Cathy's Art Diary

Fun online lecture from the Wallace Collection examining Caravaggio’s life in Rome. The talk complimented the museum’s exhibition of Caravaggio’s cupid painting and set it in context. Andrew Graham-Dixon, art historian and author of an excellent biography of the artist, led us through Caravaggio’s years in Rome from his arrival to his rapid departure after murdering someone. He told the story in a lively and colloquial style making the period feel very alive.  

Enlightening online lecture from the British Museum focusing on the portraits of the king and queen of Hawai’i in the Hawai’i exhibition at the museum. Three speakers, Healoha Johnson, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum on Hawai’i, Kate Lemay, Army College Museum, and Alice Christophe, curator of the exhibition, told us the story of King Liholiho and Queen Kamamalu’s visit to Britain in 1823 and how and why they had their portraits painted while they were there. Sadly they both died of measles during the trip. They talked about the history of using Western portrait painters in Hawai’i and how this was done to present the monarchs to the world and the images were circulated via traders and sailors. They then discussed why they chose to be presented in Western clothes and how these were purchased as well as looking at why the prime minister, Na Poki, and his wife chose to be shown in Hawaiian clothes.  

Fascinating exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of works on paper by Lucien Freud. The show looks at Freud's mastery of drawing and how he used it in preparation for paintings, as an art form in its own right and as a medium to use after a painting. It also looked at his use of etching and print making. It took a wide definition of portraits based on a quote from Freud "Everything is autobiographical and everything is a portrait, even if it's a chair". It therefore included a wonderful topical drawing of daffodils and there was a wonderful section of drawings after famous paintings or inspired by them. I loved the accurate pictures of a Chardin and a detailed look at his painting in his study based on a Watteau and the show included the original. The drawings were used to discuss how Freud's style changed and yet drawings remained at the heart of it.   Closes 4 May 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard

Interesting exhibition at Charleston in Lewes of new work by Trackie McLeod. The show consists of a series of fun installations which you are invited to interact with and they invite us to think about the "formative spaces of adolescence". Although, at 33 he is closer to adolescence than me, the works did make we think of equivalent items from my youth. McLeod is a Glasgow-based artists and had be chosen to compliment the Two Roberts show which was also running and it did make me think about what work they might have done if they had been born now and not in a time when homosexuality was illegal and they had to hide part of their personality. We had a chat to the volunteer on duty in the room who said how when she first saw the work she though it a bit thin but it has come alive as people have interacted with it and started discussions around it. Closed 12 April 2026

A striking installation at Charleston in Lewes by Robert Montgomery. The pieces consisted of a light sculpture from 2010 which was inspired by the loss of a close artist friend, Sean Watson. It was chosen to compliment the exhibition of the work of Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun being shown at the same time. Montgomery had also painted a work placed in that exhibition responding the publication of a novel about the Two Roberts. Both works are about how love endures beyond death. Montgomery was born in the same region of Scotland as the Roberts. Closed 12 April 2026

Moving exhibition at Charleston in Lewes examining the life and work of Robert Macbryde and Robert Colquhoun. The Two Roberts met at the Glasgow School of Art in 1933 and became lovers living together until the death of Colquhoun in 1962. In the mid 20th century they were at the centre of the art world but they have largely been forgotten now. The writer and broadcaster, Damian Barr, has recently written a novel about their life and had also curated this show. The show took us from those early years in Glasgow, through their travels in Europe then the Second World War when Colquhoun served as a ambulance driver and   they then lived in Blitzed London. It went through the artistic friends they made in Post-War London with examples of their work, including John Minton who formed a menage a trois with them in the early 1940s. My favourite works were MacBryde's bold, flat still-lives often based on the food he bought when they were living in Lewes. I also liked a section on thei...

