Treasures of Napoleon

Treasures of Napoleon

May 16 - September 1, 2014

This summer, Montréal is hosting a one-of-a-kind major international exhibition, the Treasures of Napoléon. It features over 350 artworks, many of which have been never seen by the public before. The exhibition presents jewels from Pierre-Jean Chalençon’s prestigious private collection that presently consists of 2,000 items. It also has over ten pieces from the private collection of the Honourable Serge Joyal, a Canadian Senator.

The Montreal's Treasures of Napoleon exhibition is held in the crypt beneath the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. The newly restored crypt spans over 15,000 square feet.

The exhibition is arranged into six thematic areas - galleries:

1. Napoleon, the man
2. Josephine and the Coronation
3. Marie-Louse and the King of Rome
4. Napoleon and his Family
5. The Arts at the Napoleonic Court
6. Napoleon on Sainte-Helen Island

Organized by the Exhibits Developments Group in cooperation with the Chalençon Collection in France, the exhibition is the largest of its kind ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean. 

There are four categories of exhibits to explore: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Decorative Art.

To find out more about this exhibition and to see additional photos of objects on display, visit the Treasures of Napoleon Montreal exhibition website

http://napoleon-montreal.ca/en

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Hover your mouse over a photo to read the description.

Read about the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts's exhibition Napoleon / Art and Life in the Imperial Palace (February 3 - May 6, 2918) here.

MMFA 2014: Claude Cormier's Mirage

Claude Cormier 

Mirage – TOM III

Summer 2014

This summer, once again, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is presenting an outside installation by the Quebec artist and landscape architect Claude Cormier. The installation is a part of the museum’s outdoor sculpture garden. It actually connects and unifies the two sections of the Sculpture Garden that run along the side walks on both sides of the Du Musée Avenue, and which are otherwise separated by the street traffic and cars.

Located at the heart of the Quartier du Musée, the Sculpture Garden has been turned into a pedestrian mall for the third summer in a row. After his previous works at MMFA Carpet of Daisies – TOM I (in 2012) and Field of Poppies – TOM II (in 2013), this Cormier's third instalment in the TOM series, Mirage, has been designed to give visitors and passers-bys an original visual experience.

The installation not only presents a striking visual design of geometrical forms, it also consists of totally different colour schemes in either an upward or downward street direction. In the photos above, looking up the street, the colours are blue, black, yellow and white. But in the downward direction, in the photos below, the colours are dark and light red, as well as white and yellow. One can notice that two colours are present in both colour schemes - white and yellow, which seem to unite them into one whole.

The changing pallet of colours and designs provide a striking visual effect as well as varying points of view and perspectives as one walks up or down the museum's Sculpture Garden.

This year, for the third edition of TOM, a record number of 10,000 overlay temporary markers were used, three times the number of those used in the very first Claude Cormie’s TOM installation in 2012.

See the photos and read the articles on previous and subsequent TOM installations by Calude Cormire at MMFA:

• MMFA 2012-2013: Carpet of Daisies - TOM I & Field of Poppies -TOM II here.
• MMFA 2017: Flower Power - TOM IV  here.

Click on images to enlarge them.

Marco Polo - PAC Museum 2014

Marco Polo 
An Epic Journey

May 6 - October 26, 2014


Pointe-à-Callière (PAC), Montreal’s Archaeology and History Museum, is offering its visitors on a unique time capsule voyage. This exhibition will transport visitors into the 13th century, on a journey that Marco Polo undertook from Venice to China and back to Venice.

This journey was so exceptional and truly amazing that it is still widely acknowledged and discussed over seven centuries later. This event demonstrates the immense impact of the journey described in the explorer’s travelogue The Travels of Marco Polo or Description of the World, in which Marco Polo tells the story of his travels through the book's writer Rustichello da Pisa who was imprisoned with Marco Polo in Genoa from 1296 to 1298. Marco Polo narrated his voyage to a this fellow prisoner while incarcerated because of a war-times on his return back to Venice. 

This book had helped with the advancement of map-making, which in turn led to major exploration of the globe beginning in the 15th century. It even had a hand in influencing Christopher Columbus to set sail towards the west to open a new route to India and finally discover America in 1492.

Above is an evocative image from the Description of the World which shows Marco Polo at the age of 17, sitting astride between his father and his uncle as they began their epic journey in Venice. They actually left the city by sea rather than on horseback. The illustrator's intent seemed to be to depict the seriousness of the situation, as well as what might have been going through their minds, wondering if they were ever to return, given the many dangers awaiting them on the road ahead.

