Cathy's Art Diary

An interesting discussion at the National Portrait Gallery marking 200 years since the birth of G.F.Watts. The event focused on Watts “Hall of Fame”,   a series of portraits of the heroes of his age, 17 of which were given to the gallery when it was founded. All the pictures are the same size and have the same focus on the head against a dark background. They tend to be reformers and campaigners. The speakers broadcaster A N Wilson and Art Historian Richard Ormond talked us though a selection of the pictures looking at who the sitters were, why Watts had chosen them and telling some anecdotes about the sittings. They then talked about Watts legacy and how the Hall of Fame pictures continue to be popular at the gallery despite the dip in fashion for Victoriana and how he compares to some of his contemporaries.

Small exhibition at the National Gallery bringing together their work by these three High Renaissance artists. The show didn’t do much more than display works I already know well together with a bit of an introduction. They even had their original labels and no new commentary on them to make links. The show would have been better described as “we’ve still got the Royal Academy Tondo so what more can we do with it”! Still how can I complained about seeing such iconic works together! Closes on 28 January 2017  

Rehang of the central gallery of the National Gallery with the complete set of the oil sketches by Luca Giordano of designs for the ceiling of the Palazzo Medici Miccardi. The pictures show the progress of mankind via wisdom and virtue starring the Medici. I loved the fact that the central panel was the “Apotheosis of the Medici”, still it was post Rubens so if it was good enough for James I why not! The works are full of crazy mythological images such as three headed dogs and more cherubs than you’d ever need! Some of the images had real feel of Poussin. The gallery acquired the pictures in 2013 and they are in their original frames. It is great to see them together and to think about one of the great decorative schemes of the 17th century. I’m not sure how long this hang will be in the gallery but it is well worth a look before they go back to being shown one at a time.

Interesting but rather niche exhibition at the National Gallery looking at the influence that the purchase and display of the Van Eyck’s Aronolfini Wedding had on the Pre-Raphaelite painters. I liked the idea of looking at the effect of a new work of art going on show on artists and it was interesting to see archive material about its purchase and display in 1842. The Pre-Raphaelites picked up ideas from it about using everyday objects in a symbolic way, the meticulous finish of the work and the use of colour and there were some good examples of all of these. There was also good use of quotes from the artists. However the analogies did become quite strained and extended to the use of mirrors in art. I liked the idea that the picture had been in the Spanish royal collection and Velazquez would have seen it so did it influence Las Meninas? It was also interesting to see how many convex mirrors were used in pictures of artists at home and I loved the Mark Gertler self-portrai...

Enlightening exhibition at the National Gallery looking at pastel drawings by Degas from the Burrell collections alongside some of the National Gallery’s own pictures. Working in pastel allowed Degas to draw in colour and to develop new ways of representing modern life. I’m not a great fan of Degas’ paintings but these had a lovely fresh life to them and worked like snapshots of a time. A good example of this was “At the jewellers” showing a cropped picture of a woman looking at the wares in the counter. I loved the section on horse racing particularly a picture of jockey’s in the rain and a picture of woman looking through field glasses at us. Is it saying something about the gaze? We are looking in detail at her and for once she looks back in with even greater intensity. The commentary was good particularly about the technical details of how Degas used pastels and a special fixer made only for him. Of course there were lots of pictures of dancers and of wom...

Disappointing talk at the National Portrait Gallery on Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel. The talk was given by Liz Rideal and she talked well about the people around Howard but actually said very little about him himself. He had come up on the course I did last year on classicism as he created one of the greatest collections of classical sculpture in England which later become the classical core of the Ashmolean Museum. I would like to have heard more about how he amassed the works and how they were displayed in his life time. I was interested to hear more about Wenceslas Hollar the etcher whose work I keep coming across. I love the idea that his work was so detailed as he was short sighted. I understand that idea! He is buried at St Margaret's Westminster where I sing a few times a year. She also covered Van Dyck, Inigo Jones, Rubens and the Duke of Buckingham. Maybe a bit too much for a 45 minute lecture.

