In its newest exhibit, “Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer,” The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts juxtaposes art made between the 14th and 18th centuries with the ultra modern architecture of Tadao Ando. On display are the works of prominent old masters-Michelangelo, Buonarroti, Pontormo, Giambattista Tiepolo, Jacob van Ruisdael and Jean-Baptiste Greuze-courtesy of the Saint Louis Art Museum and Harvard Art Museum.

The stark-white walls and unconventional architecture of the Pulitzer are interesting contrasts to the history that is associated with these works. The building is fundamentally a box that offers much of the unexpected. Replete with asymmetrical angles, a central reflective pool, rooms with completely different compositions and unadulterated natural sunlight, the building is a work of art itself.

The openness of the architecture floods the gallery rooms with natural light and obliterates the need for artificial light. The natural progression of the sun throughout the day lends a multi-dimensional variable to the art. Viewers coming at noon and later in the afternoon are guaranteed very different sensory experiences. Light-natural or artificial, intense or subdued, is an integral part of appreciating and viewing works of art.

The paintings and drawings are clustered into themes. In looking at the collection of landscapes one can appreciate how artists view and interpret nature differently. This is not the art of the contemporary. There are no works that leave you guessing, at least not in the narrative that they are portraying. A painting of St. Sebastian being martyred is clearly just that.

Students can walk a few blocks off campus and see works of art that have survived for hundreds of years. These painting and drawings have seen world wars and major relocations, and now they are resting comfortably in St. Louis. At the point of their creation, these works would have been exhibited in churches, homes of the aristocracy and art salons. By choosing to show these works in this particular gallery space, the exhibit’s curator is very deliberately contrasting the old with the new. This contrast provides the works of old a breath of fresh air and provides a welcome escape from the ordinary.

The location of the gallery lends itself to student viewership. Works of the old masters have migrated from Europe and landed within walking distance of campus. Often the world of art seems far removed from everyday life. It is an abstract concept and is not pertinent to school or work. But the Pulitzer’s location and modern exterior make the art within it all the more inviting.

This exhibit makes the works of these famous European artists more accessible and worthy of an afternoon’s excursion. “:Ideal (Dis-) Placements: Old Masters at the Pulitzer” is on display until June 20, 2009. The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts is located at 3716 Washington Blvd., just past the Fox Theatre.