Cathy's Art Diary

Novel exhibition at the National Gallery featuring studies by Edwin Austin Abbey for the decoration of the state house in Pennsylvania. I’d heard a slightly confused talk on the show the day before but the show was more succinct. (Stop press : I said the opposite in my blog post for the talk! I my defence it’s been a while since I saw the show.) Abbey had designed the scheme but then sent the designs to the US for the final work to be done by other artists. He never saw the finished work and died before it was completed. The centrepiece was his design for the dome called “The Hours” which dominated the space and pinged off the wall. It shows one woman for every hour of the day who gradually put on a cloak as night came. It had a sense of a circle of angels on a Renaissance work. I think my favourite piece was this study for steel workers for “The Spirit of Vulcan”. Closed 15 February 2026 Reviews Guardian  

Interesting exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery presenting works produced as part of a schools’ project looking at the gallery’s Van Gogh self-portrait. To coincide with two new site-specific commissions at the Courtauld Gallery by artist Rachel Jones students across the UK, local community members and families, have participated in free workshops, projects and events, exploring the picture to create their own artworks on the theme of ‘sense of self’. I was a bit unclear how Jones had fed into this but one work was responding to   her work. I loved this tiled version of the self-portrait where each person had painted a section in their own style also this stunning self-portrait by Ellie aged 17. A number of the works were presented in a studio style setting which was fun. Closed 15 February 2026

Charming exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of prints and drawings by Wayne Thiebaud to compliment the main show of his paintings. The focus was a series of 17 prints produced as a book and portfolio called “Delights” mainly of food.   A few of them which had been left in the studio were coloured by Thiebaud. They were delicate works often of the same subjects as the paintings but produced as distinct art works. The show also included some of the plates for the prints. Closed 18 January 2026

Surprising exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery focusing on Wayne Thiebaud. I say surprising because if you only know these calm, pastel images from reproduction you assume they have a smooth finish but, in reality, the objects are almost sculptured in low relief paint. They are more complex that you think. The show included some early pieces which were darker in colour with loose brushwork. The images tend to be of displays of food, often in shop windows, or nostalgic trappings of sweet shops. They have a distinctively American feel even when the objects shown might have come from anywhere. A number of people around me were saying how they had a feel of a Hopper in their sense of nostalgia but also strangely loneliness. I think my favourite was the large picture of cakes and I had to go to the café and indulge after my visit. Closed 18 January 2026 Reviews Guardian Telegraph

Powerful exhibition in a pop-up space by Messums showing a selection of large sculptures by Laurence Edwards. The work looked majestic in the space and mainly consisted of life sized and over life sized male figures. There were also some fragmented faces. The main focus was three huge walking men statues which seemed to stride through the space. When I came to photograph them I realised they were all looking in different directions. I’d been the week before and found the gallery shut but they even looked imposing through the window. Closed 15 January 2025

Interesting installation in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern by Máret Ánne Sara, a Sámi artist. The Sami people are indigenous to Northern Scandinavia and Sara draws on their reindeer herding traditions in the two works in this installation. The first one you see hangs reindeer hides floor to ceiling by electric cables. I hadn’t realised when I was there that these were impregnated with a scent released by the animal as a warning sign. I’ll have to go back and have a sniff as I felt this piece wasn’t big enough for the space. The main work was a maze-like structure made of branches based on the internal anatomy of the reindeer’s nose. I was so taken by that I missed that this too was scented and there were sculptures based on the animals ears. Another reason to go back and a lesson to read the blurb more carefully. Closes 6 April 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph    

Dense exhibition at Tate Modern examining modern art in Nigeria before and after independence. There was a lot to get across in this show and at times it was difficult to tell if it was an art exhibition or a history one. It was also hung thickly, often with works which we’re very similar to each other, which diluted their effect. I liked the way it was arranged by school or artist giving a good chronology but with overlaps. My favourite room, despite the hang, was the one dedicated to Ben Enwonwu, the first African modernist to gain international recognition. I was particularly intrigued by the seven sculptures down the centre of the room which my eye read as a choir which turned out to have been commissioned for the headquarters of the Daily Mirror. I liked the inclusion of a potter, Ladi Kwali. Favourite pieces included Bruce Onobrakpeya’s “Last Supper” and “Stations of the Cross” hung to resemble an altarpiece, Jimo Akolo’s colourful picture of Fulani horsemen and   Uzo ...

