Cathy's Art Diary

Fun exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at the evolution of iconic musicals and the craft behind them. It was divided into interesting sections from shows adapted from books, others which look to history and those with a social message. I loved the recreation of the stage managers booth for two shows including “9 to 5” where you could view the different monitors they use and hear their instructions. Having done a small it of stage management I envied their tech! There was a good mix of exhibits including a lot of album covers but my favourites were the costumes. It was lovely to see them close up. Most of them were from current shows which meant I added a lot to my ‘want to see list’.   Closes 27 November 2023 Reviews Guardian Telegraph    

Interesting  little display at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Paul Nash’s illustration work for books. Nash’s earliest ambition was to be an illustrator and he continued to do commercial work as a source of income. There were some nice examples and I particularly liked the work for Richard Aldington’s book of First World War poetry “Images of War” which combined realism and Vorticistism as I love Nash’s war work. I also discovered a book I’d not come across called “Memoirs of Other Fronts” by John Rodker about his experiences as a conscientious objector which I am off to look up. Closes 13 August 2023    

Fabulous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the Renaissance master Donatello. This show is beautifully designed to replicate Florentine squares and loggias and gives a wonderful sense of space, both to move around and to think about the work. The descriptions and commentary are intelligent but lightly done making them quick to read and understand.    The arrangement sets up amazing conversations between objects but partly leaves you to discover them for yourself. They have two panels of an external pulpit from Prato, shown here, and throughout the show descriptions refer to it. The show doesn’t dwell on what isn’t here but uses what is to tell the story. In the last section on the legacy there are pieces which do refer to famous things which aren’t here. A clever way of doing it. I realised that, like others around me, I was gazing at objects with a sense of awe. Go and give yourself time to really look in detail as particularly the low reliefs are packed with det

Insightful online lecture from ARTscapades on the Lucien Freud and plants exhibition at the Garden Museum. I went to the exhibition a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it but Giovanni Aloi’s insightful talk added another layer to the show which I hadn’t thought about. Aloi is from the Art Institute of Chicago and has written “Lucian Freud: Herbarium”. He set out the argument that Freud approached plants and gardens in the same way as his nudes concentrating on the detail and reality of the subject rather than seeking a sense of idealised beauty. He talked us through a selection of the pictures and I understood more about they. For example I hadn’t realised that the large work “Two Plants” from 1997 was painted over three years. It shows fresh and faded parts of the plant. When it was bought by the Tate Freud said he had been painting small portraits of leaves not the plants as a whole. He also talked about how Freud’s life often overpowers his art and how he has reached “

Fascinating exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery of portraits by Alice Neel. I liked the way the show started upstairs using the more restricted spaces to tell the story of her early life and work. Throughout I got an impression of a happy, friendly lady so was interested to read of her bouts of depression. Her personal life seems to have been a series of relationships but whatever the circumstance she seems to have stayed friends with the men or their families. I particularly liked the works she did for Roosevelt’s Public Works of Art Project in the Depression. Unlike her usual portraits these were naïve street scenes. Also upstairs it was a nice touch to show a contemporary film by Helen Levitt to show the life around Neel when she lived in Spanish Harlem. Downstairs concentrated on the work for which Neel is best known, her portraits from the 1960s onwards of the political and artistic world of New York. I love the way she caught the stance and gestures of people as well as

Exquisite exhibition at the Barbican Curve of small portraits of influential Iranian women by Soheila Sokhanvari. These were beautiful works about A5 in size painted in great detail in egg tempera on vellum. They glowed with colour despite the faces and limbs being left black and white. It would have been good to know why that was. They were very much in the style of old Persian painting which I love. They were displayed as an immersive environment with the walls painted in a geometric pattern based on a tradition Islamic design and with a sound scape featuring female voices. I was shocked to read that it is illegal for women to sing in public in Iran. Most importantly the show highlighted the lives of these women with interesting biographies of them in the handout. In a little moan it would have been nice, given there was so much information, to have had printed guide. There was an online one via a QR code but I find those hard to read as I go round a show or a large print one

