Cathy's Art Diary

Slightly disjointed exhibition at the British Museum tracing the horse from its earliest origins to the race horses of today. Each bit of the exhibition was very good but I wasn’t sure the bits fitted together.  I would have preferred three exhibitions the horse in the classical world, the horse in Islam and the growth of the modern race horse.  I liked the last section best on race horses in particular the work of Blunts who were the first English people to collect Arabian horse and started a stud in England. I loved the illustrations of  their travels. I was also fascinated to see the development from UK race horse from just three foundation stud horses. A friend had described this to me a while ago at Goodwood races so it was nice to find out more and relive happy memories.

Academic exhibition at the in the print room of the British Library focusing on Spanish drawings from 1500 to the early 19 th century. It was well organised focusing on particular cities at points in time to illustrate a technique or theme. It began with Madrid and designs of the Philip II’s palace including a beautiful design for a vestment.    Here was a slight misbalance to the show as Velazquez had done very view drawings so there were only two by him. This did mean there was rather a lot of fairly standard 17 th century studies for or copies of altar piece which got a but waring. My favourite piece in the show was a wonderful drawing of a monk by Zuberan which had such pathos. I am rapidly becoming a Zuberan fan! The main thing I learnt was the Tiepolo and his sons moved to Spain in the 1750s. I didn’t know that and would like to know more!  Reviews Independent  

Trip to see the print collection at the law firm Clifford Chance organised by the Friends of the Courtauld. For twenty years the firm has acquired a significant collection of original artist prints. The collection includes works by major artists working in Britain over the last 150 years, running from Whistler and Nevinson, through Hockney, Riley and Gormley to works by recent Art School graduates. We were taken round by the advisers to the art committee and it was fascinating to hear how a collection was being developed and the process by which they chose and acquired new work. It was interesting to see that the work was displayed in all areas of the offices not just directors’ offices so that all staff had access to them. However it has to be said that any works we saw, and there were some lovely pieces, paled into insignificance when compared to the view from room where we had drinks which was on the 30 th floor of their Canary Wharf office!

I only managed to get out one day of this year's Open House weekend as the Sunday was so wet and windy. However on the Saturday I investigated events in my local area. I only moved to Woolwich about 6 months ago so I am still exploring. The most fascinating event was the barracks at Station Officers’ Mess Woolwich Barracks . The building has the longest Georgian frontage in Europe and it was so interesting to go inside and see how a modern regiment was using it. I was delighted to see they were still commissioning art works. The other half of the building held the mess for the King’s Own Troop who have only recently moved there from St John’s Wood. Over the road from the Barracks were the bombed ruins of St George’s Church which is now the VC memorial for the Royal Artillery. It was manned by a faithful band of ladies who are working to preserve it. Finally on the way back I popped into Woolwich Town Hall . This Edwardian civic building had a lovely faded grand...

Fascinating talk at the National Portrait Gallery by Rob Dickens looking at how images of the famous have changed over the last 150 years and how the famous have used artists to build their images. He began with how the most famous Victorians are often seen in our minds a sold men because that is when their photographs appeared although there are in fact striking portraits of them as young me. He then went through the relationships between various Hollywood stars and the photographers they worked with. He then develpoed this into the way pop stars have built similar relationships. He touched on the vital role Vanity Fair photographer played in both eras. He also talked about how looking at pictures of someone throughout their life could tell their story using Tony Blair as one example.

Nice exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery looking at how images of the Queen have developed throughout her reign. It began with the familiar coronation images such as the Cecil Beaton photo but then came up to date with the wonderful photo of the Queen and Prince Philip to sitting together on a sofa to mark Phillips 90 th birthday. I particularly liked the way images referred back to earlier ones with 3 of her in a military cloak staring with the great Annigoni portrait and ending with a recent photo by Annie Liebovitz. I would have liked the exhibition to be have had a bit more depth and been a bit bigger. For a Jubilee event it was a shame it was only 3 rooms worth.

Annual exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery for this award for portrait painting. I thought this year’s exhibition was better than some years as the pictures were mainly realistic. I do tend to struggle with abstract portraits. My favourite was “Swallow” by Alexander Garner a classic portrait of a woman in the early 20 th century tradition with a striking yellow background with swallows on. I also though the picture opposite the entrance “Tess and the clay heads” by Ruth Murray was a wonderful study of texture and I love the similarity between the swirls of clay and the sitters hair. There was also a very classic commissioned portrait of the High Sherriff of Lincolnshire which was glossy and highly finished. Great to know there are still people who can paint this sort of formal work. Reviews Independent Evening Standard