Many readers of Commonweal are familiar with the great twentieth-century Catholic painter, Georges Rouault -- the contemporary of Matisse and Picasso whose oeuvre combined elements of medieval stained glass and highly modern, Fauvist art. A search of this blog will turn up four references in just the last couple years.But I wanted to draw your attention to an unusual exhibition that puts Rouault's work in an interesting context.Starting today at the Dillon Gallery in New York (555 West 25th Street), you can take in "Georges Rouault / Makoto Fujimuira: Soliloquies," which pairs the French artist's work with that of a contemporary Japanese-American painter.Fujimura, an evangelical, paints in the ancient Japanese Nihonga tradition, which uses crushed minerals. His work is abstract and semi-abstract and the pieces in this exhibition are part of a series he did in deliberate homage to Rouault.To my eye, the dialogue between the two artists (visual and spiritual) is enriching and evocative. I hope you'll get down to the Dillon Gallery to see it for yourself.[caption id="attachment_5368" align="alignleft" width="24" caption="Georges Roualt, Automne"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_5371" align="alignright" width="239" caption="Makoto Fujimura, Soliloquies: Grace"]
[/caption]
