Art | At Met, slices of greatness in Venice, BarcelonaBy Edward J. Sozanski
Inquirer Art Critic
NEW YORK - Now playing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a tale of two
cities - or, to be precise, two tales. One city, Venice, is justly
fabled, while the other, Barcelona, is on the verge of becoming so.
Venice boasts the more illustrious history, but Barcelona has emerged in
recent years as a vibrant international metropolis. It's not yet what it
aspires to be, a rival to London and Paris, but it deserves watching,
and visiting.
For each, the Metropolitan has organized, with institutional partners,
an exhibition that illuminates a specific chapter in the city's history.
"Venice and the Islamic World" examines that city's relationship with
several Muslim societies between the years 828 and 1797, when Napoleon
conquered it.
"Barcelona and Modernity: Gaudí to Dalí" considers more recent
developments, the period between 1880 and 1939 when Barcelona, Spain's
second-largest city, evolved from the provincial capital of Catalonia in
the country's northeast corner to a European center of artistic ferment.
cont'd....
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