Monthly Archives: July 2013

Sotheby’s – London 2

“Three Generations” – Curated by Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation, until 9th August 2013

‘Midnight’ Mohammed Al Astad Al Hammadi

‘Midnight’
Mohammed Al Astad Al Hammadi

This is the first UK group exhibition of artists, emerging and established, from the United Arab Emirates.  The show is under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative of the Western Region of Abu Dhabi (known as Al Dhafra in Arabic).

‘Depth & Speed’ Mattar Bin Lahej

‘Depth & Speed’
Mattar Bin Lahej

As the name suggests this exhibition shows three generations of Emirati artists and through 12 works by 12 artists provides a snapshot of artistic expression.  It is a visually stimulating exhibition which reflects both past traditions and current and future artistic aspirations.

‘State of Mind’ Hamdan Buti Al Shamsi

‘State of Mind’
Hamdan Buti Al Shamsi

It deserves your attention and quite honestly I hope that we will start to see some of these artists exhibited more often in London.

‘The Hint of a Smile’ Jalal Luqman

‘The Hint of a Smile’
Jalal Luqman

Sotheby’s – London 1

In-House Art-House, until 9th August 2013

Robin Stewart Time for a dip 2009 Terracotta £120

Robin Stewart
Time for a dip
2009
Terracotta
£120

Sotheby’s 12th annual Staff exhibition of work will no doubt appeal to many who regularly visit the New Bond Street salerooms for auctions but also to those who may not.  You will discover a wide range of both figurative and abstract works in all sorts of media as you can see here.  Some very talented people!

Ryan Varney Metro Masquerade 5 April 2013 Glue, water, The Metro (papier-mâché), paper, egg cartons, paint, cotton, wool, fake eyelashes. Ice cream sticks, elastic £199.99 ono

Ryan Varney
Metro Masquerade
5 April 2013
Glue, water, The Metro (papier-mâché), paper, egg cartons, paint, cotton, wool, fake eyelashes. Ice cream sticks, elastic
£199.99 ono

All catalogue sales and 15% of the proceeds of sold artworks will be donated to the UK charity Action Postpartum Psychosis (APP).  Postpartum Psychosis (PP) is a severe form of mental illness that can suddenly affect women in the first few weeks after giving birth.  Over thirteen hundred women experience it a year and of course it is traumatic for their families too. APP, made up of perinatal academics, health professionals and women who have experienced the condition, seeks to make more health professionals and the public aware of the symptoms, impact and management of PP.

A very good reason to visit this exhibition!

Stephen Mould Sennen Rocks 16 March 2013 Oil £200

Stephen Mould
Sennen Rocks
16 March 2013
Oil
£200

Gold Boxes – Book Review

THE WALLACE COLLECTION

CATALOGUE OF GOLD BOXES

CHARLES TRUMAN

£100.00

Sponsored by S.J. Phillips Ltd

Image

 

I am going to try and do justice to this new delicious, catalogue on the collection of 99 gold boxes at The Wallace Collection.  Dating from between c1730-1830 they number some of the finest and most famous known examples.

 The author, Charles Truman, is a leading expert on gold boxes and his research has led to some interesting discoveries.  Most of the boxes previously thought to be of Swiss origin turn out to be of German craftsmanship, with exquisite specimens from Berlin, Hanau and Dresden among them.

 Image

Snuffbox

Probably Johann Christian Neuber, Dresden, c. 1775
The miniatures probably after 1786 or later, but before 1863
Gold, carnelian, base metal (probably bronze or copper), gouache on card under glass

By kind permission of the trustees of the Wallace Collection

To many the French boxes may already be familiar and what a dazzling array there is with works by leading Parisian makers such as Pierre-François Drais, Jean-Marie Tiron, Jean Frémin, Louis Roucel and Jean Ducrollay.  Each is described in great detail, including the sources for the box’s decoration.

In his introduction, Truman, relates the history of snuff taking and the collecting of these boxes, whose actual purpose was almost an afterthought.  They were the ultimate 18th century fashion accessory, reflecting the “denier cri” in style, novelty and taste.  They even had value as “currency”.

