Cathy's Art Diary

Charming exhibition at the British Museum looking at the ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. It had many examples and the exhibition not only looked at the meaning of the different spells but also the iconography and the people who had commissioned the books. The book of Ani was particularly beautiful with detailed illustrations. The artefacts were lovely too and a nice touch was that the one mummy in the exhibition had her clay slabs with her in the correct position. I loved the fact that people chose different spells from a list. I fancied the one to turn me into a lotus and the one to kill beetles! Reviews Times Daily Telegraph Evening Standard

Excellent lecture at the Royal Academy given by Tony Jones, Chancellor of the School of Art Institute of Chicago, to compliment the current Glasgow Boys exhibition. The lecture looked in detail how the Glasgow boys together, what their connection with Glasgow was and what were the influences on them. My only criticism as that it ran well overtime as it started to be 2 good lectures. He went on to talk about how the Glasgow Boys influenced those who came after them particularly MacIntosh and the Glasgow Girls. This was fascinating but he was starting to rush as some of the audience was getting a bit restless!

Second exhibition in a new series at the Royal Academy entitled “Artists Laboratory” which showcases more unusual work by Royal Academicians. This one featured work by Stephen Farthing which examined famous paintings and produced works in response to them. There was a lovely big picture of the Atlantic sea which reminded me of one of the large Monet water lilys. It was very calming. He had also done a history of art represented by a tube map.

Exhibition at the Royal Academy of the work of this school of painters based around Glasgow in the late 20th century. The exhibition concentrated on the work they produced, what influenced it and how it challenged the art market of the time. I found it odd that as a group they had challenged the sentimentality of Victorian art and yet I found many of the pictures very sentimental. I want to like the Glasgow boys but I can’t quite manage to. Reviews Guardian Independent

Small exhibition at the Cornerstone in Didcot of works by Ron Freeborn, a local artist. I found this exhibition very interesting as Ron had been head of the art department at my school, not that I studied art! Family friends have a large picture by him dominating their dining room. He’d not lost his touch over the years and there were some lovely landscapes.