“Arcadia” or France’s idea of Shangri-La is showcased in a presentation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: “Gauguin, Cézanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia“
“The theme of an earthly paradise, or Arcadia, has been popular in theater, poetry, music, and art since antiquity. In France during the early 1900s, this idea of a mystical place of contentment and harmony was especially potent–illustrated in mural-sized paintings which were often commissioned for public viewing. “
“This exhibition explores the theme in three such paintings of the time: Paul Gauguin’s Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? (1898), Paul Cézanne’s The Large Bathers (1906), and Henri Matisse’s Bathers by a River (1909-17).”
Gauguin, Cézanne, Matisse: Visions of Arcadia until September 3, 2012
Philadelphia Museum of Art
(Image: “Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?” (1898), Gauguin)