Cathy's Art Diary

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery looking at the life and work of the 19th century artist Georges Seurat. Amy Mechowski, a freelance art historian, started by leading us though Seurat’s life and techniques. She outlined ideas of colour contrast, Pointillism and Neo-Impressionism clearly, then talked us through the main paintings which used these ideas. I n the second half she focused on Seurat’s works which would appear in the “Radical Harmony” exhibition at the Gallery. Since I listened to the talk I have visited the show and this was a useful introduction to what I saw there.

Useful online lecture from the National Gallery discussing the new still-life room created as a result of the recent rehang of the collection. Bart Cornelis, Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings 1600-1800 at the gallery and Sarah Herring, an associate curator there outlined the history of still-life painting and discussed the paintings they had chosen for the room to illustrate this. The room covers from the 17th to the 19th century. They then widened the talk out to point us at 20th century examples by Cezanne and Picasso in rooms 43 and 45. This was followed by a lively Q&A session ranging from the role of insects in these paintings, through the Roman frescos in Pompeii and a discussion of who bought this pictures.

Excellent online lecture from ARTscapades comparing the work of Anselm Kiefer and Vincent Van Gogh. Although the talk was instigated by the current exhibition of the same title at the Royal Academy, Ben Street made it more than a description of the show and instead developed a clear and well thought out discussion of the similarities in the artists work despite working about a century apart. He explained how Kiefer, the contemporary artist, has always responded to Van Gogh’s work from his first trip out of German using a travel grant to retrace Van Gogh’s travels in Europe. He spent time comparing works by both artists and tracing the links. He discussed the concept of ‘deskilling’ in art as well as how both artists view the role of artists. My favourite section looked at how we view older art with contemporary eyes bringing to it events which have happened since the work was painted. For example how can we look at Van Gogh’s painting of his boots without thinking of the image...

Enlightening online discussion from the National Gallery around Nicola Moorby’s book on Turner and Constable. Matthew Morgan interviewed the author examining her argument that the two landscape artists were not the rivals they have been made out to be. She argues that there were very different characters who would not have been friends but that the perceived competition between them actually encouraged them to become better artists. She chose a series of pairs of paintings to compare the two artists and to examine their different approaches. There was a lively Q&A session at the end covering their relative fame at the time, their approach to the slave trade and why Constable did full scale sketches for his 6ft paintings.

Delightful lecture at the National Gallery on Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting. This was the first of a series of member talks based on a new set of books on individual paintings in the gallery to mark its 200th anniversary. In this event Aliki Braine interviewed the art critic Martin Gayford about his work on this painting. The started by asking why he chose this work and he described how, when writing a book on Van Gogh and the Yellow House, he had come to the gallery and sat with the paintings from that period including this one. They discussed how Van Gogh had journeyed south to find new light to paint and how sunflowers may have symbolised this to him. They also talked about how this series of paintings were received by Gaugin for whom they’d been painted for his arrival at the Yellow House and what the hang of them might have looked like. Finally they looked at how the work has been viewed since and why it has come to symbolise the artist to many viewers. This was my f...

Useful lecture from ARTscapades introducing the Hiroshige exhibition at the British Museum. I am fond of Japanese prints but don’t know a lot about them so this was a much-needed talk before visiting the exhibition which I have yet to do. Hiroshige was working in the early 19th century so was one of the artists influencing artists like Van Gogh and Whistler. Alfred Haft explained how the show had come about following a gift of 35 prints from the collection of Alan Medaugh which has been enhanced by a further loan of 82 prints from his collection. He talked us through the five sections of the show with illustrations from each of them. He took us through the artists landscape, urban scenes, designs for fans and images of the natural world. I now feel ready for the show.

Magical discussion at Charleston Farmhouse as part of the Charleston Festival looking at the life and work of William Blake. Philip Hoare, author of a new biography of Blake was interviewed by the writer Michael Bracewell and led us through the artists life and work with excellent illustrations. Most magical was readings of Blake’s letters and poems by actor Jack Farthing which added an extra layer to the event.

Interesting discussion at Charleston Farmhouse as part of the Charleston Festival looking at the life and art of Paul Gauguin. It brought together the author of a recent biography, Sue Prideaux, with Mette Gauguin, the artist’s great granddaughter chaired by Michael Prodger, associate editor of the New Statesman. Both had sought to place Gauguin as a man of his time rather than judging him by contemporary standards. They talked us through his life and I learnt that he gone to the Americas to help build the Panama Canal but it went bust before he got there!

Useful online lecture from ARTScapades describing the exhibition of drawings by Victor Hugo at the Royal Academy. I had visited this excellent exhibition a few days before so it was less of an introduction for me and more of a rediscovery. Sarah Lea guided us through the show’s layout highlighting some key works. I must admit didn’t get a lot from the talk which I hadn’t got from the show which was clearly narrated. I would like to have heard a bit more about how the show was put together and what she had learnt from doing it.

