Pure Romance: Art and the Romantic Sensibility

Delightful exhibition at the Redfern Gallery looking at romantic works from the 1920s to the present day.

This was a beautifully hung show which set up gentle dialogues between the pictures helping your brain make connections between them. In some cases there were pictures by an artist and photos of them and there were lots of ballet references.

I loved black and white photographs of Ballet Russe dancers taken from magazines with coloured enamel swathed over them in a very natural fashion by Linder. Also a photograph of the dancer Michael Clark by Snowdon shown in high heels with a sleek dog. Oh and how can I forget some lovely Cecil Beaton photographs including one of Gilbert and George.

There were lovely set designs by Christopher Wood and a nice Keith Vaughan of a Yorkshire lane. My favourite however was a picture of two books on their side and a turquoise mug with red flowers in it against a plain background by Alessandro Raho.

Closed on 27 February 2016.

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