Why did Degas have to reassemble Manet's 'Execution of Maximilian'? | National Gallery
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- Опубліковано 19 чер 2024
- Anne Robbins, Associate Curator of Post 1800 Paintings, explores the subject matter of Manet's 'The Execution of Maximilian' and why it was never exhibited during Manet's lifetime.
This talk was filmed in November 2019.
Get more insight into Manet's execution of Maximilian with the author John Elderfield who explains the historical importance of these works, in the context of modern art. Check the book at our online shop here: bit.ly/3hy9Ncl
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Thank-you for an excellent lecture. Maximilian’s wife was in Europe at the time - upon receiving the news, she had an emotional breakdown and was rendered insane.
Anne is phenomenal. Would love more presentations from her!
It’s a dreary, cold and grey October day, I have searing tinnitus and I am watching this feeling very lucky at being able to see wonderful art accompanied by a great explanation. Lots to be thankful for!
Anne, to sit on another continent and see the art is great - but to have your words giving context, background and information is truly wonderful ! Thank you.
Looking at the end of the rifle as the shot is fired - he captures what photography at the time could not. The red, fiery heat of the blast, the smoke, the moment the bullet leaves the rifle is incredible. Thank you. This was fantastic!
These 10 minute gallery talks are so intelligent and interesting.
Brought the painting to life, wonderful presentation.
This better not be the last we see of Anne Robbins. This was too good.
And thoroughly informative!
My family comes from Queretaro, Mexico. Emperor Maximilano was executed at Cerro de Las Campanas in the capital city of Santiago de Queretaro. I highly recommend visiting that city -- love going there to visit family.
This curator's clear explanation helps one to view this painting with new eyes Thank you so much
Maximilian gave each member of the firing squad a gold coin. Whatever anyone thought of him, he died with style.
And his last words were, "Viva Mexico" -- that's class.
A magnificent summary of an intriguing painting. I have enjoyed the aesthetic and historical background. Merci.
Thank you for such a brilliant comment, so deep and correct, it makes the painting amazing !
Excellent mini lecture, concise yet inclusive. I'd love to see more similar lectures.
Mis, Robinson .Thank you so very much for your detailed history of the picture, the artist, and of course the victim then the saviour and then the custodian. Well done Ma'am.
Thank you very much, Anne. Greatly appreciated.
Please post more of Anne’s presentations .
I think she is amazing. Anymore video with her!
Excellent interpretation and analysis of the picture! Thank you, Anne Robins.
Ms Robbins is absolutely charming! Thank you for educating me. I look forward to more.
What a wonderful talk. She did a great job. I’m glad I got to listen to her.
How very interesting! I've only been through the National Gallery a handful of times, but always found it fascinating (and always wished I could have spent more time there).
Brilliant, really enjoyed and learned from this talk, thank you
Very interesting and insightful - thank you very much for the presentation, Ms. Robbins.
Wow, that painting has so much history around it. Excellent presentation 👍🏻
Please do more 10 minute talks! That was very interesting. Thank you.
Most informative and enjoyable, thank you Anne
Bravo Madame et Merci.
C est un bonheur pour moi que de vous écouter.
J aurai tant aimé faire ce que vous faıtes!
Vous donnez de la Passion, tant de vie á tous ces chef d oeuvres qui nous sont heureusement parvenus.
Encore merci å vous et à tous les curateurs de la National Gallery.
What an excellent talk. Thank you so much!
Thank you Madame, you did an excellent job of explaining it
Very enlightening. Thanks you very much.
Great video, really enjoyed it. Thank you.
One of my favorite paintings
Thank you so much! More from Anne please!
Very interesting, thank you so much!
Excellent thank you for such a brilliant explanation of such an iconic painting - merci
Amazing!
I adore the art, but often the history behind the work adds to the meaning of it, as it does here. Great short presentation of an important work.
I wish, since this is a UA-cam, and not a real lecture, that they could at least include the URLs to the other versions of this painting. And correct the English in the subtitles.
Saw the first version of this in MFA Boston recently. Very interesting to hear more about the work.
¡Excelente! Es una presentación concisa, muy informada e interesante.
Great presentation, but I'm glad you make sure these recordings are now done without background sounds from visistors. A bit distracting, but still a great video.
