Cathy's Art Diary

Interesting exhibition at the National Maritime Museum showing shortlisted entries in this annual award for astronomical photographs. I had been to a couple of previous iterations of the show and the reviews for them could count for this show too. The works were beautifully displayed on light boxes with commentaries on the subject and technique by the artists. My favourite section was that on earth and space which features work with a sense of the earth and people including a wonderful array of pictures of auroras as I found them more relatable. The sections on our solar system and deep space tended to produce works which look more abstract and the explanations were impenetrable. Closes 11 August 2025  

Wide-ranging exhibition at the National Maritime Museum looking at pirates. The show started by looking at the myth of pirates and how they have been portrayed in books, on stage, in film and in children's toys. As someone who used to sing in amateur Gilbert and Sullivan shows it was fun to see "The Pirates of Penzance" well represented. I also loved a cabinet on Captain Pugwash. The show then went on to look at real pirates starting with the height of the trade in the 17th and 18th centuries then moving on to piracy linked to colonialism in the 19th century. I would have liked to see more original material actually linked to pirates, there was a heavy reliance of showing generic weapons of the period. The show ended with a small section on modern day piracy. Closes 4 January 2025 Review Times  

Interesting exhibition at the National Maritime Museum to mark 200 years of the Royal National  Lifeboat Institution. Given the show was billed as being part of the 200th anniversary I would have liked to have seen a bit more history in it. There was a good timeline and a few exhibits around fundraising but that was it. Instead the real focus of the show were the photographs by Jack Lowe who has set himself the challenge of photographing all 238 operational RNLI lifeboat stations across the British Isles using glass-plate photography. The photographs were shown in pairs with a picture of the view from the station and, in this case, a picture of the women who are based there. The photographs had a Victorian feel due to the technique used. Closed 2 December 2024

Thoughtful exhibition at the National Maritime Museum of work by seven contemporary artists looking at the importance of water in our lives. Curated by The Collective Makers the show sets out the work clearly with good commentaries. I had problems finding the exhibition, as it wasn't in the usual exhibition space, so shout out to the helpful chap on the information desk who walked me round and told me a bit more about the show as we went. It was a particularly good tip to watch the first video which he said a lot of people missed. It was by Seba Calfuqueo from Chile and showed them slowly pulling a long train blue of satin up and down stairs towards a waterfall. The train looked like water itself. If you follow me you'll know I'm not always a fan of video art bit this was contemplative and not too long at about 6 minutes. Other artists I liked from the show included three sisters called The Jiun Collective, three sisters who interviewed their two grandmothers about m...

Inspiring lecture at the National Maritime Museum about a proposed installation on the plan of the Brookes slave ship. The plan was the famous one used by the abolitionists in their campaign. Elgin Cleckley, Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia, who is also an architect, has been doing projects around the work and was planning an exhibition/installation. It took me a while to grasp that the installation hasn’t actually happened yet but I was fascinated by the idea as I have always been intrigued by the image which I first came across at school. I hadn’t realised the ship in question was a Liverpool one so it had that resonance for me as well as my family was from the city. He had done some amazing research on the various journeys of the ship and how many enslaved people were on each trip and how many got to their destination. He showed us mock ups of how an installation might look, how he imagines people interacting with it and what issues it might rase.   He mi...

Fascinating lecture at the National Maritime Museum looking at the clothes worn by WRNS popularly known as the Wrens. Jo Horton outlined her research on Wrens clothing from when they were founded in the First World War to the 1950s. She had drawn on the museum collection and archives as well as interviewing a number of veterans and used touching quotes from those interviews. She looked at the uniforms and how the women adapted them to fit as well the different types of less formal work wear. She also talked about what they wore off duty and how they shared clothes. This talk was to mark Women’s History Month and was paired with another talk by the journalist, Vivien Morgan “Cross Dressed to Kill” about women who had gone to war disguised as men from the 17th century to the 20th. She described some fabulous characters who I want to look up.

