Cathy's Art Diary

Vibrant exhibition at Eames Fine Art of drawings, prints and paintings by Andrew Marr and Gillian Ayres. The works were mainly abstracts in bright colours with the artists using a similar palette. It was only later that it dawned on me that Andrew Marr is THE Andrew Marr off the telly who has turned to painting following a stroke. I liked his expressive mark making. Closed 12 July 2026

Beautiful exhibition at Eames Fine Art of prints made from Klimt drawings in 1915. These were delicate drawings of women both clothed and naked dream with a few expressive lines. Weirdly despite being in black and white your eye imagined Klimt’s colours in them. There was a good narrative about how Klimt used drawing and describing how and why the prints were made. The prints were collotypes and the blurb explained the process. Most movingly the original drawings had been in the collection of August and Serena Lederer that was later seized and largely destroyed by the Nazis in 1938 so most of the originals are now lost. Thank you to the chap looking after the gallery for a warm welcome and a good conversation about the work. Closed 29 March 2026

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

Stunning exhibition at Eames Fine Art of the complete set of prints by Salvador Dali for Dante’s   Inferno. I think I had seen these once before in Barcelona but it was real treat to find them again on a walk along Bermondsey Street. The works have a real sense of being by Dali but respond sympathetically to the text. Sadly the planned book was never printed but the prints stand as an art work on their own. Closed 18 May 2025

Fun exhibition at Eames Fine Art of new prints by Mychael Barratt. I love Barratt’s witty, bright prints which up to now have added dogs to famous art works creating a pastiche of the previous artist’s style. He has now branched into cats! I don’t think they are quite as successful as the cats are slightly cartoon like so they seem less of a nod to the original artist plus I’m more of a dog person anyway! Closed 2 March 2025  

Bright exhibition   at Eames Fine Art of prints of London by Gail Brodholt organised into an A-Z. I love Brodholt’s clear, colourful prints and liked her short descriptions of the scenes. The prints were from a range of dates with different titles to the A-Z. I particularly like her scenes of tube stations and railway junctions as they are such iconic London scenes. Some of the prints see to have been made with an iridescent ink and I’d have liked to know more about that. It gives a lovely effect. Closed 3 November 2024

Interesting exhibition at Eames Fine Art of new work by Chris Roantree and Akarsh Kummattummal a collaborative print making duo. The chap in the gallery explained how Roantree is an artist and etcher and Kummattummal comes from the world of games design. Rather than traditional roles of etcher and artist the pair collaborate on the compositions. You could see the influence of the gaming world in these smoky works with strange creatures and animals appearing out of the mist. Closed 13 May 2024  

Beautiful exhibition at Eames Fine Art of new work by Ross Loveday. I loved these wistful but strong paintings inspired by landscape some of which dissolve into abstract shapes while others, particularly the river scenes, have a Turner-like quality. Close up the works were a blend of thick paint, thin wash and scratch marks but as you backed away ethereal imagined scenes appeared. Closed 2 June 2024

Joyous exhibition at Eames Fine Art of ceramics by Anita Klein. I know Klein as a printmaker so was delighted to find she also does ceramics in her vibrant colours with comfortable female figures. I noted a number reflect the prints I saw in her last show about swimming during lockdown. It was strangely a good pendant to the Antony Gormley which just staggered out of, as that was all about the male body expressed in a male way whereas this was about the female body as only another woman can express it. You look at them and image what it feels like to be that person. I liked the vases and large platters best as they gave more space for the figures but I also like miniature vases of female heads and shoulders with a hole in the top of the head for flowers which continued the composition. Many thanks to the lady who was still setting up for letting me stay once I’d barged in and for chatting when I couldn’t contain myself from talking about the work. Closed 28 January 2024

Interesting exhibition at Eames Fine Art of prints by Graham Sutherland. This was a lovely collection of Sutherland prints based on natural phenomena. The earlier works were more lifelike and readable such as “A Bird and a Mouse” then they became more abstracted while usually still recognisable things or landscapes. I loved his use of a bright yellow, used particularly well in this picture of thorn trees or is it Golgotha? I also liked works which were an abstract form but at the bottom he showed the three objects which had informed it. Closed 18 February 2024    

Stunning exhibition at Eames Fine Art of woodcuts by Trevor Price. The seascapes in particular drew you from across the room with a high level of realism, but close up you could see the delicate hatching and wonderful texture in the white areas. I also liked the dense prints of trees. It was interesting to see a video in the show showing Price cutting and printing up a block. Closed 22 October 2023  

