Treasures from Budapest can feel a little directionless, but there are some great works here. I pick out my Top Five.
Budapest comes to London this autumn and winter in the form of over 200 works from the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, now on display at the Royal Academy. There's paintings, drawings and sculptures from the early Renaissance to the twentieth century, with selected works by some of the most famous artists of all time. There's lesser known pieces by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, El Greco, Rubens, Goya, Manet, Monet, Schiele, Gauguin and Picasso.
Unfortunately, the whole exhibition suffers from a lack of coherent narrative thrust, which makes the sheer quantity of work a little overwhelming. Not everything is of the highest quality either, but there are some gems dotted about. Here's my pick of the five pieces not to miss:
Henri-Marie-Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec – Women in the Dining Room, 1893
[pictured top]
Room 11
Even though this was painted in 1893 it still feels strikingly modern. The miserable-looking women hunched around a diner look just like something straight out of Eastenders – it even looks like they're wearing some kind of fin-de-siècle shell-suits.
Giorgio Vasari – Marriage al Cana, 1566
Room 2
[above left]
Vasari is today best known for his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, which included biographies of the likes of Giotto, Donatello, Fra Angelico, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. But this work – all opulent jewel-tones and lush textures – proves he could paint too.
József Rippl-Rónai – Woman with Birdcage, 1892
Room 11
[above right]
For me, this work by a Hungarian painter who I confess I've never heard of, is probably the highlight of the whole show. A woman stands – tall, soft, graceful – and stares intently at the small yellow bird she holds in a cage. A background lit with by a sombre Chartreuse glow illuminates this tender, elegantly inscrutable scene.
Egon Schiele, Two Women Embracing, 1915
Room 12
[above left]
Having just watched a brilliant play about Schiele at the Arcola Theatre it was cool to see his work in the flesh. And what flesh it is – smudged and grubby, angular, and packed with violent passion.
Jusepe de Ribera – The Martyrdom of St Andrew, 1628
Room 5
[above right]
This large-scale painting captures the frantic horror of martyrdom as a pale, frail Andrew is attached to a wooden cross by a gang of dark-robed oppressors. His sinewy muscles are tense and bare against heavy night-time surrounds.
Treasures from Budapest is at the Royal Academy from 25th September until 12th December 2010.
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Image credits (from top):
Henri-Marie-Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec, Women in the Dining-Room, 1893, Oil on cardboard, 61 x 81 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Giorgio Vasari, Marriage at Cana, 1566, Oil on panel, 40 x 28 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
József Rippl-Rónai, Woman with Birdcage, 1892, Oil on canvas, 185.5 x 130 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
Egon Schiele, Two Women Embracing, 1915, Pencil, watercolour, gouache, 485 x 327 mm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
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