Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting small exhibition at the British Museum looking at Toussaint Louverture and the Haiti revolution. The show looked at the history of the events from the slave uprisings of 1791 though the island declaring independence from the French in 1804 and the creating of the first black republic. We have no known images of Louverture from life but the earliest image from 1802 was shown here as a print which was sold in England aimed at a middle class audience. I hadn’t realised that Louverture was not only known as the Black Napoleon but also fought in France both for and against the revolution and died in prison in France. The display also looked at how the image of Louverture had been used by subsequent generations most interestingly in Haiti during the US occupation from 1915-34 and during the civil rights movement. The most striking image in the show was a screen-print from 1986 based on a 1938 portrait by Jacob Lawrence. Closes on 22 April 2018

Strange exhibition at the British Museum looking at how belief in spiritual beings and the use of rituals characterizes all societies both current and history, using the everyday objects of faith to illustrate this. The show used various aspects of ritual as its narrative such as light, water and death and used objects from different religions to show this commonality. I did find that by showing commonality somehow it diminished people’s strong belief in any of the specific religions. I also thought as interesting as the show was there weren’t many special objects, which again I guess was the point, but it would have been more interesting to see early examples or objects who had belonged to interesting people. The star of the show was the first object you saw which was the wonderful lion man sculpture which featured in the first episode of the Civilizations programme. This was obviously a powerful piece as it is calculated that it took 400 hours to make so a society must h...

Fascinating talk at RSA looking at how we can get the urban environments which are good for us. The talk was given my Richard Sennett, an academic and planning practitioner, who had recently written a book of the same title looking at the emergence of the urban age and the spaces which have worked well. He felt that the idea of community led planning did not always work and had in the past led to segregation   and that in current times there is a demand in developing countries for gated communities   but he feels these lead to ghettoising other areas of the city. He did however praise Nehru Place in Delhi as a space which has developed by use into an open place where different religions and castes mixed. He talked about the concept of open and closed spaces. Open doesn't just mean large and outdoors but spaces which were conducive to the mixing of people. He also looked at how to open up the edges of a city by placing public services on that edge to try to bri...

Small exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery to mark 100 years since the passing of the Representation of the People Act which gave women the vote. This was part of a series of displays which the gallery is running over the year and this one focused on the main figures who campaigned for the vote and pioneering political women since. The earliest picture was of Harriett Mill, the wife of John Stewart Mill, and was a picture from a different world to the other Victorian and Edwardian images. There was a nice picture of Millicent Fawcett, who presented the first petition to Parliament in 1861. I always forget that Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first women to qualify as a doctor, was her sister.   Mrs Pankhurst was represented by the famous pictures of her being arrested at Buckingham Palace and giving a speech in Trafalgar Square. The Christabel Pankhurst portrait by Ethel Wright was there plus a lovely portrait of Sylvia by Henry Cole shown here.   Look...

Confusing exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery looking at the first century of photography. I only say confusing because I went to a similar exhibition in the same space last year and I wasn’t sure what made this show different to that as it covers the same period and similar ideas. I guess from the title that this one is saying that photography is portable and cheap and therefore all people but not sure the pictures chosen show that. However there were some lovely images. I loved an early one of a Coldstream Guard taken by a photographer called Claudet in his studio which was just over the road from the National Portrait Gallery. Also a picture of a family on the Balmoral estate by George Washington Wilson. Of course there was a Julia Margaret Cameron and it was great to see one of the Beresford portraits of Virginia Woolf. I loved the picture I use for this post of Ben Nicholson by Humphrey Spender. Closes on 7 October 2018

Nice exhibition at the National Gallery focusing on two self-portraits of Murillo and putting them into context. The show marks the 400th anniversary of the birth of Murillo and is probably the first time the two self-portraits have been together since they were sold by his son in 1709 as they had remained in the studio. Murillo was best known in his own life time for his portraits of which only 16 have been identified and 6 of them are in this show along with examples of his genre work which is better known now. In the earlier self-portrait he shows himself as a gentleman rather than an artist. He has a handsome with long dark hair. In the later one he does show himself as an artist with the tools of his trade on the faux plinth outside the stone frame with his hand protruding over the edge of that frame. I loved the baroque stone frames which he paints around the portraits often chipped to show the passage of time. The two genre pictures were lovely especially the o...

