Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating online discussion as part of the Masterpiece Fair online about how selling and purchasing older art and antiques has changes during lockdown and what we might learn from this. The event was well chaired by Anna Bray from the Art Newspaper and included collector, Katrin Bellinger; chair of the Masterpiece Fair, Philip Hewat-Jaboor; dealer, Philip Mould and Orlando Rock from Christies. They all outlined how they had adapted to lockdown including Philip Mould discussing his Art In Isolation videos, Philip Hewat-Jaboor talking about how the fair moved online and what they have learn from it and Orlando Rock looking at new techniques, such as augmented reality, being used by his auction house. I  was most interested to Katrin Bellinger saying she has bought cheaper things in lockdown or works she knew already and could trust. I loved he quote of “As a collector you need your fix”. She also discussed her collection’s website and how they have started to do a bit more cu...

Interesting discussion as part of the online version of the Masterpiece Art fair on the current issues around the removal of statues of controversial figures. The panel consisted of a journalist, Farah Nayeri; a museum director, Simon Martin of Pallant House: an artist, Zak Over and a director of a private gallery, Polly Bielecka. This interesting mix of people were asked to respond to the incident in Bristol of the toppling of a statue of a slaver trader and suggest what might replace controversial statues. The point was made that statues and sculpture are subtly different things and that sculpture, even if figurative, can open up more of a conversation about an issue than just a figure of a person, as it can emphasis what they represent. There was some discussion around the cost of replacing work, whether cheaper materials could be used and if temporary exhibits, like the Fourth Plinth might be the right approach. I was interested to hear that the Mayor of London has called for all s...

More of this enjoyable series of short videos from the Metropolitan Museum filmed during lockdown highlighting recent exhibitions and specific works of art. These are emailed to members and patrons once a week, so I hope it is OK to share the links. Most take the form of a talk from the curator’s home with a powerpoint presentation. A number of the curators have picked works which are particularly poignant at this time.   Episode 7 : Zhang Feng's Landscapes Joseph Scheier-Dolberg, Oscar Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang Associate Curator of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, discusses Zhang Feng's album of landscapes painted in 1644 as the Ming Dynasty fell. These are delicate drawings from single trees to full scale mountainous ranges and seem to perfectly reflect the turning to nature in times of fear. Episode 8: TheAutun Virgin and Child Lucretia Kargère, Conservator for The Cloisters discusses the Autun Virgin and Child at The Cloisters including the findings of a technical ex...

Excellent three day online course from Art History in Focus looking at the history of Flemish art via pictures in the Wallace Collection. Lead by Sian Walters via Zoom this course, of two hours each morning over three days, had a good mix of lectures and interactive sessions. She used Zoom well to give variety and her style meant you did have a sense of doing this with a group of people not just in a room on your own at your laptop. Day one we looked at the early artists, mainly Van Eyck, Van der Weyden and Memling. She admitted early on that the Wallace Collection did not have a good representation of these artists, just one Memling, but she used other pictures to tell the story in a clearway. I must admit these are some of my favourite so it was nice to take some time over them. Day two was Rubens starting by focusing on the galleries wonderful Rainbow Landscape, a section of which is shown here, then looking at his life and career and finally going through other pictures and ...

Interesting online discussion as part of London Art Week Digital about portraits. The talk was chaired by Matthew Reeves of Sam Fogg London and brought together curators, auctioneers and a gallery owner to talk about their recent experiences of working with portraits. It would have been good if the talk had been more themed but I was introduced to some wonderful pictures which were new to me and I am a sucker for a good portrait. An Van Camp, from the Ashmolean Museum, talked about curating the Young Rembrandt show which was on as the museum closed. She compared three self portraits from 1628/9, a drawing, a painting and an etching to demonstrate the different mediums he worked in, She also talked about a Van Dyck portrait the gallery is hopefully in the process of purchasing and shared research she has been doing in lockdown to identify the sitter, which she thinks may be the wife of a friend of Van Dyck’s father, Olivia Ghosh, of Christies, talked about some works in a recent ...

