Adrian Sassoon
This hat, hand-crafted entirely from gold is the truly astonishing creation of Giovanni Corvaja and took him over 2, 5oo hours to make and uses over 160km of gold wire..
The artist has brought the story of The Golden Fleece to life in a series of works of which this hat is the pinnacle. Its Cossack style is a tribute to the artist’s Russian wife. It is made from five million hand-hammered gold wires which were drawn through a diamond.
http://www.masterpiecefair.com
Cecil Beaton at Home: Ashcombe & Reddish, Salisbury Museum, Salisbury, until 19th September 2014)
Cecil Beaton on the front steps of Reddish House, Broad Chalke, June 1947, Reddish © Cecil Beaton Archive, Sotheby’s
This really is a fascinating and revelatory exhibition as it takes us into Beaton’s private world and looks at his two homes in Wiltshire and his life there. In both homes there is a sense of theatricality whether the beautifully evoked Circus Room (Ashcombe) recreated here, or in the more formal elements of the Reddish Drawing Room that have been reunited once more.
Dorian Leigh photographed for ‘Modess… because’ campaign, Reddish House, Broad Chalke, 1950s, Reddish, © Johnson & Johnson
Cecil Beaton in his first costume of the night for the Fete Champetre, in his Circus bedroom, 10 July 1937, Ashcombe © Getty Images/ Time Life
It is fortunate that curator Andrew Ginger is Director of Beaudesert Ltd and The Cecil Beaton Fabric Collection since it has meant that the special chintz for the Reddish Drawing Room once more covers the sofa, which Garbo sat on when she visited Beaton. Beaudesert Ltd was also responsible for the recreation of the “Circus Bed”.
Beaton’s certain eye for detail and composition both in his homes and his various costume designs and film and theatre sets has meant that he is still a source of inspiration and study for young designers.
Frontispiece montage for Cecil Beaton’s Scrapbook, 1937, Ashcombe © Private Collection
However it is just not the physical settings that are considered there are his relationships with his mother Esther, secretary Eileen Hose as well as his love life -, his friendship with Greta Garbo and with the younger American academic Kin Hoitsma. Scrapbooks recall the numerous visitors who enjoyed his hospitality over the years. His skill as a painter is not ignored either with portraits of local children which he gave to their families. There are interior sketches of Reddish which he did with his left hand following his stroke.
Ashcombe House, by Rex Whistler, 1930s, Ashcombe © Private Collection
This is a really all-encompassing look at Beaton’s country life in all its facets and it has certainly made me rethink my perception of him in a much warmer way. Do listen to the recollections of his local neighbours on the telephone. I also think it is wonderful that the Drawing Room curtains he gave to the villagers and which are used in the Village hall survive so well to this day, surely a tribute to him?
Portrait of Cecil Beaton by Henry Lamb, 1935 © Private Collection
Generously supported by The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s, The Aldama Foundation, Quilter Cheviot, Savills, Sotheby’s, The Salisbury Area Board, The South West Area Board and other generous benefactors.
Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum, The Kings House, 65 The Close, Salisbury, SP1 2EN
01722 332151, www.salisburymuseum.org.uk
Opening times
Monday – Saturday, including bank holidays 10am – 5pm; Sundays (during June – September) 12noon – 5pm
Masterpiece London in association with Thomas Dane Gallery present: Phillip King an exhibition of outdoor sculpture in Ranelagh Gardens, Chelsea.
Phillip King: 26th June – until end of August
(Masterpiece London: 26 June – 2 July, 2014)
British Sculptor Phillip King is eighty this year and this significant birthday is being celebrated with this free outdoor exhibition over the summer as well as the solo exhibition at Thomas Dane Gallery which runs until 26th July.
The outdoor exhibition opens with Masterpiece London and will include works from the 1960s to the present day such as ‘Genghis Khan’, 1963/2014 and the previously unseen 8m high ‘High Sky and Bling’, 2013 illustrated here.
thomasdanegallery.com
image is copyright
HALLMARK Salon 2014, Somerset House, 24th – 28thJune 2014.