Interesting little display at the National Gallery looking at the Manod Quarry cave system where the National Gallery’s pictures were stored in the Second World War. There were good archive photos showing what the caves were like at the time. Brick stores rooms were built to house the pictures and a road under a bridge had to be lowered to get the large pictures in which were stored in large triangular crates called elephant cases. Assistant keeper, Martin Davis, took the opportunity to finish his catalogue research when the works were there as they were easily accessible to look at in detail. These photos joined by more pictures of how the space looks now by Robin Friend. The space is abandoned and the earth is gradually reclaiming it. I loved the large format of these which gave them a very grand feeling like a sublime landscape. You can see the old brick structures and the remains of an elephant case. There was also a mesmerising video of a dance performance in the...

Dull exhibition at the National Theatre looking at the set designs of William Dudley who has worked with the theatre at the Old and New Vic plus on all three stages in the current theatre. Dudley has designed the exhibition himself and it looks stunning as a piece of interior design for a foyer but just consists of photos and sketches. It is quite muddling to work out which show is being shown and the sections running into each other and overlap. The booklet which goes with it helps the narrative but I would have liked to see a bit more commentary on the pictures plus maybe some objects or models to break up the display. It did however remind me of some of the wonderful productions I’d seen that he theatre such as “The Mysteries” and “Lark Rise to Candleford” in the Cottesloe and “The Real Inspector Hound and The Critic”. It also showed me shows which I can’t belief I missed such as “The Coast of Utopia” which looked visually stunning. No closing date given

Interesting exhibition at the National Theatre looking at how the theatre has used posters and graphic design to advertise the plays and build a brand. This was a colourful show and well described as it went through the five artists who have designed over 1700 posters in this 54 year period. It also talked about the fonts which they used the evolution of the theatre’s logo. It talked about how you have to be able to read the picture on a poster from across a street. Striking examples included a wonderful red poster for Maggie Smith’s “Hedda Gabler” her head taking up most of the space, a classy poster in blue, black and white with gold lettering for “The Wild Duck” and from more recent times the striking poster for “The Silver Tassie”. There was also an interesting display on creating the image for the recent “A Taste of Honey” which used a collage of images to build a convincing scene and another on how graphic design can be used in all aspects of a production using “...

Super exhibition at King’s College at Somerset House looking at how contemporary artists respond to the classical tradition. I did the show the wrong way round but it worked! It’s better to start with the Bush House section (go in through the back) which has some stunning works by contemporary artists which take their inspiration from classical art. Sacha Sasko’s “The Good Watchman” which was a classical head with an empty block where the eyes should be. It really plays with your mind as you can see the road behind through this apparently solid head. My favourite piece in the show was Edward Allington’s “Victory Boxed”, 99 small blue and white Winged Victories arranged in the pattern of the Greek flag. There was a video installation in this section which I didn’t have enough time to engage with. It consisted of three upright video screens showing an artist sitting on a chair talking how they use the classical world as a resource for the present. You sit on a chair opposite...

Excellent workshop run by the London Art History Society at Conway Hall looking at the Renaissance courts of Urbino and Pesaro. The day was led by Paula Nuttall and in the morning we concentrated on Urbino and in particular the court of Frederico de Montefeltro, him of the wonderful Piero Della Francesca portrait in the Uffizi. We spent a lot of time looking at the Palace he built with wonderful photographs. I especially liked his studiolo with illusionary wood effects and I now so want to go and see it. We also looked at how he used art and architecture to establish his power and position in Renaissance Italy. In the afternoon we looked at his son Guidobaldo and how Castiglione wrote his book of the Courtier based on his life as an ambassador from Mantua to Urbino. Guidobaldo didn’t live long enough to commission much art but he did commissioned an early Raphael of St George for Henry VII which is still in the Royal Collection and acquired the sleeping Cupid by Michelange...

