Cathy's Art Diary

An exhibition at the National Gallery looking at the work of the Divisionist painters in Italy and the influence they had on the futurist movement. I found this exhibition was a bit mixed. It’s not a subject I knew anything about so it was interesting to see what Italian artists were doing at the same time as the Impressionists were appearing in France. The first room was super with some grand landscapes, my favourite being a huge white alpine landscape by Emilio Longoni. However I was not so sure about the rest. At times the artists seem so determined to make a political statement that the art becomes a bit like a political poster. Some of the symbolist works also passed me by a bit particularly one called “The Bad Mothers” which seemed to be an atonal picture of two long haired women in a tree. Reviews Guardian Evening Standard

Exhibition at Tate Britain which explores the responses of British artists to the Middle East between 1780 and 1930. I must admit I went to this exhibition just because it was on and actually really enjoyed it. I loved the warm colours although I did feel the exhibition was more about the place than the artists. The artist which most impressed me was John Frederick Lewis whose works included some wonderful detail. In his “A Frank encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai” there were two wonderful dogs including a small one with a stick in its mouth. He also painted a wonderful picture in a Hareem with a wonderful tiled wall behind two female figure is lush fabrics. However try as I might I don’t like William Holman Hunt. I just don’t like his colour palate. A lovely surprise at the end was some 20th century pictures including one of Sarajevo by Stanley Spencer and a super David Bomberg of Jerusalem. Reviews Times Daily Telegraph Evening Standard

Small exhibition in the Sunley Room at the National Gallery looking at the challenge to artists of depicting different types of love. It brings together pictures from all eras and styles to illustrate this. The highlight must of course be “Young Woman Standing at a Virginal” by Vermeer but I would never have imagined I would be looking at that in the same room as one of Stanley Spencer’s beatitude pictures. The exhibition looked as many aspects of love, religious, parental, sexual, charitable and more however it took on too much in a small number of pictures, It got me thinking but not really drawing any conclusions. Reviews Daily Telegraph Evening Standard

A super last day to finish the course which left me with food for thought and already wondering what I can so next year to build on it. The first session was on the School of Raphael looking at how he built up a workshop to complete the huge amount of work he must have been involved in and how that style spread throughout Europe after the Sack of Rome in 1527. Raphael was therefore behind the Baroque, the model for decorative schemes for the next two centuries and consolidated the classical architectural style. I have to admit as someone who thinks things start going awry in art from the late C18th onwards until the Pre-Raphs in the C29th j’accuse Raphael! The next session was on the Sack of Rome itself looking no only at the event itself and the damage done but also looking at the long term effects. Over 10,000 people were killed in the sack with many more dying of disease in the following months. At least two libraries were destroyed, one of the Raphael tapestry’s in the Sistine was ...

A super exhibition at the British Museum looking at the life and work of the emperor Hadrian. It made good use of the Round Reading Room again taking you on a journey through his life. There were many stunning artefacts but best of all were the statues and busts which fitting well into what I’ve been learning this week on the High Renaissance summer school at the Courtauld. The section on Hadrian’s villa was fascinating and I can really feel another trip to Rome coming on. The gallery on Antonius was interesting. He really was a very pretty boy! Reviews Times Daily Telegraph Independent Evening Standard

A fascinating exhibition at the British Museum looking at print making in American in the last century. In doing this it also gave a good overview of art there in general. My favourite section was the modernist one using the buildings of New York as subject matter. These includes “New York” by Louis Lozowick which is used for the poster. I also liked the Provincetown woodcuts which were mainly done by women and rather cubist in style. As ever I seemed to like the earlier prints best finding some of the later ones too abstract. Reviews Guardian Daily Telegraph Evening Standard

Day four showed even more goodies! Lectures covered a detailed examination of the plans for Julius II’s tomb from the grand plans for a free standing tomb with 40 plus statures to the final version in St Peter ad Vincula. It covered whether the slaves or captives and what they stood for, why Moses seems to be facing the wrong way and what the whole thing costs. After this we looks at the Stanza or apartments in the Vatican decorated by Raphael. I only really knew the School of Athens in any detail although I have been there so fascinating to go through the iconography of the three rooms in detail. As with the Sistine Chapel it was all about stressing the powers of the popes and ‘bigging up’ the current one. This afternoon was a magical trip to the prints and drawing room at the British Museum where we had a chance to look at some wonderful Michelangelo and Raphael drawings. We were even lucky enough to have the drawing for Adam on the ceiling, a fine figure of a man!

