Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting online study day from the London Art History Society on Picasso. Jacqueline Cockburn took us through Picasso’s life highlighting four key periods. It was clear and well-illustrated but I felt I would have liked even more to fill the gaps. We started with his early life in Malaga and Barcelona, looking at what a good draughtsman he was and how some of the subjects he started painting then continued throughout his life. I hadn’t realised how much his family had moved around in his youth. We then moved to the early years of his life in Paris Including the death of his friend Casagemas and the effect that had on his art, bringing in the blue period leading to “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” and Cubism. After lunch we moved on to his muse Marie-Theresa Walter. This was my favourite section as we were taken through the different ways he approached her as muse at different periods of their relationship. We ended with his series of works from the 1950s examining and deconstructi...

Interesting one  day course from the London Art History Society looking at the Impressionist, Berthe Morisot, and her impact as a woman artist. Jacqueline Cockburn started by looking at Morisot’s life and work with excellent illustrations. She talked us though how her style changed over the years and the subjects that she covered. We then went on to look at the wider artistic and social context within which she was working. Most interesting was thinking about how Paris had been designed to give male spaces in the city and female in the suburbs and how there were spaces into which women couldn’t go. In the afternoon we focused on other women artists, first those who were part of the Parisian avant garde. Ost of those we looked at became a success but we did also talk about how female dealers didn’t always help them. Finally we looked at artists who weren’t successful or who have been largely forgotten or eclipsed by their husbands. I would have liked a bit more on Morisot and...