’ to evoke the fashions of classical antiquity.

Kauffman’s Portraits: 1760s-1770s

The exhibition follows a roughly chronological order, tracing Kauffman’s life and artworks produced throughout her long career. A few key details to know about her: Kauffman (1741–1807) was Swiss-Austrian; she spent her early years training as an artist in Italy, and moved to London in 1766.

One of Kauffman’s early portraits is the Portrait of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, whose writings on classical Greek art and sculpture makes him one of history’s earliest art historians. As a young artist in her twenties, Kauffman began to make a name for herself with this portrait.

I loved seeing Kauffman’s portraits close up, so I include these photos of details of the paintings! Some of the details that stood out to me were Kauffman’s use of colours, and the varying textures of the fashions is just spectacular. My favourite among these is Portrait of Martha Cocks in Turkish Dress with Embroidery Frame!

Kauffman’s History Paintings: 1760s-1770s

Other than working in portraits, Kauffman was especially ambitious in pursuing the art of history painting. History painting is a genre where the subjects of painting are taken from classical texts, mythology, and biblical stories. Penelope, Cleopatra, and Rinaldo and Armida are examples of characters that feature in Kauffman’s choice of history paintings.

I loved seeing this pair of paintings that feature the same story of Armida and Rinaldo shown side by side. They belong to the collection of Kenwood House in London, but are usually displayed in different sections of the House. Seeing these two paintings together, it was so interesting to see the two main characters but also the two soldiers-onlookers appearing in the background once again…

Kauffman as a Royal Academician

The Royal Academy of Arts was founded in 1768, and Kauffman was included among the 36 founding members. We also know that Kauffman and Mary Moser were the only two female Royal Academicians among the 36. Based on this fact, it’s also so important that Angelica Kauffman is finally the subject of a solo exhibition at the Royal Academy in its long history!

Zoffany’s painting of The Academicians of the Royal Academy is now almost legendary, depicting the male Academicians in the setting of a life class (which never happened in real life), while the two women are shown in portraits hanging on the wall. Zoffany’s group portrait is one of a few works by other artists included in this Kauffman retrospective. I loved having the chance to finally see this famous work in person!

Kauffman’s portrait of her friend, and the first President of the Royal Academy of Arts, Sir Joshua Reynolds is stunning. It was only by seeing it in person that I could finally spot Kauffman’s signature along the bottom of the blank canvas situated behind Reynolds — it’s hard to detect in photos!

The Ceiling Paintings

Kauffman’s four ceiling paintings of Invention, Composition, Design, Colouring were commissioned by the RA in time for the opening of their new premises in Somerset House in 1780 (which is now the beautiful Courtauld Gallery). The paintings are now placed on the ceiling of the RA’s entrance foyer in Burlington House. But in this rare instance, the paintings of Design and Composition are exhibited on the wall! Invention and Colouring are currently on show at the (also excellent) exhibition Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain 1520–1920 at Tate Britain.

Wonderful to see these paintings up close instead of squinting up at the ceiling… Among the artworks pictured here, the ceiling paintings are the only paintings by Angelica Kauffman in the collection of the Royal Academy.

I also thought it was a nice touch to include Kauffman’s grisaille sketches of the ceiling paintings on the side. These sketches show how Kauffman initially worked out the compositions of her paintings.

But placing these grisaille sketches behind the glass frames also made them hard to see clearly… I had viewed these drawings two years ago at the V&A in their Prints and Drawings Study Room, and they are absolutely stunning (which these photos don’t manage to capture!).

This Self-portrait with Bust of Minerva is displayed next to the ceiling paintings too, which is an interesting choice! The self-portrait is dated to circa 1780–84, which means that Kauffman may have started on the painting while she was still in London until 1781, before settling in Rome for the rest of her life.

Kauffman in Rome: From 1782

The last section of the exhibition displays works by Kauffman made later in her career, after she moved to Rome in 1782. Based on the paintings we’ve already seen, it’s no surprise that Kauffman’s reputation as a well-known artist was secured.

This gem of a self-portrait also belongs to the collection of Kenwood House, and it’s so nice to see it included in this exhibition too! Kauffman depicts herself on the left as the ‘character of Design’, while the figure on the right represents the allegory of Poetry.

These are a few more of Kauffman’s history paintings from the 1790s, alongside one biblical picture depicting Christ and the Samaritan Woman. In the same room, the exhibition concludes with several gorgeous portraits!

Kauffman’s Portraits: 1790s

I especially love this portrait in the details of the sitter’s clothes. In this Portrait of Charles Brudenell-Bruce he wears a costume in the style of Van Dyck, evoking seventeenth-century fashions. The lace collar and the undulating lines of his coat are just so refined.

