Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting workshop at the National Gallery starting a season on unfinished pictures led by Chantal Brotherton-Ratcliffe. As this was the first in a series of talks the first section looked at the difference between an unfinished picture ie one which is not complete and the finish on a picture which can be described as unfinished ie loose. We then talked about why a picture might be abandoned. It might be that the artist dies while creating it and we talked about what is left in a studio. It might be that the patron changes there mind and we took Pope Julius’s tomb as an example. It might be that there is a problem with the work such as the Michelangelo Risen Christ where a fault in the marble was found where Christ’s face was going to be. And finally it might be that the work was too ambitious and was not achievable. In the second half we looked at what unfinished pictures can tell us about technique and Chantal look us through the process of painting a picture at this da...

Stimulating exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of works from their collections, paintings, sculpture drawings and prints from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century, that have all been described   as 'unfinished'. In his writing on art Pliny said that an unfinished work was more precious as it let us see into the artists mind and many of these works are now seen as valuable teaching tools for art history. The idea of what is finished is less clear in art since the early 20th century. The poster girl, a virgin and child by Parmigianio was a good example of what w e can learn from an unfinished work. Her face allows us to see the cartoon tracing underneath and we can see how the drapery outline was done freehand with a brush. Most interesting was the speculation that the picture was abandoned due to the Sack of Rome. The show included Manet’s “At the Ball” a lovely sketch of a woman from behind showing the movement of her body in a few strokes of paint....