I nteresting online lecture from the National Portrait Gallery for members looking at portraits of queer sitters in the collection. Tim Redfern, performance artist and gallery guide, took us through a selection of works which he said “inform and inspire my Queer life”. It was a personal selection with an interesting bias towards people who lived in Rye where he lives. My queer history knowledge is pretty good but I’d not realised that Henry James was gay and that E.F. Benson later lived in the same house, Lamb House, in Rye. Or that Radcliffe Hall had also lived in Rye. Away from the Kent town the talk began with James I and the Duke of Buckingham; the wonderful Edward Carpenter shown there painted by Roger Fry; the cross dressing Chevalier d’Eon who I have since listened to a full lecture about and Jan Morris. A nice touch was to compare a portrait of Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears with a photograph of Christopher Bailey and Simon Woods with their daughter to show how attitude

Interesting online lecture from Gresham College on how Queen Victoria used images to portray power and family. Jane Ridley, biographer of Victoria, took us through a series of paintings and photographs commissioned by Victoria and Albert explaining how they reflect what the couple and later Victoria on her own wanted to say about their family and position. There were a number of images I hadn’t come across before such as the one shown here by Landseer of Victoria as a widow but still working. Ridley was good at telling stories and she told us how this image backfired on Victoria as it seemed to show her servant, John Brown, in a position of control over her. It was good to have photographs included in the discussion was the couple embarrassed the new medium early on with a carte viste of Victoria being a best seller. This was the first talk I’d done by Gresham College who I had only come across recently. The lectures cover a wide variety of topics and are run in person and onl

Fascinating exhibition at Tate Britain of frescos by Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings. There were six large, square frescos and one preparatory drawing. As a fan of early Italian art it was interesting to see the medium of fresco being used by contemporary artists. You could see the day sections in which it was painted and in places a could see a similar approach to drapery. It felt courser than the earlier work but it could partly be due to viewing it at eye level not high up. The works were all of groups of people outside and the commentary said they have an ongoing   exploration into the relationship between public space, architecture, state infrastructure and people asking viewers to question what public space looks like. They mix contemporary figures and art historical references. Closes 7 May 2023  

Enlightening small exhibition at Tate Britain on suffragette artist Annie Swynnerton. I must admit I had not heard of Swynnerton and was surprised to find she was the first woman elected to the Royal Academy since the founding members. I had always thought that was Dame Laura Knight. The work had a slightly Pre-Raphaelite feel to some of it. I liked this rather overblown roundel which feels like a protest that she was not able to work from live models at art school. My favourite was this rather louche Russian professor. Surely, he should be a cover for a reprint of Proust. I did find Swynnerton’s life more inspiring than her art but how good up see her acknowledged with a good show. Closes 24 September 2023  

Beautiful exhibition at Tate Britain of work by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. This show has had an interesting history. It initially opened just before lockdown in 2020. It came back in Spring 2021, when I went to see it, and has returned again presumably to give it a better chance to be seen by more people. I won’t review it again you can read my previous blog post but I thought it might be interesting to record my second impressions. I was struck by the artists clever use of white paint. There are obvious things like shirts, socks and cigarettes but also stark highlights on skin and clothing. Having just done a course on Whistler and Sickert I couldn’t help to view through their lens. There was a picture of a man in a white shirt which screamed “Symphony in White No 1” at me for the amazing array of colours in the white. As many works were dark faces against dark backgrounds I did think of Sickert and his love of painting in shades of mud. I’ll certainly be continuing to look out

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery focusing on one of the themes of their current online exhibition “Fruits of the Spirit”. I had already done a talk on the exhibition and gone to take a look so it was interesting to look at one of the themes in more detail and, as the talk was on Valentine’s Day, love seemed to be an appropriate one. Ayla Lepine, who had curated the online show as part of her year as the Ahmanson Fellow in Art and Religion at the Gallery, led us through the section on love in the show but then broadened the talk to discuss other pictures the virtual show and the wider gallery, which reflect different types of love. The talk was quite philosophical and left you moments to think about the pictures which might have worked better in a more interactive style of talk. Some talks I ’ve done from the National Gallery include mini-surveys and it might have been fun to include those.  

