Cathy's Art Diary

Charming online lecture from the National Gallery looking in detail at Canaletto’s “Regatta on the Grand Canal” in detail. Carlo Corsato led us around the painting bringing his local knowledge to bear. He started by getting up to look for red in the picture and explained how it is used to guide your eye around the picture. He then explained the role of the regatta and how it was raced including looking at the design of the gondolas which has changed over the years. He also took us through all the various masks that can be seen and what they mean. The talk was followed by a lively Q&A during which he explained how the prizes ranged from 40 ducats for first place to a pig for fourth. The talk was particularly resonant for me as, although I’d listened to it back home, I typed it up and am writing this from Venice.

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery looking at their Stubbs exhibition as it came to an end. Aliki Braine discussed the place of Stubbs in the National Gallery with the iconic “Whistlejacket” bookending one end of the longest vista in the gallery. She described him as “A place finder for visitors”. I hadn’t realised that he’d only been acquired by them in 1997. She discussed whether we can consider “Scrub”, the focus of the show, can be considered to be a portrait of a horse, looking at what she felt constitutes a portrait and concluding that it can be. She also looked at the two other projects represented in the show, Stubbs book on the anatomy of the horse and a series of portraits of all the thoroughbred horses over 50 years, a project which failed. This was an interesting lecture but very similar to others I had done on the show. I’d like to see these talks at the end of shows having more of a sense of reflecting on what had been learnt from seeing the wor...

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery reflecting on their Wright of Derby exhibition. Matthew Morgan thought about what he had been struck by from the exhibition and from course he had taught, a couple of which I had done. I’m not sure he brought anything new in this talk but it was good to take a moment and think about what it had highlighted about the period and Wright’s art. I got most from the Q&A session where I learnt that Wright probably met Hogarth and how prints of pictures in the annual Royal Academy shows weren’t for sale at the show but could be bought from printers in St James who quickly produced copies which were circulated throughout the country.

Delightful exhibition at the Garden Museum exploring a botanical collaboration in the 18th century to collect seeds and botanical specimens from China. John Bradby Blake travelled to China as a supercargo (my fact of the day), a commercial agent overseeing cargo and trade employed by the British East India Company. While living there he worked with Chinese experts to documents 138 plants native to China, Whang at Tong, an expert on plants and Mak Sau, am artist. The show included lots of Mak Sau's beautiful detailed botanical studies often done over a number of months so he could record the full cycle of a plant. These were shown with extensive archive material from Blake's archive which was brought back to England by Whang at Tong on his death. I loved two portraits of Whang at Tong by Reynolds from his time in England and his presence dominated the show. Closed 10 May 2026

Engaging exhibition at the National Gallery focusing on a portrait of a horse called Scrub by George Stubbs which has been borrowed from a private collection. The wonderful portrait strikes you as you enter the room and you can't help but smile. The level of detail is extraordinary and it feels like he is inviting you to sit down and spend time with him. He was commissioned by the same patron as the famous Whistlejacket who dominates one of the main vistas of the gallery and I like to think that at night they meet up somewhere and catch up on old times. Shown with the portrait are two horse projects by Stubbs , an book on the anatomy of the horse based on dissections which he did and drew at every stage, and a commission to paint all the major racing horses of the previous 50 years. There were two works from the series in the show and you couldn’t help but smile again at Dungannon with his friend, a lamb. Of course I had to go and say hello to Whistlejacket afterwards so he ...

Clear and useful online lecture from the National Gallery introducing their exhibition on Stubbs marking the loan of a portrait of a horse called Scrub. Mary McMahon, curator of the show, introduced us to Scrub and set him in the context of Stubbs career. She took us through the artists career and in particular his paintings, or as she argued portraits of horses. The painting is shown with examples from two of his other projects on horses, an anatomical study for which he dissected horses and drew the structure of their muscles and skeleton, and an attempt to paint all the major thoroughbred horses of the period called “The Turf Project”. I went to the show a few days later and found this to have been an excellent introduction to the show and it meant I got a lot more from the display.