Poignant exhibition at Conway Halls of drawings of his dying father by Daniel Fooks. The pictures record the final illness of Fooks father, Chris Fooks, who died aged 76. The early pictures show a defiant face during chemotherapy but you gradually see the person disappear in the death bed pictures. These pictures were in a room in which I was doing a one day workshop and I must admit they were quite hard to sit with for that long. However I came back a week later for another workshop and it was lovely to see them again. They became more beautiful on a second look, once the shock value had worn off. Closes on 31 March 2018

Fascinating exhibition at the Wellcome Collection looking at Indian medicine from traditional techniques to the present day. The show was cleverly arranged taking different aspects of medicine such as surgery, anatomy and potions and introducing each with a quote from Paira Mall who was sent to the Indian subcontinent by Henry Wellcome to collect objects for this collection and to acquire local knowledge. The show was multilayers not only being about Indian medicine but also the art of collecting and the nature of colonialism. The star of the show was the Ayurvedic man himself, an 18th century Nepali painting of a man with a detailed text on the parts of the body and the related humours of wind, bile and phlegm. It was show on its own in a booth with a reading of the text in the original language and translation.   I loved the early 19th century European influenced pictures called Company School pictures including one of an operation on a leg. Also a drawing of ...

Interesting exhibition at Somerset House by Eloise Hawser, the resident artist at the studios there, inspired by the building’s relationship with the River Thames, Joseph Bazalgette’s embankment and sewer system and the current Thames Tideway ‘Super Sewer’ project. I wasn’t too sure how all the ideas in the show hung together, in particular how she then linked the Thames to medical instruments which measured flows around the body however there were some fascinating diagrams and objects. I loved the digital print on the floor showing the different depths of the Thames in 1928 and a diagram looking at the wildlife that can be found in the river. I was interested in the items on the ‘Super Sewer’ as you can see lots of dredging work going on for this at the moment at various points in the river. My favourite item was the simulation of a journey on the Thames from Wapping to Somerset House used to train tug boat masters removing the waste from the current sewer works. As ...

Delightful exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of drawings by Antoine Caron of festivals for Catherine de’Medici and the Valois dynasty. The picture of the festivals or magnificents have been reunited for the first time since the 16th century are delicate detailed drawings which were later used for tapestry designs which are now in the Uffizi. A nice AV   display matched the pictures to the sections of the tapestries which used them. My favourite picture was of a court leaving a castle in which a wonderful array of people snakes its way across the paper including a falconer carrying his birds, a monkey riding on the bottom of a horse and so many dogs. There was also a water festival with a mock water battle and a jousting match with fire balls. The court certainly knew how to party! Closes on 15 April 2018 Review Telegraph    

Lovely exhibition at the Museum of Childhood of photographs of siblings by Madeleine Waller. As I don’t have any siblings I found this really interesting. It looked at how sibling relationships affect identity which is usually looked at through the prism of the relationship with parents. Each person is photographed alone but in the same setting as their siblings, usually within their home and is accompanied by a comment from the sitter about their role in the family. It was interesting to see how early on people define their roles and I wondered how these changed or are allowed to change. It would have been nice to see some adults included to get an idea of how relationships change and what they mean in later life. There were some lovely quotes, my favourite being from one girl with two brothers “I can always say you’re my favourite to get things off them.” Closes on 20 May 2018