A highlight piece is also this Portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton, as Muse of Comedy. Emma Hamilton can be likened as a celebrity of the late eighteenth century. Apart from being known for her beauty, she also developed her performances of the ‘Attitudes’, where she struck varied poses inspired by classical sculpture. Here Kauffman depicts her performing as Thalia, the Muse of Comedy.

Emma Hamilton remains a notorious, yet fascinating, figure of her time (due to her history of love affairs), and she is the subject of many portraits. While this portrait belongs to a private collection, elsewhere in London you will be able to see her at the National Portrait Gallery, Kenwood House and Tate Britain.

Self-portrait at the Crossroads between the Arts of Music and Painting

I was so excited to see this beautiful, massive self-portrait in person! Painted late in her life and career, Kauffman (in the centre) reflects on her early decision to pursue the path of painting (figure on the right) instead of music (figure on the left). The painting is exceptional because it combines the genres of history painting, self-portraiture, and allegory all in one complete image.

I think the large size of the painting also matters, as it is a sign of artistic skill. Reserving such a large canvas for Kauffman’s own self-portrait seems to show that this image was significant for her too.

Plus look at all those details! It was also a lovely surprise to finally realise that Kauffman included her signature on the coloured sash of her dress.

My absolute favourite artwork within this exhibition Angelica Kauffman at the Royal Academy of Arts would be the Self-portrait at the Crossroads between the Arts of Music and Painting. I may also be biased, but I especially loved seeing Kauffman’s self-portraits, then my next favourites are her portraits.

I wished I could spend even more time in the exhibition (I was inside for 1.5 hours!), but putting this post together makes me so happy that I viewed so many artworks by Angelica Kauffman all in one place at the Royal Academy, after so many years — it’s a surreal feeling! The exhibition closes today at the end of June, but I also bought the exhibition catalogue and a postcard of Self-portrait with Bust of Minerva as souvenirs! If the RA had printed a Kauffman artwork on a tote bag, I would have totally bought it too!

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The Singapore edition of Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience had its run from March to October 2023, while the London edition has been running for over a year! I loved the location in Singapore at The Forum in Resorts World Sentosa, it was big and spacious. The London edition was at an industrial-style building in Spitalfields, and so I took the time to explore the area a bit too!

Get to Know Van Gogh

I love that the experience starts off with a collection of Van Gogh’s self-portraits, enlarged in equal size on these black banners. Van Gogh’s famous self-portraits in public museums were featured alongside some in private collections, which I thought were a nice inclusion!

The next section is all about getting to know more about Van Gogh. There’s a good mix of digital elements, replicas of Van Gogh’s paintings (no real works on site!), and wall panels sharing more information about his life and work. An exhibit of a life-size white vase is part of a digital projection that features the different flower paintings that Van Gogh made, which was pretty fun!

This was a fun real-life set-up of Van Gogh’s painting Bedroom in Arles. As the wall panel explains, Van Gogh made three versions of his bedroom in the famed ‘Yellow House’. Van Gogh had painted the first / original Bedroom in Arles in October 1888, now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. The two latter versions were made the following year in 1889, and are now in the Art Institute of Chicago and the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.

Looking at the set-up in the London immersive experience (pictured above), I think they were imitating the second version of Bedroom in Arles in the Art Institute of Chicago, with the similar colours and portraits on the wall! But this area was barred off, so unfortunately I couldn’t take a photo inside. The Singapore edition made the Bedroom a photo spot though!

The Immersive Experience

The star of the show is really the immersive experience itself, with so many of Van Gogh’s paintings brought to life and animated across the entire room. I liked how each painting was accompanied by its title and year of its making, if you care for the details like I do! There are also some quotes from Van Gogh’s letters, set along to a somewhat dramatic soundtrack.

I loved that the immersive experience included images of Tree Roots, which was the last painting that Van Gogh made. I remember following the art news (during the circuit breaker in May 2020!) that the location of these Tree Roots was newly discovered in Auvers-sur-Oise, France through a postcard photograph! As it was, Van Gogh lived in Auvers-sur-Oise back in 1890, and brought his colourful vision to the tree roots, which still look largely the same even today.

The immersive experience is about twenty minutes long, which is so worth the value! I beelined straight for the deck chairs because I loved lying back and staring up at the art on the screens, and it’s such a novel way of looking at art!! Although on second thought, I should have also tried parking myself on the sofas in the Singapore experience, as all of the furniture was sponsored by Castlery!

