Cathy's Art Diary

Delightful exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery of photographs of leopards organised by Remembering Wildlife. This show supported the eighth book in this organisation’s series to raise money for the conservation of wildlife. This one focuses on leopards and including some stunning images. I loved the pictures of black leopards by Sharon Wild and Will Burrard-Lucas. You have to look very closely to see the beautiful markings in their coats. My favourite picture was of a leopard leaping between trees by June Adley which had captured the cat mid-flight. Close 15 October 2023

Excellent exhibition at the Oxo Tower Gallery of wildlife photographs by Roger Hooper. These were stunning, sharply focused images shown in a large scale prints. His pictures of birds were particularly beautiful including some lovely ones of penguins against a clear blue sky.   There was great sequence of two leopards play fighting in one of which he caught a wonderful curve in one animals body as it jumped out of the undergrowth. Closed 18 August 2019

Lovely exhibition at the Royal Academy of work by the wildlife illustrator Barry Tunnicliffe. I realised quite quickly that I knew Tunnicliffe’s work well from Ladybird books and Brook Bond Tea cards from my youth and it was lovely to see original art work for both of those. I loved a set of prints recording the farming methods which were disappearing with a rather Flemish feel to them. I was interested to read that the fine prints market had collapsed when the Depression set in in the late 1920s and never really recovered which is why Tunnicliffe moved into book illustration and other areas of work. He was elected to the Royal Academy as a print maker not a watercolourist which he was later more known for displaying in the Summer Exhibitions. My favourite print was of a horse fair and was full of clear figures which filled the space. Closed on 8 October 2017  

Fantastic exhibition at Brighton Museum of the best pictures in this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. There were some stunning images such as “Feral Spirits” by Sam Hobson of parakeets   flying across a grave yard, wonderful splashes of colour against a largely grey background. It had a real sense of joy escaping from a place of sorry. Also “Hollywood Cougar” by Steve Winter of a big cat against the Hollywood sign, but UI felt the title had overtones of the ladies of Hollywood. Each picture came with a good commentary of what it was showing but also how the picture was taken. Also the museum took the opportunity to show the photos with items from their own natural history collection such as a monkey skeleton, various stuffed animals and insects. This gave an interesting contrast between the living specimens caught in a moment in time and the dead ones given new life in display.

Interesting exhibition at the Mall Galleries showing the best entries in the Wildlife artist of the year competition. I found a lot of work in this show a bit generic and 1970s in feel. It was being shown with some prints by David Shepherd and you realised just how influential he had been in this field and how artists were still imitating him. Don’t get me wrong I quite like his work but I don’t want to see a whole show of other people doing it. However there were some great works usually when people let go of the style and allowed themselves to be more artistic. I loved the four sculptures called “Ghost Dogs” by Simon Grififths which were so expressive and just strolled through the viewer’s ignoring them as they went. I also liked   “Clear a path” by Nick Onell a picture of a shark scattering a school of fish in a gold ocean. Most amazing of all were Rohan Chhabra’s sculptures using hunting jackets to make animal trophies such as a rhino head. A nice comment on t...

Wonderful exhibition of wildlife photographs at the Natural History Museum of the best photos in this annual competition. I always mean to go to this annual exhibition but often run out of time. This year are some stunning images in about 14 categories. They are beautifully displayed with back lighting which gives some of the pictures an almost 3D quality. The pictures show a number of things. Some are studies in patience with photographers having waited hours and in some cases months for the image they want of a rare animal. Others are studies in technique or texture. I like the fact you don’t need to have travelled thousands of miles or be intrepid to enter, many of the best images are local to where the photographer lives. My favourite shot was one of a close up of a rain drop on a leaf with another leaf reflected in the drop by Darren Leal. In the same category “In praise of plants” I also like a water lily photographed from below by Frederick Ehrenstrom. Reviews Evening Standard