Cathy's Art Diary

Well thought out online lecture from the National Gallery examining how and why science became entertainment in the 18th century. Matthew Morgan laid out a clear argument about how science was developing in this era and how people responded to this particularly in the circles of Wright of Derby. He looked at Rousseau’s ideas about education who advocated for learning by display rather than reading. He told us about various scientific experiments which were conducted in private houses or public spaces. I’m sure I’d have booked for a lecture at the giant Orrey at the Theatre Royal in the Haymarket. As usual with Morgan’s talks there was a good Q&A session at the end covering the difference between curiosity and learning, a comparison between the 18th century displays and Brian Cox’s podcasts and the role of women as they frequently appear in Wright’s paintings of scientific displays.

Interesting iteration of this annual show at the National Theatre for this prize for stage design. I always enjoy this show with its little models of stage designs, costumes and sketches. I was interested to see how many of those on show were speculative designs. It showed how designers have to work, submitting ideas which might never be realised. I loved this costume by Kathy Udaondo for a play called “The Inseparables” which ties two   characters together in a clever way. I also liked this set design but I failed to note what it was or who it was by. It was interesting to read a biography of Lady Anya Sainsbury who instigated the award back in 1987. Closes June 2026

Disappointing installation at St Mary Le Strand by Louise Giovanelli. I probably didn’t see this work at its best. I went during the day and I gather it is illuminated at night and probably looks very different, however in the day it just looked like covered scaffolding. I like the idea of the print on the cover looking like a sequined curtain but in the light I saw it in it looked like concrete. I understood it was meant to alter the look and shape of the church but I think it might have worked better if it had been on both sides. Closed 18 January 2026 Review Evening Standard https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/exhibitions/decades-louise-giovanelli-st-marylestrand-church-b1259005.html

Enlightening online lecture from ARTscapades with the curator of the Kerry James Marshall exhibition at the Royal Academy. I had seen the show and loved it but knew I hadn’t understood all the nuances of it so it was useful and fascinating to hear Mark Godfrey talk about the works and his curating choices. He talked about how he met the artist back in 2012 and had been discussing putting on a show of his work for the last five years. He talked about how they worked together on it. He then led us around the rooms explaining the titles and theme of each room and introducing the main works. As someone asked in the Q&A “Can you appreciate the work without knowing the references?”. I was shouting yes as I had but knowing more about the work certainly added another layer.

Disappointing exhibition at the Barbican Music Library of photographs of the group Blondie from 1978. Blondie was a big part of my youth, so I was pleased that this show was still on when I went to the Barbican however it was shown in a cramped space and was badly lit with reflective glass on the exhibits. The narrative was poorly explained. It was billed as the photographs taken by Martyn Goddard but seemed to include work by other people and archive material. The images were fascinating and deserved a better presentation. I found it hard to engage with what they were and how they fitted together. Closed 21 February 2026

Second in a series of exhibitions at a new space in the Barbican showing work of contemporary artists alongside some by Alberto Giacometti. I missed the first show but was excited to see this as I like Giacometti's work but I found it quite confusing. All the explanation of the work was in a rather cumbersome leaflet which was too big to use while walking around with a lot to read. The sculpture on show was fighting a bright sun in just the wrong position when I went and a rather exciting view of the Barbican Centre. The contemporary artist featured this time was Mona Hatoum who, according to the blurb, investigates the impact of political instability on individuals and groups. I'm not sure I would have understood that from looking at the work. It did have a certain resonance with hindsight going on the day that Trump bombed Venezuela however the work itself didn't move me.   Closed 11 January 2026 Reviews Guardian Evening Standard  

Surprisingly good exhibition at the Barbican Art Gallery examining how contemporary fashion designers have been influenced by dirt and decay. I thought this would be a weird and wacky but went along on the principle I try to go to everything! I was pleasantly surprised to find a well explained narrative and some beautiful clothes. I liked the small booklet they gave you rather than having long labels but found it quite hard to use in the show partly because I was so busy taking photos. The show started on the upper level, setting out the main themes, from mud, through staining, clothes made to look like they had decayed and those that really had and ideas of combating waste in the industry. Downstairs was set up more like open installations of work by specific designers and had a catwalk feel. Some of the pieces looked more like contemporary art than fashion. Closed 25 January 2026 Reviews Guardian Evening Standard    

Interesting online lecture from ARTscapades introducing an exhibition looking at how contemporary art has responded to Turner’s art. The curator of the show at the Walker Art Gallery, Melissa Gustin, led us though the themes of the show and explained how they chose the pieces for the show and their dialogues they set up between Turner and later artists. She also explained how the title also refers to the fact that Turner himself was groundbreaking and trying new ideas. We always forget that the Old Masters were the contemporary artists of their time. It sounds like this show would have been fascinating but sadly couldn’t get to Liverpool in time. The talk introduced me to a number of contemporary artists I didn’t know.

