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Showing posts from December, 2007

Painting in fresco

Lecture at the National Gallery on the craft of fresco by James Heard. This was a super evening including a demonstration of the different stages of making a fresco from the first plaster layer, through the sinopia or under drawing through to the painting itself. He discussed the difference pigments used and how they reacted with the lime and why some had to be added, often with disastrous effects, after the plaster was dry. There were some wonderful slides of fresco painters at work which highlighted the logistical challenges of working at height and of getting the materials you needed to the site. We also heard why some frescos look as they do for example whey the sky’s are sometimes red, because the blue was added later and has fallen off, or why they are sometime patchy, because paint dried to different colours which were difficult to predict in the patched which had to be worked on each day. This was a fascinating evening. I have always loved fresco’s and think they are my favour

Renaissance Sienna: art for a city

A well constructed exhibition at the National Gallery of the art of Sienna in the Renaissance period covering the 100 years from the canonisation of Saint Bernardino to the entry of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V in 1536. I thought I knew the art of Sienna well but realise it’s the earlier period I know, Duccio and the good and bad government frescos, I did not really know what came next and this was therefore a fascinating insight of how these earlier works influenced later generations. I loved Francesco de Giorgio’s covers for the cities account books in the first room including miniature pictures of the city complete with its blank and white stripped cathedral tower. However the highlights of the show were the works which had been brought together from different collections for the first time in 100 or more years. They included Matteo di Giovanni’s Assumption altarpiece brought together for the first time since its discovery in 1800 and works from Pandolfo Pettrucci’s chamber i

The Golden age of couture

Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum focusing on the designers of London and Paris between 1947 and 1957 starting with Dior’s New Look and ending with his death in 1957. This was a luscious exhibition of beautiful clothes. On the whole it was well laid out and I love the way that the V&A exhibit clothes in a way that you can look through the displays to see the clothes on mass and also see their reflections giving different views and a sort of life to the clothes. However I found the middle section which was imaginatively set out like fashion houses a bit cramped and not logical to go round. I suspect the exhibition is a victim of its own success as it’s the weight of people which makes it difficult. I would definitely recommend trying to go on a week day not a busy Saturday before Christmas! Anyway moaning over as the clothes were gorgeous. Women were women then and I felt quite ashamed of my badly ironed skirt and purple striped top and wished I’d made more effort! My fav

The art of Lee Miller

Exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum of photographs of and by Lee Miller examining her role as muse and photographer. I was excited to see the exhibition as I had very much enjoyed the exhibition of portraits at the National Portrait Gallery a number of years ago and had been to visit Farley Farm in Sussex where she had lived with her husband Roland Penrose in the latter years of her life. This is now the home of the Lee Miller archive. It was a magical visit so it was super to see this large range of photos brought together. I loved the surrealist section particularly the very clear focused pictures based on the idea of found art such as the picture of four rats called “Rat’s tails” and the birdcages in a window. One of the unexpected sections was the one on Egypt where she lived with her first husband which included a small contact print called “Procession, the Red Sea” which in the sand takes on a surreal quality. There was a nice theme running through the exhibition of scen