Cathy's Art Diary

Disappointing online lecture from the National Gallery on Giotto’s St Francis frescos in the church at Assisi. Artists and art historian, Aliki Braine, guided us though the technique of fresco and the narrative of the major fresco in the upper church as a coda to the National Gallery’s current St Francis exhibition which, of course, couldn’t include the frescos. It is always wonderful to look at this cycle again and Braine had beautiful illustrations but I would have liked a bit less on the technique, which I have studied quite often, and more on the iconography of the frescos themselves, why they were so groundbreaking and how they helped to establish the fame and importance of Francis.

Fascinating exhibition at Tate Britain of frescos by Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings. There were six large, square frescos and one preparatory drawing. As a fan of early Italian art it was interesting to see the medium of fresco being used by contemporary artists. You could see the day sections in which it was painted and in places a could see a similar approach to drapery. It felt courser than the earlier work but it could partly be due to viewing it at eye level not high up. The works were all of groups of people outside and the commentary said they have an ongoing   exploration into the relationship between public space, architecture, state infrastructure and people asking viewers to question what public space looks like. They mix contemporary figures and art historical references. Closes 7 May 2023  

Lecture at the National Gallery on the craft of fresco by James Heard. This was a super evening including a demonstration of the different stages of making a fresco from the first plaster layer, through the sinopia or under drawing through to the painting itself. He discussed the difference pigments used and how they reacted with the lime and why some had to be added, often with disastrous effects, after the plaster was dry. There were some wonderful slides of fresco painters at work which highlighted the logistical challenges of working at height and of getting the materials you needed to the site. We also heard why some frescos look as they do for example whey the sky’s are sometimes red, because the blue was added later and has fallen off, or why they are sometime patchy, because paint dried to different colours which were difficult to predict in the patched which had to be worked on each day. This was a fascinating evening. I have always loved fresco’s and think they are my favour...