Small display at the National Portrait Gallery of photographs by the Douglas Brothers. I must admit I was more interested in the story of how these pictures were rescued from a warehouse which was being demolished where they had been stored following the brother’s partnership being dissolved. I liked the way they were hung with no labels which made you look at the technique first not who the people were. There was then a useful handout to go to see who the people were if you’d not worked it out. I found the pictures too dark and misty as they were taken with long exposures which “embraced movement and blur”. I prefer sharper work. However they showed an interesting group of the emerging actors, writer and musicians of the mid-1990s. I loved the pictures of Kenneth Branagh and Tilda Swinton. Closes on 28 January 2017

Interesting exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery which brought together young people from Nottingham with social documentary photographer, Katherine Green, to look at the gallery’s collection and produce work   celebrating local people. The new work focused on the Clifton Estate, an estate which had been shown negatively in a 1958 documentary but which fought back and built a community. There was a wonderful set of portraits of people of all ages from a very proud boy scout to some joyful pictures of a bereavement group. I loved one of a dog in a cone of shame. These were shown with photographs of notable people who had come from Nottingham including the actress Vicky McLure, Viv Anderson, the first black footballer to represent England in a full international match, Becky Downie, the gymnast and, I’m pleased to say, Dame Laura Knight the artist. Closes on 25 February 2017

Nice exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of works by Julian Opie which pick up themes and styles from the Van Dyck self-portrait which is shown In the same gallery. This is one of a series of displays in response to the gallery acquiring the self-portrait. Opie distils images down to their key points which still making it possible to read a likeness. In these pictures we see a similar pose to the self-portrait and similar lighting. There were two of his LCD animations including one called George where the head turns from side to side and the shade changes across his face. There were two more abstract pictures where the figure was paired down to circles and squares. I loved a paired down picture of a girl with a pony tail which I didn’t understand and saw it as abstract shapes until saw it reflected in another picture of the same girl which I hope I have captured in this picture. A very clever hang. Closes on 7 January 2018

Small exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of large photo portrait photographs by Thomas Ruff. These pictures are very striking as you come down the stairs and are like large passport photos. There are just four pictures in the show from a series Ruff started in 1986. The detail is almost hyper real as they are so big such as the stitches in a hand knitted jumper on one of the sitters and I’d kill for their great skin. However as the works are of women of a similar age, are the same size and have the same white background they seem to be about commonality rather than the individuals. You can make some assumptions from jewellery etc but oddly you focus on the surface and don’t look below it. Closes on 21 January 2018  

Colourful exhibition at Fortnum & Mason of work by John Bellany. This is the second exhibition at the shop and this year they chose to look at an individual artist. This is the first exhibition of Bellany’s work in London since his death in 2013. It’s a great idea to show the work in the shop as it give its an almost domestic setting and it’s fun wandering round with the plan trying to find a all the works. Plus I’m not adverse to a nice ice cream sundae at the end as a reward! The works were big and bright and were engaging pictures of people both his friends and figures from his youth in Scotland. There was a sense of joy and freedom about them. “The Scottish Fish Gutter”, an early work from 1965, was a monumental picture with the fish and their innards forming a colourful almost abstract pattern around the central figure. I loved his homage to Titian in a “Danae Shower of Gold” with himself as the main servant. There were also a few landscapes and I think ...

Interesting exhibition at White Cube, Masons’ Yard, looking at American art since the 1970s which look to examine and deconstruct the American Dream. It was nice to see painting and sculpture shown together in this show but I must admit if I’d not read the press release I’m not sure I would have spotted or understood the theme. It is a theme which interests me as I do wonder if the sentence "right to the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence is at the root of a lot of America’s problems. What does that mean? I loved Cady Noland’s “Untitled (Walker)” a Stars and Stripes draper over a clothes rail attached to a zimmer frame, an interesting state of the nation piece. Also Richard Price’s joke’s on monotone backgrounds emphasising the disruptive nature of humour, and I admit I did laugh out loud at a couple of them. I also liked a weird but effective picture by David Hammons which included a body print on paper and a face showing through the to...

Charming and moving installation at Kew Gardens by Rebecca Louise Law. This was room full of preserved flowers and seeds pods hung on thin copper wire which you walk though. The smell was wonderful and it was hung closely with a path through the garlands. They made a lovely gentle colour pallet. It was lovely to walk through this calm work which seemed to say something about the fragility and beauty of life. Closes on 11 March 2018  

Strange exhibition at Kew Gardens by Lindsay Sekulowicz interpreting the collection of Sir Richard Spruce a 19th century botanist. Spruce’s collection was a snap shot of the Amazon at a specific moment in time and it was lovely to see his notebooks and specimens he had brought back. From this inspiration Lindasy created art works about how information is transferred and tried to use significant material. I found the show a bit confusing with long commentaries in small writing. To be honest if you have to tell me that much about what I’m looking at then the work is not standing on its own. Closes on 11 March 2018  

Interesting exhibition at Kew Gardens of paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection looking at the different ways plants disperse their seeds and propagate. There were good information boards talking you through the different dispersal methods. I’d never really thought of fruit in this way but of course it gets eaten by birds and animals and distributed via their waste products. There were some beautiful pictures such as Yanny Pettters picture of a teasel painted in oil of glass with a lovely sheen. Also Brigid Edwards picture of a sunflower and Sue Williams called “Black Lace”, a delicate picture of leaves and berries. I was fascinated by the Traveller’s Palm from Madagascar with blue seeds which evolved so that the lemmas could see the seeds as that can’t see red. I love exhibitions where you discover new weird facts. Closes on 11 March 2018

