Presented at the MUDO-Musée de l'Oise as part of Les Photaumnales photography exhibition, the exhibit Divines and Divas explores a unique theme in photography, painting, sculpture and stage costumes.
Jean-Christophe Ballot, photographer, a former resident of the Villa Medicis, punctuates the museum’s permanent exhibitions with his contemplative photographs of sculptures and carved-rock sites. He draws on photos taken during work being done at the Louvre, the Galerie des Offices, Versailles, the basilica of Saint-Denis and the Garenne Lemot estate to invite us to a poetic procession featuring statues of deities by great artists. He presents the details, the reliefs, the grain and texture to express the sensuality of their bodies. These “divines”, Diana, Venus, nymphs and Niobids come together in the temporary exhibit and provide a common theme.
In the 19thcentury, these mythical fates begat heroines and came together at the opera, where the Diva, an Italian word meaning goddess, is the physical incarnation through the famous singer. She is then elevated to the rank of quasi-divinity, femme fatale or vestal virgin in love with the impossible, the object of every fantasy at the turn of the century. The costumes, created for famous prima donnas, on loan from the Centre National du Costume de Scène, represent and personify these deities from the dawn of the 20th century. A work by Ange Leccia dedicated to Maria Callas pursues the myth right up until today.
After opera, the cinema promoted stars who became the new divas, as evoked by Greta Garbo’s nickname (the Divine). Vik Muniz is one of the artists who depicted these renowned actresses. Bloody Marilyn (after Warhol) and Louise Brooks (Pictures of Diamonds) illustrate this with the loan of works from Galerie Xippas.
For this exhibition, the MUDO-Musée de l'Oise has pulled out of its reserves some works by George Desvallières and Emile-René Ménard illustrating the themes of ancient deities, seductive or seduced, loving or cruel. The myth of Salome, the fugitive heroine of the New Testament, which was hugely successful in all the arts in the 19th century, inspiring painters, poets and novelists, will be evoked by the tapestry by Pierre-Amédée Marcel-Béronneau , which is kept at the Mobilier National.
From the 19th century collection to the temporary exhibition rooms, Divines and Divas invites the public to discover an artistic movement marked by great sensitivity.
About the exhibition
Free guided tours at 3:30 p.m.
- Sunday, 6 November 2016 by Sylvain Pinta, assistant curator at the MUDO-Musée de l’Oise.
- Sunday 5 February 2017 by Claudine Cartier, general curator, exhibition organiser
- Sunday, 5 March 2017 by Sylvain Pinta, assistant curator at the MUDO-Musée de l’Oise.
Opera lectures at 6:30 p.m. in partnership with the Institut Universitaire Tous Âges with Benoit Menut, lecturer, Elsa Tirel, soprano, and Laurence Rigaut, pianist.
- Friday, 18 November 2016: Bizet’s Carmen.
- Friday, 10 February 2017: Mozart’s The Magic Flute
- Friday, 10 March 2017: Romeo and Juliette from Bellini to Gounod.
Admission: €10
Noon events at 12:30 p.m./Free
- Friday, 21 October 2016: mythological sculpture revisited by the photographs of Jean-Christophe Ballot by Claudine Cartier, general curator, organiser of the exhibition.
- Friday, 18 November 2016: Villa Medicis, source of artistic inspiration by Sylvain Pinta, assistant curator at the MUDO-Musée de l’Oise
- Friday, 17 February 2017 : the private life of a Diva: décor by Alexis-Joseph Mazerolle for the villa of Rosine Stoltz by Sylvain Pinta, assistant curator at the MUDO-Musée de l’Oise
- Friday, 17 March 2017: the myth of Salome in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Claudine Cartier, general curator, organiser of the exhibition.
Lectures at 6:30 p.m./Free
- Thursday, 17 November 2016: George Desvallières, the worth of women by Maximilien Ambroselli, art historian.
- Thursday, 15 December 2016: the Divas’ wardrobe by Delphine Pinasa, director of the Centre National du Costume de Scène.
You can find all our programmes at mudo.oise.fr