Beautiful but impenetrable exhibition at Tate Modern looking at the indigenous Australian artist, Emily Kan Kngwarray.   Given this art would be new to a lot of the audience who were viewing it I felt it could have been explained more clearly. It is only from looking at the website now that I realise the artist didn’t start producing art until her 70s and I never found a good explanation of her technique. The descriptions of the belief system behind the works and the concept of ‘Dreamers’ were confusing and relied on an acceptance of strange ideas rather than clear explanation. Having said that I found the works themselves tranquil a nd beautiful. They mainly consisted of dots of paint obscuring an image below. Some felt like maps. I loved the intense colours and how they reacted together. Inevitably to a European eye they make you think of Pointillism not helped by the fact there is a Pointillist show at the National Gallery at the moment.   The paintings were shown wi...

Gentle exhibition at Tate Modern looking at the work of land artist Richard Long. Long creates work by walking. His walks and the sculptures made along the way are recorded through photographs, maps and text works. His names often comes up in the context of being a new landscape artist.   The show included a selection of his maps and walk pictures made on his walks as well as photographs of his temporary sculptures in landscape which were shown around three of his circle sculptures designed for galleries and a recreation of one of his mud paintings which he did for the opening of the gallery.   The show worked like an installation and had a very calming effect. No end date given.

Disappointing exhibition at Tate Modern examining Picasso and performance.   Curated by, or as the blurb says ‘staged by’ contemporary artist Wu Tsang and author and curator Enrique Fuenteblanca, it treated the theme quite widely, looking not only at Picasso’s work for theatre and how he was influenced by it but also at how he himself became a performance. The layout was overly clever, presenting some of it on a stage so the visitors became part of the display but a large screen showing animations of his work seemed to sideline the lovely array of paintings which were there.   The reason for the show was the centenary of the Tates large work by Picasso “The Three Dancers” which felt like it had its back to the display space although it could also be seen from the lower ‘auditorium’ space. I know a show just on Picasso’s work for the theatre would seem old fashioned and, to be honest I think I might have seen it already, but it would have been a better context for the ...

Useful online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their exhibition of studies by Edwin Austen Abbey for the state capital of Pennsylvania. Christopher Riopelle, the curator of the exhibition, introduced us to this American artist who came to London in 1878 and never left. He rapidly made a name for himself in England including being commissioned to paint the coronation of Edward VII. Through his friend, John Singer Sargent, he was commissioned to design the murals for a room at the Boston Public Library and as a result of that he was then commissioned to design more murals for the state capital of Pennsylvania. He did studies for these in England and sent them to the US where Violet Oakley managed the project and completed it from Abbey’s studies after his death. Riopelle took us through the seven works in the exhibition on loan from Yale University explaining how Abbey had a studio built at his house in Sussex to undertake the project. He explained how Abbey produced ...

Fascinating online lecture from the Wallace Collection looking at Maiolica ceramics. Suzanne Higgott, who had previously worked at the museum, led us though the history of Maiolica using the collection as the bones of the talk. I have been wanting to dip my toe into this world for a while and this was an excellent introduction to the subject. She started by discussing its origins and influences then looking at how it was made, talking us through the process of glazing and adding lustre. Next we worked through the main centres of production in Northern Italy and some of the more famous workshops. She showed us some beautiful examples and used them to introduce the main themes of decoration. I was interested to see how many were based on prints and how the topics reflected were the same as paintings of the time. She ended by discussing the 19th century revival which led to reproductions some of which were passed off as originals and collectors and museums vied to get the best pi...

Glamourous exhibition at the King's Gallery looking at the monarchs on the Edwardian era. It defined Edwardian from Edward VII's marriage before he became to the throne to the end of the First World War and was gently themed while showing some fabulous paintings and objects. You started by looking at their private lives and processions with the two side rooms focusing on the smaller objects like Faberge rock crystal and gemstone animals and birds and photographs taken by Queen Alexandra. It also looked at their homes and included a dress worn by Alexandra. The other large room focused on court life including Edward and Alexandra's coronation robe and dress and wonderful paintings of the event. The final rooms took on a more political feel, looking at the role of Empire at the time and finishing with looking at the First World War and the monarch’s role in its commemoration. All in all this was a delight and who can argue with a show that has tiaras and portraits ...

