Cathy's Art Diary

Innovative exhibition at the National Gallery highlighting Gossaert’s “Adoration of the Magi”. I love this picture and it is one of those I have to see in the run up to Christmas. I therefore know it well already. This show presented the picture then, within small booths, you listen to a soundscape of the work and see some amazing high-definition images of it. You could zoom into sections of the picture but I’m not sure I mastered that technique. It didn’t seem to zoom into the sections I wanted to look at.   You were then encouraged to look at the picture again while a poem written from the point of view of the black king, Balthasar. I’m not too sure what I thought of the show though. The high-definition images were amazing and you could see detail which you don’t notice with the naked eye but it would have been nice to have had more time in quite a processed process with the picture itself. Again the soundscape made you realise there were things in the picture I’d not seen b...

More of this enjoyable series of short videos from the Metropolitan Museum filmed during lockdown highlighting recent exhibitions and specific works of art. These are emailed to members and patrons once a week, so I hope it is OK to share the links. Most take the form of a talk from the curator’s home with a powerpoint presentation. A number of the curators have picked works which are particularly poignant at this time. Episode 13 :American Wing Period Rooms Moira Gallagher, Research Associate, shares a behind-the-scenes look at the American Wing's collection of period rooms and a new online resource that shares the rich stories behind these immersive, curated interiors. Episode 14 : A Temple Singer from Ancient Thebes Janice Kamrin examines the 2,500 year-old burial equipment of Ankhshepenwepet, a Singer in the Temple of the god Amun exploring the symbolism of her coffin, along with the other objects found in her tomb, including a mummified gazelle.   Episode 15 : Aquama...

Useful online discussion as part of London Art Week Digital about the definitions and use of terms around attribution of old master pictures. Megan Locke from Art Tactic from Art Tactic excellently quizzed the participants, David Pollock from Sotherby’s, Molly Dorkin of Simon Dickinson Gallery and solo dealer Will Elliott of Elliott Fine Art. Pollock took us through the various attribution definitions from artist and studio through “Circle of” and “Manner of”. All the speakers agreed that this was commonly used vocabulary as so many dealers had some through the auction house training. They also pointed out that these were increasingly being used like legal terms and were defined in good Old Master sale catalogues. The panelists then discussed the effect of attribution on valuations with Elliott pointing out that this was partly due to the age of a painting. Earlier works are harder to attribute and attaching an artist’s name is less important however as Dorkin said “You don’t g...

Excellent lecture as part of London Art Week Digital examining the role of artists in establishing the canon of archetypal antique statues. Given by Adriani Aymanino the talk looked at what statues were available to artists at various periods and, taking The Laocoon as an example, he looked at the different reasons artists drew these works from records of expression, thought anatomical study to compositional studies. He spent some time discussing the concept of ideal proportions and beauty that these statues were thought to demonstrate and the role this played in an artists training within the academies and why this fell out of fashion in the late 20th century.

Fascinating online version of the annual London Art Week in response to the Covid crisis. Although there is of course information on the galleries taking part I loved the approach to arrange the works for sale into artistic periods and movements, so it was more like going around a curated gallery. There were also rooms where each participant submitted a piece, one on women as artists and muses and a bargain basement of works under £30,000. There were also some excellent talks but I will blog those I manage to 'attend' separately.  The work ranged from a Egyptian piece dated about 2600 BC to works by Damian Hurst and Grayson Perry. However, having just done a short course on Flemish art it was two anonymous paintings from the region which stood out for me, a Memling like portrait of a man holding a prayer book from about 1480 and a delightful family portrait of four children and a dog from 1627. I hope that even if things are back to normal by next years London Art Week t...

Fascinating online discussion as part of the Masterpiece Fair online about how selling and purchasing older art and antiques has changes during lockdown and what we might learn from this. The event was well chaired by Anna Bray from the Art Newspaper and included collector, Katrin Bellinger; chair of the Masterpiece Fair, Philip Hewat-Jaboor; dealer, Philip Mould and Orlando Rock from Christies. They all outlined how they had adapted to lockdown including Philip Mould discussing his Art In Isolation videos, Philip Hewat-Jaboor talking about how the fair moved online and what they have learn from it and Orlando Rock looking at new techniques, such as augmented reality, being used by his auction house. I  was most interested to Katrin Bellinger saying she has bought cheaper things in lockdown or works she knew already and could trust. I loved he quote of “As a collector you need your fix”. She also discussed her collection’s website and how they have started to do a bit more cu...

Interesting discussion as part of the online version of the Masterpiece Art fair on the current issues around the removal of statues of controversial figures. The panel consisted of a journalist, Farah Nayeri; a museum director, Simon Martin of Pallant House: an artist, Zak Over and a director of a private gallery, Polly Bielecka. This interesting mix of people were asked to respond to the incident in Bristol of the toppling of a statue of a slaver trader and suggest what might replace controversial statues. The point was made that statues and sculpture are subtly different things and that sculpture, even if figurative, can open up more of a conversation about an issue than just a figure of a person, as it can emphasis what they represent. There was some discussion around the cost of replacing work, whether cheaper materials could be used and if temporary exhibits, like the Fourth Plinth might be the right approach. I was interested to hear that the Mayor of London has called for all s...