Interesting exhibition at the British Museum tracing the relationship between Hawai'I and the United Kingdom. The show marked 200 years since the first royal Hawaiian visit to London. I'd not come across this event before and found it fascinating to learn how King Liholiho and his queen Kamamalu   with an entourage had come to see George IV but sadly the monarchs died of measles while they were here. The show started by looking at the early history of the Hawaiian Islands and their culture leading up to their unification into one kingdom in 1810. The show was very careful to document the provenance of the objects on display, many of which had entered the collection as the result of the travels of Captain Cook and other British explorers. There were some beautiful objects in the show and care had been taken to consult the Hawaiian community in London to honour the items but the core of the show was the tragic story of the visit and the aftermath when the bodies were retur...

Fascinating small exhibition at the British Museum looking at the work of Pierre Alexandre Wille and his circle. The show celebrates the bequest from the dealer and philanthropist Colin Clark which doubled the size of the works held by the museum by Wille who they had been collecting since the 19th century. Willie studied under the genre artist, Jean Baptist Greuze and imitated his style which suited the tastes of the ancient regime but failed to develop as times changed I thought the most striking works were the portraits at the end and I loved this portrait of a man from 1783. He often drew personalities from the Revolution in courtroom sketches. It was an interesting show to have on with the contemporary artist, Ian Hamilton Finlay who responding the same events 200 years later. No end date given

Intriguing small exhibition at the British Museum looking at prints by Ian Hamilton Finley examining themes from the French Revolution. Hamilton was known as a poet, writer, artist and gardener but the subject of the French Revolution came to dominate his work in the 1980s with an interest in how high ideals can lead to violence and corruption. These pieces come from a group of prints donated to the museum by Professor Stephen Bann, an art historian. I wasn't always sure of the link to the Revolution, but some were more obvious than others such as a version of "The Death of Marat" by David. I was drawn to a mock cover for a magazine called "Peoples' Friend" which my grandmother used to read. During the Revolution Marat edited a newspaper called "L'Ami du peuple". No end date give.

Stolid exhibition at the British Museum looking at works on paper by Scandinavian artists since the death of Edvard Munch. I usually love exhibitions in the print room galleries as they are so well explained but in this case there was too much detail which became a bit of a turn off. It failed to make me care. I found it hard to follow the themes a nd to engage with the work. It was a large show starting with a Munch print and a discussion on his influence on subsequent woodblock artists. Most of the first section looked at prints. I was caught by the book published after the war "The Resistance" with a selection of prints produced illegally during the German occupation. I liked the inclusion of contemporary work and I loved this watercolour by Maria Nordin painted during Covid also an amazingly detailed drawing of the bodice of a historic dress by Anna Zimmerman. Closed 22 March 2026 Review Guardian

Interesting online lecture from ARTscapades looking at what Suffolk meant to Stanley Spencer. Amy Lim, curator of the Faringdon Collection at Buscot House and volunteer curator at the Stanley Spencer Museum, talked us through the latter’s exhibition in collaboration with Gainsborough House, looking at Stanely Spencer and Suffolk. Lim explained how Stanley met his wife, the artist Hilda Carline, who had worked as a land girl in Suffolk in the First World War and how they returned to the county for their honeymoon and on working holidays painting. She talked us through paintings made on those trips. She then talked about the breakup of the marriage and Stanley’s second marriage to Patricia Preece and how, when that rapidly broke up too, he returned to Suffolk to work and to see if it still meant the same thing to him. She talked about how Stanley was rooted in a sense of space and how this also showed in his work based on his village Cookham. She also talked about his later work...

