Fortnum’s X Frank: John Virtue


Lovely exhibition at Fortnum and Masons of work by John Virtue.

I am fond of Virtue’s work which tend to be large black and white abstracted seascapes which make great use of thick white paint. Some of the pictures left areas of beige canvas uncovered which gave a sense of sand. There were also some landscapes painted as small pictures of the same scene stuck together on board to give a repeat pattern. I’d not seen work like this before by Virtue and the excellent booklet on the show points out that these pictures had remained unseen for 30 years.

The Frank X Fortnum show has become an annual event featuring different artists and collectors and it is fun to walk round the shop with the plan to find all the pictures. These works blended beautifully in to the décor which surprised me. I suspect a lot of shoppers thought they were a permanent feature.

Closed 20 October 2018

Review
Telegraph



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