Real or Imaginary?
A Visit to the Museum
FILMS , MUSIC, DRAMA AND ART
2/19/20264 min read
Over the years one of my favourite places to visit has been the Musée Fleury in Lodeve. Every summer they hold an art exhibition, with a smaller exhibition during the winter . Thereby I have enjoyed some wonderful art, and learned so much. It was our local museum that introduced me to Berthe Morisot, the feminine Impressionist, and her wonderful domestic and family scenes. I have feasted on paintings by Raoul Dufy, Seurat, Van Dongen, De Chirico , Gaugin and Bonnard, and more. It was also here that I was introduced to the American sculptor Alexander Calder, with his fascinating mobiles, and the textiles of Sonia Delaunay. I could go on.
If you detect a note of regret, it is because in 2018 , when the newly enlarged museum reopened, the nature of these special exhibitions seemed to change too. Whilst there is much more space, and indeed a complete gallery given over to our local sculptor Paul Dardé, whom I greatly admire, I miss the art of old. In no way am I an art expert. I just know what I enjoy, and sadly I don't enjoy the current exhibitions nearly as much. I am told that there is less money available nowadays with which to fund these exhibitions. I must accept that. But if only...
Yesterday I popped into the museum to see the current exhibition of Imaginary Species.where we are invited to share artists' imaginary representations of mythical creatures . Sculptures of skulls and bodies of werewolves, sirens, dragons, and gremlins fill the space, together with the artist's detailed drawings. The dragon is a mythical creature that was widely feared in the past. Apparently, when the skull of a large prehistoric monster was once found, this was misconstrued as being that of a dragon. This dragon's skull(below) , is a creation of the artist, although undoubtedly influenced by such prehistoric creatures.
Dragon
Yeti or humanoid
Gremlins
The accompanying signs seem to indicate that these creatures and their skulls are real. Are we asked to suspend disbelief? Should we treat this exhibition as a child might, and believe that these creatures really did exist? Everyone knows that the sirens were mythical creatures with the half bodies of a bird, or a fish's tail . I really enjoyed this representation of a Siren (below) It seemed to me to be rooted in the artist's imagination, and was highly inventive and fantastical. But this siren was not a thing of beauty. The sirens who supposedly lured Odysseus and his fellow sailors with their singing, were reputed to be exceedingly beautiful.
La Sirène
As if to add credibility to these fantastical creatures, real life fossils were on display in this exhibition too. The museum houses an excellent permanent paleontological section on the top floor. The pièce de résistance was an almost complete skeleton of a crocodile which was discovered locally, and has been under restoration for the past 6 months. It is almost five metres long, and the first such creature to be unearthed here from the Toarcien period nearly 180 million years ago. Now that is quite a Scoop! It will be taken away at the end of the exhibition, for further research.
Whilst this exhibition wasn't altogether to my taste, how I would have loved to bring a class of children here . For young children, the line between fantasy and reality is blurred, and so for many of them these imaginary creations must come alive. This museum always does an excellent job of catering to children, and this exhibition is no exception. Reading areas are provided where children can gather, or adults can read them stories. Drawing materials are provided too. Visiting children are invited to take a small piece of a photocopied image taken from one of the museums exhibits, stick it to a piece of paper, and create their own fantastical creature around it. Below are two examples of their wonderfully imaginative work.