Moving exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery looking at the work of Polish photographer Zofia Rydet. Rydet was an established artist when at the age of 67 in 1978 she began her project “Sociological Record” in which she photographed people in their homes. As she did more and more work she developed subcategories such as looking at women on their doorsteps, the role of photographs in the home and still-lives in windows. The photos capture a moment in time and I found it moving to see what people had around them. I thought it was summed up by this quote from Rydet “Not only do people die, but with them their homes. Not only people vanish, but also everything that surrounded them. Only photography can stop time. Only photography has the power to overcome the spectre of death, and that is my unending struggle with death and transience." Closed 22 February 2026 Reviews Guardian Telegraph

Fun exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery marking 100 years since the invention of the photobooth. The show looked at the history of the booths, how they work and the sociological impact. It explained how the booths provided a cheap way of getting photographs and a space for people who found it harder to access photography such as gay couples and black sitters. They also explained how governments realised the usefulness of adding easily available photographs to official documents. There was a lovely selection of examples of photographs, some in standard frames or presentation envelopes. Closed 22 February 2026 Review Times

Interesting exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery looking at the life and work of the Ukrainian photographer Boris Mikhailov. The show was arranged over two floors with the first looking at the Soviet years and the other the years since. His work combines humour and tragedy via photographs, conceptual work and performance. The text explained how he was given a camera to record the work of the factory where he worked but instead used it to take nude pic tures of his wife and he was fired. This story sums up his anarchic approach to his photography. The show was displayed in series with good explanations of them and often including quotes from Mikhailov.I loved his series called “Red” with images featuring the colour often in a subversive way and a tender series of pictures of people dancing in the street. Closed 22 February 2026 Review Guardian

Excellent exhibition at Tate Britain marking 250 years since the birth of both Turner and Constable. I might need to do this show again to get the most from it. It cleverly pitches the two artists at various stages in their lives, noting the parallels and where and how they differed. I think I came out favouring Constable, but a second visit might be different. The show was relatively sparsely hung with a good mix of paintings, watercolours and oil sketches and sketch books. It introduced them with portraits from the date of their acceptance into the Royal Academy alongside their diploma works. At times each artist got their own room to reflect their travels but on the whole they were shown together. There were some noticeable omissions but I guess, in this important year for both artists, galleries are unwilling to loan or have lent elsewhere. The show was probably better for it as it showed greater depth. Closes 16 April 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evenin...

Fabulous exhibition at Tate Modern on the life and work of Lee Miller. I thought I’d done all there was to do on Miller having attending talks by her son, been to Farley Farm and gone to numerous exhibitions but this show led us though her modelling and photography so beautifully and included a lot of never seen before work. It was obvious that a lot of research had gone into the show. It managed to express the joy of her early life as a model and then with the Surrealists without the shadow of the war work that was to come. I got a real sense of friendship, and although a later work, her portrait of Dorothea Tanning made me laugh out loud it was so joyous. Miller had a real eye for the strange in her images which began with the work with Man Ray but continued into the war. I think my favourite work in the show was this one of a boot and bullets. I liked the fact the concentration camp pictures were in a side room and I noticed a number of people couldn’t face them. Given Mill...

Fascinating exhibition at the Wellcome Collection exploring an object from their collection, a birth girdle from about 1500. The girdle has Christian prayers and religious illustrations covering its entire 3-metre length, which could be wrapped around the body for protection during childbirth and at other moments of danger. The show set it in the context of birth at the time and other healing uses of scrolls. There was an excellent video of an interview with Dr Sarah Fiddyment, a protein scientist who analysed the scroll and confirmed that it had been actively used during childbirth. The show also included two contemporary artists who have looked at issues around fertility and birth. However my favourite piece in the show was the wonderful scene of Renaissance child birth which on first glance I assumed was a Birth of the Virgin but on a proper look it has no obvious religious context. Closes 19 April 2026

Interesting exhibition at the Wellcome Collection using contemporary art to discuss the suppression of British Sign Language. OK I know it sounds odd but it worked. Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader explained how The Second International Congress on Education of the Deaf,   held in Milan in 1880, declared that oral education should replace sign language in deaf schools effectively suppressing sign language. They used witty installations to explore the effect on deaf identity. My favourite piece was this arm, one of a pair which inflated and deflated. This one pointed towards Milan. Closed 6 April 2026