Surprising exhibition at the Royal Academy of drawings by the author Victor Hugo. I’d gone along on the basis I try to see everything but wasn’t expecting a lot, however I was blown away. There was an odd mix of works of amazing draftsmanship and surprisingly experimental and abstract work. It made me think of William Blake. I think my favourites were the detailed, accurate works including this amazing chain. I also liked the atmospheric castles. I loved that the first work was this cartoon called “The Art Lover” and here we ask were. Closed 29 June 2025 Reviews Times Telegraph Evening Standard  

Beautiful exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of late 19th century portraits by Stanisław Wyspiański better known as a playwright, poet and the originator of modern Polish theatre. I loved the expressive nature of these works which were an interesting comparison to the Munch exhibition which was on in the gallery at the same time. I had a real sense of seeing and getting to know Wyspianski’s friends and family and seeing a cross section of intellectual Polish life at the time. Closes 13 July 2025 Review Times

Intriguing small exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery looking at a photographers’ studio in London run by women and specialising in photographing women. The studio was set up at the end of the 19th century by Lallie Charles and run with her sisters Rita and Isabella Martin until Rita set up her own studio.   Charles specialised in photographing society ladies for the magazines which were becoming popular. The show featured the photographs alongside the features they were used in. Martin concentrated on stars of the stage and screen and there was a delightful selection of her work. Needless to say my favourite was a picture of the actress Gertie Miller with her dog Chum. As well as showcasing the work of these photographers the show also reflected the changing role of women in the early 20th century. Closes 19 October 2025  

Delightful exhibition at the National Gallery showcasing Mexican artist Jose Maria Velasco. I hadn’t come across this 19th century artist before but having done a number of courses on landscape recently he fitted stylistically to a post Turner/Constable period and reminded me of Hudson River School work. I particularly liked his wide vistas which often combined new industry with the natural landscape. The show explained how he took a scientific interest in the world around him devising “Flora of the Valley of Mexico” , a short-lived publication for which he made precise illustrations and became a draftsman for the Museo Nacional in 1880 recording archaeological sites and geology. Closes 19 August 2025 Review Guardian

Interesting online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum on a display there on the designer Pugin and Hardman who manufactured his metalwork objects. Angus Paterson and Max Donnelly explained how the museum had acquired a cache of 700 designs by Pugin for Hardman in 2023 which formed the core of the display and were being shown alongside some of the objects made from them. The took us through the lives of the two men and their correspondence then explained the themes of the show with examples from each section. I was particularly interested to hear about Pugin’s house The Grange in Ramsgate along with its adjoining church and library which you can now visit so that’s on the list!

Surprising exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery of portraits by Munch. I say surprising as it was relatively cheerful. Munch’s expressionist work can feel quite full on and miserable but I got sense of friendship and communities. The works were arranged by how he knew the sitter with sections on family, Bohemians, dealers and collectors and supporters. There was a sense of sadness though, bordering on the comical as you read the labels and many of the sitters died young or were involved in other tragedies. The bold colours struck you and in the enclosed space particularly in the end room of full length works you felt you were walking among a group of friends. I will moan though about the placement of some of the room labels and some pictures in the spaces between displays which had been created. There wasn’t enough space for people to stop and read and it created bottle necks particularly at the busy members’ preview I attended. Closes 15 June 2025 Reviews Times ...

Interesting online lecture from ARTscapades looking at salon culture in 18th and 19th century Japan. The talk focused on a display in the Japan galleries at the British Museum so Rosina Buckland set the scene outlining the museum’s collection room of Japanese artefacts and prints. She also talked us through some recent acquisitions. Akiko Yano then talked about salon culture defining it as privately formed groups of men and women who practiced the same art form or had the same hobby. She talked about how these grouping often but across the rigid class structure of the country. Yano had some lovely illustrations of the idea but they felt a bit random at times rather than forming a narrative. I need to pop up the galleries to take a look for myself. Update: I never got to it.  

Disappointing online lecture from the National Gallery looking back at their Van Gogh exhibition as it drew to a close. These ‘reflecting’ events seem to vary in what they are trying to do. Others I’ve attended look at what the galley and curators have learnt from the show and its reception. However in this case Sheyamali Sudesh, art educator and artist, reflected on what the works in the show had meant to her. She paused on some works for feedback from the audience to give one-word responses to how the paintings made them feel. It was all very nice and reflective but to me I look to these talks to educate and inform rather than to share responses to the art. However it was a good opportunity to revisit the works particularly as I’d failed to revisit the previous day as it was so busy but I’d have liked more from it.  

Excellent online lecture from the National Gallery looking at the rivalry of the landscape artists Turner and Constable. Matthew Morgan, who had been the director of Turner’s House clearly outlined the difference between the artists both in their art works and characters. He looked sat each in turn discussing their lives and influences. He then went on to compare and contrast their work taking moments when they painted the same subject such as Stonehenge, Salisbury Cathedral and the Chain Pier in Brighton. he described how Constable created a sense of calm but Turner looked to heightened emotions. He ended by look at the famous Royal Academy show where they were showing side by side and Turner added a red buoy to a seascape on varnishing day. There were insightful Q&A sessions and I suspect more than one of the audience had recently done the National Gallery course on the artist out of doors which I had also done. This talk made an interesting postscript to the course. ...

Lively online   discussion from the National Gallery looking at fashion and masculinity via portraits in the gallery’s collection. The event was chaired by Jacqui Ansell, an expert of the history of fashion, who brought together ph student Holly James Johnson dressed as her drag king alter ego Orlando and fashion journalist Mark O’Flaherty. They started by looking at the clone like male fashion in Manet’s “Music in the Tuileries” from 1862 then looked back to the 18th century to discuss how styles had changed from a more ornate aesthetic.   They looked at the ideas of the Macaroni and Dandy and the clothing of the Grand Tour and how styles which look feminine to us were considered masculine at the time. I liked the free flow of this event with some fascinating facts and stories coming out of the discussion.

Comprehensive and enjoyable online lecture from ARTscapades introducing the exhibition at the Courtauld on Monet’s views of the River Thames. The curator of the show, Karen Serres, lead us clearly through the three series of paintings, gave us the background to how Monet painted them and their afterlife from exhibition to sale.   I was fascinated to hear more about what London looked like at the time and how the subjects, Waterloo and Charing Cross bridges and the Houses of Parliament were all relatively new. I also loved the background information on Monet’s life in London including the fact that he is recorded on the 1901 census record for the Savoy, I had already been to the show and enjoyed it but this talk added a lot more information and I have revisited since to consolidate what I learnt and to cement the show in my mind.