LACMA PRESENTS 'EYE FOR THE SENSUAL: SELECTION FROM THE RESNICK COLLECTION'

THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART (LACMA) PRESENTS 'EYE FOR THE SENSUAL: SELECTION FROM THE RESNICK COLLECTION', WHICH FEATURES MORE THAN 100 PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND DECORATIVE ARTS FROM THE COLLECTION OF LYNDA AND STEWART RESNICK, LONG-TIME PATRONS OF THE MUSEUM. SINCE THE EARLY 1980s, THE RESNICKS HAVE COLLECTED IN MANY AREAS RANGING FROM EUROPEAN TO AMERICAN AND MODERN ART, THE EXHIBITION WILL REFLECT THEIR INTEREST IN EUROPEAN PAINTING, SCULPTURE AND DECORATIVE ARTS FROM THE 16th TO THE EARLY 20th CENTURY. EYE FOR THE SENSUAL IS ONE OF THREE INAUGURAL EXHIBITIONS OF THE RESNICKS' GENEROUS DONATION TO LACMA's ONGOING TRANSFORMATION CAMPAIGN. THE EXHIBITION WILL BE ON VIEW FROM 2.OCTOBER THROUGH 2.JANUARY.2011. THE RESNICK COLLECTION IS RICH IN 18th CENTURY FRENCH PAINTINGS, PORTRAITS, LANDSCAPES, STILL LIFES AND MYTHOLOGICAL SCENES ILLUSTRATE THE VARIETY OF SUBJECTS AND STYLES ADOPTED BY PAINTERS OF THAT SCHOOL. FRANCOIS BOUCHER AND HIS PUPIL, JEAN-HONORE FRAGONARD, ARE PARTICULARLY WELL REPRESENTED WITH THREE PAINTINGS EACH. TWO OF THE PAINTINGS BY BOUCHER, BOTH SENSUOUS REPRESENTATIONS OF VENUS, WERE ORIGINALLY COMMISSIONED BY THE ARTIST'S GREATEST PATRON, MADAME DE POMPADOUR, FOR ONE OF HER MANY RESIDENCES. THE THIRD WORK, LEDA AND THE SWAN, WAS KNOWN ONLY THROUGH A SECOND VERSION AT THE NATIONALMUSEUM IN STOCKHOLM BEFORE THE RESNICKS ACQUIRED THE ORIGINAL. FRAGONARD'S PAINTINGS DISPLAY THE ARTIST'S VERSATILE TALENT AND REVEAL, IN TURN, A WORKS OF PLAYFUL EROTICISM, DEEP PASSION, AND DOMESTIC INTIMACY. THE 'FEMININE' ASPECT OF THE RESNICK COLLECTION HAS OFTEN BEEN NOTED: ON ONE HAND, MANY OF THE PAINTINGS' SUBJECTS, WHETHER ALLEGORICAL OR MYTHOLOGICAL, GLORIFY THE FEMALE FORM. ON THE OTHER, NUMEROUS FEMALE ARTISTS ARE REPRESENTED IN THE COLLECTION: ANNE VALLAYER-COSTER WITH A STILL LIFE OF FLOWERS; ELISABETH LOUISE VIGEE LEBRUN WHOSE IMPOSING PORTRAIT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, QUEEN OF FRANCE COMMISSIONED BY THE SITTER, EVOKES THE DOOMED SPLENDOR OF THE LAST DAYS OF THE FRENCH MONARCHY; AND MARGUERITE GERARD, WHO, UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF HER BROTHER IN LAW FRAGONARD, ACHIEVED FAME IN THE LATE 18th CENTURY FOR HER PORTRAITS AND GENRE SCENES.
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