Cathy's Art Diary

Enlightening exhibition at the National Gallery which invites primary schools to respond to themes they see in a nominated painting from the gallery. This year’s picture was Claude-Joseph Vernet's “A Shipwreck in Stormy Seas” from 1773 which I must admit I had never consciously looked at. I always love this show as the children often see different things in the work. It was interesting to see how many associated the ships with slavery and the sea with plastic pollution. Is an indication of what is being taught? A number of schools imagined diaries of the characters involved and wrote these up on tea-stained paper to look old. One school also made these into messages in bottles.   There were some lovely collage versions of the picture and even a couple of wonderful boats made of paper and willow shown on waves based on theatre sets off the time. Heads up to Andrew, 11, from St Anselm's School, Derbyshire who has spotted the discovery of the wreck of Endurance and its ba

Interesting annual exhibition at the National Gallery showcasing school children’s responses to a painting in the collection. This year’s picture was Orazio Gentileschi’s “The Finding of Moses” from the 1630s, a fairly recent acquisition by the gallery. I always look forward to this show as it makes you look at a familiar picture in a different way. This year the children’s responses were are varied as ever ranging from Gunthorpe Primary School replacing the women In the panting with inspirational women who have shaped the world, Holy Trinity CR Primary School in London created a patchwork blanked for the baby Moses with scenes form his life and symbols of his character and Snaresbrook Primary School who were drawn to the clothes and thought about clothes their family members had worn in order to design their own dresses. In this occasion I liked the addition of this mind map of the children’s’ first thoughts about the painting. It is good to see how people might react who don’t

Enlightening exhibition at the National Gallery for this year’s Take one Picture initiative which invites schools to react to a picture in the collection. This year’s picture was “The Battle of San Romano” by Paolo Uccello of which I am very fond. The show always makes you   see something new in the picture through the children’s eyes and for me this year it was the fruit, particularly oranges and pomegranates in the foliage to the right and on Niccolò da Tolentino’s hat. Hyde Park Junior School reacted to this by making prints of fruit. Other highlight’s this year included Eton End School Berkshire who did abstract paintings based on the shapes the lances and horses made, St Benedicts Junior School London who made a striking horse’s head finish inspired by the armour and King Edward’s Junior School Bath, shown here called “Battle in Black and White” an installation of sculptures arranged like a chess board worthy of a contemporary art gallery. Closes 12 September 2021  

Enlightening exhibition at the National Gallery of responses by children to Joseph Wright of Derby ‘s “The Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump”. I have loved this great Enlightenment painting from the first time it pulled me magnet like towards it. I also always enjoy this annual show of children’s responses to ta picture as it often makes you look at a work in a new way. This year projects were not just artists but also scientific with some schools doing bird watching projects and another looking at the ethics of animal experimentation. My favourite scientific project let food decay then the children painted the effects and mounted them in petri dishes. There were some great model birds in papier mache and wire, some colourful binoculars and silhouette lamps.   The works shown were paintings on black and white photographs of the children to explore the light effects in the picture which gave a rather Francis Bacon effect. My favourite piece was from a school in Ba