Lovely little display at the National Maritime Museum showcasing Dulwich College's copy Shakespeare's First Folio as part of the Folio 400 celebrations. This was a lovely example of how a museum can tell a story quickly and clearly with just a few objects. They had the two volumes of the folio open on sections which related to the sea, the opening page of The Tempest and a section from Richard II which Clarence dreams about shipwrecks. These were cleverly paired two other documents or the school, a handwritten play script from about 1605 to show what the plays would have looked like before they were published and a petition   to the Lord High admiral from Thames watermen from around 1590 asking for the Rose Theatre to be reopened probably after a plague as they were losing money. It's well worth popping into the Maritime London gallery at the museum if you are there to see it. Closes 24 September 2023    

Interesting exhibition at the National Maritime Museum of the winners of the Astronomy Photography of the Year awards. The photographs were beautifully shown on light boxes making them very clear and bright. Each was shown with a commentary by the photographer and technical details of how it was taken. I related most to the works in the Earth and Space section as they included more recognisable surroundings. My favourite was a picture by Carl Gallagher of the Northern lights with a rusty ship beached in the foreground. Some of the works in Solar System section were like abstract paintings. I also preferred the pictures taken in one shot rather than the more technical multi-shot ones or ones taken with complex telescopes. Some of the works felt more like scientific experiments that photographs. Many of the works made me think about the course I did on The Sublime and had that same quality of inspiring awe. Closes 13 August 2023  

Lovely opportunity to see pieces from this sculpture trail of painted globes by different artists exploring the Slave Trade and its effect outside the National Maritime Museum. I last saw them in Trafalgar Square and blogged about them. It was nice to see them in a different, very relevant venue. This time they were shown in a circle as if they were in a meeting. It was nice to stand in the middle of them although I didn't linger as it was a very wet day.   They were there as part of the museum's Caribbean Takeover day. Closes 1 April 2023 however I passed again on 12 April and they were still there!

Bright installation at the National Maritime Museum of square silk banners. The banners were the result of a project to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee last year in which hundreds of schools across the UK and the Commonwealth designed squares inspired by the late Queen’s love of nature. Selected designs were made into silk flags which were paraded in front of Buckingham Palace as part of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant. Each square had a scalloped edge referencing postage stamps and evidently a silhouette of an inspirational leader, but I must admit I missed that when I saw them. The works mainly hung as a large banner over the staircase to the exhibition galleries creating a splash of colour. Some others also hung along the back wall and it was nice to be able to see the detail in then. Around the balustrade were more of the designs for banners.   A clever way of giving the project a new life and shown now as a tribute to the late Queen. Closes 14 April 2023

Fascinating lecture at the National Maritime Museum on the monumental art legacy of Ukraine of the 1960s – 1980s and the effect of the war on it. Organised by the British Council and Ukrainian Institute as part of the Greenwich and Docklands International Festival this talk brought together photographer Yevgen Nikiforov and art historian Lizaveta German. Unfortunately the speakers visas to travel had not come through in time so they had to deliver the talk to the audience in the lecture hall by Zoom. German started the event by talking us though the history of monumental art in the Ukraine since the 1960s with a focus on the large mosaics. She outlined how the idea for mosaics came from the Byzantine tradition in the area then the idea of decorating some of the simplified post Second World War buildings with them. Photographer Nikiforov then outlined his project to record and photograph the over 5000 mosaics in the country. This has become even more important since the start of ...

Charming  exhibition at the National Maritime Museum of paintings of Venice by Canaletto. The show had 26 pictures commissioned by Lord John Russell, the future 4th Earl of Bedford in 1731 for £188. The show included one of the invoices for an instalment from the agent Joseph Smith. They were nicely hung at eye level so you could see all the wonderful details and felt like walking round a set of large postcards. There were good maps to show you where the sites were and each had a good explanation of the view and the techniques used. They were roughly arranged by type of site eg squares, churches etc. I t was a nice touch to have a section at the end on modern Venice and the environmental issues it faces. Closes 25 September 2022 Reviews Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/exhibitions/canalettos-venice-revisited-national-maritime-

Interesting day at the National Maritime Museum marking International Slavery Remembrance Day. Starting with a welcome ceremony with songs from Ethnovox and addresses from the director of the museum Paddy Rogers and the acting High Commissioner of Dominica there was lots to see and do. Movingly this also included a minutes silence for the victims of the recent earthquake in Haiti as the date of the day is that of the start of the Haitian Revolution. I chose to go to the talks on offer so heard Stella Dazie talk about her book on female slave activism talking to Karen McLean an artist and scholar. They talked about quiet female resistance partly coming from their knowledge of plants and herbs as well as character who resisted in a more obvious way. I then heard historian S.I. Martin discuss the Haitian revolution and how it’s ideas spread. It was a knowledgeable audience but I could have done with a bit more on the history of the uprising. With both talks, given the speakers were...