The book is no doubt the most famous travel guide ever written: landscapes, climates, dangers, rites and customs, clothing, fauna, flora, distances travelled on foot as well as horse or camel, festivities in the court of Emperor Kublai Khan, and much more. Marco Polo described everything he saw along the way, as well as everything he was told and all that he heard during his many experiences. Those memories serve as a guide through the exhibition.

The image above from the Description of the World shows the emperor Kublai Khan releasing his hunting falcon. It was said he had leopards that were so well trained, they could be used to hunt and retrieve other game. A tamed and smiling leopard is seen in this image actually riding astride the emperor's horse.

Marco Polo travelled over 20,000 kilometres on his journey, going mostly by land and returning by sea. The exhibition gives visitors a chance to experience several stops along this 13th century's route.

Visit the Point-à-Callière Museum's website for more information.

http://www.pacmusee.qc.ca/en/home

Click on any image to enlarge it.

MMFA 2014: Lemieux & Pilon Dreamscapes

Michel Lemieux - Victor Pilon:

Dreamscapes 

 
30 years of innovative performances

May 1 - August 31, 2014

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, as a principal partner, is hosting the 2014 International Digital Arts Biennial and is presenting the multidisciplinary company Lemieux & Pilon 4D Art. This is a retrospective exhibition with an immersive installation which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the company founded in Montreal in 1983.

Lemieux Pilon 4D Art's speciality is performance art. They have well over thirty original productions to their credit. Their works combine theatre, film, dance, poetry, music, visual arts and sound to create original works that meet acclaim when performed.

  

The company creates hybrid shows fusing reality and virtuality, the performing arts and new media. Their productions, which employ the technology of virtual projections, erase the boundaries between performance, set design, film, video, dance, poetry, visual arts, light, music and sound exploration, promoting the integration of those diverse forms of expression.

For more information, visit the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts' website

https://www.mbam.qc.ca/en

EM15

ELEKTRA & MUTEK PRESENT EM15

May 27 - June 1, 2014

 

This year being its 15th year of its existence, the EM celebrates the crystal anniversary. EM is recognized as as a unique event within the multidisciplinary field of cutting edge contemporary digital creation, electronic music, new media and culture. The Montréal's digital arts festival Elektra, and electronic music and digital creativity institution MUTEK, have joined forces, synchronized dates and created one powerhouse combined event. This two-festival-in-one affair, christened this year EM15, showcases more than 100 Canadian and international artists in several new venues.

This year, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal opens its spaces to act as the nerve centre and main headquarters for the festival’s activities. MACM participation underlines a commitment in seeking out innovation in digital art and music, and taking risks that only non-commercial festivals can. 

Dedicated to live performance and forward thinking vision in sound and image, EM15 promises festival goers a multidimensional experience!

For more information and the schedule of events and performances visit the EM15 website.

PAC Museum: Ancient Greece - World Premiere

Pointe-à-Callière and the Canadian Museum of History:
The Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Great

Montreal:  December 12, 2014 - April 26, 2015
Gatineau:   June 5 -  October 12, 2015

Today, it was announced that Pointe-à-Callière (PAC), Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History, and the Canadian Museum of History will be welcoming a world premiere exhibition to Canada later this year: This the exhibition will cover more than 5,000 years of Greek culture and history, from the Neolithic Period to the Age of Alexander the Great. 

The Greeks – Agamemnon to Alexander the Great will be the most comprehensive exhibition on Ancient Greece ever presented in North America. It will bring together more than 500 artifacts from 22 Greek museums, including many pieces never before displayed outside Greece. Among other treasures, visitors will be able to see a number of priceless objects, the result of some unparalleled archaeological discoveries. 

In order to facilitate the production of the exhibition of this breadth, a consortium of North American museums was created. In addition to the Canadian Museum of History and Pointe-à-Callière, the consortium includes The Field Museum in Chicago and the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC. The Museum of History will oversee direction of the consortium as well as work on production of the exhibition in association with the Directorate General of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports. 

To find out about the PAC Museum's current and upcoming exhibitions, visit the museum's website:

http://pacmusee.qc.ca/en

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See my later article about the PAC Museum The Greeks: Agamemnon to Alexander the Great exhibition here.