Cathy's Art Diary

Fun annual art fair at the Mall Galleries   run by experienced art dealers. I’ve been to this show before and enjoyed it. I think it was a bit smaller this year but it still had a good mix of galleries with a nice selection of work at a variety of prices. Highlights this year were some nice Augustus John etchings, lovely still-lives by Anne Songhurst and an a-typical Peter Blake of a rose in a vase. My favourite piece was a John Piper sketch of a London bomb site in wonderful colours. A beautiful thing coming from devastation. Closed 26 March 2023

Fun art fair at the Mall Galleries combining contemporary and fine art in a friendly environment. This show bills itself as “the art fair staged by dealers for art lovers” and it was a great chance to get to know some new galleries and artists. A number of the galleries were from outside London so I had not come across them before. A lot of prices were quite reasonable but there was some more high end prices. The most expensive piece I spotted was a David Hockney print at £60,000.   I loved Elizabeth Harvey-Lees lovely display of prints including some Old Master works and had an interesting conversation on Stephen Lacey Modern and Contemporaries stall about Patricia Preece, Stanley Spencer’s second wife. I discovered lots of artists who were new to me too from Colin Willey’s seascapes, one of which illustrates this story, Anne Songhurst’s hyper-real still lives and Melissa Scott Miller’s urban landscapes. I’ll definitely look out for this show again next year. Closed 27 ...

Lovely exhibition at the Mall Galleries of new work by members of the New English Art Club. The club says it specialises in “figurative, observational and painterly work” which lead to a wonderful array of colourful, bold pictures. Due to lockdown there seemed to be a lot set in studios and exercises in putting together random items for still lives. The other side to that was some wonderful landscapes and close observation of the natural world. Pictures which caught my eye included “Between the Palazzi Venice” by John Walsom, an unusual view up at the roofs of two Grand Canal palaces and the space between them. Michael Corkrey’s large picture of a fallen tree on a forest floor was striking and included lots of wonderful detail. I also loved Diana Calvert’s gentle, classic still lives of pears and shallots. I pick as my favourite this picture by Michael Kilbride “Mid-Vintage Shoppers” as it includes things that attract me, a Stanley Spencer style, a vintage shop and a corgi! Cl...

Nice exhibition at the Mall Galleries of work by Welsh artists. This was an interesting selection of work of various subjects in various styles. I liked Anne Kear’s long seascapes, David Humprey’s grey townscapes and a beautiful still life of a glass vase by Mary Lace. Pictured thought is Aberaeron Harbour by Alice Tenant as it reminded me of happy family holidays and the wonderful honey ice cream you used to be able to buy there.   Closed 8 March 2020.

Delightful exhibition at the Mall galleries of 100 pictures by Bryan Senior. This was a lovely selection of pictures in different genres. My favourites some lovely Welsh landscapes in muted colours and his townscapes particularly those of the people in the Great Court at the British Museum. I love the way he cuts of people and scenes like a photograph. The pictures shown was a nostalgic one for me of rooftops in York. Closes 22 March 2020

Delightful exhibition at the Mall Galleries of work by members of the Royal Society of Portrait Artists. It’s always interesting to see that colleges, companies and organisations are still commissioning portraits although some of the more personal works were the better pictures. There were a lot of artists working in egg tempura and it was interesting to look at the tiny hatched strokes which built into highly realistic pictures. I loved the striking “Study of the Artist as a Heart Patient” by Jeff Stultens a series of self-portraits of his operation, recovery and ending with him sitting up in a chair. He’d asked the medical staff to document his treatment so he could paint this.   Alaister Adam’s portrait of Professor Roy Cowell pulled you across the room, partly because of the well composed background of a library’s red balcony and the stairwell behind which threw the figure out of the picture. Other pictures told stories like Sam Dalby’s “Packing Away” which show...

Good exhibition at the Mall Galleries of work by past winners of The Columbia Threadneedle Prize’s Visitors Choice Award. I was interested to note that I had seen the work of a couple of these artists in private galleries around London in the last year or so and the commentaries outlined what artists had gone on to do and how they had used their prize money. Boyd & Evans who do large scale landscape photos graphs of the USA which I had seen at Flowers Gallery had used the money to fund the trip to the US where they took the pictures I had seen in the gallery. The photos compare to the mammoth American Sublime landscapes of the 19th century. I liked Lewis Hazelwood-Horner’s painting of craftsmen in their workplaces and Robert Truscott’s bronzes of a First World War horse and a Prison of War. My favourite though were three huge hyper real canvases by Ben Johnson of classical interiors. Each was about 6ft by 4ft and they had a huge impact. I so wanted one. Anyone got...