Excellent three week online course from the National Gallery on the art of Wright of Derby to compliment their exhibition on him. Matthew Morgan started in the first week by outlining the artists life and work and giving an overview of how the art market was changing at this time and how artists were reflecting the new ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. He also brought in Lucy Bamford from Derby Museums Trust to discuss why Wright was known as Wright of Derby and to examine his relationship with the city. Morgan spent the next two weeks examining two aspects of Wrights work, how he reflects the rational and how he engaged the emotions. He started with the rational   discussing ideas at the time about the benefits of looking and observation and Rousseau’s ideas around learning by doing and by demonstration. He discussed the circles Wright moved in, including the Lunar Society, and whether we can consider him an Enlightenment artist. Having examined the ...

Interesting small exhibition at the Wallace Collection presenting five swords made in Lucknow from their collection. The swords were shown together at the centre of the room with good explanations of each around the edge. They were beautiful objects both the swords themselves and the scabbards. They were from the 18th and 19th centuries and made as royal regalia and as diplomatic gifts. My favourite was this one which had a beautiful enamel hand on the handle. I also loved the poppy decorations on the scabbard of another sword. Closed 22 March 2026

Fascinating exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery looking at landscapes by female artists from 1760-1860. These works were by largely unknown artists working during the first 100 years of the Royal Academy. Some of the works had been shown in the annual shows, held at the time in the building they were now being displayed. There were some beautiful works and fascinating stories from Elizabeth Frances Batty's small works which were engraved and published as "Italian Scenery" in 1820, Mary Smirke who showed at the Royal Academy every year from 1809-1814 despite being hindered by her artist father who was on the hanging committee and Harriett Lister who later worked with her husband, Amos Green, on works which began with an ink blot. There were a number of potential novels in this show. Closes 20 May 2026

Fascinating small exhibition at the British Museum looking at the work of Pierre Alexandre Wille and his circle. The show celebrates the bequest from the dealer and philanthropist Colin Clark which doubled the size of the works held by the museum by Wille who they had been collecting since the 19th century. Willie studied under the genre artist, Jean Baptist Greuze and imitated his style which suited the tastes of the ancient regime but failed to develop as times changed I thought the most striking works were the portraits at the end and I loved this portrait of a man from 1783. He often drew personalities from the Revolution in courtroom sketches. It was an interesting show to have on with the contemporary artist, Ian Hamilton Finlay who responding the same events 200 years later. No end date given

Excellent exhibition at Tate Britain marking 250 years since the birth of both Turner and Constable. I might need to do this show again to get the most from it. It cleverly pitches the two artists at various stages in their lives, noting the parallels and where and how they differed. I think I came out favouring Constable, but a second visit might be different. The show was relatively sparsely hung with a good mix of paintings, watercolours and oil sketches and sketch books. It introduced them with portraits from the date of their acceptance into the Royal Academy alongside their diploma works. At times each artist got their own room to reflect their travels but on the whole they were shown together. There were some noticeable omissions but I guess, in this important year for both artists, galleries are unwilling to loan or have lent elsewhere. The show was probably better for it as it showed greater depth. Closes 16 April 2026 Reviews Times Guardian Telegraph Evenin...

Fascinating detailed online lecture from the London Art History Society tracing changes meaning of depictions of Cashmere shawls in three portraits by Reynolds. Taking portraits of Captain John Foote, Mrs Horton previously Nancy Parsons and Mrs Baldwin, Jennifer Van Schoor, art director and graphic designer, traced the meaning of shawls in the 18 th century. For Foote the shawl was part of a diplomatic gift and showed his status within the East India Company on his return to England soon after this painting was made returnees from India were starting to be seen unfavourably and as ostentatious. Foreign luxuries were seen as threatening manners. The shawl in the painting of Nancy Parsons has shades of promiscuity as she was known to be the mistress of the Prime Minister the 3 rd Duke of Grafton. It was linking the exotic with low morals. Finally in the portrait of Mrs Baldwin it is still a sign of the exotic but in this case it was being seen as more acceptable as she was fro...

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.

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.

