Cathy's Art Diary

Charming exhibition at the Royal Watercolour Society of work by Tony Foster exploring ideas of time. The works, spanning a number of journey's and his home county of Cornwall,   look at four types of time, geological, biological and human as well as fleeting moments. The delicate paintings were often framed with samples of rock or flora or paintings of leaves. Closed 20 December 2025 Review Times

Useful online study morning from the Wallace Collection to compliment their exhibition of watercolours by Turner and Bonington. Taking the exhibition as a starting point the morning consisted of five talks beginning with a description of the show by its curator Lucy Davis who discussed the pictures and how they entered the collection. John Bonehill from the University of Glasgow then talked about Turner and landed estates and the concept of estate portraits which I hadn’t consciously come across before. He talked about how Turner started doing these as a money spinner but developed the style into a higher form. Next was Timothy Barringer from Yale University looking at how both artists reflected the modern world and how pictures which look romantic to us also critique the changing world in which they were painted. There was a useful talk by Joyce H Townsend from the Tate taking us thought the technique of watercolour and developments in the early 19th century including the inv...

Charming small exhibition at the Wallace Collection of watercolours by J.M.W. Turner and Richard Bonington. There were just ten pictures in the show but they were beautiful and delicate. The commentary was well and clearly written covering the techniques used as well as the stories behind the pictures. I loved the pictures of Venice by Bonington, an artist I had not come across before. He was based in France and was known to admire Turner. As well as the Venice works there were pictures of Normandy. The four Turner pictures were of Yorkshire and were all done for the brother-in-law of his friend   Walter Fawkes, with who he spent holidays in the county. They felt like his version of holiday photographs and included the two men in the landscapes.   Closes 12 May 2024 Review Evening Standard

Fascinating  display at Tate Britain of drawings and watercolours by contemporary artist Chris Ofili shown with works by William Blake that inspired him. It was a clever move to have the different artists in different rooms and the show would have worked whatever order you saw them in. Both artists drew from a variety of sources to inspire their work and the colour palette is similar. It is surprising to think the artists were working 200 years apart.   There were good explanations of the works and some Blake’s I’d never seen before. Closes 2 June 2024    

Charming exhibition at the Bankside Gallery showcasing work by members of the Royal Watercolour Society and Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. Shows at this gallery are always hung well, setting up interesting themes from a diverse collection of work, and this was no exception. It is also refreshing to see watercolours and prints shown together but I did find the prices a bit on the steep side.   There was a lovely section of landscapes and I’d highlight Frances Hatch’s small but thickly impasto works and Martin Jacob’s beautiful “Where the Crow Flies”. Then a section on gardens including lovely bold flowers by Paul Catherall. It was nice to bring together the black and white prints and then to have a wall of the smaller, colourful pieces. My favourite was this picture in acrylic of the Thames in acrylic by John Duffin. Closed 10 September 2023    

Delightful exhibition at the Garden Museum of delicate watercolours by Dana Westring. The pictures by artist and garden designer, Westring, were of Hindu temples and other Indian structures with the title of the show coming from a Hindu word implying spiritual places. The works, which were for sale in aid of Lambeth Green, a plan to build a public park around the museum were detailed, delicate watercolours, often in a slightly monotone palate, of grand   but tranquil buildings. I loved the way he caught the light on the buildings. Closed 5 May 2022

Interesting exhibition in the Sir High Casson Friends’ Room at the Royal Academy of watercolours by the late Albert Irvin. This was a selling exhibition of bright, abstract works. I found myself seeing form in them such as rain falling on a sea. I loved one with large yellow blobs of paint. It struck me that you don’t often see abstract watercolours or see that paint format used to create such bright colours.

