Drawn from the collections

Exhibition of drawings from their own collections at Tate Britain arranged in themes rather than by date.

This was a lovely way of viewing the work as it gave you a chance to look at the works for what they were before reading the label from the group to one side and seeing who had drawn them. I think the best way to describe is to list the themes and my favourite in each block.

Creatures great and small – “Rosetti’s wombat” by William Bell Scott (Yes it seems to be true Rosetti owned a wombat!”)

Stories real and imagined – “Pink and green sleepers” by Henry Moore (One of the underground sketches from the war)

Face to face - a self portrait of Stanley Spencer

Modern figures – An untitled figure study by Keith Vaughan

Studies from art and life – an academy study by William Mulready A wonderful Edwardian male nude complete with moustache.

Town and country – “Chimney Stacks and Winding Ways, Whitby” by Fred Cecil Jones

Modern and abstract – “Oct 55/Torre de Grillo, Rome” by Ben Nicholson

Alongside these drawings were 4 galleries of modern works. I fell heavily for a set called “The Roaring Forties” by Tacita Dean. These chalk on board sketches showed aspects of a storm at sea in a cinematic style. The large fragile pictures were just stunning.

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