Delightful exhibition at the Mall Galleries featuring the work of this collective of artists who combine traditional techniques to modern themes. I liked the Harriett Spratt’s wonderful rather Dutch style portraits particularly her triptych of three views of a young girl with a pony tail. I also liked Lizet Dingeman’s still lives putting objects and animals out of context particularly her wonderful dead duck. I was however blown away by the work of Helen Masacz. She seems to work in a number of genres but always using a realistic style. There were two lovely seascapes and some lovely self-portraits with a cattle skull. However my favourite was just a study of a rumpled bed with white bedding and a wonderful red morning light falling on it from one side. I also liked a shelf of weird slightly sinister objects normalised by the implication that it was part of an artist’s studio. Closes on 20 January 2017  

Interesting exhibition at the Mall Galleries of recent work by art graduates chosen by members of the Federation of British Artists. This show had a very similar premise to the Bloomberg Contemporaries next door at the ICA but was a completely different show. This one concentrated on ideas of representation and draftsmanship rather than ideas. Like next door there were still quite a lot of bad paintings but there was also some lovely work. I liked Felix Higham’s expressive figure groups and the anomalies in them like the outline of bottle floating on a bar. I also liked Conor Murgartoyd’s still lives in interiors. James Rogers take on Caravaggio’s Narcissus was interesting pairing a picture with a 3D printed sculpture. My favourite work was a stunning still life of surgeons instruments laid out in an operating theatre pictured from above by Inez-Hermione Mulford. It was larger than life and hyper real with modern Dutch Golden Age feel to. I’m not sure I could live wit...

Eclectic exhibition at the Mall Galleries of new work by members of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. I think this year wood work came out of the show best. There was some amazing furniture including a desk by Stephen Hampson, angled shelves which appeared to be supported by books by Armando Magino and Kevin Stamper’s colourful pieces using inlay based on pixilated watercolours. There were also some nice smaller wood pieces including the wood turning of Richard Shock. The glass work was also a highlight with Charlotte Wilkinson’s bright, chunky pieces and Cathryn Shilling’s colourful work. Closed on 21 August 2016  

Nice little exhibition at the Mall Galleries of life drawings from this art group which meets weekly with over 100 artists on its books. It was interesting to spot pictures obviously done at the same sitting so you got a sense of the sitter from various angles plus you could compare the approach the artists took. My favourites were Graham Wood’s simple water colour of female nude lying down from the back and Kalpna Saksena’s rather broken up images. Closed on 7 August 2016.  

Varied exhibition at the Mall Galleries for the Society of Women Artists. As ever at the Mall Galleries there was a really nice hang which set up interesting dialogues between works. Still lives seemed to come out of the show well. I loved Dani Humberstone’s surreal pictures which looked fine at first then you realised there were jigsaw shaped pieces taken out of them also Raquel Alvarez Sardina’s lovely still life of pears and Doreen Langhorn’s picture of a pestle and mortar. I liked Sara Knight’s picture of the steps to an underground station in the rain painted on a patchwork of magazine articles, also of London Rosemary Miller’s pictures in muted colours. Finally I loved Valerie Warren’s townscapes of Tuscany and Morocco. Closed on 7 August 2016.

Delightful exhibition at the Mall Galleries for this years shortlisted pictures for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Show. As I think I may have said before thank goodness for colleges, companies and organisations which are still commissioning portraits of their great and good as it is producing some amazing work. Quite early on I was struck by a wonderful portrait of Lord Skidelsky the economist by Alastair Adams.   I have seen him both talk and be an audience member at the Charleston festival and this was not just a good physical likeness but seemed to sum up his character and presence. There were some interesting poses such as Sam Dalby’s “Through Draft” of a man checking a chimney! Also some imaginary pictures such as Jeff Stuitiens’s “Imaginary conversation with Rembrandt” which shows him in Rembrandt’s studio with the man himself. I also liked Bob Last’s take Manet’s “Bar at the Folie Bergere” set in a modern coffee shop. My favourite picture wh...