Fantastic installation at Kew Gardens by Wolfgang Buttress designed to highlight the life of bees. This is a huge structure made of interlinked aluminium rods with LED lights and speakers. I started at the lower level where there is some explanation of the work and the life of bees but then you walk round it to the upper level and stand inside. The lights and sounds you hear there are triggered by bee activity in a real beehive at Kew. It’s a wonderful calming work where you can take a moment out of a busy day to slow down and relax. You seem to be drawn to walk round the edge and to try to grasp different sounds which often seem to be a couple of steps away. I think this may now be a permanent feature of the gardens but as it’s relatively new and I was so bowled over by it I thought I’d include it in the blog.

Wonderful exhibition at Kew Gardens of high end contemporary craft one of a series of ‘Handmade’ exhibitions around the UK. I had been given a ticket by my friend Richard Shock, the only wood turner I spotted in the show. It was nice to catch up with him briefly between sales! I hope it went well for him. There were lots of lovely yummy things and I could have spent a fortune! I think jewellery and ceramics were the stars of the show and I loved Jonathon Pearce’s smooth tactile furniture. However my purchase of the day was a lovely paperweight from glass worker Thomas Petit. It is so nice to chat to the crafts person when you buy their work and hear more about it. Closed on 15 October 2017 but coming to Oxford 18-20 May 2018.  

Nice exhibition at Kew Gardens of contemporary sculpture. The show had a selling section in a temporary structure but more excitingly the works were also on show all-round the grounds and looked fantastic against a backdrop of autumn colours. In the outside works I loved “Woman walking” by Louise Forbes made from clay near her studio, it strode out across the grass. Also two works by Carol Peace also female figures. Nic Fiddian-Green’s large horse head works were striking too. Inside there were smaller works including Lucianne Lassalle’s lovely figures, Stephanie Cushing’s smooth marble abstract works and Mark Deanie eerily life like kingfishers. Closed on 15 October 2017  

Small exhibition on the river path at London Bridge Pier looking at the influence of people from India on British culture and society. The photographs on five display stands covered a range of dates and had excellent commentaries and quotes to tell you more about the people. I loved the Indian suffragettes including Sophia Duleep Singh, a god daughter of Queen Victoria. Also a good piece on Dadebhai Noaroji, the first Asian MP elected in 1892.   There were of course photos of the Indian First World War casualties recuperating at Brighton Pavilion. The sections on ordinary people were interesting too including those looking at India nannies or ayahs and sailors or lascars who jumped ship and often became door to door salesmen. Closed on 15 October 2017  

A wonderful opportunity to visit the contemporary art collection of the law firm Simmons and Simmons. This event was organised by the London Art History Society and we were led round by the curator and retired partner, Stuart Evans. Stuart spoke very passionately about the work and it was fascinating to hear about how it had been acquired and why they had supported various artists. It was also fascinating to hear him talk about the current contemporary art market. The firm had started collecting just as the Young British Artists movement took off and their work was well represented. There was a big Damien Hirst spot picture in the canteen and Stuart talked about how it was painted and how the value is not in the work but the idea. If the company needed to move it and have it repainted somewhere else then it would still be classed as the same work. I loved the way the work was spread out around the building with large iconic pieces in reception but also smaller works i...

Nice little exhibition at the Wallace Collection of Spanish pictures from the Bowes Museum. The Bowes Collection is celebrating its 125th anniversary and has a fine collection of Spanish pictures bought from a Spanish courtier. This small loan show formed a perfect example of the main Spanish painters and styles from the mid-16th to early 19th century in just 13 pictures. El Greco was represented by one of thirteen versions of the Tears of St Peter and Goya by a lovely small picture of the interior of a prison and a wonderful portrait of a poet with a fine wise face. There were also lovely still lives and great dramatic post Council of Trent religious pictures. I loved a painting of a Carmelite monk, possibly St Agabus, by Juan Bautista Maino, a handsome, bearded face painted in beautiful detail and holding a church. Closes on 7 January 2018. Reviews Times Guardian

Lovely exhibition at the Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Valmagne near Montpellier of aerial photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand of French abbeys including the one they were being shown in. The cloister of this abbey was a nice venue for this show and the large format worked well. It was fascinating to see how different the abbeys were and how they fit into the landscape around them.