Because the immersive experience room in Singapore was so spacious and comfortable, I must say that I enjoyed it much more than the London edition, which had a smaller room. The room was very packed and so it was also difficult to get clear pictures!

Japonisme Room in Singapore

It felt extra special that the Singapore edition also included a japonisme room! This was not available in London, and I wonder if the other stops in Asia also have this. Van Gogh famously drew inspiration from Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints, like those by Hiroshige in particular. This japonisme room highlighted works from Chinese and Japanese art, as well as works by Van Gogh’s contemporaries, such as Gustav Klimt. The tea brand Matchaya also provided free samples of green tea, which I thought was such a nice touch!

Paint with Vincent

At the end, you can colour your own version of Van Gogh’s masterpieces, display it on the wall, and even project it digitally!

Sunflower Room

One more photo spot in the Sunflower Room in the Singapore edition before leaving!

Cafe and Merchandise Shop

I loved how the cafe and shop (in Singapore) was so well decked out and on-theme!

Some final thoughts: I really enjoyed seeing Van Gogh’s art in this new, immersive experience! I’ve heard some critique that this might not be a ‘purist’ way of looking at art, and at times the animated artworks in the immersive experience also took on ‘creative license’. But I’m of the view that it’s fun, engaging, and brings awareness to more of Van Gogh’s artworks — whether for old favourites or other less familiar ones.

Another note is the surprising difference in price: In Singapore an adult ticket cost SGD$24, while in London an adult ticket cost £19.90 (not inclusive of booking fees via the Fever app), which is quite a steep difference!

In any case, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience was fun enough to go twice! It’s exciting to see the experience continue its world tour, check out their website to see if it’s coming to your city!

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Going to London in May 2022 was such perfect timing as there were so many special exhibitions (and some still ongoing) that I was particularly interested to see! At The National Gallery, there’s the phenomenal Raphael exhibition — running until 31 July 2022. There was also the historic, once-in-a-century exhibition of Gainsborough’s The Blue Boy which ended on May 15th and I managed to see it in its final week!

| Cover image: Detail of John Constable’s The Hay Wain (1821) |

Raphael

I don’t think I really need to review the Raphael show and tell you how good it is, since it’s already gotten plenty of 5-star reviews from the British newspapers. There’s an incredible showing of artworks on loan, including the the Louvre, National Gallery of Art, Washington, the Prado Museum, Uffizi Museum and the Vatican Museum. I was also amazed that the exhibition pamphlet contained all the wall text and didactics in the show, so you could focus on viewing the pictures and reading up on each of them at a later time. Also very much appreciated since the ticket price is steep — I paid £24 to see it on a Monday morning.

I was super excited to go after viewing the exhibition trailer (so epic) and the photo highlights, which you can view on the National Gallery’s website here. I loved how they have blown up the portrait of Bindo Altoviti as the ‘star’ image, and it was fun seeing him on ads on buses and on billboards across the city!

I also loved seeing many of Raphael’s masterpieces of Madonnas, which was like a Renaissance art history class come to life! Love the colours, they’re so vivid.

But the absolute stunner of the show (spoiler alert?) to me is hands down, the final piece in the exhibition in the last portraits room: Portrait of a Woman (‘La Fornarina’).

I’ve actually been researching La Fornarina to include in my PhD, and I was so surprised and excited to find out that this was included in the Raphael exhibition! It is so much more beautiful and incredible than I’d ever expected in person. The Guardian says that ‘This great show is like falling in love again’, but I honestly just fell in love with this painting, it is so wonderful.

The sitter in question (La Fornarina, meaning the Baker’s Daughter) is not known, although she was purportedly Raphael’s lover. I would think she really was, as the entire painting is done with such intimacy and affection and it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen. My favourite part is her face and her blue and gold turban — I was literally admiring the blue colour.

Gainsborough’s Blue Boy

I might have a thing for blues so it was also perfect timing to see The Blue Boy by the British artist Thomas Gainsborough. The epic story behind The Blue Boy goes that it was sold to an American collector and sailed away from British shores 100 years ago, and now resides in the collection of The Huntington in San Marino, California. The painting goes on loan to The National Gallery for the first time ever, and 100 years later to the day (!) opens to the British public again on January 25, 2022.

There’s a fantastic article from ARTnews that shares more about the history behind The Blue Boy, which you can read here. Coincidentally, a few days ago, I also find out about The Pink Boy supposed to be a counterpart to The Blue Boy at the Waddesdon Manor!

I love the regal pose of The Blue Boy — who is now thought to be modelled by Gainsborough’s nephew Gainsborough Dupont — and the lovely blue shimmer to his clothes!

