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Saturday, 18 October, 2008 1:11 AM

'Monet to Dali: Modern Masters' is now Open at the DIA

PHOTO BY MIKE WRATHELL / AMERICAJR.com

Painting by Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954). Interior with an Etruscan Vase. 1940. Oil on canvas; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the Hanna Fund 1952.153. ©The Cleveland Museum of Art.

DETROIT -- "Monet to Dali: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art" is now on display at the Detroit Institute of Arts through January 18. Monet, Dali, van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, Matisse, Picasso and Rodin are some of the artists whose work is being shown in the exhibit. All of the art pieces come from the time period between the 19th century and the 20th century. There are many beautiful paintings within the exhibit and most have never been featured in the DIA until now.

There are 75 works of art within this new exhibit -- most are paintings with about a dozen sculptures mixed in. Museum visitors can also participate in organizing a mock exhibit. About 15 smaller-sized paintings (replicas of the large paintings on display) are located in a room with themes located above. Visitors can rearrange the paintings as they see fit.

"We've tried some new things with educational interpretive elements," said Madeleine Winslow, a DIA educator. "Another underlying idea for this show is the idea of subjectivity that people have very personal responses to works of art."

The exhibit is organized into five distinct themes with each exploring an influence on the artists. The first section is landscapes, which is led by Claude Monet's painting,The Wheat Field. The next section involves underlying anxieties of the modern world. It features a Blue Period Picasso and a late painting by van Gogh, among many others.

"What we've really tried to do is get people away from thinking of the usual categories that they see these paintings in," said MaryAnn Wilkinson, curator of European Modern Art. "It's not chronological, it puts the works of art in a thematic context. We hope that people will get an idea of what the times were like when these artists were painting in. The things they were thinking about to cause them to make these works."

The third section includes paintings on the newly found sense of experimentation freedom. The fourth section deals with the influence of psychology and is led by the Surrealist painting of The Dream by Salvador Dali. The final section is the happiest of them all featuring paintings full of energy and dynamism. The works of Edger Degas and Henri Matisse are included here.

“We anticipate that Monet to Dali will be very popular with our visitors,” said Graham W. J. Beal, DIA director. “Although the Cleveland collection contains the work of many artists familiar from our own, we can see how two such similar institutions with similar goals created collections that differ so much in detail.”

All of the works of art in this exhibit are directly from Cleveland. They have never been shown at the DIA before. The Cleveland Art Museum is under construction so it has decided to send its best works on a tour. Detroit happens to be the very last leg of the tour before the exhibit heads back to Ohio.

A film series accompanies the "Monet to Dali" exhibit. It runs every Sunday in November beginning with "L'Inferno" and ending with "Kamraderschaft". There will also be musical performances by Todd Snider and Libby York at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. on October 17 and October 24, respectively. William H. Robinson, the curator of Modern European Art at the Cleveland Museum will discuss "Picasso and Surrealism" at the DIA on November 1 at 2:00 p.m.

At the end of the exhibit, visitors can leave their thoughts about this new exhibit at computer stations located near the exit or later at www.dia.org/monet.

"They have to see the Salvador Dali painting; it is so creepy," Wilkinson said.

Tickets, which include an audio tour and museum admission, are $18 for adults, $8 for ages 6-17, $16 for groups of 15 or more, and $14 for groups of 50 or more. For ticket information, visit dia.org or call the Box Office at 313-833-4005. Museum hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. Fridays, and 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for ages 6-17, and DIA members are admitted free. For membership information call 313-833-7971.

PHOTO BY MIKE WRATHELL / AMERICAJR.com

Painting by Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890) Adeline Ravoux, 1890. Oil on fabric; 50.2 x 50.5 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art. Bequest of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. 1958.31. ©The Cleveland Museum of Art.

PHOTO BY MIKE WRATHELL / AMERICAJR.com

Painting by Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926). Low Tide at Pourville, Near Dieppe, 1882. Oil on fabric. 60 x 81 cm. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Henry White Cannon 1947.196. ©The Cleveland Museum of Art.

PHOTO BY MIKE WRATHELL / AMERICAJR.com

A Painting by Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973) Harlequin with Violin. 1918. oil on canvas. 1975.2. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund. ©The Cleveland Museum of Art.