To have and to hold.: Princely Treasures

because angels can walk amongst men

Princely Treasures

From the House of Liechtenstein

National Museum of Singapore (27 June - 29 Sept 2013)

Admission: $10 per pax

To be honest, the new policy implemented where Museums are "free" to Singaporeans doesn't appear to have taken much of an effect for the average adult. The only worthwhile exhibits at the National Museum are the special exhibitions (which you still have to pay for) and I go to the Singapore Art Museums on Friday nights if I want to see all the exhibitions for free (and this was already the case before the new policy took effect). I actually wonder if it has the countervailing effect of decreasing the incentive for people to pay for exhibitions.

I always take pleasure from a well-curated art exhibition - and one of the things I love about art is how much it reflects life, how much it teaches one about perspective and time. While it will certainly help to be knowledgeable about art history - so much of art reflects a particular culture, context, sense of philosophy that you may be surprised at how much you react to it even without prior knowledge. That's why art is so wonderful at times - it is merely asking you to respond to its beauty.

I think the best kind of feeling when you walk out of a museum is to feel like the world has changed - because someone has opened your eyes to something greater.

I think the exhibitions in Singapore tend to vary in quality - I don't know if this is because curators struggle to decide what kind of audience it wants to reach out to and the level and complexity of their message. I have been to exhibitions where I was horrified at the direction and layout and have also often been disappointed about the lack of depth in the exhibitions - but, on a hopeful note, the quality of recent exhibitions have been improving.

I enjoyed Princely Treasures a lot because it had a very clear vision of what it wanted to represent and a very strong sense of place. I like how it was aware of the limitations of its own space - which is resolutely modern - as compared to the House of Liechtenstein/Liechtenstein Museum. You could see it in the photos and large framed images of the original settings of all these beautiful artworks - there is an acute sense that these artworks do not belong here, they were clearly made for a different setting, in a different era - and yet, the stark simplicity of the something new also highlighted how truly timeless certain pieces can be.

they will always take your breath away

Dad really enjoyed the portraits. He marveled at how vivid the portraits were - "how lifelike... as if he was staring right at me... as if they were photographs taken yesterday".

The Workshop of a Painter with Self-Portrait by Johann Georg Platzer

I have a soft spot for paintings within a paintings - you could stare endlessly at the details and intricateness of such a piece.

Flowers in a Vase by Franz Werner Tamm

I have heard people say that Still Lifes have no place in Art with the advent of modern technology but I do not think this is true. Still Life is I think one of the great teachers of perspective and patience - and some Still Lifes have this wonderfully oppressing sense of precision. Many Still Lifes have allegorical value - but you could really just enjoy it as a beautiful moment captured in time. I picked this Still Life because it is physically impossible for all the flowers in the vase to be in bloom at the same time.

it could only exist in art

Cupid with the Soap Bubble by Rembrandt Harmensz. Van Rijn

This is such a lovely piece - the soap bubble in the cupid's hand is supposed to represent the transience and fragility of love, just like a bubble.

Ok, enough of my ramblings, I'll just post a few more pictures of the many many many great artworks on display - you really have to enjoy them in person.

Also, enjoying an art exhibition with someone you love is a precious memory indeed. I feel that Dad and I are now tied to certain pieces that we laughed and shared together - our little moment that will be silently carried along with these artworks in the ceaseless tide of time.