Cathy's Art Diary

A small exhibition of C19th oil landscapes painted in the open air at the National Gallery . Although this exhibition was just in one room there were a number of small but delightful pictures. They didn’t really seem to say anything in particular other than ‘hey look people did this before the Impressionists’ but seemed rather personal as had not been produced for sale and had often stayed in the collections of the painters. A revelation were two artists who I had not come across before Jean-Michel Cels represented by a sky study with birds and a study of a tree and Michallon with a Nash like picture of water in rock gorge.

Study morning at the National Gallery on their current exhibition of the works of Pompeo Batoni (see blog entry for last week!), This was a good morning of 3 talks on aspects of the exhibition. The first talk was by Dawson Cart, co-ordinating curator of this exhibition for the gallery. This was a good walk though the exhibition using slides looking at which pictures had been chosen and why and how they fitted together to form the story of this artist. He talked about the stories behind the sitters as well which really brought them to life. The second talk was Rebecca Lyons, a freelance lecturer, on the Grand Tour, why people went on it, what they did and how they wished to be portrayed on it. Finally Jacqui Ansell, again a freelance lecturer, looking at the clothes in the portraits. She outlined the different styles of dressed and discussed which we modern and stylist and which were more old fashioned and trying to say more about dignity and gravitas. Particularly interesting was her c...

Exhibition at the National Gallery of the latest entries for art works for the spare plinth in Trafalgar Square. The shortlist includes six well-known artists, all of whom live and work in London, Jeremy Deller, Tracey Emin, Anthony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Yinka Shonibare and Bob & Roberta Smith. There are some really great ideas but my vote went to Shonibare’s model of the Victory as a ship in a bottle complete with batik sales. I thought this had a stunning look and was rather a witty touch for the square. Having said that I think I’d be happy with any of them except Tracey Emin meerkats which I thought would be too small. Fourth plinth website Pictures Guardian Reviews Times Guardian

Exhibition at the National Gallery of the works of Pompeo Batoni, in his day the most celebrated painter in Rome. Now known for his portraits of British nobles on the Grand Tour the exhibition also looks at his allegorical and historical work. The stars of the show however were the portraits. I particularly liked one of William Gordon, a man in complete Highland outfit with the Coliseum in the background and an unusual landscape portrait of Duchess Girolama Santacroce Conti incorporating a wonderful silver toilet set. I found the allegorical pictures more difficult as we suffer from having distanced ourselves from many of the stories and ideals that they represent. I liked a Triumph of Venice a strange scene on the greatness of Venice superimposed on an almost Canneletto type scene of the Doges Palace and St Marks Square. All in all not a great exhibition but well presented and fills a gap. Reviews Daily Telegraph Evening Standard

Annual art fair at the Royal Academy . With several thousand pictures will be offered for sale, spanning every style and period from the 17th Century to Contemporary this is a real feast for the eyes and great temptation for the credit cards! I succumbed to a page of a sketch book by G.F.Watts, drawn on his honeymoon in Egypt. It has about 8 figures drawn in pencil plus one figure worked up in sepia watercolour. It was a very affordable price! I also had a good 'Bloomsbury' conversation with the stall holder.

Small exhibition at the Royal Academy celebrating the 70th birthday of Allen Jones with a selection of vibrant watercolors form the artist’s own collection. I always like Allen Jones’s work in the summer exhibition and remember a wonderful room on high heeled female figures from a few years ago so this was a nice opportunity to see some of the development of his ideas. A small but bright exhibition which I wish I had left more time to see properly.

Exhibition at the Royal Academy showing modern masterpieces drawn from Russia’s principal collections. This was a superb exhibition and I may well try to go again. Split into two halves the first showed French works which had been collected by Russians and the second half the effect on Russian art of having these pictures on display in the country. It was really as case of name a French artist of the late C19th/early C20th and they were there, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Matisse, Picasso and more. A real visual feast, but also a look at the trends in collecting which seems to be a recurring theme in exhibitions t the moment. How to pick a favorite when Matisse’s Dance II was there dominating the main room? As ever I seem to be drawn to the portraits of women from that of Nadezhola Polovtsova by Carolus-Duran in the first room, with stunning contasts of a black dress against a red chair to that of Anna Akhmalova by Altman, this time a contrast in yellow and blue. Throw in a wonderfully ta...