Lines of Beauty

Fascinating exhibition at the Foundling Museum looking at the art of stucco both in its historic context and looking at contemporary work by Geoffrey Preston.

Preston was invited to lead the team working on the ceilings at Uppark House following the fire. And in doing that work he reinvented the art of hand modelled plaster work. The section on that house also discussed the geometric proportions of the ceilings. I had always wondered how such elaborated work could seem so effortless and the answer seems to be its geometric underpinning.

I loved seeming frames pieces of  plaster work at head height so you could see the detail of the design and finish properly in particular the Bachus and Ariadne based on a Tintoretto made  for a room at Great Fulford which the family have been restoring for three generations!

He had also done modern work for a house in 2009 including beautiful birds based on drawing by C.F.Tunnicliffe.

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