Jay and I decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City yesterday to see the Assyria to Iberia exhibit. When we got there, we took a quick detour through the Impressionism rooms – always a favorite.
We both came to a complete halt by this painting, Claude Monet’s Garden of Sainte-Andresse (1867), where we both had strong feelings of déjà vu, like we had been there before. The feelings of going back in time were powerful, and Jay said he felt like he had been talking to Monet while the work was being painted.
Why did we feel this way? The simple answer is: We had been there before! In fact, in was a multi-sensory experience – we walked in the garden, saw it from all angles, felt the warm sunlight on our skin and the breeze in our faces. We even “met” the artist. Being a guy, Jay remarked,”The restaurant is to the left, so I’m getting hungry”, a comment that makes me smile even now.
The good news is that you don’t have to go to France to do this. Just take a drive to Hamilton, New Jersey and visit the Grounds for Sculpture where Seward Johnson constructed his outdoor sculpture installation titled, If It Were Time, based on the Monet’s Sainte-Andresse painting. If It Were Time is a full scale 3-D translation of Monet’s 2-D oil painting, which I had previously included in a June blog entry. The installation sits on a plot of land at least as large as our house lot (1/4 acre) looking out on a lake (unlike our house which looks right at our neighbors).
© The Sculpture Foundation, Inc., photo: David W. Steele
While the photos of these two works of art look similar in this blog post, our interaction with these pieces couldn’t be more different. Viewing a painting as an outsider looking in is a far cry from inhabiting the space as a participant.
To give you some idea of Seward Johnson’s sense of humor and irony, which comes out in subtle ways in many of his sculptures, here is a bronze cast of Monet who greets you at the entrance before you walk down the stairs to the scene below. Monet is working outdoors for the day in his plein air style, as he typically did.
Take a closer look at what Monet is doing in this photo, taken from a different viewpoint. The artist is painting Johnson’s If It Were Time sculpture, which is in turn based on Monet’s own Sainte-Andresse painting at the museum! Seward Johnson provocatively named this bronze portrait of the artist, Copyright Violation!!, raising numerous issues on many levels.
Is Johnson’s work really an original work of art, a slavish imitation, or a copyright infringement? The art historian in me is intrigued by all the possible interpretations. What do you think? I would love to hear your opinions.
Here’s a photo I took of the sailboat that Monet is painting, before I realized how the boat fit into the bigger picture. (FYI. While we looking at Monet’s painting at the Met, we noticed the many boats on the horizon line for the first time – quite a contrast to Johnson’s serene focus on a single sailboat.)
As you walk down the stairs and begin to inhabit the space, the effect is startling. The cast bronze bronze sculptures almost come to life, somehow bringing out the playfulness in you, as if you are actors on the stage, or talking and taking pictures with costumed interpreters at Williamsburg.
You not only walk around Johnson’s re-creation, you touch it and even sit on it. Jay was delighted there was an empty chair so he could take a break with his newfound friend.
The dictionary definition of “installation” explains things well and gives you a handle on the way to think the Monet and Johnson connection. Installation: a large sculpture-like artwork which alters the way a space is experienced. Certainly that was the case in New Jersey, quite a vivid memory too. What we didn’t expect, was for that memorable interactive, multi-sensory experience to carry over and enrich our viewing of the original artwork back in New York. At the time, we felt it was quite surreal since the two works of art became inseparable.
Yesterday we were looking at the Monet’s painting through a different lens. Our perspective changed, probably forever, which is a good thing. In fact, I think a visit to see Seward Johnson’s work at Grounds for Sculpture is an excellent way for people, particularly kids, to be exposed to art and to get truly excited about it.
P.S. We did make it to the Assyria to Iberia show, a major scholarly undertaking which is excellent, just not as much fun.
