Women artists: Rachel Ruysch

Interesting workshop at the National Gallery looking at the life and work of the Dutch flower painted Rachel Ruysch and using her to discuss the history of female artists.

This was one in a series of workshop on women artists but I have only been able to get this one. It was led by Jacqui Ansell who is always good. The session began with an interesting look at why there are so few women artists represented in the National Gallery, whether this is just because there weren’t many or whether it is also because they have been forgotten by a male art historical world. We looked at the work since the 1970s to discuss this issue.

We then went on to look at Ruysch’s work, how it was received in her own lifetime and what enabled her to be an artist at that time. A 75,000 gilder lottery win allowed her a certain amount of freedom in her work as she could work without money worries and take time over her work. He work was commissioned by the Duke of Tuscany which is why it is represented in the Uffizi.

We spent some time in a delightful small room of Dutch flower pictures looking at examples of her work plus putting It in the context of the genre. I loved the luscious texture of her flowers and the wonderful detail of insects in amongst the flowers. We talked about whether these were real or imagined composition and how they show the hand of man as the flowers are hot house varieties not wild ones.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thomas Becket: Murder and Making of a Saint

Image
Stunning exhibition at the British Museum on the life and afterlife of Thomas Becket. I studied Becket both at A Level and at university so I was really looking forward to this show and it did not disappoint. From walking in to see an old friend, the early Limoges casket showing the murder from the Victoria and Albert Museum, I was gripped. The show told the story well using fantastic objects and led you through his life, the murder, the political aftermath, his sainthood and miracles, and how Canterbury became a major pilgrimage site. It is hard to pick out the best objects as so many were wonderful. I loved that they had early copies of some of the five eyewitness accounts of the murder which made you fell you were almost touching the event. I liked the manuscript on his time in exile which was almost like a comic strip. How wonderful to get a 13th century font from Sweden which shows how far and how quickly the news that Henry II had integrated the murder spread. I think my
Read more

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year Exhibition 2019

Image
Delightful exhibition at Clarendon Fine Art showing pictures from the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV series. I had loved the series which had set nine artists, both professional and amateur, to paint one of three celebrities. It then had a semi-final and final with them all looking at one sitter and in the final they also took on a commission. I loved the way you watched a picture build and how some were then made or spoiled by one stroke of paint.   Finding these pictures I knew so well in the flesh was therefore fascinating. None of them disappointed. My favourite artist from the final, Tom Mead, works looked just as good in real life if not better as you could see the detail. The show included his impressive self-portrait which he submitted to enter the competition, a wonderful fragmented picture of his reflection in a mirror giving a sense of movement. I loved that it included a large version of him and a miniature. His commission for the final of Jazzie B was
Read more

The Renaissance Nude

Image
Beautiful exhibition at the Royal Academy looking at the nude in Renaissance art. The show was gently themed but mainly let the pictures speak for themselves. It began by looking at the subjects, both religious and secular, which include nude figures then examined techniques and models used in these works, finishing by looking at more personal pictures. This is a period I’ve studied a lot so there were a lot of old friends and it was quite fun predicting what might appear. There were a few surprises too such as the rather surprising drawing of the Ecstatic Christ. I liked the fact the show included lots of different art forms not just paintings including sculpture, etchings, drawings and illuminated manuscripts. There were some fascinating hangs to draw comparisons particularly two sets of pictures by Giovanni Bellini and Hand Memling from almost exactly the same date. These were shown back to back in a display cabinet down the middle of one room. My favourite work was
Read more