Interesting installation next to St Paul's Cathedral where two artists were invited to explore ways to use colour, pattern and text to enhance the urban experience in winter.   This commission is part the Lord Mayor of London's "Let's Do London" visitor campaign.   And the artists came from the University of the Arts London. The geometrical works called "Tread Lightly" were by Sophie Cornish and they aim to disrupt the space around them. I'm not sure I understood the commentary on them which says they "seek to engage with its viewers in a collective act of thoughtfulness and resilience" but I was interested in the effect of the pattern which made the box like structure appear wonky as you walked through them. The other pieces called "There is Enough to Go Round" were by Annabel Maguire and reference textures from the surrounding area which I must admit I didn't realise until I read the blurb. Each also had an affirming

Fun but purposeful installation in Paternoster Square by Gillie and Marc. Gillie and Marc do fun public sculptures with an environmental message and this latest one has been in situ since June last year but this was the first time I had been in the area to see it. It consists of a group of animals sitting around a table for a meal   with two seats free for you to sit down and join them. A QR code links you to more information about the animals and their conservation. I was so enthralled by the detail, the vistas through the work and how it looked against the surrounding architecture I forgot to take a view of the whole piece. I loved the fact the gorilla has a birthday cake. No end date given.  

Uplifting exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery of portraits of the England football team by Matt Small. The work was commissioned by the Football Association and was originally shown at the St George’s Park training ground and consists of 27 portraits of the team and the manager. They were painted on a patchwork of white hardboard with the heads stuck on afterwards. They were good likenesses but most movingly the same colour palate was used for all the faces despite the colour of their skin. They were good individually but also looked impressive hung as a series. The commentary says the show represents how the team came to stand for mutual support, inclusivity and diversity and to celebrate the diversity of England today.   Closes 19 February 2023

Impressive exhibition at the Guildhall Art Gallery of large paintings from the City of London’s collection. The show took an interesting approach to the subject. It began with what I had assumed might be the whole show, large scale picture of events in the city from a Lord Mayor’s river procession in the 18th century to the   Queen’s Coronation lunch in the Guildhall. I came across artists I didn’t know such as Terence Cuneo and Frank O. Salisbury who were obviously highly thought of at the time but have fallen out of fashion. I loved the way Cuneo represented everyone as individuals in huge group scenes. The next section was more unexpected and looks at how artists have chosen large formats to represent ordinary life. It was nice to see a Ken Howard of Cheapside from 1970 alongside an Oliver Bevan from 1995 off disassociated figures on a road crossing. Next were large panoramic views of the city. I could have looked at the detail in David R Thomas’s 1965 “London from the Top of

Sweet mini garden in the Courtyard of the Guildhall to mark the 2023 Lord Mayor of London’s Big Curry Lunch. I had come across a previous version of this garden where traditionally the Worshipful Company of Gardeners as supported the event each year by installing a themed garden display. This years is designed by Gianna Utilini and includes a memorial bench and fallen tree trunks to represent loss, unity is shown by the upright birch trees and hope in the form of butterflies. It’s a small peaceful space in the busy city. No end date given.

Jovial online lecture from ARTscapades on Gillray cartoons on four famous Georgian socialites. The author Tim Clayton led us through a series of cartoons of these four women pointing out Gillray's defined caricatures of each of the women which then made this instantly recognisable to viewers and buyers. There was an interesting look at the print culture of the time and the descriptions of the images were fascinating but I would have liked to have had a bit more context. It’s not a period of history I know well so it would have been good to have an overview of who the women were and why they were important enough to be lampooned.  

