Cathy's Art Diary

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 online tour from the National Gallery of their current virtual exhibition Fruits of the Spirt. Revd Dr Ayla Lepine, who has been working at the gallery on an Ahmanson Fellowship on art and religion, talked about putting together this online exhibition. She explained how it was based on the personal and communal attributes set out by St Paul in a letter to the Galatians. Each of the nine attributes is represented by a painting from the National Gallery and one from a regional one. They are shown online as if in a gallery with a room for each pair. It also comes with an online catalogue with essays on the paintings not only from the galleries but also by community groups in each area represented. Lepine also talked us through some of the pairings. I’m not sure I always understood the links but it did set up some interesting contrasting styles and ideas such as Van Eyck’s “Arnolfini Wedding” from 1434 with “Two Auld Wifies, Dundee” by Ron Stenberg from 1982. I have sinc...