The saying “beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy,” seems more appropriate stamped on a collegian’s T-shirt than an opening line of a fine art show. But that’s exactly how Pageant of the Masters starts off this year.
The 2010 show—which uses painted and costumed people to re-create works of art and sculptures—is modeled on the concept of “Eat, Drink and Be Merry” (a phrase compiled from multiple Bible verses).
The first half of the show rambles through this idea with a haphazard look into artistic examples of gluttonous revelry. The show profiles the drinking culture of the 1700s through the likes of French painter Nicolas Lancret, early 1900s family dining through folk artist Doris Lee and the history of Mardi Gras through a montage of photographs and drawings.
It makes an unexplained detour into gun-slinging cowboy art, but the gloriousness of a four-horse bronze sculpture by Frederic Remington so enthralled the audience, the lack of connection to eating, drinking or merriment was quickly forgotten.
The show diverged from its traditional re-creation of pictures, statues and even sarcophaguses at the end of the first half with a traditional Mardi Gras parade, complete with a king and queen, costumed cast members throwing plastic beads, and characters from earlier art pieces dancing throughout the audience.
What a difference a 15-minute break made.
While the first half ended in an all-out celebration, the second half started on a more somber note with several images from the Great Depression. From there, the show’s creators seemingly abandoned the high-spirited theme and focused on an exploration into the works of Swedish watercolorist Carl Larsson, who depicted simple family life and interior design in his detailed late-1800s works.
As it has for years, the show—which started in 1933—ended with a spectacular depiction of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper,” which achieves the look of the original painting with stage lighting and grand proportions.
The announcer, whose recognizable voice is intertwined with the very feel of the annual Pageant of the Masters, attempted to tie the stark images of the Depression and betrayal of Jesus with the idea that we never know what time will bring, so we may as well eat, drink and be merry—definitely a more poignant than celebratory look at that phrase than first promised.
—Julie Leupold