The Blue Boy was shown alongside a few of Gainsborough’s portraits as well as Antony van Dyck’s portraits, like the double portrait of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (1628–1687), and Lord Francis Villiers (1629–1648) below, which inspired The Blue Boy.

The Collection and British Art

The National Gallery, London consists of a collection of paintings in Western art ranging from the 13th century to the early 20th century, going from the medieval, Renaissance, early modern to the modern era. I spent the whole day taking in as much as I could, but my favourite room was the one devoted to British art from the 18th and 19th centuries!

More Favourites from the Collection

Going to the museum feels like an excellent lesson in Western art history, but at the end, I realised how devoid the collection is of women artists. I only saw works by Berthe Morisot, and a self-portrait by Gwen John (that’s on loan from the National Portrait Gallery which is currently closed for redevelopment).

The National Gallery also has fantastic self-portraits by Artemisia Gentileschi and Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun, but they are both out on loan to overseas exhibitions, so I was sad to miss them!!

Still, based on my bias, the National Gallery is one of my favourite museums in London!

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I like to say that in my ‘previous life’, i.e. before I discovered art history, I used to play music, picking up varying instruments at different times in life with the piano, saxophone (school band days) and guitar. I don’t think I ever did get accustomed to the discipline that regular musical practice requires, or learned how to play music ‘for fun’ or for myself — but I would say that music and songs are still very present in my everyday!

So I was also pretty heartened to hear during the exhibition tour preview of the curator Adrian George’s own personal attachment to the themes of Orchestral Manoeuvres revolving around music and sound. This exhibition is curated by the ArtScience Museum to mark its 10th year anniversary (already!), and I loved hearing the stories behind each work and seeing the care and effort that was taken in putting this exhibition together.

I was a little hesitant to see an entire exhibition on sound, particularly in contemporary art — because I thought it might not be for me, too avant-garde perhaps?? — but this was really excellent! It’s a quiet, as in understated, exploration of sound and music in art without being overbearing or overly pretentious. It actually feels like a calming exhibition interspersed with works that produce sounds or music (it’s a sound exhibition, after all!), and other artworks that describe the music instead.

I like how the didactic for this work calls Rage Fluids a “self-portrait in sculpture and sound”. The noise that plays in this installation makes the foil in these curved panels vibrate, and it’s meant to be a reference to the artist Perry’s childhood and car culture.

This is a series of photographs showing the effects of sound, set at different frequencies (that determine pitch), and how they create different vibrations or patterns on the surface of milk! I’ve never been good at physics and so don’t really understand this, but apparently low-frequency sounds, i.e. low-pitch sounds, cause the most impact on milk and create the most elaborate patterns!

These two Resonance in Frames works are in fact moving artworks, because the mechanisms (probably the microcontrollers) periodically tap against the copper pipes to create sound. It’s like the machinery is making music on its own!

This installation is a series of six works that have been so well-placed together. The top two hanging in the air Forest-Sounds – Bird NO.3 and Insects Chirping – Chinese Medicine Box move up and down, while the tree branches of Bird Song flap up and down! There’s also chirping sounds emanating from this corner, that seems to sound more like bird chirping (preferred!) than insect chirping.

I keep seeing the promo posters for the exhibition showing Chair of Concentration and declaring this as “Not your Usual Headphones”, haha! The objects in this definitely give it a traditional Chinese feel, but counters usual expectations of what you’ll see.

I really liked this one! Kim writes a sort of musical score for the sounds of different activities, expressing it in terms of volume (meaning loudness) and frequency (meaning rate of occurrence). I keep feeling like I have to clarify my word usage, in case I make a pun or when words could be understood differently in terms of sound!

For a bit of background on musical notation, specifically dynamics (i.e. loudness in music), p stands for piano meaning ‘quiet’, pp stands for pianissimo meaning ‘very quiet’, f stands for forte meaning loud, and ff stands for fortissimo meaning very loud. Kim uses these dynamics in her works to illustrate her sounds — and another interesting note (excuse the pun) is that Kim was born deaf, and she combines such musical notations with American Sign Language in these works.

Don’t these three works just so well express the tune of COVID-19 lockdowns……

I like how Khan takes inspiration from Bach, Beethoven and Mozart, and re-interprets their musical scores by overlapping the pages on top of each other to create these blotted prints.

I first saw Ang’s works in the restaged (is this a pun??) exhibition of Music For Everyone: Variations on a Theme last year at National Museum of Singapore, that was first shown at the Venice Biennale in 2019. I like how Ang’s patterned versions of Western-style five-line staves in musical notation are included here in Orchestral Manoeuvres too!

