Cathy's Art Diary

Exhibition at the Royal Academy which looked at the achievement of the Galerie Maeght. The gallery was founded by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght and opened in Paris in 1945. It was to become one of the most influential and creative galleries of the twentieth century. In particular this exhibition focused the work of four artists Miro, Calder, Giametti and Braque who formed close links with the family. It also looked at their early relationship with Bonnard and Matisse. My favorite pieces were some stunning un-Braque like landscapes by Braque. There were about 7 of them put closely together and reminded me of the arrangement in my lounge! I found the film the family had taken of the artists particularly touching especially that of Matisse painting Margarite Maeght just underneath the picture he was drawing. Reviews Metro

Stunning exhibition at the Royal Academy bringing together objects from the Byzantine Empire. As soon as you walked into exhibition you are struck by a sense of gold and richness. The first rooms presented the history and then they looked at themes. Interesting themes included the way that the early Byzantine Christians set the iconic traditions for Christian art even till today. It looked at how the bearded image of Christ took precedence and how many of the now standard images developed. It was fascinating to see early Annunciations and to realize they were working out how to show this. I was also fascinated by the room which looked at the relationship between Byzantium and Italy. As well as looking at the objects the Venetians stole from Constantinople it also looked at artistic elements which they took. Best of all had to be the room of icons. There were all so luxurious but also had a real sense of peace. However I will say that this is in some ways a very annoying exhibition. Ma...

Beautiful exhibition at the National Gallery which brought together portraits from the Northern and Italian Renaissance together. Arranged in themes it showed the works together not in northern and southern rooms so you could see how the north influence the south and how the south then took the techniques it learnt and ran with them. The exhibition was full of old friends and I spent a lot of time working out where I had seen pictures before. Most wonderful was bringing the Van Eyck self portrait together with his portrait of his wife. Surely these were designed as a pair and it was so lovely to see them together again. My favourite has to me the Memling, probably of a Venetian, holding a coin. The detail in the face is so fine down to individual strands of hair against the landscape. Also worth mentioning is the stunning red chalk self portrait by Pontormo. Even better was that this was a bonus afternoon brought about by a power cut at work which meant we were all let out early! Revi...

Small exhibition at the National Gallery bringing together Titian’s “Death of Actaeon” and “Diana and Actaeon” to help raise money to but the later for the nation. Painted for Philip II of Spain it is lovely to see these two works together. They were presented with the sections of Ovid which they represent. Review Daily Telegraph

Second lecture in a series at the National Gallery focusing on the Renaissance Faces exhibition . Given by Paula Nuttall this lecture looked in particular at the influence of Northern artists on the Italians claiming that many of the idea which later flourished in Italy began in the North, an idea I absolutely agree with. In particular it looked at the role of landscape in the backgrounds and the ¾ face pose. It drew interesting parallels between works.

Good exhibition on the life and work of Le Corbusier at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool. Just realised I missed this exhibition off my Liverpool Odyssey! Not sure why as it was very good! It was held in the crypt which was also a good opportunity to see this work by Lutchens. I found the architecture was much nicer from the inside than the outside and often addressed very practical issues. I loved the kitchen for a block of flats complete with a small hatch that the milk man could leave the daily delivery in. I was also struck by the paintings by Le Corbusier. I’d not thought of him as a painter and they were very fine. Reviews Times Daily Telegraph

Annual craft fair held in the courtyard of Somerset House . As my Mother would say “It’s clever but it’s not art” so not sure it should be in the blog but I decided it was a vaguely artistic event so I’d let it count! Also it cost £8 so I wanted to get my money’s worth. There were some beautiful things in the fair and if I win the lottery at the weekend there are a number of people I’d phone up to buy! I fell for a lovely silk stripped scarf but at £170 I think now. Instead I bought the cheapest item in the show, a small button badge with a bit of map and a press stud on it! It’s better than it sounds and was only £4!