The Fitzwilliam Museum, February 2025
The Fitzwilliam is a labyrinthian treasure trove, brimming with artefacts from across the globe as well as collections of classical and contemporary art. Created by the Dutch colonialist Richard Fitzwilliam it is also a decadent monument to colonial guilt and historical tax evasion, as are many similar spaces. I visited the space with my daughter and friends and unfortunately, we only had a few hours. The space really requires a full day. Indeed, one could spend a week pouring over all the works housed in this building, constructed to mimic the ancient temples of Greece.
We began by taking in the ground floor exhibitions which feature ancient artefacts, with large section of the exhibition space occupied by their famous Egyptian collection.
I must have been in an irreverent mood, because I consistently felt my feminist bile rising. As an example, a lot of the sarcophagus relics were cosmetic items intended for the females buried with them. I could not step away from this being another unrealistic beauty standard for women; you must make sure to be sexy, even when you are dead.
We eventually went upstairs, walking from room to room, seeing their permanent art collections. It is so diverse. Modern sculpture sits next to war art. Next to impressionist oil painting. I actually felt like it worked in a haphazard kind of way. But it also felt overwhelming, with no one piece of art given the space it fully deserved to just be enjoyed on its own merit.
What a nice problem to have, for those with gross wealth, to be forced to abut contemporary sculpture with a Hockney painting.
In truth, I sometimes feel underwhelmed when I see historical art in person. Maybe I am not a sophisticated enough art historian.
I did however thoroughly enjoy their temporary collection of traditional religious murals. We had just recently been shown how to prick, pounce and then paint using egg tempura that we had created. And understanding the intricacies and the graft of the process gave me a new appreciation for the work. Maybe I don't resonate with oil paintings very much because they aren't in my repertoire. Maybe I should try to paint with oils.
In truth, we just didn't have enough time to do the space justice. And there is only so long you can reasonably ask a child to gaze at Japanese moon jars anyway, lovely as they are.
I will return for a full day and explore more.
