Center of Attention

Frist Center for the Visual Arts

Opening April 8

919 Broadway

Hours: 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Mon.-Wed., Fri.-Sat.; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thurs.; 1-5 p.m. Sun.

Admission: $6.50 adults; $4.50 seniors and college students; free for ages 18 and under

For information, call 244-3340 or visit www.fristcenter.org

Much has been made of the amazing transformation of the old post office building on Broadway into the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. But while the superb renovation of the 1934 building’s exterior and the inspired adaptation of its interior are worth applauding, the fact remains that a visual arts facility is only as good as the art it exhibits. In the case of the Frist Center, the real news is that its beauty is more than skin deep.

The four exhibitions chosen to open the center reflect the enduring yet ever-evolving nature of art. In the space of one visit, patrons can sample art by Europe’s greatest masters, explore fine art and antique treasures from Nashville’s top public and private collections, experience a cutting-edge contemporary art installation, and even study the fascinating past of the very building that houses all of this. Each of the opening shows was organized especially for the Frist Center and will not be seen anywhere else.

It’s European

In a classic Seinfeld episode, Jerry takes a lot of ribbing for carrying what looks like a woman’s handbag. He repeatedly defends the object as being “European” and therefore no mere purse. A lot of people take the same snobbish approach to art—if it’s European, it’s inherently better than anything from this side of the Atlantic. Consequently, exhibitions of minor works by major European artists are often promoted as being far more significant than they actually are.

Candace Adelson, exhibitions curator at the Frist, is quick to dispel that assumption about “European Masterworks: Paintings From the Collection of the Art Gallery of Ontario,” the Frist Center’s most ballyhooed opening exhibition. “It’s such a great show, I can’t really even single out the best pieces,” she says. “There’s the huge Tintoretto painting that’s 14 feet wide, one of the greatest landscapes Gainsborough ever painted, a wonderful Rembrandt, and three Picassos from different periods that show how he could do just about anything.”

The 95 works in the show are displayed in chronological fashion, though there is some variation within the 1400-to-1989 timeline. That enormous work painted by Venetian master Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto in the mid-1550s, for example, confronts viewers as soon as they enter the Frist’s main gallery, located in the vast space beyond the now removed service windows where Nashvillians once lined up to purchase stamps and mail packages. “Christ Washing His Disciples’ Feet” is actually one of a related pair (the other hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and is part of Tintoretto’s epic series of works depicting the life of Christ. After this dramatic introduction, viewers are free to follow the chronological sequence by touring the main gallery’s connected spaces in counterclockwise fashion—or they can break ranks and enjoy works in random order.

Some may want to make a beeline for the section devoted to the great French Impressionists, most of whom worked in the mid- to late 19th century. Highlights here include “Beach at Trouville” (1864), which Adelson deems “one of the great works by Eugene Boudin.” The scene of women in billowing dresses and men in slim, dark suits strolling on the beach illustrates the artist’s skill at capturing the changing effects of light—an approach that would inspire Claude Monet, for whom Boudin served as a mentor. Indeed, Frist visitors can make the connection between Monet and his teacher by comparing Monet’s “Vetheuil in Summer” (1879), also in the show, with Boudin’s earlier work. “The idea is that the arrangement [of works in the show] allows the viewer to explore European art as it has evolved over six centuries, while at the same time seeing the links between the various artists, styles, and themes,” Adelson says.

Other great 19th-century artists included in the Frist show are Delacroix, Renoir, Sisley, Cézanne, Degas, and van Gogh. The exhibit also features some 20 works by such 20th-century masters as Picasso, Modigliani, Magritte, and David Hockney. Still, the show’s real strength lies in works from the 17th century—something that personally pleases Adelson, whose own specialty is European tapestries. “The 17th century is a period that often gets skipped over, but it’s the one best represented in our show,” she says. “What distinguishes works of this period from art that went before is that we see the artist beginning to look at the real world. The exploration of how to do that on canvas is what characterizes European painting from then on.”

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