You managed to hit two of my bugbears in the same post. I SO can't bear crowded exhibitions that I won't go to them. I hate crowds in any form, but at 5 feet tall, I can rarely see a painting with loads of people in front. And what's the point? You go to art to sit back and think and absorb – you can't begin to do that in a crowd, even a well-behaved one. As for Monet, I too lack the gene. I've seen a lot over my life - even the Water Lilies room in Paris – and they leave me distinctly unmoved. Move on.
Being a man, it would be hard for me to say, it is merely different. In grocery stores I go around, asking people if I can borrow them, for items on the top shelves.
That's why I don't go to major art exhibitions in Tokyo anymore. I end up studying people's looks and behavior instead of the artworks. I can do that in the street as well, for free.
If the artist really appeals, I'll go, but I will be more selective in future, perhaps. Venues with a larger space are better for this kind of big show.
Riding the Monet line: what an apt analogy. Blockbuster exhibitions have taken me down the Beckmann, Goya, Warhol, Kahlo…so many teeming lines at rush hour. Museums count on big names, especially Impressionists, to pack in the crowds. Unless the works on display are of the highest quality, united by a strong thesis, the experience can be dispiriting.
I didn’t know that Monet was the first major artist not to paint a nude. How telling. He was all about light and color. Of all the Monets I’ve seen, the most ecstatic are water lilies, and not all of them are equally fine. But even at his best, he won’t transport every viewer, any more than Hemingway will move every reader.
The layout and size can also make a difference. Some venues in Tokyo have a large space suitable for this kind of blockbuster. The Artizon, though a great venue, is not one of those. I did, though, stumble on by chance a work in another room that I really enjoyed - but that's a story, perhaps, for another day.
Maybe there were too many people to fully enjoy the art? The Charing Cross Bridge painting has a transcendental beauty to it, so moving it makes my heart ache.
I think also the space was a little cramped. It's a good museum which puts on some excellent exhibitions (including a wonderful one of Constantin Brâncuși a couple of years ago) and lovely works in its collection. But maybe not the best venue for this exhibition. I also enjoy the Charing Cross Bridge painting - perhaps in part becuase I know the place?
Jeffrey, you’ve described the claustrophobic feeling I’ve felt at major exhibits. The “You’ve got 45 minutes, folks. Then it’s off to the gift shop with you.” I once dragged my family to Washington, D.C. because I wanted to see a John Singer Sargent exhibit at the National Gallery. A totally different experience. I spent an entire day wandering around the museum by myself while they did whatever. We took in the Smithsonian museums on the Mall, but that’s something you need weeks to absorb, even slightly. (I went back alone.) I saw a big Monet exhibit in Chicago with my daughter; less crowded than the one you describe so well. But Monet? We had other business, or I wouldn’t have bothered. Thanks for sharing your experience. I feel validated.
I really enjoyed the John Singer Sargent exhibition I saw in London a few years back. There were crowds, but they were ok in that spce (Tate Britain) and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the painter's brushwork. I feel somehow relieved I'm not the only one who struggles with Monet.
Enjoyed this! It inspires me for my upcoming summer living in London and strolling through art exhibits, sometimes being blown away and sometimes not. 🌷
I always wondered what it would feel like to sit on a bench in an almost empty museum like in the movies (Dressed to Kill, Vertigo, …) until I visited the Musée de l'Orangerie. Maybe I was lucky, maybe the timing was right (it was early in the morning) but it was such a wonderful viewing experience. And then, I had my worst museum experience that same week, at the Louvre lol.
I sometimes find myself experiencing the same discomfort when I attend exhibitions/museums, but then I also wonder if other people are experiencing the same discomfort too?!
Your piece has reminded me of this conflict when my husband and I visited Hiroshima last year and we went to the Peace Memorial Museum. I'm not if you've been there but the building is rather small for the amount of visitors it receives. We went early and so missed the crowds. Still, it felt like you were on a conveyor belt as you viewed the exhibits and sadly, it meant that you didn't have much time to spend with them. Also, it was quite stressful/disturbing having people stick cameras over your shoulder or do selfies ugh 😣
Interestingly, on a more recent trip to Japan, we went to Nagasaki and also visited the atomic museum there. Very different experience. Another early start, but perhaps it was the building so that things were more spread out, or just that Nagasaki is not as easy to get to as a destination compared to Hiroshima (who knows), it was far quieter, and a much more pleasant experience especially given the place we were visiting.