Charming exhibition at the Visitor Centre of the Old Royal Naval College of watercolours and drawings of the town. There was a nice collection of pictures arranged into sections on the park, town and river. Most startling was how busy the river was and I loved the stories of the businesses which sustained the ships. The descriptions were excellent and they came with a good map of where all the sites are now. There were a number of artists I’d not come across before, mainly talented 19th amateurs including Amelia Long and John Nixon, both of whom showed at the annual Royal Academy shows. Closed 27 February 2022    

Charming exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of British drawings and watercolours from the 17th century to the mid-20th century. The exhibition was showcasing the gallery’s own works on paper collection to mark the reopening of the gallery. The earliest work was a sheet of Isaac Oliver figure studies from about 1610. It was interesting to see James Thornhill’s design for the ceiling of the Painted Hall in Greenwich and I loved a Peter Lely drawing of two heralds. It was good to see works from the great British landscape artists, so there was a Gainsborough, a Constable and a Turner. It was a nice touch to include the Edward Dayes, shown here, of Somerset House before the Embankment was built because, of course, we were standing in part of the building. Of the later works there was a wonderfully detailed drawing of a chaffinch nest and May blossom by William Henry Hunt, a Henry Moore shelter drawings and a super Wyndham Lewis self-portrait from 1911. Closes 27 February 2022

Delightful exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum of watercolours from the Renaissance. Watercolour was an unusual medium in this period but was widely used by manuscript illuminators and miniaturists as well as by other artists to enable them to sketch outdoors. The show was arranged by topic covering landscape, nature, design and portraits. Highlights included a rare painting of Nonesuch Palace by Joris Hoefnagel from 1568, Jacques le Moyne de Morgues botanical studies, armour designs by Jacob Halder and Holbein’s miniature of Anne of Cleeves.   It was a nice touch to include some work from Mughal India particularly their Christian images copied from Western prints. I was amazed to see an Isaac Oliver miniature which had got to India and been mounted in a Mughal painted paper frame. Closes 8 August 2021 Review Telegraph

Confusing exhibition at Kew Gardens looking at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney.   I say confusing because I wasn’t sure how the commentary on the history of botany in Australia and the creating of their botanical gardens matched the watercolours. It was only later that I realised a Florilegium is a collection of paintings of plants and this set had been commissioned recently to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the gardens.   Checking back on my notes I now realise there was a lot on Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist on Cooks first expedition to the area, who maintained an interest and on his return and sent botanists out on later expeditions to collect for himself and Kew Gardens. I encountered him again a few weeks later in the James Cook exhibition at the British Library.   The pictures were beautiful, detailed works showing the leaves, flowers and fruits of the plants. The descriptions were very detailed. There was an interesting...

Annual summer exhibition at Bankside Gallery of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. This show is always fun with lots of affordable works. This year’s standouts included Peter Quinn’s nice watercolours of Venice and Sue Howell’s bright landscapes. I also liked John Duffin’s prints of Tube stations. My favourite piece was Karen Keogh’s “City Rooftops” looking across roofs towards Canary Wharf. Closed on 10 September 2017  

Charming exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery of Victorian rural figures by William Henry Hunt. Hunt was better known for intricate watercolour still lives but he branched out to paint these figures at a time of agricultural development and social change. They are painted for a low view point as Hunt was disabled and painted sitting down. These were very engaging pictures. I loved one of a maltster resting with his cat and another of a head gardener surrounded by his produce including a pineapple. There were some beautifully painted interiors. I was a bit disappointed to find that some of the pictures were types with his friends posing for them rather than the real craftsmen. All very Thomas Hardy! Closes on 17 September 2017 Review Times  

Delightful exhibition at the British Museum of landscape watercolours by British artists in the 100 years after the death of Turner. This was the period in which Ruskin advised artists to “go to nature” and these artists took that to heart. There was a huge market for watercolours and big money in it. I loved the show for the glimpses it gave into the life of many artists I’d not heard of before. The commentaries on the pictures were detailed by interesting and very readable. The exhibition was arranged in themes which gave you a good opportunity to compares styles and approaches over the century. My highlights tended to come from the 20th century including a Nevinson of the redevelopment of Regent Street (OK for landscape read townscape too), a Keith Vaughan of conscientious objectors clearing ivy off a wall, a David Jones of Eric Gill’s house in Ditchling and a gorgeous Charles Rennie Macintosh of a harbour front with the buildings reflected in the water. Most ...