Useful online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum introducing their new exhibition on the Renaissance sculptor Donatello. The two main curators of the show, Peta Motture and Whitney Kerr-Lewis, set out the aims of the show and how they used the layout to emphasis them. This is one of three shows, the others having been in Florence and Berlin, and they explained how, although the museums had worked together, this was not a travelling exhibition but three separate ones with each taking a different approach. I liked the fact they walked you though the layout of the show introducing us to some of the main exhibits and explaining why were chosen for the show. It was a fascinating insight into the thinking behind a show. I had hoped to go to see the exhibition the day after the talk but caught Covid, the gift that keeps on giving, and was grounded for a few days. I am out and about again now and hope to go next week so I’ll keep my main comments for them. I’m also doing a thre

Fascinating online course from the London Art History Society on James Whistler and Walter Sickert and their role in introducing avant-garde art to England. Via 10 lectures over five weeks Jo Rymer led us through aspects of the two artists careers and set them in the context of European art at the time using a small selection of their work to guide us through the main themes. I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t start with a broad overview of each artists’ work but did also appreciate the more academic concentrated look at themes from Whistler’s “Symphony in White” and “Nocturne” series to Sickert’s work in Dieppe and Camden Town. However since I’ve found myself wondering about other themes such as Sickert in Venice and Whistler’s more general portraiture. I guess it’s good to leave us wanting more! One little gripe was that there were a few mentions of aspects of how Degas influenced Sickert which were glossed over as there had been a previous course on the subject. I unders

Excellent exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace looking at objects from Japan in the Royal Collection. The show seamlessly blended a number of narratives from the history of British/Japanese relationships, through the techniques used to make the objects to the taste of various members of the Royal Family. I loved the inclusion of some tourist pieces bought by George V when on a trip to Japan when he was in the navy. As ever at this gallery there was a very good audio tour which gave more information without getting in the way of you enjoying the objects. There was an impressive array of Samurai armour and weapons which, I’m afraid leave me a bit cold, but I did loved some glittery spears covered in tiny Mother of Pearl shards. There were some elegant objects. I loved an enamel bowl where the metal lining had been dissolved away to leave just the enamel with light shining through. Also the embroidered screen at the end with a wonderful landscape. I wanted one o

Ethereal installation at the Painted Hall of the Royal Naval College by Luke Jerram. The work consists of a large, detailed model of the moon which dominates the Baroque space. As you entered the room it seems to float in the space and looks good from all angles. I did find though that close up you could see the joins in the structure which broke the magic. I saw Jerram’s previous installation in the space of the Earth which I thought worked better. I think it might have been hung higher and the detail was more familiar so you looked less at the mechanics. Closes 5 February 2023  

Vibrant exhibition at the Design Museum looking at the Design practice of Yinka Ilori. Ilori draws on his Nigerian heritage and the community around him in North London for his influences with an underlying aim of bringing joy and happiness through his work. The show examines his collaborative practice and how his studio works with a section on his influences from music to African cloth. It then looked at some of the projects they have worked on starting with his love of chairs and how he feels they tell stories. He set up workshops where people who attended each restored an old chair. As part of this show he has also helped the museum choose new items for the collection including a chair. I particularly like the section on his work in public spaces using bright, district colours for projects ranging from a bridge to a playground and taking in billboards during Covid. Closes 25 June 2023 Review Guardian    

Fantastical exhibition at the Design Museum looking at Surrealism in design. Beautifully designed with velvet covered pillars and deliberately peeling labels, the show struck a good balance between explaining surrealist ideas and showing off wonderful objects. I liked the way it blended paintings, where a lot of the ideas had originated, with furniture and clothes. It also subtly gave a sense of interiors. I began by making notes but then just got blown away by pieces I wanted. Can I have a life-sized horse with a lamp on its head please? Also a handbag glove combo? Oh and a glass table top on bicycle wheels plus a typewriter dress? Closes 19 February 2023 Reviews Guardian Telegraph  

Entertaining online discussion from the Victoria and Albert Museum focusing on the contemporary artists Hew Locke. Locke was interviewed by Janice Jeffries, an artist and curator who had known him since 2004 when he had works in a show she curated called “Boys Who Sew”. The discussion was base around excellent illustrations of his work. I had loved Locke’s recent installation at Tate Britain but didn’t know his other work. I now want to see a lot more! He says he collects suitcases of ‘stuff’ wherever he goes in the world which hang around his studio until he incorporates them into work. I loved his description of his work as “meticulously unfinished” and how he wants to tackle difficult subjects with joy “I can’t live in misery”. I would particularly have liked to see “The Tourists” from 2015 on HMS Belfast in which he put masks on the mannequins which were already there with the idea that they were forming a band. He talked about the controversy this caused at the time but he

