Art Review—“Beyond Monet” on Long Island

Beyond Monet

Through January 2, 2024

Samanea New York, 1500 Old Country Road, Westbury, NY

beyondmonet.com

I didn’t expect the first immersive artist show following Beyond Van Gogh on Long Island to spotlight the greatest of the French Impressionists—and forerunner to the abstract expressionism that exploded in the mid-20th century—Claude Monet. But here we are—although, since Beyond Monet alternates in the same space with the ongoing Van Gogh show, it’s likely not nearly as popular.

Similarly to Beyond Van Gogh (and, I would guess, other immersive artist shows), the multimedia Beyond Monet gives viewers a new way of looking at an artist and his—it’s always his—preoccupations, usually by lining up, on the walls of the space, reproductions of paintings that are visually similar, then morphing into other works. Then there’s replicating the “look” of the settings of Monet’s best-known works, like the gardens and water lilies near his home in Giverny, the cathedral in Rouen or London’s Parliament buildings. 

The visual motifs, as in the Van Gogh show, provide a sumptuous array of colors, transforming into other subjects that might or might not look familiar, based on one’s knowledge of Monet’s oeuvre. Ambient music—at times sounding like early ‘70s Pink Floyd—accompanies the show; unlike Van Gogh, there are no voices intoning Monet’s commentaries on art but rather simply the words thrown onto the walls, in the original French and in English translations. As I said in my review of Beyond Van Gogh, there’s a kind of Cliff Notes effect to this visualization of an immortal artist’s life and art, with little immersive sense, so to speak, of Monet’s artistic and historic importance. 

Of course, standing in front of the artist’s actual artworks is always more satisfying, and that also goes for Monet, whose masterly and massive Water Lilies canvases, which take up two galleries of the breathtaking Musée de l’Orangerie  in Paris, along with a large gallery in the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, might be considered some of the first truly immersive paintings.

Unlike the Van Gogh show, Beyond Monet does not include a virtual-reality experience, which makes it somewhat less immersive than it should be. Still, if this sort of thing is up your alley, it's is a pleasant way to spend an hour.

Art Review—“Beyond Van Gogh” on Long Island

Beyond Van Gogh

Through May 14, 2023

Samanea New York, 1500 Old Country Road, Westbury, NY

vangoghlongisland.com

Beyond Van Gogh

I must admit that the prospect of immersing myself in a famous artist’s works has never been appealing; that’s why Beyond Van Gogh—different versions of which have set down roots seemingly everywhere, including in Manhattan recently—became my first such experience when it opened just a 15-minute drive from my home.

My skepticism came about from my familiarity with Van Gogh’s work—I’ve seen hundreds of his paintings in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kröller-Müller Museum in rural Holland, along with the obvious masterpieces at the Met, MOMA and other collections—and knowing that looking at real artworks is much more satisfying. Still, it must be admitted that the multimedia Beyond Van Gogh is a different way of looking at an artist: visual and thematic connections are shown to viewers through reproductions of several similar paintings—like a lineup of Van Gogh’s famous self-portraits—as well as replicating the atmosphere of the settings of his well-known works, including an outdoor café, a bedroom or wheat fields.

Beyond Van Gogh

Standing in the main room where the action, so to speak, takes place, viewers are surrounded by a riot of colors that morphs from mere sketches to full-blown, and impossibly vibrant, paintings, accompanied by music like instrumental versions of “Here Comes the Sun” and Don MacLean’s “Vincent” as well as voices intoning Van Gogh’s thoughts in his letters to his beloved brother Theo (in both English and French), some of which can be read on the walls. The effect is of a Cliff Notes version of an immortal artist’s life and art: although it doesn’t give the full sense of what makes Van Gogh such a singular artist, it’s certainly a diverting way to spend an hour or so.

Also worth attending at Beyond Van Gogh—for an extra fee—is the virtual-reality A Life in Letters. My first VR experience, it immerses (that word again) viewers in the landscape that the artist immortalized in his paintings and, as one listens to Vincent narrate excerpts from letters to his brother about making art and getting inspiration, one sees (and feels) the seasons flow by; the deep greens, blues, yellows and even winter whites all make vivid appearances. 

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

While wandering around the exhibit, I thought of that memorable segment in Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s 1990 omnibus film Dreams, where a man finds himself inside several Van Gogh’s paintings as he tries to find the artist himself (played by a strangely attenuated Martin Scorsese). While I’d prefer to get lost in Kurosawa's film, Beyond van Gogh will do nicely in the meantime.