I've been to the memorial in Hiroshima, but not yet to the one in Nagasaki. The visit to Hiroshima was well before the era of smartphones, so photography wasn't an issue. I can imagine your discomfort with the selfies being taken around you, Sarah. I'd feel the same.
I sympathize with all of this, Jeffrey. And it’s very hard to see Monet afresh now— maybe we need more distance in time as well as a less crowded space.
Crowds and hurried pacing can ruin an experience for me, even if the art/music/event is spectacular. I wonder if your impressions would’ve changed by a completely quiet, empty gallery. That’s how I like to view art, in solitude!
I think an empty gallery – a highly unlikely prospect – would have made a difference, Kimberly. Even when there are other people present, if there’s time and space for me to settle in front of a painting that has drawn me in, I can feel that I and the painting are alone. That’s when the magic happens (or maybe it’s a sign that it has already happened).
I love how you turned your essay on its head and made it about something else, namely the experience - and joys and pains - of seeing major art exhibitions.
I felt for you, Jeff. That's one of the reasons I don't go to blockbusters exhibitions anymore.
I think if I had been more excited by the art, I wouldn't have been bothered by the crowded space quite as much. But I do like the Artizon nevertheless. There's usually other things from their collection of interest to see, too.
I can't help but think that the crowds really do influence one's ability to appreciate a work of art. Sometimes I just need to sit in front of it and just pay attention. Just as in nature, it is in the attention that the "moment" happens. I feel like it is near impossible for that to happen for myself when there are too many people around. I am too distracted. As always, I really enjoyed this post!
When I get the chance to wander round the National Gallery in London, I relish the chance to do just as you say - pay attention. It wasn't possible on this occasion - the space felt too small, the flow of the traffic too incessant. But I went to another big exhibition in the same week in a bigger venue and that allowed me to enjoy the paintings I enjoyed most more fully.
I know what you mean about crowded blockbusters, Jeffrey, but I recommend sitting quietly with the waterlilies in the Musee Marmottan to fully appreciate them. I discovered Monet in the Jeu de Paume sixty years ago. I remain loyal and have educated two generations of my family. It was a proud moment this week when my six year old granddaughter looked at a colouring book inspired by famous paintings and said, Look, Monet!
I know exactly how you feel, Jeffrey, on both counts. When I last went to Paris (October 2024), I had never seen such crowded sidewalks and long, seemingly never ending lines. I think it might have been because the Olympics had finished up in September and all the people who couldn't get into the city then decided to go to Paris in October. Not one museum made for a good experience. The worst of it: the people who, despite the crowds, insisted on taking pictures and were not hesitant to ask a person to get out of the way. It was a horrible experience (fortunately, this was not my first trip). Your response to the Monet paintings was like mine the last time I saw a major exhibition of Georgia O'Keeffe. The show was too big and quality throughout was unequal. Part of the problem of being or not being moved, for lack of a better word, arises, I think, because of familiarity with the whole of artist's work (how many times, for example, does a person have to see the Mona Lisa, which is not among my favorites, no matter the artist's greatness), as well as an increasingly trained eye with which to "see," which comes after a lifetime of viewing, studying, and learning about art in all its many facets.
Perhaps we're spoilt these days by having instant access to images of the paintings on our phones or computer screens whenever we want. They don't look the same there, of course, and the experience is very different. But the familiarity you mention could build up there, leading us to feel that we "know" the artist's work even though we may have barely experienced it. However, all this also serves to highlight the artificiality of the whole experience of admiring rectangles of colour and shape with crowds of others!
You managed to hit two of my bugbears in the same post. I SO can't bear crowded exhibitions that I won't go to them. I hate crowds in any form, but at 5 feet tall, I can rarely see a painting with loads of people in front. And what's the point? You go to art to sit back and think and absorb – you can't begin to do that in a crowd, even a well-behaved one. As for Monet, I too lack the gene. I've seen a lot over my life - even the Water Lilies room in Paris – and they leave me distinctly unmoved. Move on.
Share your dislike of crowds and am also 5' tall.
It's difficult down here at times, but presumably a lot harder if you are a man.