Sumptuous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum looking at the life, style and influence of Marie Antoinette. From the first room, with a semi-circle of 18th century dresses in display cases, I was hooked. The dresses were in stunning condition and really brought the period to life. The show moved on to look at accessories, with an amazing display of jewellery. The next section looked at the Petit Trianon examining Antoinette’s interior design style and the life which was lived there which included her piano. From there you moved on to a moving room on her imprisonment and death. The show then opened up to look at her influence on style after her death. I assumed this would jump straight to contemporary fashion but there was a good section on how the Victorian's referenced her in fancy dress and the use of her style post in First World War graphic design and fashion. The show ended with a fabulous room of contemporary fashion and costume designs. It was a real feast...

Clever exhibition at the National Gallery looking at the candlelight paintings of Wright of Derby. I'd been looking forward to this show as I love Wright of Derby's work. I'd hoped it would be bigger than this and look at his whole career including the portraits, but this was beautifully pitched to look at a specific period in his work from 1765 to 1773. The show set the work in the context of the time but I liked the fact it put the paintings front and centre. Head to the right when you go in as this takes you through the pictures first rather than getting bogged down in the exploration of some aspects of them before you are ready for that detail. I went on members' preview day and people were in awe of a of the work. The gallery's own painting of the bird in the air pump looked wonderful and it was great to see it with the Orrery painting. I loved the fact that paintings were shown with the objects they included such as an air pump and a copy of the Renaiss...

Excellent online introduction from the National Gallery to their Wright of Derby exhibition. Christine Riding led us through the main themes of the show starting with discussing the technique displayed in these works using light and dark to dramatic effect can called Tenebrism. She examined how the ideas came from Caravaggio but Wright used them in a secular context and, having not seen the work in the flash, but worked out how to do it from experimentation. She talked about the genre of works showing study by candlelight became popular and how it reflected that nighttime was seen as the time for learning feeding into ideas of refinement and dedication. This led her to examine the two main works in the show “The Orrey” and “Bird in an Air Pump” and the fashion for scientific learning. Finally she looked at how Wright’s style changed in the 1770s, still using the dramatic effects of light and dark, but focusing on working class labour such as blacksmiths and how this reflected id...

Useful online lecture from the National Gallery looking in detail at the life of Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun the gallery’s self-portrait of her. Jacqui Ansell, an expert on historic dress, interviewed Lucy Davies, author of a new book on this picture for the National Gallery, and they outlined Le Brun’s exciting life story from being an untaught artist to court painter before having to flee Paris in the Revolution and travelling around Europe. They discussed how Le Brun saw Ruben’s “Le Chappeau de Paille” which is also in the National Gallery, when she visited Antwerp with her art dealer husband, and how she based her self-portrait on it. They also looked at other self-portraits by her and discussed how and why she liked to depict herself.

Fascinating exhibition at the British Museum focusing on the collection of Richard Payne Knight which was bequeathed to the museum in the early 19th century. There were some amazing works particularly a Michelangelo, a Raphael and a Mantegna but as interesting was seeing the contemporary art of his time which he collected and how he brought his aesthetic into planning the park of his estate. I loved a number of works by Claude Lorrain and evidently the bequest included 246 studies by the artist. Payne Knight travelled extensively in Italy and he must have found these very evocative of the landscapes he saw there. There was also a lovely set of contemporary drawings by Thomas Hearne of Payne Knight's Herefordshire estate, Downton Castle. In the grounds of the estate he developed ideas of the Picturesque in the landscape. The show also included work by other artists who the collector had supported, John Hamilton Mortimer and John Robert Cozens who travelled with him to Italy...

Charming exhibition at the British Museum focusing on drawings by Watteau from their collection. These were delightful, delicate works. They explained how Watteau would draw the people around him in the streets and reuse and combine the images in his paintings. He also produced finished drawings for collectors. As ever in the print galleries the labels were clearly written and explained Watteau's use of drawing but also used the chronological display to outline his life and career. I felt I came out of the show appreciating Watteau a lot more as I sometimes find the paintings a bit twee. My fact of the day was that he was born in an area of France which had been Flemish and there is a real feel of Dutch genre scenes in his him work. Favourites included this lovely back view and the way he uses the stripes to reflect the shape of the body below and this picture of two maids which he drew when in England for a year. Closed 17 September 2025