Sejong Museum of Art Hosts "From Monet to Andy Warhol"
Johannesburg Art Gallery, Established in 1910
Exhibition Features Works from the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, and More
Gerard Sekoto's "Orange and Girl" is the first painting by a Black artist to be exhibited at the National Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa. The Johannesburg Art Gallery was established in 1910 by Lady Florence Phillips, who, while living in London, frequently visited the Victoria and Albert Museum and aimed to create a similar institution in her homeland of South Africa as a social tool for marginalized communities. However, contrary to its founding purpose, the exhibition of works by Black artists was only realized in 1940 due to severe racial discrimination. Sekoto earned the distinction of being the first Black artist to exhibit at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, but in 1947 he was forced to go into exile in Paris, France, to escape oppression. He is still regarded as a great pioneer of Black South African art.
The exhibition "From Monet to Andy Warhol" is jointly hosted by the Sejong Center and the cultural content company Gaudium Associates. This exhibition, which brings together masterpieces from Western art history in one place, has already attracted over 200,000 cumulative visitors in Gyeongju, Busan, and Jeju. Through 143 major works, the exhibition traces the flow of Western art history. It is organized by period, covering the main trends in art history over 400 years, from the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century to modern art of the 20th century.
The Johannesburg Art Gallery holds a collection of 30,000 works, including masterpieces from the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century, as well as works from leading British and European artists of the 18th and 19th centuries, and pieces extending into the modern era. This exhibition features works by 89 masters who represent Western art, including Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol.
The frequent appearance of 17th-century Dutch painting elements in the Johannesburg Art Gallery collection is due to South Africa having been a Dutch colony for a long time. In the "Golden Age of Dutch Painting" section, the exhibition introduces Dutch artworks that flourished around the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam, which became the most prosperous business centers in Europe in the early 17th century. At that time, the Netherlands was one of the wealthiest countries in the world and was a powerhouse in the production and trade of artworks per capita. Paintings were widely used to decorate bourgeois homes. Related works on display include Gerrit Arentsz van Duers' "When the Old Man Sings, the Young Man Should Play the Flute" (1663) and Hendrick Cornelisz van Vliet's "Interior of St. Bavo Church" (1665).
British elements are also a feature of the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Both Lady Phillips and her husband, Sir Hugh Lane, lived in London for a long time, which influenced the collection. In the 1800s, Britain saw the rise of Romanticism as a reaction against the rationality of Neoclassicism, and it was noted for its unique expressiveness and rich imagination. The representative artist is John Brett, whose work "Mount's Bay, Cornwall" (1877) is considered the epitome of Romanticism. As Romanticism declined, a new Neoclassicism influenced by it emerged, exemplified by Lawrence Alma-Tadema's "The Death of the Firstborn" (1858).
Before French Impressionism, works from the period of Romanticism to Realism can also be found. Sir Hugh Lane brought in late 19th-century French works to London even before French Impressionism gained attention, which is considered ahead of the Anglo-Saxon Museum in Britain. Works on display include Jean-Francois Millet's "The Peasant" (year unknown), Edgar Degas' "Two Dancers" (1898), and Paul Signac's "La Rochelle" (1912).
In addition, early 20th-century avant-garde works such as Henri Matisse's "Seated Woman" (1927) are also presented. The exhibition also features works by Black artists who overcame severe racial discrimination. As the title "From Monet to Andy Warhol" suggests, this exhibition can be said to encapsulate the history of South African art. The exhibition runs until August 31 at the Sejong Center.
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