Strange little exhibition at the Museum of Childhood of artist led work based on the museum’s collection. The star of the show was Christie Brown’s figurative ceramics “Ludus Est” which were tableaux of two dolls from the collection, imaging they come to life at night and explore the museum. They meet interact with other objects. I love the one of them teaching other toys. I was less convinced by the other project by photographer Madeleine Walker and Katherine Tulloh which encouraged local school children to re-enact their dreams and videoed them. It was an interesting idea but I wasn’t sure how good an idea it was to get children to relive these ideas. Dreams are dreams not reality. Closes on 9 January 2019  

Charming exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood looking at the life and work of the children’s author, Michael Morpurgo. Any show in which you are greeted by the wonderful War Horse puppet from the National Theatre production has to be a winner. I loved the show and get quite sentimental every time I see Joey. I loved the fact that the three puppeteers are called the Head, the Heart and the Hind. This beautifully designed show started with a good biography of Morpurgo who came across as a lovely, loyal person. It looked at his time at Sandhurst and why he writes so many books about war. He wants children to understand war and be critical of it. It also looked at his City Farms project to give city children the chance to live and work on a real far. The exhibition was in themes of books with nice sections of original manuscripts and examples of the different illustrators and book covers. There were also some touching objects such as the picture of Jo...

Surprisingly interesting exhibition looking at the role of the T-shirt in popular culture. The show was arranged in 12 installations looking at various themes plus there was a useful timeline as you came in displays on T-shirt shaped hangers on a rail. The show defined a T-shirt as a T shaped garment so listed the earliest found as AD 500. I was most interested in some of the odd facts and figures in the show such as the first university shirt was from 1932 which was made as an under garment for a football team which had the university logo on them to stop people steeling them, but it had the opposite effect. Also that the first promotional shirt was for the Wizard Of Oz and the first use of the word was in “This Side of Paradise” by Scott Fitzgerald in 1920. The themes covered subjects such as fashion as a communication tool, collecting T-shirts and band T-shirts, which started as a uniform for roadies but the fans then wanted to buy them. There were some classic exa...

Interesting exhibition at White Cube, Bermondsey of a work by Andreas Gursky. When I say exhibition in this case I mean one picture. But it was shown on its own in a room giving it a sense of gravitas. It was a large digital construct picture showing Angela Merkel and the three previous Chancellor’s of Germany from the back, sitting looking at a large, red painting by Barnett Newman which looked a bit like a Rothko. It felt like a modern history painting. It had the feel of a hyper-real painting and I loved the smoke from a cigarette breaking up the red of the painting. In some ways it was a shame the surface was so reflective as it made it hard to see as a whole without also seeing the room however that also gave a sense that all of us in the gallery were also part of this scene. Gursky also has an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery at the moment and I am really looking forward to seeing more of his work. Closes 8 April 2018  

Confusing exhibition at White Cube of new work by He Xiangyu. I might have understood the work better if I had had time to watch the film “The Swim” which was at the heart of this show. The other works were made while Xiangyu made this film and reflected some of the themes and ideas. The film looks at his hometown which lies on the river which marks the border of China and North Korea. Evidently it ends with the artist swimming across the river. The exhibition included a video work which focused on this swim. I did like a series of small pieces of scrap metal scavenged from factories in North Korea which were sold to Chinese traders. They are woven into balls or   flattened so they could be smuggled across the border. These were shown with a video of the artist’s hands recreating some of the shapes which elevated them to be mini-sculptures. The originals were hung round the walls of the white room with the reproductions of them on the floor. Closes 8 April 2018 ...

Surprisingly good exhibition at White Cube, Bermondsey of new work by Eddie Peake. As I walked into the large gallery space and realised there was a live DJ in a booth and a few, apparently random items, I feared it was going to be a bit pretentious. However as I read about the works I found I was drawn to them and found some really interesting ideas. I must admit the items on the wall didn’t really grab my attention but I loved a series of metal tables in a curve taking up the centre of the room. This represented a road in the artist’s neighbourhood, Stroud Green Road, with objects reflecting the shops on the road. I do have a middle aged moan that it also included speakers with a soundtrack using disported noises from the street but with the DJ playing in the same space there was no chance to hear this. I also loved a video installation, yes me saying I liked a video installation, which was projected within an enclosed space made by full length white curtain in a sp...