More of this enjoyable series of short videos from the Metropolitan Museum filmed during lockdown highlighting recent exhibitions and specific works of art. These are emailed to members and patrons once a week, so I hope it is OK to share the links. Most take the form of a talk from the curator’s home with a powerpoint presentation. A number of the curators have picked works which are particularly poignant at this time.   Episode 7 : Zhang Feng's Landscapes Joseph Scheier-Dolberg, Oscar Tang and Agnes Hsu-Tang Associate Curator of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, discusses Zhang Feng's album of landscapes painted in 1644 as the Ming Dynasty fell. These are delicate drawings from single trees to full scale mountainous ranges and seem to perfectly reflect the turning to nature in times of fear. Episode 8: TheAutun Virgin and Child Lucretia Kargère, Conservator for The Cloisters discusses the Autun Virgin and Child at The Cloisters including the findings of a technical ex...

Excellent three day online course from Art History in Focus looking at the history of Flemish art via pictures in the Wallace Collection. Lead by Sian Walters via Zoom this course, of two hours each morning over three days, had a good mix of lectures and interactive sessions. She used Zoom well to give variety and her style meant you did have a sense of doing this with a group of people not just in a room on your own at your laptop. Day one we looked at the early artists, mainly Van Eyck, Van der Weyden and Memling. She admitted early on that the Wallace Collection did not have a good representation of these artists, just one Memling, but she used other pictures to tell the story in a clearway. I must admit these are some of my favourite so it was nice to take some time over them. Day two was Rubens starting by focusing on the galleries wonderful Rainbow Landscape, a section of which is shown here, then looking at his life and career and finally going through other pictures and ...

Interesting online discussion as part of London Art Week Digital about portraits. The talk was chaired by Matthew Reeves of Sam Fogg London and brought together curators, auctioneers and a gallery owner to talk about their recent experiences of working with portraits. It would have been good if the talk had been more themed but I was introduced to some wonderful pictures which were new to me and I am a sucker for a good portrait. An Van Camp, from the Ashmolean Museum, talked about curating the Young Rembrandt show which was on as the museum closed. She compared three self portraits from 1628/9, a drawing, a painting and an etching to demonstrate the different mediums he worked in, She also talked about a Van Dyck portrait the gallery is hopefully in the process of purchasing and shared research she has been doing in lockdown to identify the sitter, which she thinks may be the wife of a friend of Van Dyck’s father, Olivia Ghosh, of Christies, talked about some works in a recent ...

Fascinating online debate as part of the York Festival of Ideas looking at the challenges and opportunities of the current pandemic for museums and art galleries. This was a live Zoom discussion, but I watched the recording on YouTube later. It was well chaired by Jonathon Derbyshire, Deputy News Editor of The Times, and brought together four panellists from the sector. It was a imaginative range of speakers including Frances Morris, Direct or Tate Modern; Reyahn King, Chief Executive of York Museums’ Trust; Brendon Corrier, Senior Design Curator, V&A and Michael White, Head of History of Art at the University of York. The chair set each speaker three initial questions, how are they coping, how galleries help community cohesion and how will the pandemic change how they operate long term? These were answered eloquently from Corrier using the example of a blog focusing on objects which have become important during the pandemic to Morris discussing Tate Moderns work with their loc...

Fun and methodical informative online lecture as part of the York Festival of Ideas looking at a brief history of social dancing. Given by historic dance expert, Charlotte Adcock, this was a very ordered overview of the subject, going through each era and describing the dances of the period and where our knowledge of them has come from. I blog it here as it illuminated dances you see in paintings as well as using those painting to illustrate the talk. Although she described this as a brief overview it was packed with information and interest. S he made me think about new ideas for example I’d never thought before how the invention of the piano, which allowed more music in the home, also brought dancing out of the ball room and into the home, and I liked the inclusion of sources for the subject such as Playford’s Dancing Master as well as other publications by contemporary dance teachers. I’ll certainly be checking out her YouTube channel and hope to see one of her demonstrations...

