INSPIRE ME! Artist, George Rouault

"My only objective is to paint a Christ so moving
that those who see him will be converted."
~ GEORGE ROUAULT, artist

By TAHLIB

LAST EASTER, we visited Saint Louis, Missouri to see the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, and we were so impressed that we immediately put it on our calendars for Easter 2011. This past week though, I received the bad news that the museum would be closed for Easter weekend. Sad, but undeterred, I contacted the museum's founder/director Father Terrence Dempsey, SJ who graciously offered to meet us, and then gave us an inspiring tour of the current exhibition, "George Rouault: Miserere et Guerre" (See #58 above and #32 below).

Inspired by the horrors of World War I, Rouault worked for nine years on this masterpiece collection. They capture the human misery he experienced in Paris – probing portraits through a war ravaged-religious lens: tragic faces of the pompous, the homeless, and through it all the suffering of Christ. Rouault himself said, "All of my work is religious for those who know how to look at it."

Last year's visit to the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art's exhibition, "Good Friday: The Suffering Christ in Art" left me in tears of despair. As I walked out of the museum this year, I felt lighter. Certainly Rouault understood suffering as much as the previous year's collection of artists, but through his stunning works I also felt the hope.

 
Georges Henri Rouault was born in Paris on May 27, 1871. He studied under Gustave Moreau at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and also under Elie Delauney. Rouault's early work was influenced by his teachers as well as by the artist's fascination for medieval art and stained-glass techniques. "Miserere" was finished in 1927 but was not published until 1948. Rouault died at the age of 87 in Paris on February 13, 1958.

Other Rouault's in US Museums

I've been a fan of Rouault's work for some time, and have seen his works at nearly every major museum I've visited including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Most recently, we saw Rouault’s painting, “Head of Christ.” at the Cleveland Museum of Art (see below). 

"Head of Christ" at Cleveland Museum of Art

"Three Clowns" at the Indiana University Art Museum

"The Crucifixion" at the Minneapolis Institute of Art

"Circus Act" at the Museum of Modern Art in NYC

Recommendation

The 58-piece collection that makes up "George Rouault: Miserere et Guerre" at the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art far exceeded our wildest expectations. The exhibition runs through July 31, and we strongly recommend the experience. Lastly, special thanks to Father Dempsey for sharing his Easter Saturday morning with us, and we'll be back in September for the opening of the next season!

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Saint Mark's Church | MO

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS
By Ernest Disney-Britton

Episcopalians are enthusiastically Easter People. This Sunday morning, April 24, we worshiped at Saint Mark's Church, an Episcopal church in the quiet and tree-filled neighborhood of St. Louis Hills. Arriving a little late, we filled the last of the 200 seats as we joined the warm and welcoming congregation. We sat next to Oliver, age 14-months, and his mother & father. Oliver's parents were married at St. Mark's and while they live far from this church they come back for Christmas and Easter. Sharing the pew with chubby Oliver, all decked out in plaid, smiles and laughter was one more wonderful Easter gift.

St. Mark's, built in 1938, is an extremely beautiful building in the Moderne style of the Empire State Building, and according to church records it was "one of a handful of uncompromisingly modern churches built anywhere in the world during World War ll." While the brick building's facade is simple and somewhat austere, the internal decoration uses neo-Egyption detailing like you see in the Chrysler Building in New York. At 200-seats, it's a small church but with a deep, resonant sound (and a new organ they are pleased to show-off!). In many ways it is reminiscent of an old world college chapel, or a Catholic church hospital chapel.

What is most notable about the church though are the stained glass windows. Created in pastel shades of blue, green and purple, designed by Robert Harmon, they tell the story of Christ's presence in Biblical days (north side) and then contemporary times (south side) including the fight to improve race relations. There is also a tapestry, by Beatrice Boot on the wall to the right of the altar on the race relations theme. The banner text reads, "Earth shall be fair and all her folk be one." Four additional iconic details that are unforgettable are the altar crucifix, chandeliers, processional cross, and the pulpit & lectern.

The massive steel and victorius "Christus Rex" crucifix by Sheila Burlingame, above the white marble altar dominates the front of the sanctuary and its impact is accentuated by the eight chandeliers which mimic its form and substance. On the light fixtures is a crown capped by a cross and above it hang the sun and moon, sources of light. It is however the contemporary multi-dimensional, multi-colored processional cross that most captivted me with layers of bright yellow and orange. It is a stark, and pleasing contrast to the more subdued tones of the rest of the sanctuary. The fourth defining element of this exceptional God's Art Museum are the ironworked but rather smallish pulpit and lectern from the 1950s. Created by sculptor Clarke Battle Fitz-Gerald, they are rich with symbols and images but subtle enough only to enhance and not distract.

Today's Easter Service (Holy Eucharist) was led by The Rev. Dr. Peter Van Horne. Beginning quietly (according to the program--we missed that part), the service built to a crescendo of enthusiasm aided by the incredible orchestrations of their new organ (video: organ history) played by Organist & Choirmaster, Robert Mullgardt. After services, Mullgardt and others enthusiastically shared with us the history of the church, and of course the organ including the fact that a fellow Hoosier, Dr. Janette Fishell from the Indiana University had played for the organ's dedication. It was a wonderful service, Catholic enough for me, and Protestant enough for Greg. Noting our diversity in contrast to their own lack, one of the older congregants whispered (loud enough for Greg to overhear), "Oh, I hope they come back. We could use some diversity."