Dry and worthy exhibition at the Wellcome Collection exploring thirst and water. The show explored the political, environmental, health and sociological implications of water scarcity both now and in the past bearing in mind only 3% of the world’s water is fresh. As the introduction said it “flows through the conditions of Aridity, Rain, Glaciers, Surface Water and Groundwater”. I learnt lot from the show but I didn’t find it very engaging. I did like the way it wove together past and present but there was a lot to read and learn so it felt a bit preachy. I didn’t find the contemporary art pieces added anything to the narrative although I did like Dala Nasser’s “Mineral Lick” shown here. Favourite pieces a cartoon from Punch in 1869 describing a Victorian version of SAD, a Roman waterpipe and a section on the healing wells of London at St Pancras and Sadler’s Wells. Closed 1 February 2026

Fascinating online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum introducing an exhibition on the collaboration between the artist John Constable and his print maker, David Lucas. Catherine Martin and Juliet Cersole, the curators of the show told us the story of the collaboration to produce a print series called “English Landscapes” in 1830. They told us how a number of the Constable oil sketches that were used were donated to the museum by the artists daughter. They described how the collaboration worked and how in the show the show the oil sketch with the proof of the print including Constables notes and annotations. They also told us about the letters which still exist between them adding more detail. The also explained the mezzotint technique and explained how they had included in the show two works by a contemporary print maker who also uses it.

Bold installation in the Painted Hall of the Old Royal Naval College by Peter Walker. There were two works in the display. The first in the body of the hall was like eight long lampshades which changed colour and was accompanied by a soundscape by David Harper. They gave a calming effect but I’m not sure I’d have understood the idea from the blurb that they “evoke the complexity of human identity, its fluidity, and its constant evolution.” I preferred the more dramatic work on the dais which reinterprets “The Creation of Man” from the Sistine Chapel by using giant female hands. It dominated the space and drew the eye. I loved the way the shadows of people sharing the space fell across the hands. Closed 25 January 2026

Interesting online book discussion from the National Gallery looking at a recent book on the art of the British Isles. The author, Charlotte Mullins, was ably interviewed by Jacqui Ansell and they began by discussing the various definitions used in the book for what terms are used for the British Isles at various points in history. The author wanted to include Ireland in the mix as for most of the period under discussion it was united with Great Britain so their artistic histories are interwoven. In typing up the talk I realised they then went on to pick works in the gallery’s own collection which were covered in the book. This therefore became a bit of a skip through art history but it did lead to them making the point that much of what we think of as British art has actually been done by immigrants to the country such as Holbein and Van Dyck.

Fascinating detailed online lecture from the London Art History Society tracing changes meaning of depictions of Cashmere shawls in three portraits by Reynolds. Taking portraits of Captain John Foote, Mrs Horton previously Nancy Parsons and Mrs Baldwin, Jennifer Van Schoor, art director and graphic designer, traced the meaning of shawls in the 18 th century. For Foote the shawl was part of a diplomatic gift and showed his status within the East India Company on his return to England soon after this painting was made returnees from India were starting to be seen unfavourably and as ostentatious. Foreign luxuries were seen as threatening manners. The shawl in the painting of Nancy Parsons has shades of promiscuity as she was known to be the mistress of the Prime Minister the 3 rd Duke of Grafton. It was linking the exotic with low morals. Finally in the portrait of Mrs Baldwin it is still a sign of the exotic but in this case it was being seen as more acceptable as she was fro...

Charming exhibition at Pallant House Gallery on the life and work of William Nicholson. The show ran roughly chronologically which also meant it fell into a series of themes from his early graphic work, through his theatrical designs and onto his wonderful still-lives. There was also a good selection of his tender portraits and calming landscapes. The show blended his life and work well noting his relationship with his son Ben. A nice touch was to include portraits of William by his two wives who were also artists, Mabel Pryde and Edith Stuart Wortley. I also loved the addition of a dress made for Edie from material designed by William. I think the stunning still-lives were my favourite pieces in particular those which showed off his ability to paint shining surfaces. Closes 10 May 2026 Reviews Times Telegraph