Witty exhibition   at Eames Fine Art of prints by Mychael Barratt. I love Barrett’s dog prints, where he produces prints in the style of famous artists inserting extra dogs, and this show had a few of these but it also had other clever works set in London. I spent ages looking at a tube map with clever vignettes for the names of stations from famous people who lived there to puns. I found myself laughing out loud. I loved his lockdown piece, a take on the Ghent Altarpiece featuring the people and buildings of Soho. My favourite was this take on Bruegel’s “Four Seasons” set in London parks. I have to use the Greenwich one to illustrate this. Closed 19 November 2023  

Delightful exhibition at the Eames Fine Art Print Gallery of new work by Anne Desmet. These were mainly small, fine woodcuts including views of London. I loved a set of the British Museum with varying degrees of colour and abstraction. I particularly liked a set of Manchester including this lovely one of the swimming pool. She takes a clear but unusual view of her subjects. Closed 20 August 2023  

Fun exhibition at Eames Fine Art of Pop Art prints. The show included a lot of Andy Warhol pieces including three versions of The Scream, some Marilyns and Dollar signs. It was interesting to see some early Joe Tilson pieces having recently seen a show of his new prints as well as a Gerald Laing, some Keith Harding and a Marc Quinn. My favourites were from the “Moonstrip Empire News” series by Eduardo Paolozzi, fun collections of images with his added colour and shapes. Closed 3 September 2023  

Delightful exhibition at Eames Fine Art of prints, watercolours and etchings on copper by Jason Hicklin of the Thames. As I had just got off the boat from Woolwich at London Bridge, I felt like this was a continuation of my journey. I loved the way he captures the silhouettes of the buildings and the sense of light on the water very simply and atmospherically. I was amused at the way he captured the odd roof in the City that looks like a play video symbol. You could feel the influence of Whistler and it lovely to have an updated version post Docklands. Closed 7 May 2023    

Delightful exhibition at Eames Fine Art’s print gallery of work by Austin Cole. This was a lovely selection of prints and drawings of Wales, London, Venice and New York, all places I love so they had a lot of resonance. I loved the way he captured the decaying the Venice palaces, real shades of “Stones of Venice”. I was fascinated to compare the drawings and prints as the day before I’d done a show at the Courtauld on Renaissance drawings used for prints. The drawings had a lightness whereas as the prints had a dark, solidity. Both worked well. My favourites were a series of wide prints of Borough Market, which, despite being small were full of detail and had a majesty about them. Closes 11 September 2022  

Joyful exhibition at Eames Fine Art of new work by John Crossley. These were bright, colourful, abstracted images of real things in acrylic on paper with a few prints. Chatting to the chap on duty I learned that many of them are based on the Sussex seaside which I know well. I loved the layered effect with sharp edged blocks of paint which almost looked like collage. Some had rounds blobs of paint with gave them a feel of Bloomsbury decoration. I liked the ones that felt like looking up at the as sky such as this one called “As I Take My Morning Promenade”. Also the ones which used a strong artificial pink. I’d have like a skirt made of material printed with some of the more patterned pieces. Closes 4 September 2022    

Bright exhibition at Eames Fine Art of prints by John Hoyland. These were large, abstract works created in the 1980s and 1990s shown with sketchbooks and the Poloid photos from which he took inspiration. I loved the way the prints were overpainted with swirls giving them texture and a sense of the artists hand. Closes 14 November 2021  

Joyful exhibition at Eames Fine Art of new work by Anita Klein. The power of the colour in these pictures pulls you into the gallery and you can’t help but smile at these joyful pictures of women swimming or getting ready to swim. The ripples on the water have shades of 1960s Hockney swimming pools but instead of beautiful young men these contented women in bright costumes bob happily in the water and smile at you as they get ready to dive in.  I can’t swim but they make me want to join them, maybe just for the cup of tea afterwards! Closes 1 November 2020  

Fascinating exhibition at Eames Fine Art of prints by Hogarth. All the usual suspects were here but with an excellent commentary on them in the context of their time plus a history of the engraving plates. The prints shown here came from the last printing off Hogarth’s own repaired plates in 1822 and were lovely, crisp versions. It was nice to be able to get up very close to the prints, yes the glasses were off, and see how they were made up of tiny hatched lines, in an almost Pointillist style. It made you appreciate the workmanship and planning involved. I particularly like the prints of London and theatrical life such as the attached of strolling actresses dressing in a barn, not exactly much privacy but I guess that wasn’t the point! Closes 2 February 2020