Interesting talk at Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair at Woolwich Works examining a collaboration between these cultural neighbours. In a day of disappointment around talks at the show (see my previous post) it seemed inevitable that the IT failed for this event and it started late but Georgia Figgis, Community Engagement Manager at the immersive theatre company, Punchdrunk, and Cia Durrante, Head of Partnerships and VIPs for the print fair coped well and luckily it was a talk that didn't really need images. They discussed how their collaboration had come about and why collaboration is important to artistic creation and to help in these straightened times for the arts. Figgis talked about how every visitors’ visit to the show was unique as they went round in their own way and like the way their theatrical productions work. The talk was full of ambition and hopefully will lead to great things in the future, but they talked about how this had to be tempered by reality so the ou...

Irritating version of this annual show at Woolwich Works focusing on the art of the print maker. The show had some good themes running through it but these weren't always clear. One featured 10 artists to mark the 10 years of the show which were scattered around the show but here was no distinct trail to find these. There were also curated sections with 50% of the hang being curated and the other 50% being space for galleries. Again this wasn't clear and some explanation of curatorial choices would have been interesting. I will also make my annual moan about the small labels often placed too low or too high to read or so close to a deep frame so they were overshadowed. Please get this right. Add to this a new moan that I booked a session with two talks I wanted to go to. The day before I got email reminders to both but on the day I found that one had been moved forward an hour and a half to a time I couldn’t make and the other had been moved to another day. As was type thi...

A striking iteration of this annual exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery featuring the shortlisted works in this year’s photo portrait prize. As ever there were some stunning images and themes of old age and disability seemed to emerge such as Donato Telesca's stunning photograph from above of a Parolympian weightlifter. Can I have my usual moan about reflective glass on photographs? I would have loved to show you an image of Luan Davide Gray's "We Dare to Hug" showing a tender older gay couple but the reflection means you see more of me and the other people and works in the show than the picture itself. My favourite this year was Timon Benson's "About to Leave" of his father shown here just before he moved back to Kenya, pictured through his living room window. Other shout outs to Tom Parker's picture of three Mongolian contortionist girls creating great shapes, Tamsyn Warde's picture of a small child, Benji, in a pub with his favour...

Innovative pop-up installation outside St Martin in the Fields by Female Invest, a website to promote financial learning and support for female investors. The work marked 50 years since women in the UK gained the right to open a bank account and get a mortgage or a credit card without the signature of a man. There was a very helpful lady with the work who explained this to me but it would have benefited from an information board to explain it as well as it was drawing a crowd. It consisted of a series of covered boxes, the lady described as seats, with labels on them naming inspirational women including those in the world of finance. You could add names to blank labels to be placed in the centre of the work. It was simple but effective. It made me realise I had benefited from this change when I opened my first bank account at 18 just a couple of years later even though I remember my father accompanying me to the bank for this historic moment partly I suspect as he was going to h...

Thought provoking exhibition at Sadie Coles HQ of three series of new work by Lisa Brice. I have come across Brice's work a number of times and love her cut back palette for works depicting female empowerment often quoting historical works and these didn't disappoint. My favourite pieces were those set in a bar, hung so the bar formed a horizon across the room. The figures at the top were reflected in the bar below. At first view they look like a party but as you look more closely there are sinister features like bottles on the bar waiting to be used as weapons and women holding the heads of men like a Renaissance Judith and Holofernes. Closed 20 December 2025 Review Times

Interesting exhibition at Hauser and Wirth of three sculptures by Cristina Iglesias. The works come from Iglesias series Littoral (Lunar Meteorite) which are evidently part of her ongoing exploration of geological themes. Made of bronze with matt and gloss surfaces, inside there is a water feature from an invisible source giving sound and movement to the work. The works looks stark in the white space but drew you in to investigate where the sound was coming from. Closed 20 December 2025

Stunning exhibition at Hauser and Wirth of new works by Swiss artist Nicolas Party. This usually large, white space was transformed by splitting it up into three spaces linked by arches and by the use of contrasting purple and yellow paint which made the paintings pop. Reading the website since coming back it says Party designs the space for his shows himself as an installation. The majority of the paintings were bright, colourful pictures of trees in Autumnal hues. They were simplified but just shone. I've found this Autumn has been particularly good in the UK for Autumn colours and these reminded me of a couple of recent long journeys. There were also two portraits evidently inspired by two sculptural works by Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin, the website says these "serve as a conceptual springboard to also frame the group of treescapes" but I'm not sure what that means. I didn't connect with these works in the same way at the treescapes which blew me a...

