Provence

Ingres elevates Antiquity in Arles

Just as Cézanne Year comes to an end, a new event arrives to steal the headlines. Until 2 January, the “Musée de l’Arles et de la Provence Antiques” (Arles and Provence Museum of Antiquity) is presenting paintings by Ingres, along with 500 objects from Antiquity. A unique link between his work and this artistic period.

The Arles and Provence Museum of Antiquity (MAPA) is aiming to combine history of art and archaeology. From 2 October to 2 January, the museum is offering a “new look” at the work of Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres (1780-1867), the aim of which is to discover one of the main sources of the painter’s creativity: Antiquity.

In a magnificent setting, the exhibition sheds new light on 17 of the artist’s works, which have come from the Louvre, Aix-en-Provence and Montauban. Amongst the best-known are Oedipus and the Sphinx, The Turkish Bath, Jupiter and Thetis and the Three Greek Tragedians. The main feature of the exhibition is that the paintings are set amongst a vast number of works from Antiquity, or inspired by the period: 200 plates of drawings and sketches by Ingres himself; 55 drawings of the artist; 150 items from Ingres’ antiques collection in Montauban. There are also Greek vases from great European collections (Paris, Naples, London), antique sculptures, archaeological publications, etc.

What caused this master of 19th Century classicism to be so close to Antiquity? Perhaps it was the influence of his father, a sculptor in Montauban, or that of David, with whom he completed his apprenticeship in Paris.

In a completely different style, the “Cathédrale d’Images”, in Les Baux de Provence, is presenting its “Couleurs Cézanne” show until 7 January, and the “Centre d’Art Présence Van Gogh” in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is hosting an exhibition of the works of Edouard Pignon, an artist greatly influenced by Cézanne, until 5 November.

“Musée de l’Arles et de la Provence Antiques”: 04 90 18 88 88.

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