Interesting installation at Pallant House Gallery of by Rana Begum. The piece was a series of shapes made of mesh in vibrant colours which hung down the 18th century stairwell. Lit by natural light from the windows the colours were more or less dense depending where you viewed it. Despite being still, its fragility gave a sense of movement to the space. This is one of a series of Staircase Commissions by the gallery. I think this about the third one I have seen. Closes April 2026

Beautiful exhibition at Pallant House Gallery of recent work by Caroline Walker exploring motherhood and early years care. These were bold yet tender paintings, sketches and ink drawings in domestic settings as well as maternity wards and other childcare settings. I loved this rather Caravaggio like painting "Friday Cleaning, Little Bugs" with its strong use of light making the outdoor setting slightly ambiguous. However, my favourite work was "Daphne" a painting of Walker's daughter seen through the window of her house during lockdown. It gives a real sense of the time and how we were all trapped in our homes and often only saw each other through windows. Again I loved the use of light. Closes 26 April 2026 Review Times

Slightly random online lecture from the Foundling Museum looking at music in Dutch Golden Age paintings. This was one in a series of talks on music in art and as such was geared to a more general audience rather than an art historical one. Mariska Beekenkamp-Wladimiroff, Founder of Art Historical London took us though the meaning of various musical instruments and of music in pictures in general as well as introducing the idea of symbolism in Dutch art. She had excellent illustrations but I would have appreciated a bit more structure to the talk possibly building to a conclusion.

Well thought out online lecture from the National Gallery looking at art from architectural spaces. Concentrating on works in the National Gallery which had been part of a decorative cycle but have now moved, Ben Street led us though the difference between a mural and a fresco and discussed how their meaning may change from being moved from their original setting both physically and in terms of subject. He talked about how frescos end up in galleries and the process by which they are removed from walls with particular reference to rescue and conservation work after the 1966 floods in Florence. Finally he led us though a selection of work which is still in situ from the Sistine Chapel ceiling to the mural commissioned by the gallery from Bridget Riley in 2019.

Excellent online lecture from ARTscapades on Hans Holbein the Younger. The author of a new biography of Holbein, Elizabeth Goldring, was in conversation with Michael Prodger of the New Statesman, to bring out the highlights of her book. I was fascinated to hear how Goldring went about her research given that Holbein left no diaries or letters. The only source material from him are a dictated will and notes on his drawings. Instead she turned to his patrons’ archives such as the letters of Erasmus. I liked her description of these as adjacent works. She talked about how Holbein’s portraits have become our view of Tudor England and how she can’t image Tudor art or history without him. However she also talked about other works by him from before he came to England, in particular his portraits of Erasmus which his workshop continued to produce in Basle even after he’d moved to England. She also mentioned his design work including armour for Henry VIII and over 200 pieces of jewell...

Well thought out online lecture from the National Gallery examining how and why science became entertainment in the 18th century. Matthew Morgan laid out a clear argument about how science was developing in this era and how people responded to this particularly in the circles of Wright of Derby. He looked at Rousseau’s ideas about education who advocated for learning by display rather than reading. He told us about various scientific experiments which were conducted in private houses or public spaces. I’m sure I’d have booked for a lecture at the giant Orrey at the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket. As usual with Morgan’s talks there was a good Q&A session at the end covering the difference between curiosity and learning, a comparison between the 18th century displays and Brian Cox’s podcasts and the role of women as they frequently appear in Wright’s paintings of scientific displays.

Interesting iteration of this annual show at the National Theatre for this prize for stage design. I always enjoy this show with its little models of stage designs, costumes and sketches. I was interested to see how many of those on show were speculative designs. It showed how designers have to work, submitting ideas which might never be realised. I loved this costume by Kathy Udaondo for a play called “The Inseparables” which ties two   characters together in a clever way. I also liked this set design but I failed to note what it was or who it was by. It was interesting to read a biography of Lady Anya Sainsbury who instigated the award back in 1987. Closes June 2026