Courtauld Summer School days 4 & 5

Again two very good days and I'm really sorry the week is over.

On Thursday we concentrated on Roger Van de Weyden with Douglas Brine. In the morning we looked in detail at "The Descent from the Cross" which is in Madrid. I saw this at the end of last year so the experience of it was quite fresh in my mind. Fascinating to go through the iconography in detail and to think about how and why the figures fit in the space the way they do. We then focused on some of the other works in detail.

The afternoon was spent in the Print and Drawing Room at the British Museum. I hadn't realised that anyone can go along and ask to see anything that they hold there. A nice atmosphere with a mix of people studying and the staff who work in the room with their personalised desks. We had out a series of drawings linked to Roger van de Weyden. There was a particularly fine portrait of a woman but my favourite was a drawing which was probably for a wall painting of a procession. I was drawn to the beggar in the corner who had a little dog with a begging bowl in its mouth.

Friday was a trip to the National Gallery again to spend time in the Memling Room. We used the work there to discuss different types of patronage and reasons for production. We looked at Flemish influence in other countries and the lovely painting on cloth by De Bouts.

In the afternoon it was back to the Courtauld to study the Portinari Triptch which is in the Uffizi. The college have a life sized photo of the whole thing, in sections, along with a full sized infrared photo. We pushed back the tables and again discussed the iconography as well as how the under drawing differed from the final version.

All in all a really good week. A great opportunity to look at a period of art in some detail seeing some of the latest research in the field. Wish I'd booked next week off too to do follow up reading

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