A new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum is transporting visitors to turn-of-the-century Venice, seen through the eyes of French impressionist Claude Monet.
Monet and Venice pairs the famed painter’s Venetian paintings with a newly composed symphony, taking visitors on a journey to experience the sights, sounds, and even smells of the city, with a custom fragrance inspired by the marine air of the lagoon. The result is an immersive tribute that fuses art, sound, and scent.
“His paintings are very complex, very layered,” said Lisa Small, senior curator of European art at the Brooklyn Museum.
Small called the exhibition historic for New York City.
“This is the biggest museum exhibition of Monet’s work in New York City in 25 years,” she said.
“It makes me feel as if I’m back in Europe”
The show unites a collection of Monet’s artwork from a brief but impactful trip he took with his wife, Alice, in 1908.
Visitors say the experience feels almost dreamlike.
“This sort of brings me back into a world of enchantment… It makes me feel as if I’m back in Europe,” said Adele Lake, visiting from North Carolina.
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In addition to the visual elements, the museum commissioned a scent as part of the immersive experience that complements beautiful footage shot by a Venetian filmmaker.
“This beautiful, subtle, layered scent made by Joya Studios here in Brooklyn has notes of the marine air and water lilies,” Small said.
And then there’s the music
The exhibit traces Monet’s Venetian travels, including familiar tourist sites, and highlights his famous water-lily paintings, which reflect his lifelong fascination with light and water.
“When you look at that picture right there and you’ve been there, it’s like remembering it through those child’s eyes. I think that’s extraordinary,” said Ryan Ulrich, visiting from Seattle.
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The experience culminates in a circular gallery filled with Monet’s Venetian motifs, multiple canvases of the same places painted at different times of day. The display is set to an original symphony by composer-in-residence Niles Luther.
“He was inspired by the same sights and sounds that Monet was,” Small said. “And he wrote this really evocative 36-minute-long symphony comprised of several movements, each of which relates to one of Monet’s motifs.”
Bridging tone, texture, and tempo, Monet and Venice invites visitors to see, and hear, the artist’s world anew.
The exhibition is now open and runs through Feb. 1 at the Brooklyn Museum.
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