Fun exhibition at the National Maritime Museum of portraits of Royalty from the late 15th century to the present day. Most of the works in the show were from the National Portrait Gallery which is currently closed for refurbishment and this was a great way to show the pictures during this time. Every monarch was represented and interestingly it not only includes wives and husbands but also mistresses and favourites. It would make a great history lesson for children in the summer holidays. It was lovely to see these, mainly familiar pictures, in different surroundings and be able to get close enough to study the details. It was also fun that coins and stamps were included. In the modern section it was a chance to show more photography than at the National Portrait Gallery before the closure so there were a number of pictures I didn’t know. Closes 31 October 2021 Review Evening Standard      

Small exhibition at the Queen’s House focusing on the Armada Portraits of Elizabeth I. Unfortunately one of the original three pictures, the National Portrait Gallery one, has gone on tour to Japan but it will be back again in the Spring so I’ll have to go again. It was still interesting to see the other two, from the National Maritime Gallery’s own collection and from Woburn, together to make comparisons. There were good information boards which highlighted who probably owned the pictures and the symbolism in them. It is now known who painted them but they are all based on an approved miniature by Hilliard. They were nicely displayed in an installation style room with a soundscape called “A Proposal for Radical Hospitality” by Peter Adajye based on African call and response which used the acoustics of the room and created a good ambiance for viewing the pictures. Reviews Times Guardian Evening Standard Closes 2021

Fascinating exhibition at the National Maritime Museum looking at the science and cultural significance of the Moon. I loved the mix of science and society in this show. It opened with a look at what the moon has meant to people over the years and how its cycle has influenced us even before we understood it. It then looked at the early science of discovery including a mention of James Nasmyth who had also been featured in the Enlightenment exhibition I’d been to earlier that week. I loved the section on the art of the moon including this lovely picture of it seen from the Thames at Greenwich, a view I have seen many times. It included the earliest drawings as well as contemporary art. There was also a good section explaining the science and for all of ten minutes I understood tides but I’m afraid I’m back to being puzzled. There was of course an excellent section on the Apollo space missions as the show was marking the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. This include...

Novel loan display at the National Maritime Museum of this boat used in the Extinction Rebellion protests earlier this year. The boat is parked on the river side of the museum where it was moved to on 19 July under police escort when the Metropolitan Policy issued a section 12 notice banning the use of boats, vehicles and other structures in the protest. It’s shown with interesting facts and figures about the protest and looks great in the space. It’s rather nice to have a boat outside the confines of the gallery and not a bad place to park it until it’s needed again!

Interesting exhibition at the National Maritime Museum of the 31 prize winning entries in this completion for astronomical photographs and highlights entries from the previous three years. The categories in this competition and therefore themes in this show were clearly laid out. The pictures were beautiful displayed as back lit images on light boxes and each picture included good commentaries with a quote from the photographs and another from a judge. There were also technical details of how the picture was taken for the geeks. I tended to prefer the works which included some reference to the earth or people. The deep space images were fascinating but as images looked like abstract art and were hard to understand. My highlights included Mark McNeil’s of the sky through a gap in Hadrian’s Wall with a real sense of the ancient about it and Andrew Whyte’s of the Milky Way over a housing estate in Sussex. However my favourite was Brad Goldpaint’s of a rocky valley in Utah...

Exquisite small display at the Queen’s House in Greenwich of tiny photographs by Bettina von Zwehl. The girls in these pictures were all born at the start of the Millennium and are in their final year at Thomas Tallis School. The pictures are presented in small oval mounts and square frames in the style of Elizabethan miniatures in response to a quote from Elizabeth I in a letter to her brother Edward VI “For the face I grant I might well blush, but the mind I shall never be ashamed to present”. The works are part of the programme inspired by the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I. The small scale of these works make the images seem very concentrated and intense and the quality of the photography is very fine. I must admit I had so hoped they were painted when I first spotted them and was slightly disappointed to find they were photographs however they are still beautiful images of girls full of potential.

Small exhibition at the Queen’s House in Greenwich of lithographs by Marian Maguire. Maguire is an artist from New Zealand who questions her country’s past using characters from classical antiquity, in this case using the story of Herakles but casting him as a colonist of New Zealand. There are seven works from a series of twelve on show. I’m not sure I’d have got the colonialism idea without the commentary but I thought these were fun works combining Greek and Maori images.  My favourite was the one shown here of the hero undertaking activities familiar to early colonist such as charting the landscape and introducing new plants.