I was quite fascinated by this, as I mostly know Luigi Russolo for his Futurist paintings, but not for his music. I’ve also been fascinated with the Futurists since learning about them, because I find them so bold and nuts enough to hold on to their ambitions to envision the future of a modern city (when the movement formed in 1909), though keeping things purely on an artistic level and not actually acting on their radical ideals.

Anyway, most of Russolo’s musical compositions were destroyed during the Second World War, but music archeologists (this is a great term) have rediscovered the first seven bars of Il risveglio di una città (The Awakening of a City), as seen here!

Below the Russolo, there’s a display case showcasing some of John Cage’s compositions or musical instructions. And of course, there needs to be the inclusion of Cage’s seminal 4’33” of silence… and I love how there are ‘notes’ for this composition (such a pun).

This is a really interesting gathering of early scores from centuries past, and from cultures independent of the Western musical canon!

So I learned that a pianola is a self-playing piano, and this pianola can be turned on by pressing a giant red button at the back of it! 4’33” (Prepared Pianola for Roger Bannister) also references Cage’s 4’33”, but the duration here is in fact a reference to the British athletics sportsman Roger Bannister, who set a British record at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki for the 1500m Men’s Final. There are a few accompanying posters (seen above in the cover picture) as part of this work, but I think the pianola — especially when it starts playing really loudly — steals the show!

I really like these pieces by Yoko Ono, which are so whimsical, introspective and playful at the same time.

I really like this one of Gillian Wearing dancing in a South London shopping mall — but there’s no music playing. Instead, she’s dancing to songs playing in her head. That whole music playing in my memory totally happens with me too, and then I’ll have to actually play the actual song! Also, I like how this video piece was presented on an old-school small SONY TV.

This is probably the most popular or significant work in the entire exhibition, which I think resonated with many people too. I just took a photo of the forty speakers, but ultimately the work is really about the forty-track recording of the choir singing A reworking of “Spem in Alium”. Each speaker plays a recording of each of the choir members singing their part, and you can choose to listen to each individually, or just take it all in right in the centre. I’ve heard that many people felt moved by the experience, but for me, I would say that it felt pretty epic, like I was right in the middle of a choir, listening to their singing amplified.

This interactive space was pretty fun! You can step on a pedal, and that will make these various ‘installations’ of household objects to start moving around in a circle, and the objects jangle and clink against each other to make music!

This video was taken in Stuttgart, Germany, where the artist Nevin Aladağ spent her childhood. It’s a compilation of actual musical instruments being placed or moved around different parts of the city, and how they can be ‘played by the city’!

I thought this shot of a balloon attached to a cornet (I think??) just screamed aesthetic!

This final work of the exhibition pays tribute to Drei Klavierstücke (“Three Piano Pieces”), Op. 11, that was written by the Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg in 1909, but it’s also a tribute to the roles that cats play in our lives… It’s a compilation of various clips taken from YouTube videos featuring cats stepping on pianos, but all the notes culminate to perform the Op 11 piece! It’s both fun and random, and I also appreciate the love for cat videos (also so present in my life)!!

I also love the giant reproduction of the score on the wall next to the video screen, which are in fact the first few bars of Arnold Schoenberg’s Op. 11.

I would highly recommend a visit to this exhibition, which is different from the usual fare, but also so creative and thoughtful at the same time! It’s still showing for the first two days of the new year until 2 January 2022. Find out more at their exhibition link here.

I’m so glad I caught this exhibition, and it’s amazing to think that ArtScience Museum has already been around for 10 years in Singapore! ArtScience Museum still remains one of my favourite places to go to in Singapore, and it’s exciting to see what they will present next!

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The opening space shows a preclude of what’s to come, with a display of cheongsams and Shanghai-nese advertisements and posters.

The above two exhibits are examples of women’s dress from the late Qing dynasty, featuring traditional floral motifs. I also found the “boys-at-play” motif and the embroidered scene of literati gatherings in each of the respective pieces quite unexpected and very interesting!

We now come to the Republican period in China (1912–1949). After the 1911 Revolution, Chinese women’s dress changed to embrace a new “liberalisation” of fashion. According to the exhibition didactic, women wore more fitted and tailored styles that were influenced by Western dressing.

The print of this blue blouse is apparently influenced by the Art Deco movement of the 1920s! I’m a huge fan of Art Deco, by the way!

The term “civilised new outfits” references the changes in China post-1911 Revolution, when women wore a simple outfit of a blouse and skirt. These outfits were less “fussy”, didn’t have the elaborate patterns and motifs of yore, and offered more mobility. Women in Singapore also picked up on the style as a fashion trend, embodying the image of “modern women” in this period.

