Cathy's Art Diary

Charming exhibition at the Bankside Gallery showcasing work by members of the Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. Shows at this gallery are always hung well, setting up interesting themes from a diverse collection of work, and this was no exception. It is also refreshing to see watercolours and prints shown together but I did find the prices a bit on the steep side.   There was a lovely section of landscapes and I’d highlight Frances Hatch’s small but thickly impasto works and Martin Jacob’s beautiful “Where the Crow Flies”. Then a section on gardens including lovely bold flowers by Paul Catherall. It was nice to bring together the black and white prints and then to have a wall of the smaller, colourful pieces. My favourite was this picture in acrylic of the Thames in acrylic by John Duffin. Closed 10 September 2023    

Fun exhibition at Bankside Gallery of prints by members of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. There was a lovely variety of work and I was very tempted to buy but resisted. Highlights included the attached engraving of a staircase by Louise Hayward. I loved the different textures in it. I also liked a lino print of the Thames with mudlarkers and an old pier, some classic still lives by Annie Williams and the Hilary Paynter’s Lawyers London which a dense picture of the Inns of Court printed in sections and collages. Closed 2 June 2023

Nice exhibition   at the Bankside Gallery of new works by members of the Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. The shows at this gallery are always nicely hung picking up themes between the pictures. Highlights in this show include Stuart Robertson’s long pictures of the British Museum and the Duomo in Milan, Laura Boswell’s peaceful Japanese woodcuts and Wendy Jacob’s cool square still lives. My favourites were Thomas Plunkett’s abstracts particular the picture I use here which made me think of a Venetian interior. Closes 15 September 2019

Annual summer exhibition at Bankside Gallery showing work by members of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers.   As ever this show was nicely hung with informal connections between images being set up. I liked Annie William’s still lives of modern ceramics in muted colour, also Joseph Winkleman’s tiny prints of London. However my favourite this year was Stuart Robinson with his architectural watercolours of iconic buildings against a squared background picking up the colours of the stone.   Closed on 9 September 2018  

Annual summer exhibition at Bankside Gallery of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. This show is always fun with lots of affordable works. This year’s standouts included Peter Quinn’s nice watercolours of Venice and Sue Howell’s bright landscapes. I also liked John Duffin’s prints of Tube stations. My favourite piece was Karen Keogh’s “City Rooftops” looking across roofs towards Canary Wharf. Closed on 10 September 2017  

Varied exhibition at Bankside Gallery from the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers as their summer exhibition. There was a Shakespeare theme to some of this show as artists from both societies had worked with the Globe Theatre on their Shakespeare celebration. I loved some of the theatre being built and Michael Barratt’s map of Shakespeare’s London. Other highlights included pictures of Venice by Peter Quinn and Martin Leman’s “Across the Bay” a view of the lights across a bay with two great horizontals of the sea and sky separated by the thin line of lights. My favourite was “Winter Sunshine in a West London Garden” by Liz Butler a lovely picture of light in tress and brick houses. Closes 11 September 2016.

Interesting exhibition at Bankside Gallery organised by the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. All the works were for sale and there were some lovely things but I managed to come away unscathed! I loved two square landscapes by Louise Davies and a lovely picture looking up the Thames from the O2 by John Duffin. Peter Ford’s “Book Stack” was clever as it was a collage of a pile of books but each section had been hand blocked before being cut out and added to the composition. The show was hung very cleverly to create dialogues between the pictures. I particularly liked a picture of the Tate Modern extension next to one of an Indian fort of a similar composition.