Cathy's Art Diary

Intriguing online lecture from the London Art History Society looking at a wonderful Anglo-Saxon crucifix on the outside of Romsey Abbey. Richard Plant, author on this period, shared thoughts on the Romsey Rood starting by describing it and comparing it to other crucifixes of the period. I love this period of art but don’t know a huge amount about it so it was fascinating to be introduced to some lovely objects. He then thought about rituals which may have been linked to this work such as the idea of fire for lighting candles being kept by a church door. He also mused on why it was on the nuns side of the church and whether they had some ritual linked to it. Finally he looked at why this Anglo-Saxon work might have been incorporated into a later Norman church. Did it have some sentimental meaning to the local people? Two Anglo-Saxon saints and a king were buried there so was the object linked to one of them? Had the nunnery become a home for Anglo-Saxon ladies post Conquest? Lot...

Interesting annual exhibition at Glyndebourne Opera House of new work by a selection of Sussex artists. My favourite works this year were by Michael Bishop who painted realistic landscapes but in exaggerated colours. I also liked Katherine Allen's loosely painted works. Closes 19 December 2025

Intriguing online lecture from the National Gallery discussing the history of the gallery commissioning new work. Daniel Herrmann, the Ardalan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Project at the gallery, started by outlining the tradition of the gallery incorporating contemporary art going back to the reuse of a statue of Britannia for Marble Arch being reconfigured to become Minerva for the front of the building. Hermann then talked about the mosaics in the old entrance by Boris Anrep and how he combined classical ideas with contemporary cultural references as well as talking about how they were made. Most interesting was when he discussed the commissioning of two recent works, Bridget Riley’s “Messengers” and Richard Long’s “Mud Sun”, talking about how they worked with the artists to create the works. He also mentioned the wonderful “Triumph of Art” project to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the gallery which I had attended in Trafalgar Square.

Fascinating exhibition at the British Library looking at how maps have been used to hide things, establish power and deceive. The show had a clear narrative and included some amazing maps and objects. Each section was told chronologically but building a theme over time. As ever I was more drawn to the older works but many of the current ones were fascinating too. The show concluded by looking at how maps have been used to marginalise people and had a brilliant video about the people of Kibera in Kenya set about mapping their settlement when it was left off official maps. It then discussed issues of privacy particularly in relation to new technology. Stand out works for me included a map of Portuguese settlements in Asia given to Charles II as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry   as a sign of the two nations sharing knowledge, a map of Africa commissioned by Mary I for her Husband Philip II of Spain and a quilt made by inmates of Bullingdon Prison showing an aerial view of...

Thin online lecture from the National Gallery introducing the book, “Great Art Explained” by James Payne. I say thin as the book seems to be a good introduction to art but I suspect most of the audience, being National Gallery members, had a greater level of knowledge than those to who it was aimed. It is structured around giving the background to 30 well known works of art and in the talk Payne outlining some which are in the gallery’s own collection. I think I had heard hour long lectures on most of the works he talked about. More interesting was when he described how the book came about and his process. It grew out of a YouTube channel he started in lockdown for his own amusement discussing a painting in 15 minutes. As a tour guide he has found that this was about the optimum time for a group to look at a work.

Magical performance lecture at the National Gallery on the life of Jacques Louis David. Written and performed by David McAlmont there was a trio of musicians, a soundscape and film with the performer imagining incidents from David’s life in different voices. He played both David and characters from his life bobbing around in time. It’s hard to explain but I found it captivating! I came away knowing a lot more about the artist and did a lot of Googling.