This exhibition revolves around painters André Masson and Ernst Wilhelm Nay’s contrasting responses to their individual experiences during World Wars I and II. While the German Nay depicted scenes of harmony and connection, the French Masson, who was older than Nay and severely injured, applied his surrealistic influences to disturbing, nightmarish scenes of human destruction.
Their fragmented arrangement of form and colour share many similarities, but it’s fair to say neither modernist artist is in particular demand right now, making this exhibition somewhat random. There are some astonishing works on show, however, such as Masson’s 1934 Le Faucheur (“the reaper”), a sharp, visceral painting connecting the pastoral and bucolic with Europe’s killing fields.
Normally, you never notice the lighting unless it is particularly bad, and the placement here is terrible, with spotlights pointing directly in your face. That aside, this is a perfectly enjoyable exhibition, especially for those with an appreciation for neglected modernist painters.
★★★
- Ernst Wilhelm Nay, André Masson: Mythos und Massaker, through 28 April 2024, Sammlung Scharf-Gerstenberg, Charlottenburg, details.