Nice exhibition at the Mall Galleries of contemporary paintings of Britain’s churches by members of the Federation of British Artists. I thought this was a lovely idea for an exhibition and there were some really good pictures. I’d pick out the dreamy pastel coloured pictures by Peter Vincent particularly the one of St Mary the Virgin, Glynde. Also Peter Folkes watercolours with a great sense of colour. I’d pick out his picture of a church door with fantastic colours in the surrounding brick. The most unusual picture was of scaffolding in the dome of St Paul’s, an interesting innovative view by Roy Wright. These pictures were shown with a display in the centre of the room of sketches by Ronald Maddox for a set of stamps on village churches from 1972. Closed 20 December 2015.

Lovely selling exhibition at the Mall Galleries of work from members of the Society of Designers Craftsmen. I always enjoy their exhibitions but it was nice that this time the crafts people were at their stalls so you got a chance to talk to them about their work. I had bought a vase by Kathryn Bonson at a show in 2014 so it was really nice to meet her. Other nice ceramics included Margaret Gardiner’s lovely blue glazed work. There was some notable wood work around. I confess to a bias as a friend Richard Shock was exhibiting for the first time there and his wood turning with inlay was catching people’s eyes as we stood and talked. I also liked Simon Jewell marquetry work on boxes. I look forward to the next show in August which I hope will go back to the traditional exhibition format which gives more space for looking at the work however it’s great to have both styles! Closed 20 December 2015.  

Charming retrospective at the Mall Galleries of work by Charlotte Johnson Wahl, the mother of Bris Johnson. I admit I went out of curiosity but I really liked the work. It had rather a 1970s feel in bold colours. On the whole it felt quite domestic and about home and friends but there was also a period where she’s done portraits on commission. Early on I was struck by a wonderful picture of Tower Bridge from City Hall which had been commissioned for the building. I had a strange but interesting sense of perspective. She had also done other great cityscapes including one looking down from a high rise in New York with a helicopter passing between buildings. She had done super group portraits often of dinner parties and families. There was a great one of the SDP Gang of Four.   As I went round I realised Boris’s sister was there with a chap who she lead over to that picture and took a photo of him with it. When I looked properly I twigged it was David Owen, who was o...

Interesting show at the Mall Galleries of work by members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. There was a wide range of styles in the show and I was struck by how many people had used egg tempera as a medium. You could also tell that colleges and research bodies seemed to be the main commissioners of pictures. In some cases it would have been nice to know a bit more about the sitter as there were obviously things in the picture which alluded to their work an interests but you weren’t quite sure what they meant. Pictures that stood out included a Dutch quality picture of Julian Fellows by Teri Anne Scobie, the group portraits by Richard Foster and some great pictures of women by Bendon Kelly. My favourite however was by Fiona Scott and was called “Henry (Young Farmer)” a very real picture of a young man in ripped jeans and a sweat shirt with a young farmers logo.

Rather a mixed exhibition at the Mall Galleries of work by Japanese female artists. On the whole the work in a Japanese style seemed much better than that in a Western style.   Some of the Western style had a feel of a very poor regional amateur art show. However as I read the commentaries I warmed to it more as there were some very heart felt reasons why the artist had painted an image which were more to do with them needing to paint it rather than any market or fashionable forces.   There was a lot of work in dried flowers which was really intricate and beautiful such as Timoe Sei’s “House of Time” which was like a 1930s embroidered garden. There were also a number of shadow boxes which I have not come across before, sort of 3D pictures, and a lot of calligraphy. My favourite work was a picture by Taeko Tsunada which was a cubist style picture of docks.

Small exhibition at the Mall Galleries of prize winners in the annual Artists and Illustrators magazine competition. The works are quite mixed. I liked Alan Morley’s “Old Kentish Lane” a wonderful portrait shaped lime green landscape. Holly Brodie’s “Self Reflection at a Red Signal” a picture of the inside of a tube train looking thought the window at another train with the reflection of the artist hidden in the window was clever. I also liked Jo Quigley’s “Little Boxes” a water colour of suburban street with layers of roofs. I would have been interested to know if any of the work had been done as an illustration and if so what for.

Tempting exhibition at the Mall Galleries of craft works by members of the Society of Designer Craftsmen. I remember this show and many of the people who exhibited from last year. My favourite was still Kathryn Bonson’s ceramics. I bought a vase by her last year. This year’s work was slightly more figurative as well as featuring amazing landscape effects. I also liked Margaret Gardiner’s lustre effect pots. There was a lot of amazing jewellery and I liked Fumi’s large flowers on a pearl necklace and Michele White’s rather art nouveaux organic work. I am not so convinced by the textile work. It is very intricate and beautiful but I’m not sure what you’d do with some of it. I would have liked to have seen more work in wood. There was some lovely furniture but compared to come of the other materials not enough.