Cathy's Art Diary

Excellent online six week course from the National Gallery examining six major texts on art from Vasari to John Berger. Amy Mechowski led us through the course with a format of her giving a lecture on the book and the author then inviting a speaker who has reacted to the work either via art or writing. This was a really good grounding in art historical thinking and the format led you to think more widely around the subject.  The books were : * Giorgio Vasari’s “Lives of the Artists” 1550 * Charles Baudelaire's “The Painter of Modern Life” 1863 * Ernst Gombrich’s “The Story of Art” 1950 * Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” 1936 * Linda Nochlin’s “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” 1971 * John Berger’s “Ways of Seeing” 1972   Guest speakers were: * Jenny Graham from the University of Plymouth who discussed how Vasari created the canon of artists and established the idea of what an artists should be. She then t...

An excellent online course from Paula Nutall examining the life and work of the 15th century artist Piero Della Francesca. As ever Paula was clear and methodical and overran gloriously. In week one we looked at the work Piero did for his hometown Borgo Sansepolcro and the surrounding area as well as for his own house. I was fascinated to hear the National Gallery’s Nativity by him was painted for his own house and that a figure of Hercules was also found there. Paula also talked about his influences linking a lot to work and events he may have seen when he was in Florence. In week two we looked in depth at the fresco cycle of the True Cross in Arezzo. Again I remember seeing it and it was wonderful to look at it in detail and study the stories and iconography. Finally in week 3 we looked at his work for various courts in particular Urbino, although we touched on his work for the papal court and thought about what may have influenced him there. She also outlined work he did at oth...

Excellent three week online course from the National Gallery on the art of Wright of Derby to compliment their exhibition on him. Matthew Morgan started in the first week by outlining the artists life and work and giving an overview of how the art market was changing at this time and how artists were reflecting the new ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. He also brought in Lucy Bamford from Derby Museums Trust to discuss why Wright was known as Wright of Derby and to examine his relationship with the city. Morgan spent the next two weeks examining two aspects of Wrights work, how he reflects the rational and how he engaged the emotions. He started with the rational   discussing ideas at the time about the benefits of looking and observation and Rousseau’s ideas around learning by doing and by demonstration. He discussed the circles Wright moved in, including the Lunar Society, and whether we can consider him an Enlightenment artist. Having examined the ...

Excellent online course from Paula Nuttall on the 15 th century Florentine artist Fra Angelico. Week one Paula introduced to the artist and placed him in the of the city at the time discussing his influences from Lorenzo Monaco, Masaccio and Gilberti. She also looked at the impact of the theorist Alberti on his work. We looked at Fra Angelico’s early altarpieces. Week two we concentrated on his work for the monastery of San Marco discussing how the commission came about through Cosimo de Medici’s worries about his immortal soul and his friendship with Pope Eugenius IV who was living in Florence at the time. We started by looking at the altarpiece for the then moving in the dormitories looking in detail at the fresco’s in the cells there. Most fascinating was hearing about the different style of designs for the novices, clerics and lay brothers. In the final week we looked at commissions outside of San Marco and covered in some detail Fra Angelico’s years in Rome. I hadn’t know a...

Excellent two week online course from ARTscapades looking at the Sienese artists of the early 14th century. Art historian Richard Stemp led us through the main four artists featured in the recent National Gallery exhibition, Duccio, Simoni Martini and Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti. In each case he guided us through their work both items in the show and ones which couldn’t travel. This was particularly useful as he could include frescos which added another dimension to the work. As ever Stemp brought a knowledgeable but wry eye to the subject bringing out the humanity of the images and yet placing them in the context of their time. This was a lovely way to revisit the exhibition which I had enjoyed and it led me to going again before it closed.

Comprehensive and fascinating four week online course from Paula Nuttall on the Sistine Chapel. As ever with Paula the talk was clear and well thought out with good illustrations. As usual she overran gloriously! Week one we looked at the early frescos after setting the scene and looking at the design of the chapel itself. I love the frescos but never thought about how the project was co-ordinated to give a consistency across the work of multiple artists. Paula’s theory was that Perugino was the master having already been working in Rome and as he painted the most prominent frescos and the altarpiece. Week 2 we looked up to the next stage of the decoration and Michelangelo’s ceiling. I had recently done a course on the young Michelangelo with Paula so this felt like an extension of that. We looked at how the artist painted this massive undertaking from its inception to its unveiling. I was particular interested in the section on his influences. Week 3 was Raphael’s tapestries a...

Interesting five week online course from the London Art History Society looking in detail at the art of 16th century Rome. Led by Dorigen Caldwell from Birkbeck, University of London, we spent the first two weeks examining the idea of the High Renaissance, the overriding term for this period and what the city was like at the time. We then moved onto how classical antiquity was reived and how that influenced art. The next three weeks were spent looking in detail at the three great artists of the period in detail, Michelangelo, Raphael and the architect Bramante. I would like to have seen this widened out to look at other artists at work in the city to see how the ideas spread. The course was a good overview of the period but it is one on which I have done a lot of courses recently so I don’t feel I learnt a lot from this one although it would have made for good revision if I was doing an exam.  