Fascinating exhibition at Tate Britain looking at French artists working in Britain in the late 19th century. I have needed a show looking at this period of the exile from the Franco-Russian War and the Commune for a while. Lots of the biographies of French artists at the time mention that they went to England to escape the war but they rapidly move on to when they returned to France making the time spent here sound like a weekend break. Although the main title of this show mentions the Impressionists they are not the only artists that the show looks at so don’t expect eight rooms of Monet’s. The first section does focus on Monet, Pissarro and Sisley along with the art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. It does have to be noted though that the term Impressionist was not applied to them until after this early period of the show. The show also looks at Alphonse Legros who became a professor at the Slade, the sculptors Jules Dalou and Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. The artist who caught ...

Small display at the Globe Theatre looking at the life and work of the playwright Philip Massinger. Massinger was the leading writer for the King’s Men following Shakespeare and Fletcher and is buried in Southwark Cathedral with Fletcher. Massinger’s plays reflected the tensions of the time and included satirical portraits of the court. Massinger has largely been forgotten as a lot of his work was done with Fletcher but in a folio edition of Fletchers plays in 1647 Massinger is not acknowledged and Sir Francis Beaumont it named as Fletcher’s main collaborator. However Massinger wrote over 50 plays on his own or with others. 11 plays by him were lost when an antiquarian’s cook used them to light fires! The display consisted of a good information board alongside three cases with the earliest copies of his plays in chronological order. They show the usual Jacobean themes but picked some unusual settings and protagonists such as The Roman Actor, Emperor of the East about ...

Lovely exhibition at Two Temple Place looking at the popularity of jazz in Britain in the early 20th century and it’s influence on art and society. This show was nicely curating, pulling objects from all over the UK and taking a broad view of the subject. The downstairs room focused on the music with features on “In Dahomey” the first all-black show on Broadway which transferred to London in 1903 and the popularity of banjo playing, I loved the advert for the banjo teacher juggling said instrument! On the landing there were interesting information boards looking at the main artists and how a ban on American bands coming to Britain in the mid-1930s influenced the music. The upstairs room then looked at the social and artistic impact of the music. I loved the section on dancing and the lovely display of shoes along with the ceramics and textiles influenced by the music. There was a good use of paintings throughout the show including two by William Roberts with wond...

Nice exhibition at the Bankside Gallery of work by members of the Society of Wood Engravers. As ever at this gallery the hanging of the works was excellent with good themes being set up gently and unobviously. It was nice to see videos of the how the work was produced and tool of the trade as well. I was most drawn to the very detailed work like Ann Tout’s picture of a curled up hedgehog, Geri Woddington’s picture of a woodshed with all the patterns of the ends of logs   and Sue Scullard’s delicate picture of tress. My favourite picture was Andrew Davison’s “The Woman who Befriended Ghosts” a figure in an archway surrounded by floating books with the ghostly figures their characters emerging from them.    Closed on 18 February 2018

Fascinating exhibition at Tate Modern looking at the visual culture which emerged in the wake of the Russian Revolution. At the heart of this show was a wonderful timeline of Russian history from 1905 to the death of Stalin using mass produced images and photographs to tell the story. From a women’s magazine with a picture of the Tsarina and her children, through an exercise book celebrating 10 years since the Revolution to a photograph of Stalin’s lying in state. The show looked at collecting as it was based on the collection of David King which was purchased by the Tate in 2016. King was a graphic designer, photographer and historian, who collected art and ephemera from Russia in this period. His collecting saved much of this material which otherwise would have been discarded.    I did a course recently on this period of Russian art and it was really interesting to see the names of the artists we studied appearing as designers as well as artists. I was fasc...