The pantheon of world'“famous animals is relatively small, said Meredith Martin in ArtForum. But 'œbefore Barbaro or Dolly the cloned sheep, there was Clara, an Indian rhinoceros who reigned as the biggest celebrity animal in mid'“18th'“century Europe.' Clara was the prize specimen in the menagerie of Louis XV of France, and none of her species had been seen on the continent for nearly 200 years. A 'œconsumer craze for all things Clara' has left us with countless knickknacks, from porcelain figurines to ribbons, that celebrate the noble beast. But her portrait was captured for all time by the artist Jean'“Baptiste Oudry, 'œwho scrupulously studied her form before embarking on an enormous, life'“size rendering.' The Getty Museum's new exhibition of 10 Oudry works includes several others that testify to his 'œparticular genius at melding expert illusionism with a palpable expressive force.' Viewers might see in his preening cranes a wry comment on court life at Versailles, or identify the 'œimperious toucan' with Louis XV himself.
But the star of the show remains Clara, said Christopher Knight in the Los Angeles Times. This is surely 'œthe finest portrait of a rhinoceros that you are ever likely to encounter, for what that's worth.' Frankly, I'm not sure it's worth all that much. Oudry married the eye of an expert anatomist and the design sense of a decorator. But, though there's much in these paintings for connoisseurs, I fear museumgoers will find most of these works 'œa bit dull.' The truest work of art in the bunch isn't the portrait of Clara but 'œa truly ravishing painting of a dead crane,' hung by its feet and splayed open for study. Here Oudry treats mortality in dark, stunning passages that echo not only the finest examples of the still'“life genre but some of Caravaggio's moving crucifixion scenes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Anne Hillerman's 6 favorite books with Native charactersFeature The author recommends works by Ramona Emerson, Craig Johnson, and more
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic PartyTalking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
If/Thenfeature Tony-winning Idina Menzel “looks and sounds sensational” in a role tailored to her talents.
-
Rocky
feature It’s a wonder that this Rocky ever reaches the top of the steps.
-
Love and Information
feature Leave it to Caryl Churchill to create a play that “so ingeniously mirrors our age of the splintered attention span.”
-
The Bridges of Madison County
feature Jason Robert Brown’s “richly melodic” score is “one of Broadway’s best in the last decade.”
-
Outside Mullingar
feature John Patrick Shanley’s “charmer of a play” isn’t for cynics.
-
The Night Alive
feature Conor McPherson “has a singular gift for making the ordinary glow with an extra dimension.”
-
No Man’s Land
feature The futility of all conversation has been, paradoxically, the subject of “some of the best dialogue ever written.”
-
The Commons of Pensacola
feature Stage and screen actress Amanda Peet's playwriting debut is a “witty and affecting” domestic drama.