Cathy's Art Diary

Slightly disappointing exhibition at the Photographer’s Gallery looking at how photography has played in defining music culture today. There were some nice examples of work but as a whole I felt the show wasn’t too sure what it was trying to show. I suspect we’ve not had enough of the century yet to spot trends.   I liked the fact it was divided on the different floors into pictures of musicians and picture of fans. Being a bit of a Lady Ga-Ga fan I liked large pictures by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Maladin for the AA Rave event. You realise that she is   blank canvas for ideas and images.   I also liked the Katy Perry mini-videos by Ryan Erin Hughes as different characters, most of which I wouldn’t have said were her! In the fans section I liked the clichéd pictures of miserable looking Morrissey fans!

Charming exhibition at the Photographers’ Gallery of work by Shirley Baker. These pictures looked at Manchester in the mid-20th century. This was a period when the old terraced houses were being knocked down and replaced by high rise buildings but these pictures show a strange midway world where people were living amongst the demolition work before moving to the new housing. There is a real sense of an embattled community. The pictures of children were wonderful and raised a smile to your face as they seemed to use the frame of a pram as a toy or just hung round the streets. I also loved the dogs many of which seem to be related if looks were anything to go by! Baker had a wonderful eye for a subject and the framing of a shot.

Fascinating new gallery at the British Museum to display the Waddesdon Bequest. The collection was left to the museum in 1898 by Baron Ferdinand Rothschild and was collected by him and his father. It is the most magnificent collection of Renaissance objects. I was particularly struck by the jewellery which was one of the best collections which I had seen.   I was also interested in seeing the work of a female enamel artist Susanne Court. The star item was a Holy Thorn reliquary made for John, Duc de Berry and I loved the way the Lycargus Cup was displayed with different light conditions to show off the lovely translucent effect. Review Times    

Interesting exhibition at the Dicken’s Museum looking at his last unfinished novel “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”. Over 250 solutions have been proposed to the unfinished novel in essays, films, books and more. A lovely diagram set out the two crime scenes, Cloisterham (Rochester) and London as the book had been set in real places. These gave maps showing where people lived and an outline of the characters. The exhibition also has the table from the Swiss Chalet on which he wrote the last words. There was a fascinating section on a re-enacted trail of John Jaspars held in 1914 by the Dicken’s Fellowship with G.K. Chesterton as the judge and Bernard Shaw as the foreman of the jury! It seems to have fallen apart as Chesterton held everyone in contempt of court! Other sections looked at film, stage and TV versions of the story and Howard Duffield’s collection of Drood books.    

Delightful display at the Foundling Museum looking at the effects of the Napoleonic wars on the Foundling Hospital. One case looked at two foundlings who had fought at Trafalgar one of whom, George King, had written a memoir of his life. The other case looked at Waterloo. After the battle the government had asked the hospital to waive their usual admissions policy to allow in any children whose fathers had been killed in the Battle however in the end only three women seem to have applied. I’d love to more of the story of one who said she had been ‘seduced by a soldier’ who was then killed in the battle! There is a novel in that!

Fascinating exhibition at the Foundling Museum looking at the art of stucco both in its historic context and looking at contemporary work by Geoffrey Preston. Preston was invited to lead the team working on the ceilings at Uppark House following the fire. And in doing that work he reinvented the art of hand modelled plaster work. The section on that house also discussed the geometric proportions of the ceilings. I had always wondered how such elaborated work could seem so effortless and the answer seems to be its geometric underpinning. I loved seeming frames pieces of   plaster work at head height so you could see the detail of the design and finish properly in particular the Bachus and Ariadne based on a Tintoretto made   for a room at Great Fulford which the family have been restoring for three generations! He had also done modern work for a house in 2009 including beautiful birds based on drawing by C.F.Tunnicliffe.

Nice exhibition at Aspley House presenting recent research on the Titian’s there. All the pictures were of women. At one end of the room two from the house were hung with one from the Courtauld. One of the Apsley House pictures had been recently x-rayed and a version of the Courtauld picture of “Toilet of Venus” had been revealed of which two versions are known. There was also a nice feature on their Danae picture which had been to the Prado for conservation in 2013. Work done there showed it to be the picture that Philip II bought direct from the artist as opposed to the one bought by Velazquez for Philip IV which it had thought to have been. There was a nice comparison of three know versions, this one, the one in the Prado and one in Naples.