Jesuit And The Arts

Jesuit priest the Rev. Stephen Schloesser, "Mystic Masque: Semblance and Reality in Georges Rouault, 1871-1958," reintroduces a masterful painter whose portraits of conflicted souls express the spiritual yearnings of a troubled century.

Balancing scholarly and theological research, Schloesser firmly locates Rouault in the tumult of a Europe ravaged by class inequality, the Great Depression, Nazism, two world wars and Soviet totalitarianism. Trained in a symbolist salon by an artist who became a trusted mentor, Rouault forged a distinctive style that conveyed universal concerns about suffering, injustice and death in powerful painted allegories.

Schloesser hopes the show of 240 paintings, works on paper and stained glass, triggers a reappraisal of a giant whose critical reputation has been overshadowed by decades of pop, abstract and conceptual art.

"I really do hope the exhibit prompts a re-evaluation. I think, by chance, this show is coming at a time we can look at things he painted as landscapes, narratives and art that tell a story really different from what was attracting attention in the years after his death," he said.

Astonishing to look at and deeply felt, "Mystic Masque" brings together so many of Rouault's striking works viewers will wonder why lesser artists and self-referential movements eclipsed him in the public eye
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