Fun series of blog posts on the British Museum website imagining contemporary travel guides of ancient cities.   Each follows the pattern of a modern travel guide with sections on how to get there, how to get around, what the sites are, what to eat and where to go shopping. They are illustrated with pictures and objects from the collection. This is such a witty idea but the articles are also packed full of information. I hope there are more to come!   I think my favourite was the Edo one as all the pictures are contemporary Japanese prints including this wonderful one of a busy shopping street. There is also an article on London landmarks using prints and drawings from the collection for those of us dreaming of a day out in London. Edo (Tokyo),early 19th century T hebes, Egypt, 13th century BC Athens, 5thcentury BC Rome, 1st centuryAD Ninevah, 7th century BC London Landmarks

Excellent fiveweek online course on Rome from University of Reading and FutureLearn using a 3D virtual reconstruction of the Roman city to tell its story.   I loved the format of this course with interesting videos, articles and walk throughs of the 3D model to look at the history of the city, political and religious architecture, everyday life and death and the role of entertainment. The videos were particularly good as they made for a welcome tour of the city in these times of lockdown. I didn’t get on very well with the self-guided tours of the model as I wasn’t very good at controlling it smoothly and got a bit seasick but the filmed ones were excellent.   The course was led by Matthew Nicholls who has also built the virtual city. He had an easy approachable style yet the content felt rich as it incorporated use of coins and literature as forms of evidence. I thought I knew the city quite well but I am now desperate to go back to see more such as the tomb of the baker...

Fascinating  online discussio n as part of the Charleston Festival at Home between the artist Ai Weiwei and Tim Marlow, CEO of the Design Museum.   As a regular all event ticket holder at the Charleston Festival, which was obviously cancelled this year, I have enjoyed the alternative online events they have run every evening throughout the festival. All the events were excellent but the others were more literary so they haven’t made it into this blog, however the last event was a firmly artistic one so I feel I can add it!   The discussion, which is available on Youtube, suffered a bit from Zoom sound issues, but was an interesting interview of this contemporary artist. They began by talking about the role of place in his art as he bases in Cambridge and Berlin leading on to how lockdown effects this sense of place and how it has affected his creativity. He said that his rather nomadic life keeps him alert even though it is uncomfortable and it fuels his creative ideas...

A fun series of videos by Philip Mould looking at pictures people had sent to him of themselves with art works in their homes following his first series of films from his own home “Art in Isolation”. There have been three films so far each focusing on a genre of art covering animals, landscape and portraits far. He uses the pictures to talk you through different aspects the genre. The pictures are beautifully filmed with close ups of peoples faces panning across to their art works. Most interestingly though it is a study of what stunning and eclectic art works people have in their homes.

Delightful series of online events from the Victoria and Albert Museum, delivered daily by email, to mark what would have usually been their members week. Due to a prior diary commitment I usually miss this week at the museum, so it was nice to get involved virtually this year. Each day a themed email was sent out with links to talks filmed in lockdown, videos and installation shots of old exhibitions, articles and short films about aspects of the collection.  I really enjoyed the variety of formats.  Monday looked at the history of the museum, Tuesday at watercolours to mark the cancellation of the Renaissance watercolours show, Wednesday was fashion, Thursday Rock, pop and performance and Friday looked at activities for and about children.  My highlights were a fun talk on Victoria and Albert’s involvement with the museum and collection. It was just a sound recording of a lecture but delivered so wittily that you didn’t miss what were obviously, from the au...

Fun quiz on the Royal Academy website with questions on women artists in their history. I’m pleased to say I got 9/11 and did feel quite chuffed. Some of the answers gave you links to articles or videos about the artist so it’s easy to get led into other activities. Turns out they have a couple of other quizzes too so I tried “ The Great Art Quiz of 2019 ” (8/14 but I learnt a lot) and“ How Picasso are you ” (Dios mío, you’re practically Picasso which rather surprised me).

Enjoyable series of short videos from the Metropolitan Museum filmed during lockdown highlighting recent exhibitions and specific works of art. These are emailed to members and patrons once a week, so I hope it is OK to share the links. Unfortunately, I deleted the first one and can no longer find it. Most take the form of a talk from the curator’s home with a Powerpoint presentation and are made rather endearing by their different styles of presenting and occasionally IT issue. It is a shame the start and end of each follows quite a prescriptive script, but the sentiments are welcomed. I certainly look forward to more arriving in my inbox.  Episode2: Crossroads: Power and Piety C. Griffith Mann, Michel David-Weill  Curator  in Charge of Medieval Art and The Cloisters. Looks at a new cross-departmental installation which brings together objects from the Medieval period across cultures which reflect religious power and piety. It groups 12 objects in four themes...

Virtual version of the National Portrait Gallery annual exhibition for this portrait award. This is usually one of the highlights of my viewing year so it feels very odd to have to view I online however it has been presented well to give a sense of walking round the show, how the pictures work together and an idea of their relative size. It took me a while to work how to navigate around the virtual space and it did seem to freeze on me once but once I got going it was quite easy. You click on the pictures to see a closer image and its label. They also offer the usual chance to vote for your favourite. The unintentional themes this year seem to be realism and backgrounds often in the same picture. There were no weird abstract ones, so the show felt quite cohesive. In the realism camp with a lovely black and white portrait of Sir Lenny Henry by Martyn Burdon and Jamie Routley’s triptych of a sculptor friend from three angles with   the wonderful abstract pattern of clay ...