Being a man, it would be hard for me to say, it is merely different. In grocery stores I go around, asking people if I can borrow them, for items on the top shelves.
I go around asking people where things are. I can never find what I'm looking for.
Yes, yes. Same here.
That's why I don't go to major art exhibitions in Tokyo anymore. I end up studying people's looks and behavior instead of the artworks. I can do that in the street as well, for free.
If the artist really appeals, I'll go, but I will be more selective in future, perhaps. Venues with a larger space are better for this kind of big show.
Riding the Monet line: what an apt analogy. Blockbuster exhibitions have taken me down the Beckmann, Goya, Warhol, Kahlo…so many teeming lines at rush hour. Museums count on big names, especially Impressionists, to pack in the crowds. Unless the works on display are of the highest quality, united by a strong thesis, the experience can be dispiriting.
I didn’t know that Monet was the first major artist not to paint a nude. How telling. He was all about light and color. Of all the Monets I’ve seen, the most ecstatic are water lilies, and not all of them are equally fine. But even at his best, he won’t transport every viewer, any more than Hemingway will move every reader.
The layout and size can also make a difference. Some venues in Tokyo have a large space suitable for this kind of blockbuster. The Artizon, though a great venue, is not one of those. I did, though, stumble on by chance a work in another room that I really enjoyed - but that's a story, perhaps, for another day.
Sometimes the greatest reward in a museum is that beautiful surprise you weren’t looking for.
Maybe there were too many people to fully enjoy the art? The Charing Cross Bridge painting has a transcendental beauty to it, so moving it makes my heart ache.
I think also the space was a little cramped. It's a good museum which puts on some excellent exhibitions (including a wonderful one of Constantin Brâncuși a couple of years ago) and lovely works in its collection. But maybe not the best venue for this exhibition. I also enjoy the Charing Cross Bridge painting - perhaps in part becuase I know the place?
Jeffrey, you’ve described the claustrophobic feeling I’ve felt at major exhibits. The “You’ve got 45 minutes, folks. Then it’s off to the gift shop with you.” I once dragged my family to Washington, D.C. because I wanted to see a John Singer Sargent exhibit at the National Gallery. A totally different experience. I spent an entire day wandering around the museum by myself while they did whatever. We took in the Smithsonian museums on the Mall, but that’s something you need weeks to absorb, even slightly. (I went back alone.) I saw a big Monet exhibit in Chicago with my daughter; less crowded than the one you describe so well. But Monet? We had other business, or I wouldn’t have bothered. Thanks for sharing your experience. I feel validated.
I really enjoyed the John Singer Sargent exhibition I saw in London a few years back. There were crowds, but they were ok in that spce (Tate Britain) and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the painter's brushwork. I feel somehow relieved I'm not the only one who struggles with Monet.
Enjoyed this! It inspires me for my upcoming summer living in London and strolling through art exhibits, sometimes being blown away and sometimes not. 🌷
It's hit and miss, isn't it? I love it when the "hits" are a surprise.
Too crowded? Like being herded past the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. I love Edward Hopper: he seemed to capture ordinary souls in extraordinary light.
The Louvre is next level crowded, true! - though at least it's huge and some parts are usually quiet. Hopper is great, isn't he?
I always wondered what it would feel like to sit on a bench in an almost empty museum like in the movies (Dressed to Kill, Vertigo, …) until I visited the Musée de l'Orangerie. Maybe I was lucky, maybe the timing was right (it was early in the morning) but it was such a wonderful viewing experience. And then, I had my worst museum experience that same week, at the Louvre lol.
Your Musée de l'Orangerie experience sounds great. As for the Louvre – Paris is very much a place of stark contrasts, isn’t it?
I sometimes find myself experiencing the same discomfort when I attend exhibitions/museums, but then I also wonder if other people are experiencing the same discomfort too?!
Your piece has reminded me of this conflict when my husband and I visited Hiroshima last year and we went to the Peace Memorial Museum. I'm not if you've been there but the building is rather small for the amount of visitors it receives. We went early and so missed the crowds. Still, it felt like you were on a conveyor belt as you viewed the exhibits and sadly, it meant that you didn't have much time to spend with them. Also, it was quite stressful/disturbing having people stick cameras over your shoulder or do selfies ugh 😣
Interestingly, on a more recent trip to Japan, we went to Nagasaki and also visited the atomic museum there. Very different experience. Another early start, but perhaps it was the building so that things were more spread out, or just that Nagasaki is not as easy to get to as a destination compared to Hiroshima (who knows), it was far quieter, and a much more pleasant experience especially given the place we were visiting.