I was so amazed to see the woman riding a horse in the studio photograph on the right! On closer look now, I realise it’s a fake horse prop, but it’s still so cool to see how fun and relaxed these women looked, unlike in typical stiff studio photographs.

That’s the old National Gallery (former Supreme Court)! I love the woman’s outfit and the fact that she’s driving!

These studio photographs were my favourite part of the exhibition. The fashions show a nice mix of Chinese and Western styles popular in the 1920s era, but what struck me the most was the way these women were just having fun! Look at those relaxed poses and hand gestures — it feels so modern somehow.

The ren-front refers to the Chinese character 人 (ren), meaning people, person, etc., as it resembles the two strokes of the character by extending diagonally across both sides of the cheongsam.

These cheongsams from the 1950s and 1960s were supposedly worn to work — how fashion-forward!

The term samfoo is Cantonese, literally to mean shirt and pants, and were usually worn as casual wear or as simple work wear. This sleeveless samfoo puts a modern spin on it — and honestly, I love the print of this!

I found one more exhibit on the second storey of the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, where their permanent galleries are located. This example of a two-piece qi pao ma jia with a robe and vest was apparently one of the earliest forms of cheongsam.

There was one more cheongsam right at the entrance of the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, and it’s yet another beautiful piece.

To end off here, I wanted to say that this exhibition also finally cleared up my confusion about the history / etymology of the qipao / cheongsam! One of the exhibition panels describes “the awakening of women’s gender consciousness”, when some women in the early 20th century protested via dress (!) by wearing men’s clothes like the changpao (long robe).

And that’s how the qipao (manchu robe) came about, when fitted versions of the changpao, made for women instead, became popular among Chinese women in the 1930s. In Singapore, the Cantonese term cheongsam (long shirt or dress) is more commonly used to refer to this form of dress. And there we have it!

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I spent some time in my undergraduate days studying art in Japan and ukiyo-e prints (and the topic of Japanese art was definitely very popular among Hong Kong students), but never had the chance to see them in person before. So Life in Edo was a real treat for me being able to view so many of them at one go, and by many masters of the genre too!

My favourite artwork is probably this opening print from the first rotation, which seems to encapsulate the best of ukiyo-e prints: a picture of Mount Fuji and beautiful women.

While this exhibition has closed in October, I still wanted to share my highlights from the two rotations! This (very long) post is split into two parts with images from the first and second rotations respectively. For easier reference, the images are also sectioned according to Travel, Beauty, Pets, Food, Gardens, Seasonal Festivals, and Paintings (roughly following the curatorial direction of the exhibition).

My main impression coming out of this exhibition is that I was quite surprised by how modern Edo life was! Although Edo Japan (also known as the Tokugawa period) is thought of as belonging to a traditional, feudal Japan before the modernisation of the succeeding Meiji period, I feel that these images show a developed society steeped in its own culture and customs — which is so fascinating. While Edo period (1603–1868) ran for a pretty long time, all of the prints and paintings shown below come from the 19th century. I’m sure that I’ve mentioned this on the blog before, but the 19th century remains my favourite period to look at in art history, and it’s very interesting to me to see how people from different cultures lived life then!

Part I: Travel

What a way to travel — A daimyo (feudal lord) sits safely inside his palanquin in the distance, though the women also get impeccable service with bearers literally ferrying them across the river.

Part I: Beauty

This part is really interesting, showing women making themselves up. There were also a few surprising standards of beauty, for example, according to the exhibition didactic, women blackened their teeth to indicate she was an adult or married, and women shaved their eyebrows after giving birth to her first child. You can see both examples in the prints above!

Part I: Pets (Lots of cats!)

So the Japanese love for cats goes way back! I love this print by Hiroshige showing a cat in a brothel (belonging to a courtesan) staring out the window at the festivities outside.

I should also mention here that I loved seeing all the intricate designs of the kimonos and clothing in Edo Japan — so gorgeous and creative! Some of the prints belong to a series, and this one comes from a series titled ‘Fabrics to Order in Current Taste’, which clearly shows the importance of being fashionable at the time.

I wasn’t expecting that dogs were popular among the Japanese, but the Japanese Chin was a popular pet! The two prints above Woman holding a Japanese Chin and Hydrangeas show a woman similarly posed with her pet dog in hand.

Goldfish were yet another popular pet to keep and admire in their glass containers, as seen here.

This giant Indian elephant was placed on show for many of the Japanese public to see for the first time, and which must been very fascinating for them at the point of time to see an ‘exotic’ animal. I’m assuming that the printmaker Yoshitoyo must have actually seen this elephant for himself, since the didactic states that he made a few prints of the elephant… See Dürer’s Rhinoceros (1515) for an alternative case in point!