Delightful exhibition at Caumont Centre d'Art in Aix-en-Provence examining the life and work of Alfred Sisley. I always forget that Sisley’s father was English and Sisley himself trained as a business man in London. The show was chronological but used the places Sisley was working as the narrative rather than the dates. The show explained well how Sisley used paths and roads to lead you into compositions. The works were lovely and full of light and air although the colours got darker as he got older. Although we thing of his as a great French landscape painter it was great to see three of the fifteen works he did of the river at Hampton Court here. I love the one which looks at the view under the bridge focusing on the structure. There were also a number of his pictures of cliffs near Cardiff which the National Gallery did a small exhibition on a few years ago. I loved the four pictures near the end, again form a larger series, looking at the façade of a cathedral...

Fascinating exhibition at the Musee Granet in Aix-en-Provence looking at the work of the Galerie Jeanne Bucher Jaeger, one of France’s leading private art galleries which has been open since 1925. OK I admit I went round this exhibition backwards so was rather confused! Note to self ‘I must learn French’! Once I got to the early rooms, my last, things made a lot more sense! The show was arranged chronologically and went through the three generations of the family who had run and nurtured the gallery, looking at how the taste of the individuals and the artists they promoted. I was fascinated by the first proprietor, Jeanne Bucher, who had been a nurse in the First World War and a librarian (hurray!) who moved to Paris in 1922 and opened a library for foreign books which became a meeting place for artists and writers. She began using this space to exhibit art including work by Picasso, Braque and Max Ernest and this grew into the gallery. She continued to operate during the ...

Interesting exhibition at the Estienne Museum of Saint-Jean in Aix-en-Provence looking at the work of a studio pottery which had operated in the town since 1945. The pottery had been run by three generations of the same family but their workshop had sadly been destroyed in 2015. Their early work had been quite utilitarian but soon blossomed into more sculptural work. I loved some plaques with birds and fish on them and the chunky vases. Closed on 1 October 2017  

Fascinating lecture at the British Museum given by Rachael Mairs on her research into a traveller’s interpreter and guide or dragoman. She was a very engaging speaker who described how, as part of a piece of wider research, she had bought the testimonial book of the dragoman Solomon N Negima from ebay. This included 82 letters of thanks and photographs of some of the trips he had run. Presumably he would show this book to prospective clients. As well as researching his life Rachel had also researched his clients and found a wealth of fascinating stories such as that of Charles T Walker, the black US Baptist minister whose parishioners raised money to send him to the Holy Land   and a Mr Thompson who used Solomon each time he travelled but on each journey he had a different wife. She had found mention of Solomon in many of the contemporary accounts of travellers in the Holy Land but without knowing the authors had been his clients you wouldn’t have been able to ide...

Small exhibition at the British Museum looking at how we glimpse gay life in their collections and how it often went unacknowledged in the past. It talked about the museum’s secret museum which it had from 1830 – 1953 with objects, including those reflecting homosexual relationships, which were not on view to the public. Some of the objects were rather ironic such as an Etruscan canvas where a ‘rude’ bit was cut out and put in the secret museum. The main canvas has now been lost and only the ‘rude’ bit survives. It looked at how we have more images of male homosexuality in the collection via depictions of the Ganymede myth whereas lesbianism is rarer and often produced for men rather than women such as in images on oil lamps. There was also a good trail around the museum pointing out objects on permanent view and their relevance such as the busts of Hadrian and Antinous shown here. Closed on 15 October 2017  

Fascinating exhibition at the British Museum looking at a nomadic people, Scythians, who originated in Siberia and from 800-200 BC controlled the land between North China and the Black Sea. This exhibition had some stunning gold objects but most interesting was how the Scythians had no written language so we have to work out their beliefs and how their society worked from the objects they have left. Also they were largely forgotten about until the early 18th century when their tombs were found. I was very interested in the section on how Peter the Great sent out expeditions to investigate and excavate the tombs and had the finds systematically recorded and drawn when they were brought back to St Petersburg. There was a wonderful section looking at some of the tombs and including a head plus the skin off a body to show the intricate tattoos as well as a lovely selection of gold jewellery. I loved the sets of tiny gold plaques which were sewn on their clothes like gold sequi...

Interesting small interactive exhibition at the British Museum looking at the one of India’s largest and earliest Buddhist monuments. In the centre of the display was a relief carving of the shrine which was founded in 200 BC. The front of the relief showed what the shrine looked like and the back showed the Buddha evoked as an empty throne, a Bodhi tree and a pair of footprints, perhaps suggesting his liberation from the earthly realm. The site is now an archaeological site. There were two good interactive displays both operated by your mobile phone. There was a large picture of the relief with different elements highlighted which you could activate with your phone to hear more about the symbolism. The other was the large pictures of actors playing the pilgrims who visited the site and who had donated money for its construction and upkeep. Again you activated these with your phone and the figure came to life and told you their story. This was a great way to give a lo...