The digital edition of the exhibition catalogue for “Fruits of the Spirit” offers an in-depth review of the approach taken by curator Ayla Lepine and editor Susanna Avery-Quash. Well-researched, the catalog’s articles embrace both formal art history and a probe into contemplative spirituality for today’s modern arts patron.
From the Introduction- Well-Being and Wonder section of the digital catalog: “Throughout the National Gallery, the nine qualities celebrated in the Fruits of the Spirit virtual exhibition are found in many of its pictures. Visitors encounter a sensation of wonder in experiencing paintings, whether they expected to be moved emotionally or not. The French philosopher René Descartes described wonder as ‘a sudden surprise of the soul’.8 … “
From: Susanna Avery‐Quash (ed.), Ayla Lepine (ed.), Isobel Muir (co‐editor), Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart, digital edition (London: The National Gallery, 2022).
Access the digital catalog here: https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/research-resources/exhibition-catalogues/fruits-of-the-spirit-art-from-the-heart/introduction
Image, Georges Seurat, Bathers at Asnières (NG3908), 1884, oil on canvas, 201 × 300 cm. The National Gallery, London