Cathy's Art Diary

Bright installation at the National Maritime Museum of square silk banners. The banners were the result of a project to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee last year in which hundreds of schools across the UK and the Commonwealth designed squares inspired by the late Queen’s love of nature. Selected designs were made into silk flags which were paraded in front of Buckingham Palace as part of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. Each square had a scalloped edge referencing postage stamps and evidently a silhouette of an inspirational leader, but I must admit I missed that when I saw them. The works mainly hung as a large banner over the staircase to the exhibition galleries creating a splash of colour. Some others also hung along the back wall and it was nice to be able to see the detail in then. Around the balustrade were more of the designs for banners.   A clever way of giving the project a new life and shown now as a tribute to the late Queen. Closes 14 April 2023

Thin exhibition at the Visitors’ Centre at the Old Royal Naval College marking visits by the Queen to the college over the years to mark the Platinum Jubilee. Information boards described a series of visits, illustrated with good photographs and visitors books. They were also showing the Pathe newsreel of the dinner to mark 150th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in the Painted Hall in 1955. They made good use of what they had and it brought back memories. I had a vague feeling I remembered watching the knighting of Sir Francis Chichester on tv but turns out I was only 5 so I suspect I don’t. Closes 29 August 2022

Nice little exhibition at the British Museum looking at sculptor Mary Gillick’s design for the Queen’s head for the coinage on her accession. This was a lovely way for the museum to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. It outlined how Gillick based the image on Renaissance models which giving it a modern spin. The image continued to be used until the 1990s and I’d never noticed that the Queen is shown in a laurel wreath with a ribbon. It talked about Gillick worked the plaster image and the Royal Mint reduced it in size mechanically . The show also included other work by Gillick including medals of The Duke of Edinburgh. On the death of her niece the family gave her medals and plaster models to the British Museum and the Henry Moore Institute. Closed 31 July 2023

Fun sculpture trail around Westminster of decorated corgis to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. If you follow my blog you’ll know I love a sculpture trail what you might not know is that my father bred Cardigan Corgis and we always had at least one and sometimes five around the house. This trail was therefore made for me! I spent a happy afternoon tracking down about half the 19 corgis and I had already found four on the east side of Trafalgar Square a few days earlier. Some had a London theme but others were inspired by the places the Queen has travelled and the outfits she has worn. They were all designed by contemporary artists and designers and named after the Queen's own dogs.  I liked the London ones best although I admit they were a bit of a cliché but you need a cliché for Jubilee year. My favourite though was one which just looked like a giant corgi by Miya Tsuruda-Behan outside Westminster Cathedral but when you got up close you could see the paint strokes and rea...

Beautiful and innovative installation at the Tower of London of wildflowers planted in the moat to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. I was blown away with the idea of this work and booked to see it quite soon after it was opened. It was a bit behind where it was expected to be and some of the planting looked a bit thin. However I had been warned and offered a free ticket for later in the year. In fact I am going again next week so from the flowers being held back by low temperatures it will be interesting to see how it has coped with very high temperatures. There were good commentary boards explaining why it was behind including the lack of rain and cold. Evidently there were more frosts in April than February this year. The east side had been planted first and it was a bit further ahead. There were very friendly guides who explained that they are hoping to continue the display next year and they are interesting to see how the first planting self-seeds and looks in future years. ...

Fun online talk from the National Gallery to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Matthew Morgan looked at a picture that was acquired by the gallery in each decade of the Queen’s reign emphasising that she didn’t influence their acquisition and they don’t reflect her taste but is was just a fun way of looking at some of the collection. He covered works from 1570 until 1910 and actually looking at this list you can see how tastes have changed from collecting the obvious available works to choosing works which fill gaps in the collection. He talked us though each picture saying a bit about why it was painted and looking at some of the details. He told us stories about the acquisition in a few cases and I’d have liked to know a bit more about how they were acquired. I thought you might be interested to see the list. Obviously, these weren’t the only works acquired just a selection. 1950s Mr and Mrs William Hallett (The Morning Walk) by Thomas Gainsborough 1795 acquired in 1954 ...