Fascinating online debate as part of the York Festival of Ideas looking at the challenges and opportunities of the current pandemic for museums and art galleries. This was a live Zoom discussion, but I watched the recording on YouTube later. It was well chaired by Jonathon Derbyshire, Deputy News Editor of The Times, and brought together four panellists from the sector. It was a imaginative range of speakers including Frances Morris, Direct or Tate Modern; Reyahn King, Chief Executive of York Museums’ Trust; Brendon Corrier, Senior Design Curator, V&A and Michael White, Head of History of Art at the University of York. The chair set each speaker three initial questions, how are they coping, how galleries help community cohesion and how will the pandemic change how they operate long term? These were answered eloquently from Corrier using the example of a blog focusing on objects which have become important during the pandemic to Morris discussing Tate Moderns work with their loc...

Fun and methodical informative online lecture as part of the York Festival of Ideas looking at a brief history of social dancing. Given by historic dance expert, Charlotte Adcock, this was a very ordered overview of the subject, going through each era and describing the dances of the period and where our knowledge of them has come from. I blog it here as it illuminated dances you see in paintings as well as using those painting to illustrate the talk. Although she described this as a brief overview it was packed with information and interest. S he made me think about new ideas for example I’d never thought before how the invention of the piano, which allowed more music in the home, also brought dancing out of the ball room and into the home, and I liked the inclusion of sources for the subject such as Playford’s Dancing Master as well as other publications by contemporary dance teachers. I’ll certainly be checking out her YouTube channel and hope to see one of her demonstrations...

  Stunning online exhibition organised by Raw Umber Studios of work by the Lot 5 Collective.   Lot 5 are a group of “classically trained figurative painters who believe in using skill, expression, and representation to create contemporary works.” I have been to a couple of their exhibitions before and love their work and their collective eye. I am sorry not to be able to see these works in the flesh but what a great way to display them and to have an exhibition in lockdown. I love the way the pictures as shown as a whole, with some also having a picture of a detail and a side view to replicate how you might first see them in a physical show.   I loved Ben Laughton Smith, Dutch style still lives and Lizet Dingemans more misty ones. I remembered SJ Fuerst’s beautiful tiny portraits on old floppy discs as well as Max Mansbridge-West’s tender and more loose pictures of people especially “Alf’s Saturday Afternoon”.   I think my favourite picture is Helen Masacz’s “How do...

Fun series of blog posts on the British Museum website imagining contemporary travel guides of ancient cities.   Each follows the pattern of a modern travel guide with sections on how to get there, how to get around, what the sites are, what to eat and where to go shopping. They are illustrated with pictures and objects from the collection. This is such a witty idea but the articles are also packed full of information. I hope there are more to come!   I think my favourite was the Edo one as all the pictures are contemporary Japanese prints including this wonderful one of a busy shopping street. There is also an article on London landmarks using prints and drawings from the collection for those of us dreaming of a day out in London. Edo (Tokyo),early 19th century T hebes, Egypt, 13th century BC Athens, 5thcentury BC Rome, 1st centuryAD Ninevah, 7th century BC London Landmarks

Excellent fiveweek online course on Rome from University of Reading and FutureLearn using a 3D virtual reconstruction of the Roman city to tell its story.   I loved the format of this course with interesting videos, articles and walk throughs of the 3D model to look at the history of the city, political and religious architecture, everyday life and death and the role of entertainment. The videos were particularly good as they made for a welcome tour of the city in these times of lockdown. I didn’t get on very well with the self-guided tours of the model as I wasn’t very good at controlling it smoothly and got a bit seasick but the filmed ones were excellent.   The course was led by Matthew Nicholls who has also built the virtual city. He had an easy approachable style yet the content felt rich as it incorporated use of coins and literature as forms of evidence. I thought I knew the city quite well but I am now desperate to go back to see more such as the tomb of the baker...

A fascinating online lecture organised by the London Art History Society focusing on this picture by Caspar David Friedrich from 1818.   The format was surprisingly good, delivered via Zoom, and the lecturer, Mariska Beekenkamp-Wladimiroff, was very clear and had good PowerPoint slides which worked well in this format. She seemed quite experienced at delivering lectures this way so was a good choice for the Society’s first foray into this medium.   The talk gave a brief outline of Freidrich’s life and career and went though the historical context of the picture looking at Romanticism and 19th German Nationalism. It then looked at various themes in the picture such as symbolism and landscape.   An enjoyable hour in lockdown and I hope the society continues with these type of presentations whatever the new normal is as it was easy to attend and enjoyable.