Cathy's Art Diary

Colourful exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland looking at the life and work of Arthur Melville. This was a chronologically arranged show with lovely pictures from throughout Melville’s career. The early section looked at his two years in Paris and his influences. I loved his picture from the Royal Academy “A Cabbage Garden”, a study in the colour in cabbages in a rather Millet like picture. From there it looked at his travels in the Middle East. It explained his reputation as an adventurer came from this time when he was attached by bandits. He did wonderful open air watercolours into this period which he developed into scenes into narrative pictures. I preferred the freer early versions as sometime the stories in the finished versions seemed a bit kitsch. He had a really good eye for composing and cropping an image. There was a nice section on his work in the Orkneys including a lovely picture of a dark Orkney cathedral pulled together by the white splash o...

Fascinating exhibition over a number of galleries in Scotland giving an overview of 25 years of contemporary art in Scotland. I saw the works at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Scottish National Gallery and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. As with all contemporary art overview there was good stuff and not so good stuff but I think I only said ‘silly’ and moved on rapidly about twice! On the bad side, I am not sure videos always work in a gallery space. Much as I found Henry Coombes film about Landseer amusing it didn’t have the same feeling as viewing an art work. Similarly Rosalind Nashashibi’s films were interesting but just demanded too much of your time. I was interested in Callum Innes large geometric pictures which were made my painting square then using turpentine to remove one square. It’s hard to describe but a good effect and an interesting technique. Who could fail to be amused by Ross Sinclair’s “Real Life Rocky Mountain” which put a hill in...

A slightly random exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of recently acquired prints and drawings although it did include some lovely works. I loved a Sir Joseph Noel Paton, head of Robert the Bruce, particularly as his father’s collection included some of the bones of the Bruce and his mother claimed to be descended from him. The picture itself was a wonderful big head of a Victorian Medieval Knight. There was a nice view of Rom by Turner on his first trip there in 1819-20 but with slightly odd foreground figures. Plus a nice view of Harlech Castle by Paul Sandby, who I seem to being followed by at the moment!

Nice exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery bringing together three of the Titian Metamorphosis pictures and showing them with other Venetian pictures from this time from their collection.   Pictures around it included a good Bassano “Adoration of the Kings” which included a very good bottom, a “Christ carried to the tomb” by Tintoretto, which had a surprising amount of colour in it for him and a portrait of an archer which might be a Giorgione. The commentary was also fascinating. I had realised that Venetians were good at colour because they had such great access to pigments through the trade routes but I had never realised they liked using canvas as it was the same material used for the sails of the ships! I had also never thought about the great use of landscape in Venetian art, when they don’t really have any! There was also a good room of prints and drawings the best being a woodcut by Titian, which is thought he drew on the block and then someone else ...

Nice exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland looking of drawings by the Scottish portrait painter Allan Ramsay. I liked the fact that where a drawing was a study for a finished work a photo of that work was included in the exhibition. Some of the drawings were beautiful especially his studies of hand which he considered important for the expression in a portrait.   He became principal painted to George III and there was a lovely study of a crown for a portrait of the king and studies for Queen Charlotte and her children.    I was particularly interested to see that he was a friend of Pompeo Batoni, the wonderful Italian portrait painter. The exhibition gave a real sense of the personality of the man as well as his art.

Small exhibition at the National Gallery of Scotland pairing shortlisted entrants to the Picture Books Scottish Illustrator 2013 award with established illustrators as mentors. It was interesting to read what the pairings had learnt from each other and to see the works of both of them. I loved work by Lesley Barnes for a book called Jill and Dragon with lovely slightly medieval illustrations especially one in pinks and purples of birds invading a castle.

Exhibition of contemporary illustration for children's books at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh . It featured the work of  Alice Melvin, Cate James, Barroux, Sara Ogilvie and Bruce Ingman. My favourites were the pictures for “Mr Leon 's Paris ” by Barroux which featured a man driving yellow car round the city. I also like Alice Melvin’s “The High Street” which had detailed pictures of different types of shops. 

Fascinating exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh of works by the 18th printmaker, Piranesi. Piranesi travelled to Rome and recorded and help to restore the city. The exhibition included a view of forum as was then with an arch half buried! However he also did designs for interior decoration although few were used not used. I loved his invented images of prisons full of small horrific figures in vast impractical buildings. Real works of fantasy. Since seeing this his works also cropped up in an exhibition at the Ashmolean and I feel he will now be one of those artists that keeps appearing in unlikely places. 

A small exhibition of a selection of Old Master Paintings from the famous Bute Collection at Mount Stuart at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. It featured mainly northern European works including some lovely Dutch 17th paintings such as the de Hooch “A Disputed Reckoning”. I also really liked a Van Cleve portrait of a woman dated 1530. However I have to issue a Cuyp alert! A few years ago there was an exhibition of works by Cuyp which was basically wall to wall cows! I have quite recovered and still find his work very bland!