I visited the Princely Treasures from the House of Liechtenstein exhibit at the National Museum of Singapore yesterday.
This is my third time to visit the exhibit. Haha!
Yup, yup. I can't get enough of it. There is something different about this third time though. The first two visits involved me joining the guided tours. For the first visit, it was with my Mom. For the second visit, it was with PG Boy.
Since PG Boy is away til next week for work, I decided I'll use the solo time to do errands and other things I've been wanting to do. That included visiting the Princely Treasures exhibit again. Only this time, I did not want to join any tour.
Instead, I want to visit my favourite pieces from the exhibit and just take the time to admire the works of arts.
Here are my ten reasons I'm visiting a third time. Hehe. 1. Pietra Dura Tabletop (c. 17th century); 2. Tapestries (c. 1690); 3. Raphael's Portrait of a Man (c. 1502/1504); 4. Guido Reni's St. Magdalene (first half of 17th Century); 5. Rubens' Portrait of Clara Rubens (c. 1616); 6. Rubens' The Lamentation (c. 1614/1615); 7. Jan Brueghel's Landscape with the Young Tobias (c. 1598); 8. Rembrandt's Cupid with Soap Bubble (c. 1634); 9. Waldmüller's Flowers in a Porcelain Vase (c. 1843); and 10. Low Kway Soo's Portrait of Tan Jiak Kim (c. 1919).
If I were to be asked which paintings are my faves, I'll have to say it's Rubens' The Lamentation and Reni's St. Magdalene.
There is something in both paintings that is just able to draw emotion from the viewer. For Reni's Magdalene, I am fascinated by how Reni was able to portray Magdalene in a very saintly manner but still retain that slightly eroticised feel because of the way her hands were painted.
Meanwhile, The Lamentation was a brilliant, brilliant art piece not just because it's done by Rubens but because of the fantastic use of colour and the style of painting. Try standing in front of the huge painting and just admire it. I guarantee you emotions will be drawn after a few minutes of examining the painting. Take a look at the colour of the dead Christ. Take a look at what the Holy Mother is doing. Identify who the characters are.
To me, though the subject is a bit depressing, the fact that it was able to elicit a response is one of the reasons it is such a great masterpiece.
Anyway, the Princely Treasures exhibit is ending on 29 September. I think I'm ready to say goodbye to the exhibit.
On to the next one... The next exhibit I am very excited about since it's something more "local..."
More deets soon.