Tomasz Donocik – ‘Courtship of the Hornbill’ ring in 18ct rose gold with rubies, yellow, black and white diamonds
This is a great opportunity to acquire a hallmarked piece of contemporary jewellery, silver or gold from the eighty-six exhibitors at this cutting edge show. There is a very wide variety of objects on view, so whether you want to buy a wedding or birthday present or just to spoil yourself this is the place to go.
Articulated Earrings by John Moore, 18ct gold & silicone, 2014
Ingo Henn – Pendant brooch in 18ct yellow gold with faceted peridot, diamonds and enamel
The Fair’s director Paul Dyson says: ‘We see it as our mission to nurture the development of contemporary talent and the Salon will provide the ideal selling platform for today’s most exciting artisans, for collectors and enthusiasts alike.’
PUBLIC OPENING HOURS
24th June: 11am to 6.30pm
25th June: 11am to 6 .30pm
26th June: 11am to 6.30pm
27th June: 11am to 6.30pm
28th June: 10am to 6.00pm
ENTRY
£6 with a full colour illustrated catalogue
Free entrance for children under 15
Ute Decker – ‘Articulation’ neck sculpture in 100% recycled gold
Eileen Gatt – ‘Mad March Hare’ and ‘Arctic Supper’ napkin rings in silver with gold and enamel
The Apostles Speaking in Tongues Lit By Their Own Lamps, Nicholas Pope, Salisbury Cathedral, until 4th August.
©Peter White
This installation in the Cathedral’s Trinity Chapel consists of thirty-three terracotta figures representing the Apostles and others gathered together when the Holy Spirit descended upon them in the form of tongues of fire.
©Ash Mills
Pope has identified the Apostles individually by characteristics or attributes. ‘Doubting’ Thomas for example has “trunks” which represent his doubt sucking the life-force out. Each Apostle has a beaten metal “halo” with a circular opening in which an oil lamp can be lit and the resultant flames powerfully evoke the story of Pentecost and the light of God on the other figures around them.
©Ash Mills
It is very heady stuff and atmospheric and invites contemplation and prayer.
They had been shown at Tate Britain in 1996-7 but the artist’s original intention was as he says “I originally conceived the ‘Apostles’ as part of a larger project initiated in the early ‘90s called the Oratory of Heavenly Space. It was intended as a non-denominational chapel, a place of contemplation without doctrine. The Apostles were to be the source of light in the chapel, guiding lights as it were and took the form of abstract hollow figures, essentially human, flawed, rough, displaying character, elements of the grotesque and comical. When the lamps were lit for the first time I felt great. I knew I’d made something good, something that mattered: self-contained yet belonging to the world. They felt like the first part of a satisfactory answer addressing both belief and the lack of it”
To my mind he has achieved this spectacularly in Salisbury.
The Apostles lamps will be lit daily. Mondays to Saturday, 7.00am – 8.00am, 11.00am – 12 noon and 3.00pm – 4.00pm: Sundays, 12noon – 1.00pm. A recording of the actress Harriet Walter narrating the story of Pentecost from the Bible will be broadcast whenever the lamps are lit.
©Ash Mills
MASTERPIECE LONDON 2014, 26th June- 2nd July, South Grounds, The Royal Hospital Chelsea, London SW3
As these pictures from the 2013 event suggest this really is a great Fair which shows over three thousand years worth of art in varying disciplines and offers visitors the opportunity to buy from over one hundred and fifty galleries specially selected from around the world. All items are vetted by 26 committees of independent specialist and experts. I shall share some of the delightful objects on view with you over the coming days.
The sculptor Nic Fiddian-Green (whose works can be seen at Marble Arch and Ascot racecourse) will be creating a sculpture on the stand of Sladmore Contemporary whilst watchmakers Jaeger-LeCoultre are running free public watch-making and enamelling classes (to book: rsvp-uk@jaeger-lecoultre.com).
I really highly recommend a visit to this fair which is the heart of the Summer Art Season here in London and is definitely a pleasure not to be missed.
http://www.masterpiecefair.com
images are copyright
Sanctuary, John Maine RA, Salisbury Cathedral, until 23rd July.
