The New Criterion
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ArtNovember 2009 Watteau at the Met by Karen Wilkin On “Watteau, Music, and Theater” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Among the most delectable paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection is a smallish canvas of a man playing a guitar, seated on a stone bench in what seems to be a garden. His posture—legs crossed, torso angled, head tipped back—seems exaggerated. His clothes—a tight-fitting silk suit in marzipan-hued stripes, ruffled collar and cuffs, an enormous silk beret and matching cloak in deep rose—seem as extravagant. At first, we simply accept these qualities, fascinated by the ravishing color and the fluent touch that conjure up gleaming silk, softly gathered lace, tightly stretched stockings, and the crisp rosettes on narrow shoes. Gradually, though, we become aware of just how artificial everything about the elaborately dressed musician really is. His position becomes a pose, his gorgeous suit a costume, and the “garden” in which he plays his instrument a painted backdrop ... This article is available to subscribers and for individual purchaseSubscribe to TNC (Print and Online editions) Subscribe to TNC (Online only) This article originally appeared in The New Criterion, Volume 28 November 2009, on page 38 Copyright © 2012 The New Criterion | www.newcriterion.com http://www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/Watteau-at-the-Met-4313
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by Karen Wilkin On “Rembrandt and Degas: Two Young Artists” at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA. by Karen Wilkin On "Stieglitz & His Artists" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Marioni's liquid light at the Phillips by Karen Wilkin On “Eye to Eye: Joseph Marioni at the Phillips” at the Phillips Collection, Washington, DC. On "New Formations: Czech Avant-Garde Art & Modern Glass from the Roy and Mary Cullen Collection” at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. On “Ai Weiwei: Dropping the Urn, Ceramic Work 5000 B.C.–A.D. 2010” at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London & “The Flamboyant Mr. Chinnery: An English Artist in India and China” at Asia House, London. On "Johann Zoffany RA: Society Observed” at the Yale Center for British Art.
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