Meet me at the museum...The unifying effect of art

Dear donor,

Thank you so much for your generosity! We are very touched that you have chosen to sponsor our cause.

In this report, you'll find five recent caregiver testimonials that illustrate the importance of our work for people with Alzheimer's disease and their loved ones. We also share an example of a commentary on a work of art that enables persons living with Alzheimer's to stimulate their memory and exchange with others.

“Mom was thrilled to take part in the activities. She looked forward to Friday afternoons, and without going into detail about what she had seen/said/liked (because of her cognitive difficulties), she always expressed a great deal of pleasure when we asked how she felt. The fact that she was always accompanied by the same person is a real plus.”

“The activity offered is absolutely fantastic! It has undoubtedly been very beneficial for my father, who is already looking forward to the next cycle :)”

“It’s important for the person being supported to have an independent space that then enables sharing and discussion afterwards. It also provides a moment of respite for the caregiver.”

“A very useful programme that combines stimulation for the person being supported with a period of respite for the caregiver.”

“These activities are essential to supporting older people to remain living at home, especially when caregivers cannot be present 24/7… it breaks up routine and loneliness, while also stimulating the loved one’s intellectual and social activity.”

Below you will find an example of our approach to the discovery of a work of art. This content is available on our online tour application:

This is a commentary on a famous work by Pierre Bonnard entitled Nude in the Bathtub painted in 1936 :

Can you describe this picture in a few words ?

Notice the bathtub and the amount of space it occupies in the painting. Spend time looking at the nude woman, then mention the presence of the tiles. Observe the richness of the colours and the compositional lines.

The surface of the painting is almost entirely filled by a bathtub seen at an angle. Inside it, a nude woman is lying down: her head is tilted downward, her facial features are not legible, her hair is light-coloured, and her arms are relaxed.

Around her, we can see tiles on the walls and on the floor. The overall palette is rich: blues, yellows/golds, beiges, oranges, purples, with areas where the colours blend into one another. The wide rim of the bathtub is an immaculate white, as is a triangular shape on the floor that suggests a rug. Several compositional lines echo each other: the edges of the bathtub, the grid of the tiles, and the line of an outstretched leg.

What might be surprising in this depiction of a nude? Notice how difficult it is to isolate the nude from its environment. Despite ourselves, our gaze shifts toward the end of the bathtub, the wall, and the floor. Note that this woman is Bonnard’s companion, Marthe. At the time, the nude was moving toward the realm of intimacy and everyday life. Bathing and washing inspired many artists. Degas, with a stark realism, depicts women at their toilette. In 1898, he painted After the Bath, Woman Drying Her Neck.

With Bonnard, the nude does not truly hold the viewer’s gaze; on the contrary, it requires an effort of concentration and adjustment to distinguish it from its surroundings. Some contours are sharp, others dissolve, and the face remains unreadable. Our gaze drifts, despite us, toward surfaces, reflections, the bathtub, and the tiles.

The everyday life that inspired him is the one he shared with his companion and muse for nearly fifty years: Marthe. He portrayed her more than a thousand times, without making her features consistent or immediately identifiable. Reference points are unstable; surfaces expand and seem to be in motion: how can we tell? The bathtub appears to widen, to open up, as if its curve were stretching. The floor itself is unstable. It seems to rise, like a wave. Distinctions between surfaces are not clear-cut. The perspective is uncertain.

In this dynamic, colour plays an essential role. Yellow, in particular, does more than illuminate: it catches the eye on the floor in small shapes that can evoke scattered gold coins. These flashes attract, restart, and disperse attention. Colour does not merely dress the scene: it energises the surface and gives the impression that space is moving.

The immaculate white areas act like stable markers. By contrast, they bring out the richness of the colours and the sense of movement. Bonnard said: “It is not a matter of painting life, but of making painting come alive.”

This extract gives you an insight into our method of cognitive stimulation for people with Alzheimer's disease.

If you wish, we would be pleased to invite you to take part in oneline visits planned throughout the year. You can join us in these groups if you have a loved one with Alzheimer's disease.

 Warmly

Cindy Barotte

Dear donor,

Thank you so much for your generosity! We are very touched that you have chosen to sponsor our cause.

