Cathy's Art Diary

Another brilliant week at the Courtauld Summer School . This year I look the course called “Nike to Angel” with Dr Cecil Hennessy which looked at how early Christian iconography evolved from classical themes plus how the iconography developed. Cecil was a wonderfully clear, logical lecturer and really encouraged ideas and participation. There was a series of ten lectures giving an overview of the topic then looking at different artistic mediums from the period such as ivories, mosaics and metalwork. We had some really good sessions in the museums going to the V&A and the British Museum twice. The second session at the British Museum was brilliant as it was a handling session. We thought we’d see second rank pieces but when we arrived the curator had out pieces we’d looked at on the previous visit. We handled (in gloves) a wonderful apotheosis ivory with textured elephants, the wonderful casket from a treasure hoard, a fantastic smooth vessel with a perfectly fitting lid and most m

Another brilliant exhibition by the Courtauld Gallery which focused on the relationship between Toulouse-Laurrec and one of his muses, Jane Avril. Jane was a dancer at the Moulin Rogue with an eccentric style and is familiar to us from some of the wonderful posters by Lautrec for the theatre as the red headed angular figure. The exhibition included many pictures of her by Lautrec and often places sketches next to the finished posters. It also had pictures of her off stages as well and showed the pathos of the artist on and off stage. The exhibition also looked at her life from her childhood in hospital being treated for St Vitus’ Dance to her later tours of Europe with the dance troup. Reviews Times Daily Telegraph

A small exhibition at Abbott and Holder , a lovely gallery near the British Museum. This exhibition was of recent watercolours by Christopher Le Brun, a contemporary watercolourist. They had a wonderful surreal quality while also being understandable, beautiful landscapes.

This year’s garden at the British Museum is an Australian one. Currated in connection with the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew it looks at the plants which grow in the different landscapes of Australia. It was clever how the colour of the path changed as the landscape changed. I loved the very colourful sections of yellow flowers. Review Daily Telegraph

Nice little exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery which explores the theme of gravity in art. It was nice to see an unusual theme plus to see contemporary and older works displayed together. There was a wonderful photograph called “Dan” by Wolfgang Tillmans which confuses your eyes. I loved the hanging bricks called “Neither from nor towards” by Cornelia Parker which plays with ideas of gravity and time.

Nice little exhibition at the Festival Hall to mark 50 years since the Festival of Britain. It began by looking at the site for the festival and the designs for it. There was a good display on the design of its logo and how it was used. I hadn’t realised that the festival was celebrated all over Britain and there was a nice section of what other cities did. My favourite section however was on the souvenirs on offer at the time and how they mirrored the design landscape. There was a nice display of scarves lent by a couple I am in contact with about selling some scarves of my own. Reviews Times

Nice exhibition of imaginary landscapes by Jim Vincent at the Cornerstone in Didcot. These mixed media pictures were effective both at a distance and close up as it was only then that the detail came out.

Installation in the courtyard of Somerset House of sculptures by Ai Weiwei. It consisted of a circle of 12 bronze animal heads re-creationing the traditional Chinese zodiac sculptures which once adorned the fountain of an imperial retreat in Beijing. The pieces were beautifully detailed and looked great in the courtyard. However I went on a very rainy day and it was too wet to stop and look at them properly! Reviews Guardian Independent

Luscious exhibition at the V&A looking at the aesthetic movement of the late 19th century. It covered all aspects of the movement from pictures though furniture and publishing. There was a good tape tour voiced by Rupert Everett with just enough information and stops. It enhanced the exhibition rather than distracting you. It was lovely to see pictures shown with artefacts. I liked the recreation of a room in Rossetti's house and the wall of Pre-Raphaelite stunners. The whole exhibition was like falling into a good quality hot chocolate with marshmallows! Reviews Times Guardian

Small room display at NPG celebrating the life and work of Gilbert and Sullivan at the National Portrait Gallery . It has works which you expect to see and but nothing special. There were nice photographs but on the whole the ones which are in all the text books. There were two late portrait photos of the men themselves I'd not seen before. However it was nice that it was in the same room as their portraits.