Part I: Food

I love this picture of the first snowfall, where women gather at this soba peddler’s stall for a bowl of cosy hot soba. I also love the detail of the women’s dainty umbrellas / parasols — I’m sure there’s a correct term for this but I’ve no idea…

Part I: Gardens & Seasonal Festivals

The Doll Festival (Hinamatsuri) was celebrated for the young girls in the household when the peach trees were in bloom! As the name suggests, dolls were displayed in the home as part of the festival, which you can also see in this print.

Part I: Paintings

These ink paintings almost seem overlooked compared to the popular woodblock prints, but they are also made so gorgeously! They share similar subject matter with the prints — like images of women with their cats and dogs — but are much larger in scale, and the ink and colour are more finely rendered.

Part II: Travel

I would say that Hiroshige is simply masterful at depicting rain in prints. I don’t think that my camera very clearly captures the rain effect in this print, but even so, you can see those drifts of rain layered over the scenery.

Another famous, classic rainy work by Hiroshige is Sudden Shower over Shin-Ōhashi Bridge and Atake (1857), also from the series ‘One Hundred Famous Views of Edo’, view it here at the Met Museum. Another favourite artist of mine, Vincent van Gogh, was so inspired by Hiroshige’s print he made his own copy Bridge in the Rain (after Hiroshige) (1887), on view at the Van Gogh Museum. Actually, I must visit both the Met and the Van Gogh Museum! I just wonder when…

Part II: Beauty

Part II: Women and Pets

I wonder about the choice of depicting these women In front of the bathhouse (the didactic didn’t explain this point), but this is yet another lovely image of women in their patterned kinomos carrying their umbrellas / parasols on a snowy day.

This scene comes from ‘False Murasaki’s Rural Genji’, which was a parody of the Japanese classic ‘Tale of Genji’. To briefly summarise from the didactic, Prince Genji at the centre of the print is seen participating in a cherry blossom viewing festival (I like how there were whole festivals for this), while the Third Princess, later to be given in marriage to Genji, appears on her verandah on the right of the image with her cat on a leash. It’s all a parody — so some details have been altered from the original Tale.

I really like this print of a girl getting up close to her cat, because which pet owner hasn’t been crouched over playing with your pet before?

This print has an interesting perspective of a mother carrying her son on her back (if you zoom in to see it in more detail).

It’s so interesting how sometimes, these ukiyo-e prints don’t have a sense of ‘background’ with figures and objects appearing out of ‘nowhere’ on the print. This is a triptych that shows women in front of glass artworks at a handicraft show in Ryōgoku, Edo City, in 1819. From left, there is a glass model of a large hanging lantern, a display of live exotic birds, and on the most right — the most impressive to me — a glass model of a Dutch trading ship.

These two prints of foreigners in interior spaces were included near the Food/Gastronomy section of the second rotation. Although seemingly a bit random, these images of foreigners — specifically white foreigners — was of interest to the Japanese, especially as the Edo period was marked by 200 years of isolation from the rest of the world and the arrival of such foreigners was to lead to major changes ahead, i.e. the decline of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration of 1868.

But before all that, artists like Yoshikazu made such “Yokohama prints”, so named as foreigners were restricted to living in the port city of Yokohama at the time. Foreigners’ residence in Yokohama depicts an imaginary scene; I’m not sure if Foreigners enjoying a party was taken from an actual scene. In any case, it’s interesting how the Japanese style of depicting people was applied to these Westerners!

Part II: Gardens

Part II: Seasonal Festivals

I didn’t know that the Japanese also celebrated this, but the Tanabata Festival is the celebration of the reuniting of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl once a year on the Magpie Bridge based on Chinese folklore. It’s also the basis of the Chinese Qixi Festival, colloquially known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day. In Tanabata Festival, the figures write their wishes on paper strips to be hung on bamboo branches, which is still practiced today.

Making rice dumplings here is actually the making of mochi! Mochi is made in preparation for the (Japanese) New Year.

According to the didactic, viewing cherry blossoms and gathering shellfish were two popular activities for the Edo people in spring. I love how Edo people also appreciated their cherry blossoms even then!

Part II: Paintings

I love these two ink paintings in particular! The second painting Parody of Onna San no Miya seems quite sensual, but I love the detail of the clear screen in front of the woman, which the cat at her feet is playing with. The translucency of the screen is so well-painted — I always seem to have a thing for well-painted translucent layers of curtains / clothing / screens, which I have definitely mentioned in other exhibition reviews!

