Divines and divas

08 October 2016 - 20 March 2017 | Free
  • Sans titre, d'après La nymphe Salmacis, par François-Joseph Bosio (1768-1845), Musée du Louvre © Jean-Christophe Ballot
  • Sans titre, d'après Premier secret confié à Vénus par François Jouffroy, Musée du Louvre © Jean-Christophe Ballot
  • Sans titre, d'après Hermaphrodite endormi, salle des Cariatides, Musée du Louvre, 2002 © Jean-Christophe Ballot
  • MÉNARD Emile-René, Baigneuses dans la pinède © RMN-Grand Palais (MUDO-Musée de l'Oise) / Thierry Ollivier
  • MÉNARD Emile-René, Enlèvement d’Europe © RMN-Grand Palais (MUDO-Musée de l’Oise) / Adrien Didierjean
  • MARCEL-BERONNEAU Pierre-Amédée, Salomé dansant devant Hérode bd © RMN-Grand Palais / René-Gabriel Ojéda
  • CARPEAUX Jean-Baptiste, Les Trois grâces, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais © Patrick Pierrain / Petit Palais Roger Violet
  • GREBER Henri (1855-1941), Naissance de Vénus, Beauvais, MUDO-Musée de l'Oise © RMN-Grand Palais (MUDO-Musée de l'Oise) / Adrien Didierjean
  • Costume porté par Patricia Racette, interprète de Violetta dans La Traviata, Opéra national de Paris, 1998 © Centre national du costume de scène / Pascal François
  • Costume porté par Régine Crespin, interpréte de Flora dans Tosca, Opéra national de Paris, 1960 © Centre national du costume de scène / Pascal François.

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 

Open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (closed Tuesdays)

 

FREE ADMISSION