Colourful exhibition at Charleston Farmhouse focusing on the work of Roger Fry. Fry was part of the Bloomsbury Group and frequently visited Charleston and the show included paintings of the house and barns and the people who congregated there. The show was themed by genre with sections on still life, landscape, spaces and community and finally portraits. The room of portraits was stunning and like walking into a group of friends. I loved the wall of self-portraits by Fry. He looked such an approachable person. The works were beautifully curated with a gentle narrative but leaving the works to speak for themselves. My favourite piece was this still life in muted colours with a strange perspective. Ended 12 March 2026

Interesting exhibition at Chichester Cathedral looking at Christianity in Sussex over 950 years. The show was mainly information boards but with excellent objects in display cases underneath. The show became a history of Christianity in Britain with references to Sussex where appropriate and was struggling in places to introduce themes they wanted to cover like multiculturalism. I’m all for addressing these but not shoehorning them into a historic narrative where the point is that these issues weren’t addressed at the time. I wonder if a section on the modern church might have addressed these better. Given the show was in a cathedral I thought the language could have been more active. Rather than saying ‘Christians believe’ how about saying ‘we believe’ Closed 19 November 2025 but I saw it on 23 December 2025

Excellent online lecture from the National Gallery looking at the life and work of Giovanni Bellini. Jo Walton, guided us through the career of this 15th century artist from Venice starting with his training in his father’s studio alongside his brother, Gentile and discusses the use of their father’s collection of drawings. She took us though his devotional works and his major altarpieces. We also looked at his amazing portraits. She analysed the main works with an emphasis on those held by the gallery itself. I am going to spend a couple of month’s in Venice later this year and suspect I will go into trainspotter mode to tick off all the Bellini’s there.

Comprehensive and entertaining online lecture from the National Gallery looking at various aspects of colour. Artist and art historian, Gayna Pelham, guided us through the psychology and science of colour looking at the emotions which are linked to colour and how our eye perceives it. She went on to outline the main art historical theories of colour before moving on to the difference between colour and pigments and the development of the latter. At times the talk felt a bit random but as I typed it up it took more form and I realised it had covered a lot of ground. I loved the touch that Pelham changed her jacket to new colours as the talk progressed as she filled the screen with a slide. It took me a while to notice but it told you how your brain is telling you something has changed but it takes a moment to realise what.

Charming exhibition at the Royal Watercolour Society of work by Tony Foster exploring ideas of time. The works, spanning a number of journey's and his home county of Cornwall,   look at four types of time, geological, biological and human as well as fleeting moments. The delicate paintings were often framed with samples of rock or flora or paintings of leaves. Closed 20 December 2025 Review Times

Interesting online lecture from the Foundling Museum discussing an image of John Blanke, a black trumpeter at the court of Henry VIII. Michael Ohajuru introduced us to Blanke who is the first person of black African descent for whom we have a historical record and an image. He explained how black trumpeters where not new but had been known in the Holy Roman Empire and took us through some images of them. He then led us though the “Great Roll of the Tournament at Westminster in February 1511” explaining what the event was and how it was depicted. In particular he pointed out the two images of Blanke. Finally he looked at the documentary evidence we have on Blanke including records of him playing at Henry VII’s funeral and Henry VIII’s coronation. The talk was a great example of using images and documents together to give a insight into history.

Complex online lecture from the National Gallery speculating on the influence of Darwin’s ideas on the artist Georges Seurat. Emmelyn Buttterfield, Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, talked us through this complex argument focusing on Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grand Jette” of 1886. Noting that the ideas of Darwin were being widely discussed and that the anatomist at the Ecole de Beaux Artes was an advocate of them she outlined visual links in the picture. This argument mainly revolved around the figure of the monkey as Darwin was often depicted as a monkey in cartoons and in some examples had a similar serpentine tail to the one in the painting. She also discussed how the woman holding the monkey’s lead can be seen as a sexualised figure mirroring ideas of reproduction in Darwin. As you may have guessed from my tone I didn’t fully understand the argument and felt it may have been conflation of ideas around at the time which may not have been c...

Fun public artwork outside the Hayward Gallery by Nicola Tyson. I always like to go to see these annual outdoor pictures. This one speaks to the Gilbert and George exhibition that was on in the gallery as it featured two figures. Are they dancing? Is one surrendering? Why are they against a yellow wall? There are lots of questions, but I found it a cheerful work which raised a smile as I walked past. Closes June 2026

Bright almost overwhelming exhibition at the Hayward Gallery of works by Gilbert and George made since 2000. I do like Gilbert and George and have been to a few of their exhibitions over the last few years, so I recognised quite a lot of this work. Each piece worked well but shown on mass it got diluted and became almost cartoon like. You had to slow down and look at and read the details. It became repetitive after a while. The pieces which worked well were a couple of series of four which built more of a narrative across them. They looked good in the large white space. Closes 11 January 2026 Reviews Times Guardian T elegraph Evening Standard

Useful online lecture from ARTscapades looking at the life and architecture of John Vanbrugh. Charles Saumarez-Smith, former director of the National Gallery and author of a book of the same title as the lecture, led us through Vanbrugh’s remarkable life, a story of confidence and opportunity. He told us how he was imprisoned in France returning to England with no career prospects in 1693 aged 19 but by 1705 he had written and translated plays, designed Castle Howard, was appointed Controller of the Office of Works, planned a West End theatre and been invited to design Blenheim Palace. He talked about how he got the prestigious architectural commissions and what he brought to them from his theatrical background.  

