Cathy's Art Diary

Disappointing exhibition at the British Museum looking at how the Islamic world has influence Western art from about 1500. I say disappointing as the show had a problem at the middle of it because the influence had not been that politically correct but it fell over itself to try to make this right or apologise for it. It discussed the different connotations of the word Orientalism. As the show was about the influence on art it might have done better to explain this quickly at the start and then focus on the lovely objects and pictures and what the influence was. Yes sometimes the Victorians misunderstood and misused what they were looking at but does that alter the beauty of the object that results. I loved some of the early work in the show such as the paintings by the Danish artist, Melchoir Lorck, who visited the Ottoman Empire with a Danish embassy and created a visual record of the people he saw. I’d seen a lot before about Gentile Bellini’s trip but didn’t know about ...

Colourful exhibition at Sotheby’s, the preview for a sale of 20th century Middle Eastern art. This was the first time I’d been to a sale preview and I have to admit I was only brave enough to go in as I’d spotted a rather nice coffee shop at the back of the building. I share that with you as a top tip! A great cup of coffee in a nice space and pictures from a forthcoming sale, Scottish artists, around the walls! The Middle Eastern art was a revelation to me and there were some lovely pictures although most of it you could like to a Western art movement and I didn’t feel I was seeing a unique Middle Eastern view of the world. There was a lovely seated life study of a naked woman sitting on a rock by Georges Hanna Sabbagh from 1928 which felt like a Slade school work. I loved her rounded thighs and the lovely flesh tones. I loved two still lives by Manoucher Yektai both featuring a vase of flowers and a bowl. I also liked a city on a hill by Abdulhalim Radwi with blue p...

Fascinating exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace tracing a journey made by the then Price of Wales (later Edward VII) to the Middle East in 1862. The show told the story through the photographs of Francis Bedford who was among the entourage and used them to look at the cultural and political significance of the region at that time. There were also objects which the Prince collected on his travels which had been in the Royall Collection ever since. It is easy to forget when looking at slightly clichéd pictures of Egypt that these were early days of exploring the area and when the photographs were exhibited on their return to England that these may have been some of the first images the public had seen of the region. I loved a photo of a display of objects which the Prince had bought in a market shown with all but one of the objects in the same arrangement. The later section on the Holy Land was fascinating and included pictures of the great crusa...

Exhibition at Tate Britain which explores the responses of British artists to the Middle East between 1780 and 1930. I must admit I went to this exhibition just because it was on and actually really enjoyed it. I loved the warm colours although I did feel the exhibition was more about the place than the artists. The artist which most impressed me was John Frederick Lewis whose works included some wonderful detail. In his “A Frank encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai” there were two wonderful dogs including a small one with a stick in its mouth. He also painted a wonderful picture in a Hareem with a wonderful tiled wall behind two female figure is lush fabrics. However try as I might I don’t like William Holman Hunt. I just don’t like his colour palate. A lovely surprise at the end was some 20th century pictures including one of Sarajevo by Stanley Spencer and a super David Bomberg of Jerusalem. Reviews Times Daily Telegraph Evening Standard