Arcadia & Anarchy at the New York Guggenheim

Though the outer shell of the Guggenheim Museum, 1071 Fifth Avenue, is under construction, its galleries are still alive with color and provoking images, including the recently-opened Divisionism and Neo-Expressionism exhibit, "Arcadia & Anarchy." Featuring the works of European masters Georges Seurat, Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo, Camille Pissarro and Paul Signac, among others, this collection explores the relationship between Italian Divisionists and Neo-Expressionists elsewhere in Europe during the 1890s and early 1900s, particularly as a consequence of industrialization.

Divisionists, so named because they used single brush strokes of color closely packed together to create whole images, formed their artistic philosophies from pointillists, whose work they studied in journals. What resulted was the conflicting appreciation for beauty and a disdain for social exploitation, spread across large and inviting canvasses. For Eighty Cents! by Angelo Morbelli (1895), for example, depicts nine female peasants, feet submerged in water, bending over to weed rice fields in the Piedmont of Italy. The exclamatory title alone reveals both the anarchy and Arcadia converging in this one divisionist snapshot, for though the women seem uncomfortable and severely underpaid for their work, their brightly dressed images reflect in perfect natural idealism in the ankle-deep pool where they stand.

The political tension is more palpable in Emilio Longoni's The Orator of the Strike (1890-91), which depicts a young man awkwardly balanced above an angry May Day crowd, fist clenched in defiance. On display for the first time in forty years, according to the museum's literature, this oil on canvas has both an oppressive and empowering message. The boy firmly holds a post with one hand, leaning at an angle over a sea of protesters, his feet barely grounding him on the corner of a wall. Though he looks as though he could fall at any moment, his determined body language signals hope, all against the backdrop of a clear, blue Milan sky.

Perhaps the most stunning images in the collection, however, are the landscapes, which also reveal the tug of war between defiance and natural splendor. Longoni's Glacier, which towers at 156 x 200 (1905) centimeters, is a near photographic representation of every crack and crevice in the gleaming ice. A metaphor for Divisionism itself, this oil on canvas follows a deep chasm towards a pristine arctic peak, demonstrating both the social conflict and the naturalistic grandeur of the movement. Likewise, Seurat's Seascape at Port-en-Bessin (1888), a pointillist masterpiece of a green and purple cliff rolling towards a serenely blue ocean, is melancholy and aesthetically soothing.

Displayed under a low ceiling with large, golden colored frames, the collection in the "Arcadia & Anarchy" exhibit is accessible and instructive. With no gates or glass to separate the viewer from the artwork, visitors can easily and closely study the brush strokes that define Divisionism. It's possible to see but difficult to comprehend how an artist can create a life-like object with single-colored pixels by such a steady hand. The fact that visitors can enjoy the inspiration for these Divisionist works -- especially when the Divisionist artists didn't have access to them in their time -- makes the experience that much more intellectually stimulating and meaningful.

Don't let the scaffolding outside of the Guggenheim be a deterrent from this worthwhile exploration.

Museum Hours
Monday through Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.
Closed Thursday