Looking at the view

Interesting exhibition at Tate Britain looking at how works in the collection look at landscape.

However it was cleverer that that sounds. It hung works together which were similar in composition but from different eras such as portraits with landscape backgrounds. The commentary said it gives “insights into ways in which a viewer is engaged in the process of looking”. I did find it made you take a step back and loo at each picture in their own right rather than as part of an era or genre.

This set up interesting dialogues between works such as Nevinson’s picture of flying from the First World War next to a collage of photographs of Concorde.

I think my favourite picture was a wonderful bare seascape by John Brett of light falling on water. Closely followed by “Black Square” by Gillian Carnegie of a tree and ground foliage drawn out in different thicknesses and textures of black paint.

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