I particularly enjoyed this video. thanks
Excellent
excellent exposition - just the right amount of detail. I enjoyed this very much. Thank you.
Thank you.. these short videos are very very good.
Thank you. Have celebrated Cinco de Mayo so often. Juarez a hero. Had no idea how Emperor Maximilian fell prey to execution. And think I have seen the painting. Will revisit with added respect.
Thank you!!!
Thank you very much for such an insightful presentation, with not only an analysis of the painting itself, and its place in the history of European art, but also a reminder of how treacherous and self-serving political leaders, be they emperors, kings, presidents or prime ministers, can be.
That was very interesting.
Shockingly authentic document in art.
What a fantastic talk - she got more in than some lectures do in an hour.
Would like to see the entire painting. Is there a copy circulating?
Engaging, enlightening, educational, exciting. Edgar Degas and Edouard Manet. Thank you!
fantastique Mme Robbins!!
Most enjoyable!
"Happy little accident " I landed here ! Love insightful descriptions but seldom stumble across them when I am looking for them ! Love this ! For once the algorithm did good !
Excellent! A rare UA-cam recommendation worth it’s salt.
Just looked up a picture of Napolean III, because of a comment here, and dear lord the resemblance to the soldier at the far right is uncanny!
See below finger slipped. Philip Sheridan was immediately sent to the Texas border to enforce the Monroe doctrine at end of war, but didn’t have to act. I greatly appreciate these short presentations. Thank you
The indifference of the firing squad in contrast to the comforting hand grasping Maxmillian's, is what the painting is all about.
She explains the cutting up from about 10.35 onwards.
I love this painting
Excellent explanation of a strange painting.
An explanation of the history of the painting at the start of the lecture would have been helpful.
감사히 잘 보았습니다💕🙏
Lovley
When I first saw the painting in this video I thought that I was misremembering the painting because I have seen the version that is in Boston where the soldiers are wearing sombreros and you can see Maximillian and the man on his right hand. Now I’m grateful to know that I’m not going crazy! This painting is interesting but lacks the punch of the versions that show Maximilian and his two friends just as the firing squad pull the triggers of their guns. The look on his face is very serene as if he has accepted the inevitable and now welcomes death.
What were his family thinking? Such a pity 😥
I enjoyed your analysis on this painting. I have read a little on this time period ( occupation of Mexico by France) but never have seen this painting. Interesting on how you said "the viewer sees the back of the firing squad ( the same view as the executioners) as if taking part". Perhaps it was painted this way because he felt that Napoleon III and the French government were indirectly responsible for Maximillan's death. Although it was his choice to go to Mexico, a slick P.R. job by Naploeon III (led him to believe he was wanted and the Juarista's were not) may have sealed his fate. Other observations in the painting may be the soldier whose job is to deliver the final shot, has his head is down (a metaphoric display of guilt?) . The only full face in the painting the viewers sees is the guy being executed, bravely accepting his fate.
The soldier looking down resembles Napoleon III.
"North of Mexico City": Maximiliano was executed in 1867 on the Cerro de las Campanas in Querétaro
Do you know why Cerro Campanas was the chosen place?
Lsa F because he had been loosing the war with Benito Juarez and had been forced out of Mexico City and operating from Querétaro. When Juárez managed to take Querétaro, he had him executed near by. The French intervened by helping Juárez’ army like they had helped George Washington’s in the previous century. This was a controversial policy in France at the time. So painting this subject matter was very controversial in France. Manet is a badass badboi. He wanted everyone to see what they had done. This is part of the reason why the canvas is so monumentally large.
Which still is "north of Mexico City".
@@lsaf6573 The capital of Maximiliano's administration was Querétaro, not Mexico City. The Cerro de las Campanas lies within the current city limits. At the time it was just a little outside the city and deemed an appropriate place for the execution.
Hiding the soldier's faces also dehumanizes them.
Didn't Manet's son Leon cut up part of the remaining canvas?
Making war was the single way to travel all around the world at this time and especially in the french army of Napoleon III.They took Milan ,Sebastopol,Damascus
Pekin,Phnom Penh,New Caledonia,Mexico and ended the conquest of Algeria before exploring Sahara.Prussians also appreciated to travel in France.