Intriguing online lecture from the London Art History Society looking at a wonderful Anglo-Saxon crucifix on the outside of Romsey Abbey. Richard Plant, author on this period, shared thoughts on the Romsey Rood starting by describing it and comparing it to other crucifixes of the period. I love this period of art but don’t know a huge amount about it so it was fascinating to be introduced to some lovely objects. He then thought about rituals which may have been linked to this work such as the idea of fire for lighting candles being kept by a church door. He also mused on why it was on the nuns side of the church and whether they had some ritual linked to it. Finally he looked at why this Anglo-Saxon work might have been incorporated into a later Norman church. Did it have some sentimental meaning to the local people? Two Anglo-Saxon saints and a king were buried there so was the object linked to one of them? Had the nunnery become a home for Anglo-Saxon ladies post Conquest? Lot...

Interesting annual exhibition at Glyndebourne Opera House of new work by a selection of Sussex artists. My favourite works this year were by Michael Bishop who painted realistic landscapes but in exaggerated colours. I also liked Katherine Allen's loosely painted works. Closes 19 December 2025

Intriguing online lecture from the National Gallery discussing the history of the gallery commissioning new work. Daniel Herrmann, the Ardalan Curator of Modern and Contemporary Project at the gallery, started by outlining the tradition of the gallery incorporating contemporary art going back to the reuse of a statue of Britannia for Marble Arch being reconfigured to become Minerva for the front of the building. Hermann then talked about the mosaics in the old entrance by Boris Anrep and how he combined classical ideas with contemporary cultural references as well as talking about how they were made. Most interesting was when he discussed the commissioning of two recent works, Bridget Riley’s “Messengers” and Richard Long’s “Mud Sun”, talking about how they worked with the artists to create the works. He also mentioned the wonderful “Triumph of Art” project to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the gallery which I had attended in Trafalgar Square.

Fascinating exhibition at the British Library looking at how maps have been used to hide things, establish power and deceive. The show had a clear narrative and included some amazing maps and objects. Each section was told chronologically but building a theme over time. As ever I was more drawn to the older works but many of the current ones were fascinating too. The show concluded by looking at how maps have been used to marginalise people and had a brilliant video about the people of Kibera in Kenya set about mapping their settlement when it was left off official maps. It then discussed issues of privacy particularly in relation to new technology. Stand out works for me included a map of Portuguese settlements in Asia given to Charles II as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry   as a sign of the two nations sharing knowledge, a map of Africa commissioned by Mary I for her Husband Philip II of Spain and a quilt made by inmates of Bullingdon Prison showing an aerial view of...

Thin online lecture from the National Gallery introducing the book, “Great Art Explained” by James Payne. I say thin as the book seems to be a good introduction to art but I suspect most of the audience, being National Gallery members, had a greater level of knowledge than those to who it was aimed. It is structured around giving the background to 30 well known works of art and in the talk Payne outlining some which are in the gallery’s own collection. I think I had heard hour long lectures on most of the works he talked about. More interesting was when he described how the book came about and his process. It grew out of a YouTube channel he started in lockdown for his own amusement discussing a painting in 15 minutes. As a tour guide he has found that this was about the optimum time for a group to look at a work.

Magical performance lecture at the National Gallery on the life of Jacques Louis David. Written and performed by David McAlmont there was a trio of musicians, a soundscape and film with the performer imagining incidents from David’s life in different voices. He played both David and characters from his life bobbing around in time. It’s hard to explain but I found it captivating! I came away knowing a lot more about the artist and did a lot of Googling.

Repetitive exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey Street of work by the abstract artist, Howardena Pindell. As her work was mainly made up of dots either of paint or small coloured pieces of paper it suffered from the fact I’d done the exhibition of the work of the Aboriginal artist Emily Kam Kngwarray and this was a remarkably similar aesthetic even if it came from a very different place. I liked the idea of the work but found it decorative rather than artistic and when you’ve seen one dotty picture you’ve seen enough. Closed 18 January 2027

Fabulous exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum of pieces from the costumiers Cosprop. I’d heard a talk by the founder of the company John Bright a while ago. They specialise in historic drama from the iconic tv series of the 1970s like “War and Peace” and “House of Elliott” through Merchant Ivory films to “Peaky Blinders”. The show was beautifully arranged with the pieces thickly displayed in tableaux. Instead of intrusive labelling you were given a leaflet of decorations and each work was numbered. It was wonderful to see iconic costumes such as two from “A Room with a View” and I felt very nostalgic for the television of my childhood, as it seemed to do for all the ladies around me. Closes 8 March 2026 Reviews Times Guardian

Interesting exhibition at Eames Fine Art featuring Pop art collages mainly by Eduardo Paulozzi. There was a lovely selection of work with some original maquettes as well as prints by the artist many from the archives of his printer Kip Gresham. In addition, there were some works by Peter Blake and Joe Tilson. Closed 30 November 2025