An introduction to Modernism; Impressionists in ABQ; Record heat

The Poems of Dylan Thomas, New Revised Edition [with CD]The Flowers of Evil (Classic Reprint)Madame Bovary (Penguin Classics)I began reading the Introduction to Modernism by Pericles Lewis this weekend, and made it through the introductory chapters. It is, as the back cover suggests, a very concise, readable text, but filled with information.

The book begins with discussion of the roots of modernism in mid to late 19th century French literature, in which description of two famous obscenity cases shows changing attitudes toward ‘representation’ in the arts. The author used the term representation to mean the way in which reality may be conveyed by a work of art. This involves both the chosen subject matter and the techniques employed by the artist. In the court case against Charles Baudelaire, the state alleged poems from the Flowers of Evil created ‘an offense against public morals’. Together with the similar case against Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary these court battles are taken as a watershed, in that they mark two notable artists choosing subject matter, as well as techniques, which offended enough to bring on law suits.

I was surprised by how much the book connected the movements in modern art to movements in literature, and there is a lot of discussion of the artists working in France in the 19th century, especially the Impressionists. While I was plowing through the book determined not to leave home on Saturday, Sunyoung called from the Albuquerque Museum of Art to let me know they were having, believe it or not, a family day there to celebrate a loan from the National Museum of Wales of works from Turner to Cezanne. So after reading about modernism and impressionists and their influence on twentieth century modernism, I was able to sit on the floor of the main gallery with Bridget and Dylan, listen to a story about Monet's Garden, and then get up close and personal with water lilies, among other paintingsLinnea in Monet's Garden. How very cool and serendipitous!

On Sunday, I received Dylan Thomas’s Collected Poems, and I plan to dive into it as soon as I’ve read the introduction to Modernism, before the week’s end.

We had record heat all weekend, so it was a good weekend to go to the Museum and read. However, I did work on the swamp cooler and repair and re-install part of a sprinkler system.