Timeless masterpieces of varying eras, styles and media,

all under one roof

Those days of Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas and E{aac}douard Manet gathering at the Cafe{aac} Guerbois may be long gone but death hasn't pulled them apart. The impressionist masters are now brought together again in Bangkok, albeit only artistically, through their artistic legacy. A collaboration between Gaysorn, Timothy Yarger Fine Art and a number of leading watch-makers and dealers, ''Gaysorn The Art of Time'' is a luxurious event showcasing artistic and horological masterpieces. Premium watch-makers from Jaeger-LeCoultre, IWC, Vacheron Constantin, A. Lange and Sohne, Franck Muller, Panerai, Ferrari, Zenith, Breguet, Blancpain, Jaquet Droz, Glashutte, Omega, Audemars Piguet, for example, will display their innovative and historical collections alongside 30 original works by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro{aac} and Marc Chagall. The event runs until July 20.

Made possible by renowned Beverly Hills-based gallery Timothy Yarger Fine Art, the art section of the event vows to delight Bangkok art enthusiasts, who will get to experience these rare masterpieces of the 19th and 20th century. The body of works on exhibition spans various media, eras and themes from impressionist prints to academic paintings of countryside chores, a post-Impressionist cityscape of Parisian life, surrealist sculptural work and modernist prints.

''The intention for the selection and curating of this exhibition is to showcase a collection of 19th and 20th century European and US fine paintings and prints,'' said Timothy Yarger, founder of the gallery, who is also in charge of the curatorial process.

''It was important to us to offer works that distinguished themselves in quality, subject matter and condition and we were delighted to provide the community of Bangkok with a different experience from our previous exhibitions.''

The space for this cross-media art showcase, however, isn't shared equally, at least in a quantitative sense. Dominating the wall are prints or graphic art pieces by impressionist and modern artists, most of whom found success as painters prior to taking an interest in print-making, whether it be Pierre-Auguste Renoir or Pablo Picasso. For these artists, print-making can be both an artistic exploration or, as some critics believe, a means to meet the commercial demands for their work, as in the case of Renoir.

As the first of the Impressionists to enjoy popular success, Renoir's interest in prints is a recognition of his success as a painter, reflecting an attempt to satisfy the demand for his work. He completed a collection of 60 prints (25 etchings and 35 lithographs) late in his career, notably after 1900, and they are some of the rarest and most sought after by art collectors. To be showcased for Thai enthusiasts is one of his most celebrated graphic works, titled Le Chapeau Epingle, 2E Planche (The Pinning of the Hat).

''It is one of the most famous impressionist prints created over 100 years ago and exceptionally rare,'' said Yarger.

Made in 1897, it is Renoir's largest, measuring 24-by-19-centimetres, and demonstrates Renoir's expertise in translating into lithography the celebrated qualities of his painting, whether it be through the soft, feathery lines and strokes or the saturated, atmospheric colouring. In addition, this rare print is outstanding in its portrayal of two recurrent characteristics in Renoir's works: a celebration of the simple moment of gentleness, such as helping pin the hat, and his favourite subjects _ portraits of children and friends. Featured here is the painter Berthe Morisot's daughter (Manet's niece), Julie, pinning flowers on her cousin Paulette's broad-brimmed hat.

Like Renoir, Pablo Picasso's prints echo the hallmarks of his best loved paintings, which are evident in one of the three showcased pieces La Dame a la Collerette or Portrait de Jacqueline a la Fraise. The prints are original linocut in five colours _ black, brown, blue-grey, grey and white _ from two blocks, and features as model Jacqueline Roque, Picasso's muse and wife during the last 20 years of his life.

Although Picasso's graphic arts may not fetch stellar prices at auctions due to the artist being so prolific that he created a total of around 2,000 images, some with an edition of 1,000 prints, print-making seems to have opened the always-revolutionary artist to a new realm of artistic possibilities. In another way, the print-making world also benefits a great deal from artists like Picasso, Marc Chagall and Henri Matisse, with master print-makers such as Fernand Mourlot and Roger Lacouriere, frustrated with these rule-breaking artists as they were, working together with them to push the envelope of the media. Picasso, in particular, is as versatile and diverse in terms of style and materials with prints as he is with his paintings and images, which are printed from plates of metal, stone, wood, linoleum and celluloid. It's not surprising to know the artist once noted, ''Graphic art ... is my favourite medium of expression.''

While Picasso's draughtsmanship enables his graphic work to emulate the bold and contemplative lines and forms of his paintings, the artist's refusal to stick to traditional rules and particular styles somewhat sharpens his technical virtuosity. This is demonstrated in multi-colour prints like La Dame, a work that reflects Picasso's maturity as a full-fledged graphic artist. From an amateur graphic artist who once created for a single print several linoleum blocks, each to be used with one colour, he became a technical expert who managed to invent the technique of printing multiple colours from a single linoleum block.

Graphic art may dominate the exhibition, with 13 lithographs by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Marc Chagall, Henri Matisse, Joan Mir and Edgar Degas and Georges-William Thornley, together with dry point etching and linocut by Picasso, Renoir and other artists, still a total of 13 oil-on-canvas paintings make their way onto the exhibition walls. Interestingly, the paintings on display seem to possess a mutual characteristic with the prints. In this case, it's the subject matter that reflects a fascination with a certain space and time.

The two most outstanding paintings in the exhibition capture fleeting moments in time: Jules Breton's Fileuse Bretonne and Edouard Leon Cortes's Porte St Martin. Known for his fascination with the idyllic countryside, Breton's portrayal of a single peasant female set against the backdrop of France's lush landscape is an ode to the rural existence of 19th century France.

Set in a different time and place and executed with a different style, Edouard Leon Cortes's Porte St Martin shares with Breton's Fileuse Bretonne the nostalgia for a certain time and place. Depicting pre-World War Two Paris Street, post-Impressionist artist Cortes seeks to capture the life of the City of Lights, with horse-drawn carriages and busy Parisians, shimmered in gold hues as reflected from the evening twilight _ an embodiment of time and place the artist yearned for.

Despite a large collection of paintings and graphic masterpieces, it's probably the one and only sculpture that is the true highlight of the exhibition. The centrepiece of the exhibition is a work by the artist famed for his paintings that depict soft clocks and melting watches, Salvador Dali. This bronze sculpture is a sculptural incarnation of Dali's masterpiece The Persistence of Memory, and it undoubtedly steals the show.

''The sculpture by Salvador Dali, titled Time in the Fourth Dimension, a famous and iconic image illustrating a melting clock, portrays the Surrealist perspective that time is never constant,'' said the curator.

With over 30 beautiful paintings and prints, Yarger believes enthusiasts will enjoy the special opportunity to view them individually for their technique, subject matter, narrative and emotional quality as well as experience all of the art works in relationship to each other and as a whole collection.

''Showcasing artists of different styles and periods in one exhibition provides not only an art history experience but allows an educational and scholarly opportunity, to experience it in one setting, to compare and contrast the works,'' he said.

''The event has created a beautiful 'jewel box' experience so that we can view 'The Art of Time' exhibition, which I believe successfully marries the experience of fine art and luxury timepieces.''

'Gaysorn The Art of Time' exhibition is at Gaysorn Shopping Centre,

Ratchadamri Road, until July 20.

Call 02-656-1516 for more information.