November 17, 2000 – March 4, 2001
Robert Lehman Wing, main floor
Evaristo Baschenis (1617-1677), the preeminent still life painter of 17th-century Italy, is best known for his hauntingly poetic paintings of musical instruments. Although largely unfamiliar to American audiences, these lyrical masterpieces of composition and color harmony combine baroque splendor with a masterful, restrained geometry. Their quality of time arrested has led to comparisons with the paintings of Chardin and Vermeer. Now, 18 paintings from public and private collections in the artist's native Bergamo and throughout northern Italy are featured in The Still Lifes of Evaristo Baschenis: The Music of Silence, on view at the Metropolitan Museum from November 17, 2000 through March 4, 2001. The exhibition also includes books on perspective and important examples of period musical instruments from the Metropolitan's own collections.
The exhibition is made possible by Banca Popolare di Bergamo-CreditoVaresino, in cooperation with Camera di Commercio di Bergamo.
The exhibition is organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, with the Accademia Carrara of Bergamo, and the Superintendency of Milan, under the Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic, with the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Regione Lombardia, Provincia di Bergamo and Comune di Bergamo.
Philippe de Montebello, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, commented on the exhibition: "The Metropolitan is delighted to present the paintings of Evaristo Baschenis to our visitors, who may be encountering his extraordinarily poetic still-lifes for the first time. A painter of consummate technical achievement, Baschenis is among the most original of Italian 17th-century still-life painters."
Mr. de Montebello further noted: "As Director of the Metropolitan, it is gratifying to see the ways in which special exhibitions can be enriched by the participation of various departments within our encyclopedic Museum. In the case of this exhibition, the collaboration is between the departments of European Paintings, Musical Instruments, Drawings and Prints, and European Sculpture and Decorative Arts. The examples of Baroque musical instruments, treatises on perspective, and selected decorative objects on view greatly enhance our presentation of these marvelous still lifes."
Among the highlights of the exhibition is Baschenis's masterpiece, a large-scale triptych done for the Agliardi family of Bergamo, which includes a self-portrait of the artist and portraits of the family members playing instruments. This work is on loan from the descendants of the family that commissioned the paintings more than three centuries ago. Other works in the exhibition have never before left Bergamo.
During his lifetime Baschenis – who was himself a musician – amassed an impressive collection of instruments and musical scores. The artist would arrange these into carefully choreographed compositions for his paintings, presenting novel and daringly foreshortened views of the instruments. Having studied with an expert in architectural perspective, known as quadratura painting, Baschenis was fascinated by the study
of perspective and challenged by the depiction of lutes and violins, with their curved and irregular forms. In his paintings, he subtly altered the arrangement and combination of instruments from one canvas to the next, much as a composer might vary the elements in a musical composition.
Evaristo Baschenis was born in Bergamo in 1617 into a family that included several generations of artists. Once thought to have lived the provincial life of a priest and
painter in Bergamo, we now know that he traveled to Rome and elsewhere, was involved with a large circle of artists, and had important patrons in Venice, Milan, and Mantua. From the moment he established his independent workshop in 1643, he dedicated himself
to painting still lifes, perhaps drawn to the genre because of its importance to earlier Lombard painters such as Caravaggio.
Almost without exception, Baschenis restricted his paintings to two themes: kitchen scenes with foodstuffs and utensils, and musical instruments. The paintings of musical instruments – a genre that Baschenis single-handedly invented and refined to an unparalleled level of accomplishment – enjoyed wide popularity and were highly prized by the aristocratic families who were his patrons. In these circles music, associated with poetry, literature, and history, was regarded as a particularly cultivated form of entertainment.
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, published by Edizioni Olivares. The 136-page publication is available in the Metropolitan's Bookshop in a softcover edition ($30).
At the Metropolitan, the exhibition is organized by Andrea Bayer, Assistant Curator, Department of European Paintings, with Laurence B. Kanter, Curator in Charge, Robert Lehman Collection, and Stewart S. Pollens, Associate Conservator, Department of Musical Instruments. Exhibition design is by Michael C. Batista, Exhibition Designer, with graphics by Sophia Geronimus, Graphic Designer, and lighting by Zack Zanolli, Lighting Designer, all of the Museum's Design Department.
In conjunction with the exhibition, a special concert to be held on December 17 at 7:00 p.m. will feature Paul O'Dette playing music for lute and Baroque guitar by Giovanni Antonio Terzi da Bergamo, Simone Molinaro, and Francesco Corbetta, performed on copies of instruments from the time of Baschenis. The concert will take place adjacent to the exhibition in the
courtyard of the Robert Lehman Wing. Tickets are $50; seating is unreserved. For information or to order tickets the public should call (212) 570-3949.
A variety of other educational events will be offered, including lectures, gallery talks, and programs for teachers. The exhibition will be featured on the Museum's Web site (www.metmuseum.org).
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November 6, 2000
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