Excellent three-week online course from the National Gallery focusing on Parmigianino’s “Vision of St Jerome” from 1526 which was the subject of a small exhibition at the gallery at the time. Richard Stemp used the six sessions to gradually broaden out from the painting itself to the life of the artist and then onto themes which the painting highlighted. It was cleverly structured and covered a lot of ground. Week one focused on the painting and the exhibition discussing its context, influences and composition. He then looked at the life of the artist and his other works. In week two we looked at the role of women linked to the painting beginning with a useful overview of the history of painting the Virgin Mary and the different archetypal images placing this work within ideas of the Immaculate Conception. We then looked at women as commissioners of art as this work had been commissioned by a widow, Maria Bufalini in memory of her husband. Stemp ran though examples of paintings ...

Excellent online three week course from the National Gallery on landscape painting and how artists worked out of doors and represent themselves in the work. Aliki Braine, artist an art historian, guided us chronologically through the topic starting with how landscape painting grew out of map making and then often forms a stage set for a biblical or mythical scene, moving on to how it represented leisure and wealth in the 17th century and onto the from accuracy to atmosphere in the 19th century. In taking this approach she also laid out clearly the various theories of landscape painting over the centuries with good quotes which she then used to discuss a series of images. She also looked at how artists represented themselves in the work from including draftsmen in the image to emphasis that they had been to the place and recorded it to later artists whose hand we see in their brushwork. I was impressed at the array of artists that we covered and I discovered a number of names who...

Excellent three week online course from Paul Nutall looking in detail at the first thirty years of Michelangelo’s career. As ever Paula was very clear with excellent illustrations and quotes. Of course she ran over time but she always does and that’s part of the fun of her courses. Week one we looked at Michelangelo’s life until he left for Rome in 1496, a short period he spent in Bologna and the first few years after he arrived in Rome. We discussed how we know so much about him, what his influences were and where he might have trained, even if he claimed he hadn’t. Week two concentrated on the early masterpieces in Rome the Bacchus and the Pieta shown here then the David made on his return to Florence and the Bruges Madonna. We also looked at other work done in this period between these iconic works such at the National Gallery’s two panel paintings. Finally week three looked at his years back in Florence and in particular the battle of the battle scenes for the Palazzo Vecch...

Brilliant four week online course from the National Gallery focusing on the female subjects and models in Degas’s work. The course complimented the excellent exhibition on the gallery looking at Degas’s “Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” and was delivered via a variety of speakers, a style I like as it gives different viewpoints in a longer course. In week one Aliki Braine gave us an overview of the artists life and main subjects. This was followed the next week by talks from Daphne Barbour from the National Gallery in Washington and Johanna Conybeare talking about his process from drawings to making small sculptures to work from. Week three saw the return of Braine as a replacement speaker who picked up the talk on Degas and women looking at the women in his life and the subjects he chose to depict. She discussed why we often view him as a misogynist now and whether that was justified. Denise Murrell from the Met then looked at his trip to New Orleans early in his career and t...

Clever online course from the National Gallery in Lent to look at paintings of the Easter story. The course was led by Carlo Corsato and each week he discussed a few paintings from the Renaissance in detail looking at why   and how it was painted   then analysing the composition and symbolism. We covered Mantegna and Bellini’s versions of “The Agony in the Garden” Perugino’s “Mond Crucifixion” and Caravaggio’s early “Supper at Emmaus”.   In the second half of each session he had invited guest speakers who brought a different viewpoint to the topic. We began with artist and educator, Joanna Conybeare, looking at how Northern artists approached the subject focusing on Gerrit van Honthorst’s “Christ Before the High Priest” and how he used light and dark to tell the story and add drama. Week two was Siobhan Jolley talked about the role of Christ’s female followers in Crucifixion scenes as witnesses to trauma an artists and the New Testament have portrayed them and why....

Comprehensive online course from Paula Nuttall on the life and work of the 15th century artist, Botticelli. As ever Nuttall delivered a clear narrative with great illustrations and good analysis of the art works. She began in the first week with a run through of Botticelli’s life from his early training as a goldsmith, through his work on the Sistine Chapel and his great works on his return to Florence. She discussed the context of the times he lived in and how he adapted to the political and religious turmoil.   Week two we concentrated on the famous mythological works looking at who they were painted for and where. We spent some time how groundbreaking they were and what texts they might be based on. She emphasized the artists design skills and intelligence as a visualiser of poetry. The final week moved to the religious works taking us through the artists major altarpieces for Florence and his role in popularising devotional pictures of the Virgin and Chid. We spent some t...

