Cathy's Art Diary

Excellent online study morning by Paula Nuttall looking at the sculptors who came after Donatello in Florence. Nuttall had already done a good three-week course on Donatello himself to reflect the exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. That course had led to questions about the artists legacy and how sculpture in the city evolved from him to Michelangelo’s David in 1501-5 and this study morning addressed some of those issues. The talk could have descended into just a lost of names and pretty pictures but Nuttall crafted the narrative to show a continuation and development over the period emphasising the links between artists. I was surprised at how much of the work I knew from trips to the city without realising its significance. We are so often distracted from a lot of work by the power of a few artistic superstars. I learnt about some fantastic artists who I will look out for in the future.

Beautiful display at the Victoria and Albert Museum of work by artist in residence Rebecca Stevenson. These works are being made in response to the current Donatello exhibition and are displayed in the gallery usually devoted to his work. They were mainly exquisite sculptures in wax, I assume alluding to the practice of many sculptors to make wax models either as part of the bronze casting process or as a guide for carving.   I’d seen the Donatello show and they are an elegant response. As it is work in progress there was little explanation of the pieces which was a shame but I am hoping I’d I go back nearer the end of the residency there might be more information. Closes 14 July 2023

Excellent three week course from Paula Nuttall on Donatello. I always enjoy Paula’s courses for her lively delivery, enthusiasm and deep knowledge. She always overruns but that is fine by me as it is all good. Week one concentrated on the life and career of the artist looking at works in chronological order and examining any documentary evidence. It was good to get an overview of where he had worked and when and the rapid run through works set us up for the next two weeks. Week two looked at the materials he used and the techniques needed to work with them. Starting with marble we then went through bronze, wood, ceramics, a local stone called Macigno and glass. She talked us through a selection of masterpieces with super illustrations including a number from the current exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Finally in the last week we looked at what Alberti described as “movements of the soul” ie how Donatello expressed narrative and emotion through body language and fa...

Fabulous exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum on the Renaissance master Donatello. This show is beautifully designed to replicate Florentine squares and loggias and gives a wonderful sense of space, both to move around and to think about the work. The descriptions and commentary are intelligent but lightly done making them quick to read and understand.    The arrangement sets up amazing conversations between objects but partly leaves you to discover them for yourself. They have two panels of an external pulpit from Prato, shown here, and throughout the show descriptions refer to it. The show doesn’t dwell on what isn’t here but uses what is to tell the story. In the last section on the legacy there are pieces which do refer to famous things which aren’t here. A clever way of doing it. I realised that, like others around me, I was gazing at objects with a sense of awe. Go and give yourself time to really look in detail as particularly the low reliefs are packed...

Useful online lecture from the Victoria and Albert Museum introducing their new exhibition on the Renaissance sculptor Donatello. The two main curators of the show, Peta Motture and Whitney Kerr-Lewis, set out the aims of the show and how they used the layout to emphasis them. This is one of three shows, the others having been in Florence and Berlin, and they explained how, although the museums had worked together, this was not a travelling exhibition but three separate ones with each taking a different approach. I liked the fact they walked you though the layout of the show introducing us to some of the main exhibits and explaining why were chosen for the show. It was a fascinating insight into the thinking behind a show. I had hoped to go to see the exhibition the day after the talk but caught Covid, the gift that keeps on giving, and was grounded for a few days. I am out and about again now and hope to go next week so I’ll keep my main comments for them. I’m also doing a thre...

Fascinating and fun online lecture from ARTscapades looking at the work of Donatello taking Vasari’s biography of him as a starting point. Richard Stemp guided us chronologically through Donatello’s work in Florence as a preview of the upcoming exhibition on the artist at Palazzo Strozzi. I spent a lot of time in the city a few years ago and this was a lovely way of revisiting familiar works. It was a nice idea to tie this into Vasari’s biography to show how the author worked and made mistakes. Stemp had some great illustrations and talked us through the works clearly pointing out how innovative they were. It was particularly interesting to think about how the works would have been originally seen as so many of them are now out of their original context.