In this report, you'll find three caregiver testimonials that illustrate the importance of our work for people with Alzheimer's disease and their loved ones. We also share an example of a commentary on a work of art that enables persons living with Alzheimer's to stimulate their memory and exchange with others.

“I think this program is a great way of meeting people and opening up exchanges. The speaker's very judicious, precise and targeted questions, as well as her kindness and attention, enabled my husband to express his emotions and arouse his interest”.

"These presentations of paintings are stimulating, because as I've gone along, I've registered what you can grasp by looking at an unfamiliar painting: the light, who's in the right light, the attitude, the characters, etc. The language of painting seems less hermetic to me, and with a little knowledge (which I lack) you can make a whole story out of it, a bit like reading a novel: you have the author's vision and interpretation".

“Not only does it make the art more readable, but it also teaches you to better apprehend the paintings. It was different for me to look at these works with your method than to remain on a general impression as I used to do in exhibitions or museums. “I found the method playful. It's a bit like an investigation: you look for clues, the character traits of the characters, you study the colors...”.

Below you will find an example of our approach to the discovery of a work of art. This content is available on our online tour application:

This is a commentary on a famous work by Leonardo da Vinci entitled “the virgin and child with Saint Anne painted between 1503 and 1519 :

Can you describe this work in a few words?

Text to help you: Describe Saint Anne, her daughter, the Virgin Mary, the baby Jesus and the lamb. Notice the gestures, clothing and attitudes. Describe the landscape around them.

The Virgin Mary is dressed in a red dress and a large blue veil that covers her knees and shoulder. She is reaching out to baby Jesus, whom she is about to hold or who has just escaped from her arms. He is almost a year old and seems to be holding a lamb tightly. His left leg is wrapped around the animal's neck. Mary is sitting on her mother's lap, Saint Anne. The latter, very calm, is watching the scene, which she contemplates with a slight smile. Behind them, a unusual landscape stretches out. We notice dry land with a tree in the background on the right, and a vast, mountainous, distant terrain plunged in a blue mist.

Leonardo da Vinci painted attitudes, expressions and spontaneous movements in this work. The scene thus appears alive. What do you think of it?

Notice the slight smile on Saint Anne and the attitude of Mary. We almost feel she is leaning towards Jesus before our eyes unless he escapes from her arms. Note the liveliness of the baby Jesus' gestures.

The lamb represents the passion of Christ and the terrible fate of Jesus. However, this family scene does not seem tragic. Jesus is playing with the lamb, and the two women seem united in a calm attitude in the face of fate. Leonardo da Vinci tries to capture the moment when the Virgin Mary stops holding Jesus and accepts her son's fate. Saint Anne smiles and watches serenely at the sight of her daughter and her acceptance of the child's fate. The liveliness of this family scene and the characters' spontaneity and naturalness are more evident when we compare the work to a different classical representation of the three characters, painted by Masaccio and Masolino da Panicale in 1424.

The placement of the 3 characters has been carefully studied and prepared. It evokes the trinity and the bonds of filiation. How do you see it ?

How can we see it? Observe the composition that evokes a triangle and the family lineage. Look at the gestures, signs of affection and tenderness that unite them.

This work is the result of a multitude of preparatory studies and sketches. Leonardo da Vinci worked at length on its composition. In a sketch kept at the National Gallery in London, he proposed a composition with St. John the Baptist in which St. Anne and Mary are placed sides by side. Finally, he opted for a more vertical display of the figures. In this work, they are placed in a triangular shape, which evokes the trinity and the bond of filiation between Saint Anne, who overlooks the scene of Mary seated on her knees, and the baby Jesus on the ground. In this composition, the characters are mainly linked. We notice a continuity in their gestures. The left arm of Saint Anne merges with that of Mary. Similarly, Mary's left arm is extended by that of the child Jesus. The affection visibly unites the members of this family.

This extract gives you an insight into our method of cognitive stimulation for people with Alzheimer's disease.

If you wish, we would be pleased to invite you to take part in oneline visits planned throughout the year. You can join us in these groups if you have a loved one with Alzheimer's disease.

Warmly

Cindy Barotte

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