Cathy's Art Diary

Stolid exhibition at the British Museum looking at works on paper by Scandinavian artists since the death of Edvard Munch. I usually love exhibitions in the print room galleries as they are so well explained but in this case there was too much detail which became a bit of a turn off. It failed to make me care. I found it hard to follow the themes a nd to engage with the work. It was a large show starting with a Munch print and a discussion on his influence on subsequent woodblock artists. Most of the first section looked at prints. I was caught by the book published after the war "The Resistance" with a selection of prints produced illegally during the German occupation. I liked the inclusion of contemporary work and I loved this watercolour by Maria Nordin painted during Covid also an amazingly detailed drawing of the bodice of a historic dress by Anna Zimmerman. Closed 22 March 2026 Review Guardian

Neat little exhibition at the Royal Academy of preparatory drawings for Lubiana Himid’s large installation work. The large work of 100 cut out figures is in the “Entangled Lands” show in the other side of the building. Each figure represents an imagined, forgotten Black figure with a rhyme on the back about who character had been and who they were made to become. It’s a work I have seen parts of many times. These preparatory studies paired a sketch with a collaged version of a figure. They were in the same bright palette of the final work and it was interesting to see her working through ideas. I was interested to see that this was Himid’s diploma work on her admission to the academy. Closes 16 June 2024  

Fascinating exhibition at the Royal Academy bringing together works on paper by Impressionist artists. There was a lovely selection of works in a variety of medium including pastels, watercolours and drawing. I also spotted a number of artists I’d not come across before such as Federico Zandomeneghi so I have lots of look up. Because it was quite busy and the works were closely hung, I found myself having some good conversations as I went around. Closed 10 March 2024 Reviews Guardian Telegraph Evening Standard

Interesting exhibition at Pallant House of recent acquisitions by influential contemporary artists. The works come from two major recent additions to the collection, maquettes and preparatory drawings from the Cass Sculpture Archive and part of a gift of 120 works on paper presented by Cristea Roberts Gallery in 2021. It was nice to see a print by Joe Tilson whose pictures of Venice I love in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions. I liked Paul Winstanley’s gentle print of a net curtain and Tony Cragg’s “Pillars of Salt” shown here. I loved it’s combination of repetitive interlocking shapes. Closes 16 October 2022

Excellent online discussion from London Art Week looking at works on paper. The panel consisted of Tom Marks, Editor of Apollo magazine; Tom Edwards of Abbott and Holder; Liberte Nuti of Helm Newty; Mathews Travers of Piano Nobile and paper conservator Jane McAusland. Marks chaired and invited each of the dealers to show two or three images on paper and talk about why they should be considered as collectable works of art alongside paintings and any issues that their condition and conservation might raise. They all picked lovely works. I was interested to hear Edwards pick a fashion drawing which was a working document and never made as a finished art work but is now becoming collectible. Nuti chose this Matisse drawing which was a study for a portrait which was never completed. Travers picked a Picasso drawing partly to show how he signed drawings but also dated and numbered then all. MacAusland then took us through the work of her paper conservation studio and talked about how ...

Selling fair and exhibition at the Science Museum of prints, drawings and water colours. This year’s show had some lovely things in it but I managed to leave without buying anything, partly because the items I liked best were too expensive. I think the best piece there was Nevinson study for a now lost picture called “Strand at Night” closely followed by a portrait of Stanley Spencer by his brother Gilbert used as a study for Gilbert’s “Seven Ages of Man” from 1914. It’s always a good place to find new work too and the Wren Gallery was showing two super artists Dionne Seivewright and Angela Fielder who both did landscapes with lots of foreground and depth.   I also liked some architectural watercolours by Gerard Stamp.

Surprisingly good exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery of the Royal Academy’s present to the Queen for her Jubilee, three portfolios of works on paper by the current Royal Academicians. I had expected to the exhibition to be a bit dull but it was fascinating to see what each artist had decided to give her and to hear the artists commentaries on some of the works. Some artists seemed to pick something they had in the studio but others created a new work for the gift. As a whole the collection is a great view of established contemporary art. I particularly liked the works where the artists had thought about what the Queen might like   or were relevant to her such as a Jaspar John like picture called “16 appearances of the Union Jack” by Tom Philips or Humphrey Ocean’s picture of Kenyan birds. My favourite was actually a flow chart style picture called “How we do it!” by Eva Juricha which tried to map the creative process. I had to stand and sketch it as it described so...