Small exhibition in the costume galleries at the V&A of the stage costumes of the Supremes. It was very good at putting the works in context looking at the history of Black music and segregation. In particular it discusses the role of Motown. I hadn’t realized that Berry Gordy, their producer, also released the sound recordings of Martin Luther King’s speeches. However the stars of the show were the clothes. I liked it best when they had all three costumes even though they were the same. There were acres of sequins and beads and I’m sure many of the dresses must have been really heavy. Wackiest were beaded trousers where the beads were set to look like herring bone. Reviews Times Evening Standard

So day 3 of the summer school on the High Renaissance has been the best yet. Two lectures and the visit looked in detail at the Sistine chapel. First off was a quick romp through the earlier frescos and their iconography then on to the ceiling. We covered why it was done, how Michelangelo did it and took a detailed look at the iconography. This linked through to the earlier frescos and gave a link between the old and New Testament and all looked towards promoting the role of the papacy. Next were the Raphael tapestries which I much admit I didn’t know existed. I did know about the cartoons at the V&A but hadn’t really registered what they were for. Again we looked at the iconographic links to the frescos and ceiling and discussed the patronage of Leo X. I just love the Medici! This afternoon’s trip was inevitably the V&A to see the cartoons. Walked up and down them again and again looking at the politics of them, the production, iconography again and style. So exciting to stand...

Today’s second day of the summer school started with two lectures this morning. Firstly one on the study and collection of antiquities in Rome looking at why they were collected, how they were displayed and what the effects of this were. I’ve always been fascinated by the use of antique statues in art and how the models are reused in many pictures. I am now desperate to go back to Rome and do the Belvedere courtyard and the Capitaline museum. The second lecture built on this but looked specifically at the effects on architecture and in particular the work of Bramante. I loved the fact he was so ambitious but that many of the buildings were actually poorly built. It was very interesting to look at the different designs for the new St Peter’s and what they meant. This afternoon was a trip to the National Gallery looking at relevant works. We started with Raphael’s Julius II and compared it to Bellini’s Doge looking at what both were saying politically as well as artistically. We then loo...

Exhibition at the Courtauld Institute Gallery which shows their collection of Cézannes in its entirety alongside nine letters giving an insight into his views on art. This is the largest collection of Cézannes in Britain and the exhibition included both paintings and drawings. The main impression the pictures gave was of wonderful shades of green and blue both in landscapes and still lives. I particularly liked “The Lac D’Annecy” form 1896 which was of a lake with a castle in the middle farmed by the branches of trees. It was lovely to see these works together which gave a good overview of Cézannes work. Reviews Times Daily Telegraph Independent Evening Standard

Today has been my first day of this year’s week at the Courtauld Institute’s summer schools. This year I am doing “High Renaissance : art and architecture in Rome 1500-1527” which is being led by Michael Douglas-Scott. It is shaping up to be another good year. It’s been nice to bump into a few people who I’ve met in previous years and to get back into the swing of lectures. I must say work already feels a long way away! Today has been two lectures. Firstly on Renaissance Rome and the papacy looking at the state of the papacy at this time and why art and architecture was important to it. It touched on the duel roles of Rome as centre of Imperial Rome and as centre of the Christian church in the West which made is a major centre of pilgrimage. The second lecture was on Revonatio Urbis that is urban renewal in the city at this time. Again it firstly looked at why this was done which including to improve the image of the papacy, to provide better transport for pilgrims, to improve the hygi...

Exhibition at Somerset House looking at the relationship between architecture and fashion. I must admit I found the whole thing took itself very seriously! It was looking at the art side of both industries so seemed to feature clothes which people couldn’t have worn and building which hadn’t been built yet! I also found some of the displays difficult as the labels were at floor level next to very bright spotlights. There was a good brochure with lots of detail but it was difficult to read it as you walked round. Anyway criticism aside there were some great clothes, which I admit had drawn to the exhibition rather than the buildings. I loved the video of the hoped wedding dress with zips on the hoops which the model undid to pull out other bits of the outfit. It was funny that she could pull out the jacket but two people had to run on to help her put it on. The best outfit was a stunning Vivienne Westwood ball gown in a light chocolate brown satin although I also like the slashed denim ...

Small exhibition at the Royal Academy ( of the early drawings of J. F. Lewis of the animals at the Exeter ‘Change Menagerie in the Strand and farm animals from near his home. They are shown with works by other members of this family of painters, engravers and bookbinders.

Exhibition at the Royal Academy of works by the Danish artist, Wilhelm Hammershoi. It was well worth taking the tape tour of this exhibition as it give a good insight into the art world of Copenhagen which the labels didn’t really cover. I was surprised by the pictures as I had imagined that they would have a jewel like finish but although they were like that from a distance the surface was much rusher. As they were quite personal and gave a view of an interior life being able to see the brush strokes seemed to give a direct connection to the artist. The room of pictures from the artists flat at Strandgade 30 was stunning. All very tranquil and I loved the way you kept seeing the same objects in different places particularly the badly fired punch bowl. However you realised there were odd things going on with some furniture places so you couldn’t open doors and table legs throwing shadows in four different directions. However my favourite was one of the pictures of barns in the first r...

Exhibition at the National Theatre of the entries in this competition which showcases the outstanding press photography taken for and used by the UK media. There were some stunning images but it made the last year seem very depressing. Thank goodness for sports photography! Probably the most striking photo was of an injured solder but the most moving was of the uncle of one of the children of the family killed in a fire in Northern Ireland. It showed him carrying a small white coffin with just one tear. The most beautiful was a car outside a house in the floods so perfectly taken that it was mirror image with not sign of which view was real and which the reflection. Reviews Evening Standard