Produced in collaboration with the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions, Europe 1100–1800 and The University of Melbourne, the 'Love: Art of Emotion 1400–1800' exhibition draws upon the National Gallery of Victoria’s diverse permanent collection to explore the theme of love in art, and the changing representations of this complex emotion throughout the early modern period in Europe.
While popular conceptions of love tend frequently to focus upon romantic love, 'Love: Art of Emotion' explores love’s varied manifestations across the realms of human experience, including familial relationships, religious devotion, friendship, altruism, patriotism, narcissism, materialism and nostalgia. The exhibition presents depictions of love’s many variations in painting, sculpture, prints and drawings, as well as non-representational and functional objects such as costume, furniture and religious artefacts.
Featuring more than 200 works from the NGV’s International Collection, some of which have never been displayed before, the exhibition demonstrates the balance between modest and grandiose, civic and domestic, micro and macro, from Vivarini’s grand-scale, much-celebrated painting The Garden of Love to tiny pieces of jewellery, worn against the body as love tokens or in memoriam. Through these diverse objects and images, the exhibition explores notions of public display and private emotion, ostentation and intimacy, of performance and of feeling.
The exhibition also considers love in relation to its associated emotions such as desire, wonder, ecstasy, affection, compassion, envy, melancholy, longing and hope, as well as the ways in which these combine and intersect. Bringing together a diverse array of works from the Medieval to the Romantic period, 'Love: Art of Emotion' examines the shifting, multifaceted expressions of this rich and perennially relevant subject.
Exhibition Details
'Love: Art of Emotion 1400‒1800', National Gallery of Victoria, 31 March to 18 June 2017.
Publications
Link to hardcover catalogue
Link to soft cover catalogue
Associated and Complementary Events
- Performance: Passion, Lament, Glory, St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, 31 March, 1 April 2017.
- Symposium: 'The Emotions of Love in the Art of Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe', The University of Melbourne and the National Gallery of Victoria, 4‒6 May 2017.
- 'Love Remixed: An Interactive Composition project', Grant Street Theatre, Southbank, Victoria, 27 May 2017.
- 'NGV Philosothon: Primary School Teachers Professional Learning', Horsham Regional Art Gallery, 31 May 2017; Hamilton Art Gallery, 1 June 2017; The Warrnambool Art Gallery, 2 June 2017.
Survey
CHE researcher Amanda Krause is tracking audience responses to 'Love: Art of Emotion 1400-1800' via a short online survey. The survey can be completed without visiting the NGV as it asks respondents about visiting art galleries in general, about themselves, and to respond to eight key works that are part of the exhibition.
The survey can be accessed at: http://bit.ly/love-online
Download final report
Image: Master of the Stories of Helen, Antonio Vivarini (studio of), The Garden of Love (c.1465‒1470), National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Felton Bequest, 1948, 1827-4.