  

Image

Snuffbox

Jean-Charles-Simphorien Dubos, Paris 1756–57
Gold and enamel

By kind permission of the trustees of the Wallace Collection

The combination of goldsmithing, lapidary, enamelling and painted miniatures make them a microcosm of 18th century taste and art.  One can totally understand why the family acquired them in the mid-19th century as related in an essay by Rebecca Wallis.  Seoyoung Kim’s scientific analysis of the boxes reveals new information on the standards of gold used and how it could vary even in the best-regulated centres of production.

Gold boxes were expensive in the 18th century as they are today.  However salvation is at hand for this exquisitely illustrated book is the very next best thing you will find to owning one!

PS.  The book is at a special price of £75 at the Wallace Collection!

Laura Knight at the National Portrait Gallery, London

LAURA KNIGHT PORTRAITS – Until 13 October 2013,

 

This is a really good show and despite the fact that The National Portrait Gallery does not allow their images to be used on social networking sites I thought that I should bring it to your attention.  I am allowed though to give you the link to their website where you can access the images – www.npg.org.uk

 There is little doubt that Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) was one of the leading twentieth-century British artists.  Her artistic career is celebrated in an exhibition of over forty works at The National Portrait Gallery.

It includes the famous 1913 self-portrait as well as paintings of ballet, circus performers and gypsies. Perhaps less well-known are her sympathetic, sensitive studies of patients, including children in the racially segregated wards in the John Hopkins Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, USA.  In 1926 her husband, the painter, Harold Knight (they had married in 1903) had several commissions there and she accompanied him.

She was thorough in researching her subjects, spending time with both Bertram Mills and Great Carmo’s touring circus to capture circus people both in and out of the Big Top.  She was equally dedicated with her paintings of gypsies. She painted them in the mid-Thirties at Epsom Races, which eventually led to her being invited to visit a gypsy encampment at Iver, Buckinghamshire.  She visited it daily for several months and created some of her most penetrative portraits of one of the families.

During the Second World War she produced a series of works, showing female munitions workers and members of the auxiliary air force.  These portraits were of women who had achieved distinction in their work or been decorated for courageous acts.  At the end of the war, when in her late-sixties, she was sent as a war correspondent to the Nuremberg Trials where she painted the scene from the Court’s press box.

Hers was a life of achievement; from being Nottingham Art School’s youngest pupil at the age of thirteen to becoming, in 1936, the first full female member of the Royal Academy of Arts.  The only others had been Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffman and they were founder members when it was created in 1768.  She was also the first female artist to be given a retrospective at the RA in 1965.  One cannot forget either her appointment as a Dame of the British Empire in 1929.

As the NPG’s Director, Sandy Nairne says, ‘Dame Laura Knight created superb portraits which are a key part of twentieth-century British art. I am delighted that the National Portrait Gallery is staging the first exhibition dedicated to this work and would like to thank the Dame Laura Knight Estate for helping make this possible.’

While I echo this sentiment I must admit to being disappointed at not being able to illustrate this piece for you but I do hope you will use the link and even better, be motivated to see this exhibition.

MAYFAIR GALLERIES MISCELLANY

Flowers, 21 Cork Street, London W1S 3LZ, (020 7439 7766)

 The exhibition Three Surrealists (until 3rd August) is a great treat with its very different kind of works ranging from Anthony Earnshaw’s  boxed assemblages,

30941

Anthony Earnshaw The Fox Hunt 2000

Boxed assemblage, 35 x 36 x 7 cm, AFG 30941.  Copyright Anthony Earnshaw, Courtesy Flowers Gallery, London.                   

to the wondrous three-dimensional paintings  of Patrick Hughes where the eye is tricked into believing you see the third dimension by movement

51425 (1)

Patrick Hughes, Warholistic 2013, Oil on board construction,  43.75 x 102.5 x 21 cm

Copyright Patrick Hughes, Courtesy Flowers Gallery, London.

and the cartoon like depiction of contrived scenes by Glen Baxter which always make one smile.

39077

Glen Baxter (b.1944), I had noticed that Robert was increasingly prone to sudden emotional mood swings 2005

Ink and crayon on paper, 78 x 57 cm.   Copyright Glen Baxter, Courtesy Flowers Gallery, London.            