I've been to the memorial in Hiroshima, but not yet to the one in Nagasaki. The visit to Hiroshima was well before the era of smartphones, so photography wasn't an issue. I can imagine your discomfort with the selfies being taken around you, Sarah. I'd feel the same.
I sympathize with all of this, Jeffrey. And it’s very hard to see Monet afresh now— maybe we need more distance in time as well as a less crowded space.
I think you’re right, Victoria. I found it challenging to recapture the kind of excitement it has generated over the last 100 years or so.
Crowds and hurried pacing can ruin an experience for me, even if the art/music/event is spectacular. I wonder if your impressions would’ve changed by a completely quiet, empty gallery. That’s how I like to view art, in solitude!
I think an empty gallery – a highly unlikely prospect – would have made a difference, Kimberly. Even when there are other people present, if there’s time and space for me to settle in front of a painting that has drawn me in, I can feel that I and the painting are alone. That’s when the magic happens (or maybe it’s a sign that it has already happened).
I love how you turned your essay on its head and made it about something else, namely the experience - and joys and pains - of seeing major art exhibitions.
I felt for you, Jeff. That's one of the reasons I don't go to blockbusters exhibitions anymore.
I think if I had been more excited by the art, I wouldn't have been bothered by the crowded space quite as much. But I do like the Artizon nevertheless. There's usually other things from their collection of interest to see, too.
This also reminded me of how I came to find my real love in paintings - annunciations. See https://arichardson.substack.com/p/annunciations
I'm a fan of annunciation paintings too, Ann. So I'll be checking out your post.
Some authors are like that for me as well. What hits us, catches us unexpectedly, is pretty much a mystery, but then again, so is life.
I can't help but think that the crowds really do influence one's ability to appreciate a work of art. Sometimes I just need to sit in front of it and just pay attention. Just as in nature, it is in the attention that the "moment" happens. I feel like it is near impossible for that to happen for myself when there are too many people around. I am too distracted. As always, I really enjoyed this post!
When I get the chance to wander round the National Gallery in London, I relish the chance to do just as you say - pay attention. It wasn't possible on this occasion - the space felt too small, the flow of the traffic too incessant. But I went to another big exhibition in the same week in a bigger venue and that allowed me to enjoy the paintings I enjoyed most more fully.
I know what you mean about crowded blockbusters, Jeffrey, but I recommend sitting quietly with the waterlilies in the Musee Marmottan to fully appreciate them. I discovered Monet in the Jeu de Paume sixty years ago. I remain loyal and have educated two generations of my family. It was a proud moment this week when my six year old granddaughter looked at a colouring book inspired by famous paintings and said, Look, Monet!
That sounds like a great moment with your granddaughter, Alison. And I will try to remember your advice if I ever make it back to Paris!
I know exactly how you feel, Jeffrey, on both counts. When I last went to Paris (October 2024), I had never seen such crowded sidewalks and long, seemingly never ending lines. I think it might have been because the Olympics had finished up in September and all the people who couldn't get into the city then decided to go to Paris in October. Not one museum made for a good experience. The worst of it: the people who, despite the crowds, insisted on taking pictures and were not hesitant to ask a person to get out of the way. It was a horrible experience (fortunately, this was not my first trip). Your response to the Monet paintings was like mine the last time I saw a major exhibition of Georgia O'Keeffe. The show was too big and quality throughout was unequal. Part of the problem of being or not being moved, for lack of a better word, arises, I think, because of familiarity with the whole of artist's work (how many times, for example, does a person have to see the Mona Lisa, which is not among my favorites, no matter the artist's greatness), as well as an increasingly trained eye with which to "see," which comes after a lifetime of viewing, studying, and learning about art in all its many facets.
Perhaps we're spoilt these days by having instant access to images of the paintings on our phones or computer screens whenever we want. They don't look the same there, of course, and the experience is very different. But the familiarity you mention could build up there, leading us to feel that we "know" the artist's work even though we may have barely experienced it. However, all this also serves to highlight the artificiality of the whole experience of admiring rectangles of colour and shape with crowds of others!