Bold and colourful exhibition at Annely Juda Fine Art of new work by David Hockney. At first glance the works looked quite childlike and simple but their delight and artistry were in their simplicity. At 88 Hockney is limited in his mobility so he seems to be concentrating on the world directly around it and bringing to his images of it a sense of joy. The ground floor mainly featured multiple reworkings of domestic interior scenes. You became very fond of the blue gingham tablecloth. A number of the works which include a window or door inserted a photograph of the outdoor space in them. I loved the contrast this set up with the detailed photograph and the simplified painting. There were also six new portraits in his series of sitters in a chair including a self-portrait. Upstairs features night scenes which are surprisingly light and cheerful. My favourites were a series of four which included the side of a building with orange illuminated windows. I also loved one with a Chris...

Confused exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of work by contemporary artists from the Asian diaspora. The sho w featured 13 artists in quite a small space but didn't seem to establish a dialogue between the works. There was a mix of paintings, sculpture, ceramics and textile work. I loved Lian Zhang's painting "In the Wake of Her Echo" which plays with the idea of reflections and Hoa Dung Clerget's small sculptures decorated using gel nail polish pointing to the nail art subculture of immigrant women. Closed 30 November 2025

Moving exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery from Vogue Ukraine and PhotoVogue to support and promote Ukrainian photographers. These were poignant images, some showing the effects of war, but others showing life going on despite the conflict. My favourite was this photo by Julie Poly called "Scrolling Through Violence" of a young person looking at scenes of war on their phone which reflects on their face. It says so much about the effects of war   I also liked Tania Shcheglova\Synchrodogs photograph of chairs on a beach which strangely looked like a 1950s textile design and Daniil Kotlair's "Mother of Georgia" looking up at the back of a monumental statue. Closed 16 November 2025

Striking exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery of new work by Kat Kristof. I loved these big, bold paintings of fragmented and broken figures. Painted in blocks of colour you wonder if they are deconstructing or reconstructing. They looked fabulous in the big white space and have an architectural feel. Although they had a look of posters, up close you could see the brushstrokes and a painterly hand. Closed 16 November 2025

Innovative exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery highlighting the shortlisted finalists in the inaugural Artist of the Future Prize. This first edition of the prize showcases artists who push the boundaries of digital art and the winner will be announced on 21 November. The show included work by 10 artists on large screens with earphones provided for those with sound. I found this format hard to engage with and didn't have time to watch any of them from beginning to end but some of them grabbed me with their beautiful imagery. I liked Lenar Singatullov's "Circle Dance" an abstract work involving a custom algorithm which turns the colours of flags into moving figures and James David Freeman's "In the Realm of Emptiness", scenes of empty London streets taken during the pandemic. My favourite was Dominic Harris's ball of flowers with butterflies which reacted to you walking past it. I had seen his work before at the Halcyon Gallery and loved it. ...

Interesting exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery marking 40 years of the groundbreaking gallery. I liked the fact that the show blended iconic pieces which have been shown at the gallery over the years alongside new works by their established artists and work by new artists. Spread over two floors this was quite a mix of work some of which I liked but some I didn't get. I discovered a lot of artists who were new to me such as Polly Morgan and her wall sculptures incorporating snake skin, John Squire's remarkable painting of a fragmented face and Chino Moya's wonderful small digital pictures set in settings reminiscent of the Renaissance in which the figures gently moved. Classic pieces included Richard Wilson's "20:50", a room filled with recycle engine oil which messes with your mind. Evidently it has been shown in every iteration of the gallery. I liked the room bringing together two installations, Allan Kaprow's Yard, which presents a floor covered ...

Dull exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at design for and by disabled, deaf and neurodivergent people and communities. I admit this show may have suffered from the fact I went to it after the Marie Antoinette exhibition however I found it drab and impenetrable in places. They also took a broad definition of design not only objects and fashion but also design for protest and items to make a point which I felt were nearer to being contemporary art than design. I also have lots of gripes with the labels. Firstly that the labels which carefully numbered obects in a rather complex system with the room and object number. That in itself was fine but they then didn't number the actual objects so it you were scanning the works on display to work out which was the one you were reading about. Secondly the language was trying to be so inclusive that it became convoluted and complex. From the introductory board which read "For those who are non-disabled or are less...