Thoughtful exhibition at the Garden Museum focusing on Lucien Freud’s painting of plants and gardens. With just a few works the show told the story clearly and comprehensively beginning with drawings from when he was six kept by his mother of trees. There were sections on his portraits of people with flowers and his paintings of the gardens and backyards outside his studios which one description called an anti-garden. I loved the inclusion of a room on his murals of cyclamen both at his own home at Croome in Dorset and Chatsworth which included the painting materials he left behind, presumably to finish the work on a future trip. The main fact I took away is that the zimmerlindes which appear in a lot of his pictures was probably a descendent of one in Sigmund Freud’s office in Vienna and the plant became a family emblem. Closes 5 March 2023 Review Telegraph  

Moving exhibition at the Garden Museum by jewellery designer Phoebe Walsh. Inspired by the museum’s collection of flower pressings collected by Jane Lindsay from London bomb sites in the Second World War and a similar collection from the Eastern Front in the First World War by George Marr. Walsh found Ukrainian artist, Olga Morozova, who searched for flowers in Kyiv for her. With these flowers Walsh has created five tiny silver books in which she has mounted one flower on a rotating page. The exquisite books were shown with examples of the previous flowers pressings and will tour before being auctioned to raise money for artists in the Ukraine. How I would love to own one.   Closed 31 January 2023    

Colourful and fascinating exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by a selection of female German and Russian Modernist artists. I only knew two of these artists before a talk I did by the curator before I went to the show, Munter and Kollwitz but found their art, lives and connections fascinating. I couldn’t help but compare their work to early pieces by Vanessa Bell which could easily have fit in here. I loved the colour and blocky presentation of the pictures. I think my favourite was one by Munter off her flat/studio with a wonderful striped rug drawing your eye across it and her husband or Kandinsky in the bedroom to one side. I was less fond of Werefkin’s work but she was only really represented by paintings when she was mainly known as a sculptor. I learnt about lots of new people and stories which I will look out for in the future. Closes 12 February 2023 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard    

Mixed exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by second year student at the schools. I went to most of these shows last year and this year again sees a series of three of which this is the first featuring work by Fleur Dempsey, Ilze Aulmane and Massimiliano Gottardi. My favourite piece was by Dempsey called “Floating Static” which comprised small porcelain flower like pieces hung on wire to form a delicate circle. At first look I had assumed they were paper. The more photogenic piece was this one by Gottardi. I have no idea what it was about. I always say with this show that a bit of explanation would be good, but I like the way it looked like looking down on a lounge with packing cases. Closes 12 February 2023

Interesting exhibition at the Royal Academy charting the history of Spanish art via the collection of the New York based Hispanic Society. I would have liked to see the show take a different narrative as the collection wasn’t comprehensive enough to give a full picture of the history of the art of the country and its colonies. For example there was no work by Murillo, Picasso or Miro and little Romanesque work. It might have been better to look at the history of the collection instead. Having said that there were some beautiful pieces. The poster girl is the amazing portrait of the Duchess of Alba by Goya which doesn’t disappoint. I loved this head of a girl by Velazquez and some wonderful Medieval and Renaissance sculpture. Unfortunately there were some pretty horrid work too such as “Maria Louisa de Orleans, Queen of Spain, Lying in State” by Sebastian Munoz, one it will take me a long time to forget! It was good that the show covered the Islamic period and the colonies well.

Thoughtful installation at Southwark Cathedral by Ugandan artist Matt Kayem. Commissioned by Christian Aid it aims to show what we can do when we work together. Made to look like stained glass each side highlights a human achievement and reflects on what can be done with that. I wish I’d seen the work at night when it is light from within and probably looks less flat. I liked the effect of it and would like to see it recreated in real stained glass rather than a Perspex version. Closed 29 January 2023