I did American civil war re-enacting, and recognise the poses of the soldiers being correct for the period. The front rank soldiers have 'T'd their feet to provide a degree of stability while shooting, without disturbing their line position. The rear rank soldiers have taken half a pace to the right to allow the musket to be dropped between the front rank soldiers. The Americans took their drill from French practice at this time, it seems the Mexicans did too, or Manet assumed they did, and was familiar with the military method.
I like how the artist left it to move the pieces. Change the story. Who's arm is the black suit. Is it a tux? Are they the same people? Who is holding his hand while he is just looking on as the are executing him? He seems so calm. What does he know. Why can the person that is to finish him off be taken away from the image. He also left it to be able to behead him. Is the head the two men that we see holding hands in the piece below?
Not a word on the fact that the soldier on the far right is actually a representation of Napoleon III.
that IS interesting! It does indeed look like him. No wonder it was never exhibited!
National Gallery in London.
👌
Even though its the worst damaged the London version is by some way the best painted. The Copenhagen one is a mess.
My brothers, my cousins and myself are descendants of General Mejía, who was killed alongside Maximiliano. The thing is, we are all white, and normally he is portrait dark-skinned. My grandfather had 6 girls, who went to have 30 children (my generation). Together we have 70 kids (5 mine) and the newest generation is starting with 13 under 4 years old. Almost everyone lives in Mexico City, some in another province of Mexico, one in Miami, and one of my cousins and myself in Montreal.
I think it will be interesting to know your version of the events and how that affected your family.
Maximillian appears out of proportion compared to the firing squad. Was he very tall? At the end of the American Civil War a basically very mobile now
Manet is the boss top painter
I think subtitles must be in another language and the camera must show the painting and not so much the guide , in order to give the speach understood
Yes...The Execution painting is arresting...
The hand that is holding Maximillian is compelling stuff. Whose hand is that and why is it being held?
It is one of two generals who stayed loyal to him till the end.
I think the original painting showed Maximillan executed with two of his generals. The hands being held may be a metaphoric statement of them remaining united and loyal to each other even if was a lost cause resulting in their executions. I'm not a art critic, just my opinion.
A great tragedy what happened to Maximillian. He had a chance to leave with the French troops, I believe, but did not. I think his wife, Carlotta, returned to France, begging & pleading Louis Napoleon and any other European ruler who would listen, to rescue her husband, to no avail, eventually going insane. I forget exactly why Maximillian chose to remain behind in Mexico but I think it had to do with his sense duty & honor. Spectacular painting of which there's more than one version, including one which takes place inside a jail cell prior to the man's & his entourage of loyalists' execution. Great talk by Ms. Robbins.
National gallery of what?
Hi Rick, we're the National Gallery of art in London. You can find out more about us here: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/
In the U.K of course. We also have The Times, whereas everyone else has The Times of New York, or Los Angeles, perhaps of New Delhi.
It's just 'The National Gallery'
Similarly, it's the 'Royal Navy'
In golf it's 'The Open'
There's a National Gallery of Scotland, a National Gallery of Wales, and one in England which is simply called the National Gallery.
The same city also has a monument called The Monument.
@@ixlnxs Very true. It's as if the British of that era thought they were the centre of the world. But in those days, it was obvious that a person in London was reading The Times, not the NYT, so why call it anything else? And maybe we don't have control over Latitude, but we could still make Greenwich the datum for Longitude by merit of building the best clocks and having the world's leading navies. Anyone who says otherwise should be sent to The Tower.
And not so long after there was Sedan and what followed. The executioners got the wrong man!
Why no do a complete restoration? Not to be displayed permanently, make it reversible. Change it around every year or so???
pointless.
Because too much of it is gone
Wow the censorship and politics!
weirdly Anne's pronunciation of "Juarez" doesn't bother me
Exhibiting the French is an opportunity that Brits can’t let go of...
hahaha, yes, because of course no French art museum exhibits British artists. Or perhaps you need to visit French art museums more frequently.
Interesting painting, but the blank facial expression of the guy being shot at is not good. It should be defiant or fearful. The way it is feels unrealistic.
To me, the shooters look stiff and wooden.
Uh uh uh uh er er uh uh uh uh....... we need a better speaker.
She did really well explaining the subject matter and most of the commenters here seem to agree. Too bad no one can give you a better brain.
Better at what? She's an expert in the matter she discusses. She is eloquent. And she can do it in several languages.
What are YOUR qualities, Doug?