Episcopalians are the American partner of the Anglican Communion, or The Church of England an entirely separate church from Rome. The Anglican church traces its roots to the reign of England's King Henry VIII who broke the English Church from the Roman Catholic Church. It is the third largest Christian denomination in the world, after Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox, and is widely considered the “midway” between Protestants (Puritans and the liberals) and the Roman Catholic Church. As reflected in St. Mark's Church artwork about race relations, they are very active in social justice and their most famous contemporary figure is Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa. American Episcopalians also conduct marriages of same-sex couples. It's a religious tradition that is a very comprehensive amalgamation of the three broad religious strains of Christianity that is the Evangelical, the Catholic and the Liberal.

St. Mark's Church is located at 4714 Clifton Ave, St. Louis, Missouri, (314) 832-3588, saintmarks-stl.org, and we'll be back.

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A&O Meeting to St. Louis: Easter Sunday at Basilica

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS

Gregory A. Disney (left) and Verneida I. Britton (right)

Easter Meetup 2011 outside the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO.

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Test Your Easter Story Knowledge

KANSAS CITY STAR
By Helen Gray

This painting from the Latin Holy Family Church
in city of Ramallah depicts Christ’s resurrection

MISSOURI - Many interpretations, explanations, questions and viewpoints surround various aspects of the resurrection story. And even the four Gospels give differing details, leading to scholarly debates. Here is a quiz based on the accounts of the Easter story as told in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Give yourself a point for each correct answer. [link]

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DC's National Building Museum Celebrates Hildreth Meière's Art Deco murals and mosaics

EXAMINER - DC
March 23, 2011

WASHINGTON DC - Think Art Deco, what doesn’t come to mind is who created its major murals -- and much of America’s greatest Art Deco murals, mosaics, and decorative arts -- Hildreth Meière. Washington’s National Building Museum is correcting this with a just-opened, much-deserved tribute, “Walls Speak: The Narrative Art of Hildreth Meière”, the first major retrospective of the award-winning artist’s spectacular work. Her 100-plus commissions included designs for:

• :New York City: St. Bartholomew’s Church, its magnificent Magnificat stained glass window, among its other stained glass and mosaics; and Temple Emanu-El, eight-story high mosaics over the main sanctuary’s ark.
• Washington, DC: National Cathedral‘s mosaic apse in its Resurrection Chapel. 
• St. Louis, MO: Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, which has one of the world’s largest installations of mosaics.
• 70 portable altarpieces for World War II military chaplains – and she supervised creation of more than 500 of these triptychs.

Amid Meière's stupendous success, she did have one rejection. Her National Cathedral contract included another commission, for the crypt. They “wanted to go with a more abstract style, with the appearance of stained glass,” Broikos said. “They decided her studies were too literal, so she lost the commission – very unusual for her.” [link]

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SPEND THIS EASTER WITH ROUAULT

SPEND EASTER WEEKEND IN ST. LOUIS as AOA travels to the Mississippi River to see Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre at the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, April 23 & 24. All 45 etchings of Miserere et Guerre will be on view. French expressionist, George Rouault's works are in the collections of museums around the US (and the world), including Head of Christ at the Cleveland Museum of Art; and his influence on American artists such as Hartley Marsden is noteworthy (See Marsden's Three Friends at the Indiana University Museum of Art). What does the weekend include?

• Guided tour of Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
• Easter Mass at one of the city's oldest churches
• Discount rates at a 4-star hotel
• Tour of local public art & religious architecture
• Movie Night at the areas most exclusive shopping mall
• Soul Food on Easter Sunday
• And more!

Contact aoatravels@alphaomegaarts.com for more information on Easter Weekend in Saint Louis.

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PROJECT: FOUNDATION

BY ERNEST BRITTON

Yesterday, AOA traveled to the Toledo Museum of Art's opening day exhibition of "The Baroque World of Fernando Boltero." It's a powerful and sensuous exhibition which was tweeted the whole day. It was a great day-trip, full of fun, camaraderie and exceptional Latin American food. The next AOA Travel takes us to beautiful Saint Louis, Missouri over Easter Weekend. Join us!

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Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre | St. Louis

MOCRA NEWSLETTER
March 15, 2011

MISSOURI -- The Museum of Contemporary Religious Art presents Georges Rouault: Miserere et Guerre (the complete set of 58 etchings) through July 31. Although not one of the original group of Fauves, Rouault (French, 1871-1958) is associated with them because of his use of colors to affect the way we see his images. He is also widely considered the most important Christian religious artist of the twentieth century. In his paintings as well as in his prints, Rouault shows us that though "We think ourselves Kings," we are more accurately seen as circus clowns, each wearing our own mask to disguise our true nature ("Are we not all convicts?" asks the title of one of The Miserere) from ourselves. For Rouault, what saves us from ourselves, if anything can, is Christ and the Virgin Mary, both depicted throughout many of Rouault's works. [link]

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Art inside Prison Helps on the Outside

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
March 7, 2011

MISSOURI--This week, "Art on the Inside," an exhibit from the Alabama Prison Arts + Education Project (APAEP), is opening at Saint Louis University. The program provides quality educational opportunities in the arts and humanities to incarcerated persons in Alabama. The exhibit features the work of students from inside Alabama state prisons and includes work from 2004 to 2010. At face value, this exhibit may not appear to have any ties to religion. However, those within the prison system are often forgotten about, their humanity disregarded and degraded. As religious persons, we are called to respond to all with compassion and respect for their human dignity - including incarcerated persons. Indeed, as Christians we reminded in Matthew's gospel of the importance of this:

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you? And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.'  (Matt 25:35-40).

Programs like APAEP recognize the dignity of these individuals and lift them up. However, APAEP is not alone in this mission. Two programs through SLU also cherish these individuals' dignity and seek to provide them with the means to enhance their intellectual and personal growth. The Saint Louis University College-In-Prison Program offers college courses and associates degrees to incarcerated persons and staff at the Eastern Reception Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne, Terre, Mo. and the Inside Out Speaker Series brings speakers from SLU's campus to the Bonne Terre campus. [link]

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