Excellent five-week online course from the London Art History Society on 18th century British portraiture. Prasannajit de Silva led us clearly through the topic starting by looking at the practicalities of producing the work and setting the scene then looking at how the work was seen and disseminated. Over the next weeks he talked us through various themes and genres of portraiture from the conversation piece, through fame and ending with families with excellent illustrations and clear descriptions of the works. He also had a useful week on the two main styles of portraiture in the age which became a good introduction to the two stars of the era Reynolds and Gainsborough. I learnt a lot from the course and it makes me want to spend more time going round the country houses of Britain to play spot the painting.

Another excellent three-week online course from Paul Nuttall on Lorenzo de Medici. As ever Paula overran dramatically but we all know she’s going to and look forward to her enthusiasm taking over. She always develops a clear narrative to her talks while throwing in the latest research and some of the philosophy behind the works she is showing. Week one focused on the life of this 15th century figure who epitomises the Renaissance to us. She took us through his life using wonderful images to drive the story. Week two we moved to look at Lorenzo at home and what he owned. Paula based the structure on the inventory of his palace made on his death and walked us around it pointing out what was there, again with great images of what still exists. It was particularly interesting to think about what he’d inherited and what he acquired. Finally we looked at Lorenzo as an influencer and how he used he artistic reputation of Florence to enhance the reputation of the city and how other cit...

Confusing online course from the London Art History Society on Norman influence on architecture and material culture in Southern Italy. I say confusing because the history and many of the architectural terms were new to me. I think some people on the course had already done others with the speaker John McNeill so were more familiar with some of the background. It would have really helped to have a glossary of terms and an outline of the people and dates involved in the handout for reference. I know my English Norman architecture of the 11th and 12th century quite well so it might have helped me to make comparisons or say more about why they were different. McNeill had some great illustrations, I suspect many of which he had taken himself, which gave a good sense of the buildings many of which were now ruins. He made good use of floor plans but I’m afraid I did confuse them over time and they were very similar. That said I discovered some wonderful sites and have definitely added ...

Excellent seven-week online course from the National Gallery looking at painting in 17th century Holland. Lydia Bauman, artist and art historian, led us clearly through a series to themes with enough repetition to embed ideas while still making all the sessions feel fresh. She began giving an overview of the economics and society of the time to give context. She explained why she didn’t want to use the more usually descriptor of the period as “The Dutch Golden Age” as it wasn’t golden for people whose lands the Dutch colonised. The second week was also a useful overview of how artists worked paying particular attention to the different genre specialisms. She discussed how, with the rise of the Protestant religion in the region, the church was no longer commissioning art so artists had to start to work for the open market rather than to commission. In later weeks we looked at themes ranging from portraiture with a focus on the recent Frans Hals exhibition, the role of the home an...

Excellent online course from the London Art History Society looking in depth at the life and work of Nicolas Poussin. Over five weeks and ten lectures Giulia Martina Weston led us thought the themes in Poussin’s work, placing him within the context of his time. The 17th century isn’t a period in art I know very well so as well as learning about the artist I also got a good overview of the art market in Italy and France at the time. I was fascinated by hearing that critics at the time talked about Poussin as the anti-Caravaggio and the New Raphael. I must admit in the Caravaggio v Raphael argument I’m with the former so I felt that explained why I don’t feel drawn to Poussin. Despite not being a fan of Poussin I feel I will now get a lot more from looking at his work as I now understand his philosophy from his Neo-stoicism, his vision of art as poetry and how he used biblical and mythical texts, his repletion of images like the variations in music and use of the antique. We als...

Interesting day of lectures from London Art History Society held at Friend’s House on the reaction against Modernist art by the dictators of the inter war years. Richard Humphreys organised the talks by country starting with an overview of what was happening at the centre of the avant-garde in Paris. We tend to concentrate on the major modern movements which started there like Cubism and Surrealism but Humprey’s looked at the reaction against these movements often led by the right wing and nationalism. He then used this discussion of the reaction to lead to talks on Italy and Mussolini, Russia and Stalin and Germany and Hitler where similar themes and subjects emerged such as the role of technology and how it represented in art, the desire to memorialise and use the history of the countries and the propaganda use of art. Because of the similar themes the country talks became a bit repetitive so I wonder if it might have been better to arrange it by theme, flagging what was happe...

Excellent three-week course from the National Gallery looking at the Greek and Roman myths and how they inspired the artists of the Renaissance. Led by Richard Stemp the sessions were wonderful story-telling sessions illustrated by wonderful pictures. The first session focused on the gods and goddesses which a good romp through them based on Raphael’s “The Council of the Gods” 1518 for the Villa Fernesina.   It was a clever idea to take one picture as a guide which he kept returning to. Week two looked at heroes and humans, often the children of illicit relationships between a god and a human. We worked through Hercules and his labours as well as Perseus and Odysseus and their journeys. We spent some time looking at Luca Giordano’s “Perseus Turning Phineas and his Followers to Stone” from the 1680s and how it fits into the story of Perseus. Finally in week three we pulled the previous two sessions together to look at why the stories appealed in the Renaissance and they often...