Ending off this exhibition review with these test prints of Hokusai’s all-too-familiar South Wind, Clear Sky, also known as Red Fuji, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, c. 1830–32. See here the ‘completed’ version at the Met Museum.

Overall, I preferred the artworks in the first rotation to those in the second rotation. Either way, it was wonderful to see so many amazing works in one place. I’d recommend opening up these images and zooming in on the many details — especially the spectacular patterns of the clothing!

Life in Edo actually formed one half of the exhibition, the other half being Russel Wong in Kyoto featuring contemporary photographs of geiko in Kyoto — which I will also be sharing about separately!

If you would like to see more of the exhibition, check out ACM’s virtual gallery of the exhibition as well as a super cool digital experience of Utagawa Hiroshige’s Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road.

Find the links to the virtual gallery and the digital experience below:

Life in Edo | Russel Wong in Kyoto, available until the end of the year, 31 December 2021.

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The exhibition is split into three main sections: The Flower Dome & Cloud Forest conservatories, the Outdoor Gardens and Gallery, and the free (!) public exhibits. I chose to skip the conservatories because I thought the price for that was too steep… There are varying admission rates for visiting the different sections, but I paid $16 to see the exhibits in the Outdoor Gardens and Gallery, and went to hunt down the public exhibits too!

Public Exhibits

I’m starting off this post with Blue and Purple Boat, simply because it took me so long to find the Victoria Lily Pond! I’m so glad I didn’t miss out on this one — the spiky blue and purple ‘baubles’ (?) look so great within this beautiful pond. I felt a great sense of accomplishment after finally finding it!

I’d never heard of ‘Walla Wallas’, and I was wondering what the title of this work was referring to… But it occured to me that these floating pieces looked a lot like onions! Turns out my visual analysis was on point, because I found out that they are made after the Walla Walla sweet onion, also the state vegetable of Washington in USA!

I think End of the Day Persian Chandelier might be my favourite exhibit, and I love how it matches the pattern of the SG50 Lattice so well. This is the day view of how it looks like, and the picture below was taken in the evening when the sun was beginning to set. So gorgeous at all times of the day.

There is one more glass sculpture Paintbrush Tower that’s located outside Gardens by the Bay, and it’s at the Fullerton Bay heritage area outside the Fullerton Bay Hotel. This was the only work of Chihuly’s that I viewed at night, and I like how it looks lit up at night too.

Outdoor Gardens

The Setting Sun was in fact the first work I saw at Gardens by the Bay, in The Meadow. This photo was aptly taken when the sun was beginning to set. I really like how this work looks like a fiery ball of energy with so many individual curly glass pieces in red, orange and yellow.

And then there is its quieter counterpart The Moon, located on the slope-y part of The Meadow.

I thought that the way Black & Green Striped Herons and Green Grass almost blends in with the natural scenery of Serene Garden here was very nicely done!

I remember discovering this small stream in the midst of the Japanese Zen garden-inspired space of Serene Garden early last year, and I just love it! Now it leads to Yellow Herons in the pond situated in front of a small waterfall.

I love the detail of Ethereal White Persians, and I also find it fascinating how there’s a black outline for each of the white flowers! Actually, it seems like my favourite of Chihuly’s is all those from the Persians series…

Appreciated the dramatic jutting out of Turquoise Reeds from the middle of this rock installation, especially as we are viewing it from below.

I’m not sure if I have visited the World of Plants section in Gardens by the Bay before, but it’s not my favourite area… Out of the four works shown here, I liked Pearl and Obsidian Fiori the most!

Gallery (next to SG50 Lattice)

I was surprised to find that the Gallery contained a small exhibition of its own featuring smaller-scale works by Chihuly, including sculptures and abstract mixed media pieces. The first exhibit in the Gallery was Macchia Forest, and I was trying to decide which piece(s) were my favourite and that I’d love to own in my ideal home…

I really liked these ikebana-inspired works on paper, showing another side to Chihuly. They look like they were made in a very free and relaxed manner, and it’s interesting to contrast them with the glass sculpture version (shown below).

The effect of this series of Glass on Glass paintings looks really nice in person, but it just doesn’t translate very well on my camera! It’s meant to look a little different every time you shift positions in viewing them, and I loved how the colours of each seemed to shift too.

Ended off my visit with a bang with this massive Radiant Yellow Icicle Chandelier! I just like how Chihuly’s glass is so ‘easy’ to look at, and I love all the varying shapes and colours. I’m giving this exhibition 4.5 stars! Share your opinion too by giving your rating below. :)

Dale Chihuly: Glass in Bloom runs until 3 October 2021, and you can find more info on the exhibition and the works at this dedicated site!

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