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Alon Zakaim Fine Art, 5-7 Dover Street, London W1S 4LD, 020 7287 7750

Vanstone Installation Shot 1

General View of the Gallery

Origins (until 16th August) allows those of us who are not regular attendees of the Chelsea Flower Show to enjoy the sculptures of Paul Vanstone. His works are a mixture of traditional and contemporary, whether they be torsos, heads, sinuously shaped figures or the sculpted folds of fabric. All are carved from marble especially chosen for the subject matter.   It is the resulting pared-down simplicity that attracts the viewer and draws them to acquire one.

Jaisalmer Head Jaisalmer Head

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Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, 15 – 16 Brooks Mews, London W1K 4DS, (020 7495 0069)

In Landscaped (until 31st August) Jenny Pockley, better known for her remarkable cityscapes, has turned her hand and skill to depicting her native Kent in landscapes of muted palette but tremendous impact.

Jenny Pockley, Refinery, 2013. Oil on Gesso, 120 x 150 cm Jenny Pockley, Refinery, 2013. Oil on Gesso, 120 x 150 cm.

Sarah Myerscough Fine Art

Alongside her Andrew Mackenzie’s pictures evoke the Scottish countryside while noting the presence of man-made constructions such as reservoirs and viewing platforms.

Andrew Mackenzie, Far Hope 4, Oil on Panel,107 x 63   Andrew Mackenzie, Far Hope 4, Oil on Panel,107 x 63

Sarah Myerscough Fine Art

A deconstructed view of the city landscape is the final element of this show where in carefully created photographs, Sachiyo Nishimura, reveals elements, normally ignored, such as the visible wiring between rails and tram routes.

Sachiyo Nishimura, Lines 05-1, Giclee Print, 72 x 117 Sachiyo Nishimura, Lines 05-1, Giclee Print, 72 x 117

Sarah Myerscough Fine Art

A Soldier’s Tale – an exhibition at Asia House, until 20th July 2013

Tim Forrest's E & A

 

Welcome to my new blog site.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the ceasefire that bought the Korean War, known as “The Forgotten War” to its stalemate close. It was a bitter three year war which involved troops from more than twenty nations and resulted in a huge number of civilian and military casualties. The succeeding years have seen a cold war conflict with, as we saw earlier this year, the occasional “posturing” threatening the truce.

Soon-hak Kwon – A work for A Soldier’sTale (detail) 2013

In A Soldier’s Tale, organised by ISKAI Art, 14 artists have been inspired by the stories of British soldiers, not as a glorification of war and political views but rather as a depiction of human endurance, despair and comradeship. Visitors will find a mixture of optimism, pain and perseverance that reflects the experiences of both the soldiers and the Korean…

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A Soldier’s Tale – an exhibition at Asia House, until 20th July 2013

 

Welcome to my new blog site.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the ceasefire that bought the Korean War, known as “The Forgotten War” to its stalemate close. It was a bitter three year war which involved troops from more than twenty nations and resulted in a huge number of civilian and military casualties. The succeeding years have seen a cold war conflict with, as we saw earlier this year, the occasional “posturing” threatening the truce.

Soon-hak Kwon – A work for A Soldier’sTale (detail) 2013

In A Soldier’s Tale, organised by ISKAI Art, 14 artists have been inspired by the stories of British soldiers, not as a glorification of war and political views but rather as a depiction of human endurance, despair and comradeship. Visitors will find a mixture of optimism, pain and perseverance that reflects the experiences of both the soldiers and the Korean people.

Yongbaek Lee – Angel-Soldier – 2011

In the first section of the exhibition is a recreated wall from the home of British-Korean War Veteran David Kamsler OBE, showing a mixture of war and personal memorabilia as well as a painting of David himself.  Adjoining in the Imjin River room three artists have been inspired by the Gloucestershire Regiment’s famous battle, while in the “The Enduring War” section the works concentrate on the post-war generations.

The exhibition also marks the close ties between Korea and Britain over the last one hundred and thirty years.  On the opening night some of the UK veterans were there and rightly so because this exhibition while recognising loss and suffering also shines light on the hopes for the future.

Suknam Yoon – 500-Returned