At eye level in Iraq: An invitation to learn more about sorrow and hope

Sadr over Prayer, Thawra, Baghdad, Iraq, April 18, 2003.
Photograph © Thorne Anderson.

Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq, July 22, 2004.
Photograph © Kael Alford.

Eye Level in Iraq: Photographs by Kael Alford and Thorne Anderson, an exhibition which presented the photographs of two American-trained photojournalists who documented the deep impact and aftermath of the U.S.-led coalition invasion of Iraq in 2003, concluded a four-month engagement at the de Young Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco last weekend.

I viewed this incredibly compelling and moving exhibition Friday evening, which drew upon 62 digital inkjet prints that were representative of the work Alford and Anderson produced over a two-year period -- often under duress. (They were loaned to the de Young by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.)

In an interview earlier this year with the PBS NewsHour, Julian Cox, the chief curator at the San Francisco Art Museums, told of how he was spellbound by the photos which he first saw in 2006. "I felt vehemently they needed to be seen by a large audience.

"Those kinds of pictures are not typically seen in major art museums. There are one or two institutions across the country that do show these kinds of pictures, but you don't usually see them in art museum context ... The pictures are incredibly moving."

For most freelance photographers who are working in a war zone, getting good action photos and selling them to newspapers and magazines around the world -- as well as merely staying alive -- comprise their daily to-do list. That's what Thorne and Anderson did 10 years ago when they went to Iraq as freelance journalists and covered the beginnings of America's war in trying to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Maintaining objectivity was paramount and, indeed, they were hardworking photographers. By not being embedded with the U.S. military, it enabled Alford and Anderson, who are now married and teaching at a university in Texas, the opportunity to cover Iraq itself -- to photograph objects of interest -- and to portray the daily life and realities of a people as they were living with war going on all around them. And, although there are no photographs shot in a combat zone, the bravery and commitment shown by Alford and Anderson was evident throughout this haunting exhibit.

"From the beginning I sensed that Americans' view of the war was obscured," said Anderson in his artist's statement. "Perfectly descriptive words like 'invasion' and 'occupation' were sidestepped in our national press. Prisoners, we were instructed, must be called 'detainees.' These taboos felt like veils, and I wanted to tear them away."

According to Anderson, he tried to abandon his preconceptions of war and asked Iraqis to guide him through their experiences of the war. "I went as deep as I could, even behind 'enemy' lines. It wasn't easy. I tried to remain open and nonjudgmental, and I never felt so patriotic as when I was doing this work."

In the years following the events which comprise Eye Level in Iraq, new political leaders have emerged in Iraq. Yet, even today's headlines coming out of Baghdad in which two coordinated suicide bombers targeted a Shiite mosque, killing 29 people and wounding 55 others, are just the latest in a string of attacks to hit Iraq. While violence has surged as well as political tensions, it revives the fear that Iraq could be headed for a return to widespread sectarian bloodshed.

"Violence has breached nearly every household and Iraq's cities have been divided by fear along sectarian lines," according to Alford, in her artist's statement. "Educated professionals have been targeted and millions of people have fled. Today Iraq is widely regarded as one of the most corrupt and dangerous places in the world."

Alford returned to Iraq in 2011 and found the people in her photographs "plagued by insecurity, a deeply iniquitous judicial system, failing public infrastructure, and a wariness of foreign intervention.

"I found men and women haunted by loss and disappointment and young people, as always, pressing toward the future."

Searching for solace in Iraq, Alford found it in the depth of the country's history and its rivers. "The Euphrates River flows south past Babel, the mythical birthplace of languages, where it joins the Tigris River. Together they cradle the legendary site of the Garden of Eden. Although I am one more on a long list of invaders, I am invited by families to sit beside these rivers. We share meals and sweet flutes of tea and trade stories of sorrow and hope."

To learn more about the Eye Level in Iraq exhibition:

http://deyoung.famsf.org/deyoung/exhibitions/eye-level-iraq-photographs-kael-alford-and-thorne-anderson

To watch the PBS NewsHour story "Remembering the Faces of the Iraq War Through the Eyes of Photojournalists":

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june13/iraqphotos_03-21.html

Rembrandt and the richness of the print culture

Rembrandt Van Rijn / 
Arguably, the most influential
graphic artist of his generation.

On the occasion of seeing Rembrandt's Century the other evening at the de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, I was amazed by the wide ranging artworks from the Dutch Golden Age and the remarkable achievements by Rembrandt Van Rijn and his 17th century Dutch peers in this exhibition of works on paper.

Rembrandt's Century, which complements Girl With the Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis, explores an artistic era when printmaking gained in cultural importance, both in Holland and internationally. According to the exhibition's curator, James Ganz, writing on the de Young Museum's website, http://deyoung.famsf.org, "More than any other fine objects, prints circulation extensively throughout the 17th-century art world, broadcasting artistic, political, and scientific development far and wide."

This extraordinary exhibition of more than 200 engravings, etchings, woodcuts, ink drawings and watercolors, includes 60 etchings by Rembrandt dating from the 1620s to the 1660s as its focal point. Also, there are works by painter-printmakers such as Adriaen van Ostade, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione and Jusepe de Ribera, as well as by graphic artists such as Jacques Callot, Wenceslaus Hollar and Lambert Doomer.

