Cathy's Art Diary

Lovely trip to the archives of the National Portrait Gallery to look the material they have on the gallery during the First World War organised for friends of the gallery. This event was made by the wonderful story telling of the lady who showed us around. I am so sorry I didn’t get her name. She’d picked fascinating documents from the archive then wove them together to tell us a story and paint a picture of some fascinating characters. She looked at the two directors of the gallery during the period but more interesting were the glimpses into the lives of the guards who became special constables for the duration of the war. You always think of war as a time of great events and grand behaviour but she included wonderful tales of catching a petty thief and of arguments between the guards and the typists of the government department that moved in. She was also good at answering questions and had researched what happened to the characters that she was talking about. The event...

A wonderful opportunity to visit the contemporary art collection of the law firm Simmons and Simmons. This event was organised by the London Art History Society and we were led round by the curator and retired partner, Stuart Evans. Stuart spoke very passionately about the work and it was fascinating to hear about how it had been acquired and why they had supported various artists. It was also fascinating to hear him talk about the current contemporary art market. The firm had started collecting just as the Young British Artists movement took off and their work was well represented. There was a big Damien Hirst spot picture in the canteen and Stuart talked about how it was painted and how the value is not in the work but the idea. If the company needed to move it and have it repainted somewhere else then it would still be classed as the same work. I loved the way the work was spread out around the building with large iconic pieces in reception but also smaller works i...

Inspiring visit to the National Theatre Archive arranged by the Association of Pall Mall Libraries. I am such a fan of the National Theatre so found it magical to get a chance to visit their archive. The archivist, Erin Lee, was very welcoming and talked with such enthusiasm about the archive and her role there. She talked us through the various collections and how they promote and use them. From the amount of projects she mentioned I assumed she had a large staff but it turned out to be her and a couple of trainees and project related people. I was so impressed by her energy. We had a look in the basement at how the archive was organised and she opened a few of the production boxes to show us programmes, notes and sketches. She had open a prompt book and there was a set model on show. She then took us over to the theatre itself to show us her current exhibition (which I’ll review next) and talked about how she calls on other departments at the theatre to help her put thes...