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THE DECAY OF BEAUTY. THE BEAUTY OF DECAY.
Conceived and curated by Alfred Kren and ColnaghiSpanning millennia, the exhibition explores the tension between beauty and its inevitable decay, and how this has inspired artistic creation for thousands of years. The subject is approached from a variety of periods, cultures, and media, presenting unusual dialogues between works.
The exhibition explores the duality between decay and beauty in spirituality across the globe, with works from Hindu mythology, Tibetan and Japanese Buddhism, Christianity and the polytheistic beliefs of ancient cultures. It also looks at the interpretation of beauty - through portraiture or works depicting the human form - and decay - through the study of ruins, antiquity and the power of memory - across centuries and cultures.
The exhibition at Colnaghi benefits from several high-profile loans from prestigious private collections that allow visitors to view rare and outstanding artworks hardly ever seen in public.
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One of the sources of inspiration for the exhibition is the photograph of the recently excavated mummy of Princess Nestanebetisheru (Egyptian, 21st Dynasty) by Emile Brugsch (1842-1930), which at the time it was first published dramatically broadened our understanding of Egyptian funerary art, while unveiling some of its mysteries. In our exhibition, it is presented side by side with a stunning Sarcophagus face from the 22nd Dynasty, thus exemplifying the complex interconnexion between decay and beauty.
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HEAD OF A BEARDED MAN, LIKELY ODYSSEUS
Roman, 1st century BC- 1st century AD
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sarcophagus cover
Egyptian, Late Dynastic Period-early Ptolemaic Period, c.350-300 BC
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Statue of a Priest, Possibly the Priest of Min, Yuya, Father of Queen Tiy
Egyptian, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, Reign of Amenhotep III, 1391-1353 B.C.
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Head of Hathor
Egyptian,Third Intermediate Period, 21st-24th Dynasty, c.1069-715 BC
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THE ART OF PORTRAITURE
FROM ANCIENT ROME TO THE 20TH CENTURY -
REINTERPRETING BEAUTY
A JUXTAPOSITION OF WORKS FROM ANCIENT ROME TO THE 21ST CENTURY -
CREATION AND DESTRUCTION
LOOKING TO THE PAST-
CHARLES LEDRAY, BUTTONS, 2000-2002
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LOUIS-LEOPOLD BOILLY, Trompe-l'oeil, c. 1785-1788
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CATHERINE MURPHY, SWEPT UP, 1999
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A pair of massive choir stalls brutally defaced with chisels and axes
Central France, c. 1475
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HUBERT ROBERT, A capriccio of a villa surrounded by a moat, with a classical statue of a goddess to the left, 1797
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HUBERT ROBERT, A capriccio featuring ancient ruins, a fountain in the foreground, and a self-portrait of the artist at work, 1797
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"REMEMBER THAT YOU MUST DIE"
MORTALITY VIEWED THROUGH THE PRISM OF CHRISTIANITY -
CHAMUNDA AND UMA
BEAUTY AND DECAY IN HINDUISM-
Head of Chamunda
North-west India, Rajasthan, early 11th century
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Shivakami Uma
Southern India, Tamil Nadu, Late Chola period, mid-12th century -
Architectural strut with figures beneath a flowering Sal Tree
Nepal, Kathmandu Valley, late 15th-early 16th century
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Bust of Chamunda
Central India, Madhya Pradesh, Chandela period, 10th century
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DECAY AND BEAUTY IN BUDDHISM
WORKS OF ART FROM MONGOLIA, TIBET, JAPAN AND CHINA