Through observing Rembrandt's etchings and prints, I learned of the richness of the print culture that existed during the era of the Dutch Golden Age. Not only was Rembrandt a student of art; he was also a teacher and a collector, too. His prints include many different genres: still life, natural history, the nude, landscape, and scenes of daily life.

One of his Rembrandt's most artistic landscapes regardless of medium is his "The Landscape with Three Trees," drawn in 1643. It represents Rembrandt's largest and most striking etched landscape and it's animated with many details, too. It drew a lot of attention and gazing on this evening.

"It's a print that's been loved by so many people, and there's so much literature on it, yet nobody to this day can agree on whether the storm is coming or going or what kind of trees those are," said Ganz, in a March interview with San Francisco Chronicle art critic Kenneth Baker.

"One of the conventions of landscape is that you have a draftsman sitting somewhere, but you don't put the draftsman facing out of the picture, which is what Rembrandt does here," said Ganz. "It's almost impossible to see under 5-foot candles of light, but there is a couple there cuddling in the bushes. And the three trees ~ are they the Three Crosses? Is it a political thing? We don't know."

One thing that's certain is Rembrandt thoroughly immersed himself in the vibrant print culture of the 17th century, both as a creator and collector, and he distinguished himself as arguably the most influential graphic artist of his generation.

Rembrandt's Century, the first exhibition to showcase the extraordinary holdings from the age of Rembrandt van Rijn in the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, runs through June 2, 2013 in the de Young-Herbst Exhibition Galleries at the de Young Museum, San Francisco.

(Photo for Rembrandt's Century courtesy of Exhibition Catalogue.)

Rembrandt's The Landscape With the Three Trees (1643)

A Night at the Art Museum

Art museums fascinate me.  From the brilliance of their architectural design to what their symbiotic relationship with a city reveals, I love visiting art museums.  After I've spent time in one, I always leave feeling enriched from the experience ~ a sense of appreciation both for the artwork and its creative process ~ and I can't wait to return.

The British Museum in London

Since the beginning of this millennium, my vacation travels have provided me with many wonderful opportunities to connect with some of the great art museums of the world:  The Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam; the British Museum and Tate Modern in London; the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York City; and the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay in Paris.  In the U.S., among the many museums I've visited include:  The Art Institute of Chicago, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, the Portland (Ore.) Art Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  And, I fond of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, dedicated to the work of one of my favorite 20th Century painters, located in my adopted hometown of Ocean Springs, Miss.

The de Young Museum
in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

Closer to the Bay Area, San Francisco is home to many first-class art museums, including the M.H. de Young Memorial Museum (50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive) in Golden Gate Park, commonly called simply the de Young Museum.  The de Young, which reopened its doors 2005 after an extensive renovation, is currently exhibiting Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay through September 6.  Then, from September 25 to January 18, 2011, it will host Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay.  

The Musee d'Orsay in Paris

The world's best cities deserve the world's best art, and the de Young Museum is the only museum to host and present two consecutive special exhibitions from the Musee d'Orsay.  Situated in Paris on the Left Bank of the Seine, the Musee d'Orsay is home of the world's finest collection of Impressionist art, and it is currently undergoing extensive renovations of its own.

Because I've always admired the colorful beauty of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, especially paintings by Monet and Van Gogh ~ and with time running out to see the current exhibition ~ my wife and I made a date to visit the de Young last week and we became members.

It was time and money well spent.

Degas in The Ballet Studio

The cost of our year-long family membership ($95.00) includes free admission to both of the Impressionists shows and gives us a nice incentive to return more often, especially on Friday evenings when the museum's hours are extended until 8:45 p.m. and live music, cocktails and light snacks create a soiree atmosphere.  On the night we attended, Chanteuse Betty Roi and Her Kingtette entertained the lively gathering with popular Parisian songs.  Also, we were treated to "Degas in The Ballet Studio," which featured artist Jeremy Sutton portraying Edgar Degas as he painted dancers from The Ballet Studio.

If last Friday's crowd at the de Young was any indication, the Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay exhibition not only has attracted great attention from the local artistic community, it's also become a must-see attraction for summer tourists along with the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing a Giants game at China Basin.

Friday night at the de Young

During the time we spent tourist the exhibit salons ~ roughly an hour to view the nearly 100 paintings that comprise the show ~ I couldn't help but notice the positive atmosphere that lit up each room, filled with enthusiastic patrons gazing at this beautiful art from the 1860s and 1870s that was carefully arranged by topic rather than by chronology.  Rooms were painted in strong, dark hues to help set off various artists like Cezanne and Degas, and the paintings were hung a little higher than normal, enabling the large crowds better viewing opportunities.  The artistic brilliance of Manet, Monet and Renoir, among many, shown brightly ~ and the exhibit also provided an opportunity to see "Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1," better known as "Whistler's Mother," the iconic painting by James Abbott McNeill Whistler, which received prominent placement in one of the galleries.

Among my favorite paintings exhibited were two by Claude Monet:  "The Regatta at Argenteuil" (1874) and "The Gare Saint-Lazare" (1877).  Not by coincidence, the exit to the exhibit blended into a Birth of Impressionism gift shop which enabled me to purchase refrigerator magnets of both masterpieces.

Thanks to a rare cultural exchange with the Musee d'Orsay and the French government, San Francisco, like Paris before it, truly is transformed into the City of Light.