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!