Varied exhibition at Bankside Gallery from the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers as their summer exhibition. There was a Shakespeare theme to some of this show as artists from both societies had worked with the Globe Theatre on their Shakespeare celebration. I loved some of the theatre being built and Michael Barratt’s map of Shakespeare’s London. Other highlights included pictures of Venice by Peter Quinn and Martin Leman’s “Across the Bay” a view of the lights across a bay with two great horizontals of the sea and sky separated by the thin line of lights. My favourite was “Winter Sunshine in a West London Garden” by Liz Butler a lovely picture of light in tress and brick houses. Closes 11 September 2016.

Dull exhibition at the British Museum of watercolours based on Francis Towne’s year in Rome from 1780-81. There were some lovely pictures but the commentary concentrated on how they were painted, the techniques and materials used. This was interesting but It became overdone and I’d have liked a bit more about Rome, what it was like then and pictures of the views now. That could be because I am about to go on holiday there so I was hoping to use the exhibition as homework! I loved the fact Towne numbered the works and noted the weather conditions at the time, it oddly reminded me of the property notes which get attached to a digital photo! I was also interested in the idea that he used these watercolours as a base for pictures through his life and patrons would use them to commission an oil painting. There was an interesting section on the other painters he met and worked with in Rome but in a strange way showing these diminished his work as it showed they were all wor...

Nice selling exhibition at the Bankside Gallery of prints and watercolours   by artists from the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers. I loved the visual overload of this show with small works shown four of five deep at times. You eye picks out the works you like really quickly and you quickly recognise the artists you like. On the whole it was the print work which appealed. I pick out a lovely bright lino print of a station by Gail Brodholt, Brian Hanscombe’s stunningly fine engravings and Margaret Sellar’s bright silkscreen works. In the paintings I’d pick Wendy Jacob’s simple but lovely gouache works such as one of three quinces and Neil Pittaway’s picture of autumn light on St Paul’s Cathedral which makes it looks like it’s on fire. Closed 24 January

Delightful exhibition at Tate Britain of works on paper by the Pre-Raphaelite artists. This wasn’t over curated and just showed nice pieces which aren’t often seen with a little bit of commentary on who the artists were. Highlights included a lovely picture of Fanny Cornforth, a lovely sketch by Millais done in a church in Scotland when sheltering from the rain and a portrait of F.G. Stephens by Ford Maddox Brown as a study for the figure of Christ in “Washing Peter’s Feet”. A particular highlight was some watercolours by Lizzie Siddall next to a Rossetti of her.

Small selling exhibition at the Watts Gallery of watercolours by HRH The Prince of Wales and Alexander Creswell. These works are shown together as Cresswell as produced commissioned works for Prince Charles plus has taught at his summer school. The works by Prince Charles are signed lithographs. Prince Charles work is very focused and precise and of places he knows well. Creswells are freer and more colourful. I loved the set of fireworks in Venice done from a boat. There is a real sense of the movement and of being there. A proportion of the sales will support the work of Watts Gallery Trust, including the Limnerslease Project, which will save the home of G F and Mary Watts.

A slightly random exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of recently acquired prints and drawings although it did include some lovely works. I loved a Sir Joseph Noel Paton, head of Robert the Bruce, particularly as his father’s collection included some of the bones of the Bruce and his mother claimed to be descended from him. The picture itself was a wonderful big head of a Victorian Medieval Knight. There was a nice view of Rom by Turner on his first trip there in 1819-20 but with slightly odd foreground figures. Plus a nice view of Harlech Castle by Paul Sandby, who I seem to being followed by at the moment!