©Ash Mills
Salisbury Cathedral is such a special place and because it was built in 38 years (1220-1258) is, unlike other English medieval cathedrals, in just one architectural style – early English Gothic. The tower and spire were added fifty years later and, by the way, the spire at 123 metres is the country’s tallest.
©Ash Mills
Although the ‘Sanctuary’ installations around and within the Cathedral were not my main purpose in visiting the Cathedral it was a welcome feature as I had very much enjoyed Maine’s exhibition ‘After Cosmati’ at the Royal Academy in 2011. The theme of the exhibition is the idea of “sanctuary” in its various forms and indeed the visitor is tempted to touch or even sit on some of them. They give a sense of permanence and stillness.
©Ash Mills
Sarah Mullally, (Canon Treasurer and Chairman of the Cathedral’s Exhibitions Committee), says “Salisbury Cathedral is testament to the beauty of stone both in its strength and its ability to portray detail. The crafts men and women who built this wonderful building did so to enable us to journey with them to the heavens. John Maine’s sculptures both complement and provide a contrast to the stone of the Cathedral and the landscape of the Cathedral Close. The pieces seek to bring us on a journey not just heavenwards but, like any good labyrinth, inwards; quieting the mind and stilling the heart. Maybe it is here that we encounter sanctuary in a busy world.”
©Ash Mills
Summer Exhibition 2014, The Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1, until17th August
© Benedict Johnson
From the moment you arrive in the Wohl Central Hall and see Cake Man (II) by Yinka Shonibare RA you know that this year’s show will have colour.
© Benedict Johnson
What makes the Summer Exhibition so special are the viewers and their reaction to the paintings and works on display. Amazement, awe, wonder, admiration, humour, praise and deprecation are all reactions one sees and hears.
©Benedict Johnson
That’s what makes the show such fun for it allows the viewer to go and make their own mind up about what they are seeing. There are no guidelines or informed views to follow, it’s up to YOU. You decide which are good, bad or indifferent in the huge variety of artworks exhibited there and don’t forget many of them are for sale too and as you will discover they get snapped up quickly.
©Benedict Johnson
http://www.royalacademy.org.uk
© Benedict Johnson
Richard Jackson New Paintings, Hauser & Wirth London, North Gallery, until 26th July 2014
Jackson has been an important figure in American Contemporary Art since the 1970s and he still continues to imbue his works with humour and perhaps as with ‘Pain-t’ (2012) in this show a sense of crudeness.
Pain-t
2012 – 2014
Group of 5 sculptures; fibreglass, acrylic paint, wood, air tanks
142 x 61 x 61 cm / 55 7/8 x 24 x 24 in each (incl. plinth)
Installation view, ‘Richard Jackson. New Paintings’, Hauser & Wirth, London, England, 2014
© Richard Jackson
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Alex Delfanne
He certainly doesn’t use paint in the conventional sense but rather as something to be splattered and sprayed over his installations using ‘painting machines’ made up of hoses and pipes that when activated cover the work and the surrounding areas with paint. It certainly works very well!
Installation view, ‘Richard Jackson. New Paintings’, Hauser & Wirth, London, England, 2014
© Richard Jackson
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Alex Delfanne
Phyllida Barlow: ‘Fifty Years of Drawings’, Hauser & Wirth London, South Gallery, until 26th July 2014
Phyllida Barlow Fifty Years of Drawings, Hauser & Wirth London,
untitled, 1963
© Phyllida Barlow
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Alex Delfanne
This is an intriguing show for it allows us to see for the first time drawings from Barlow’s archive and unlike many of her sculptures they have survived. They date from the 1960s to the present day and are an important record of her creativity as she draws at every stage of her sculptural process. They also reveal the outside influences on her work. As with her sculptures she uses strong colours to express her vision and executes them in a variety of media. It is fascinating to see her ideas outlined on paper and some of her imagined structures certainly have an air of excitement about them.
Phyllida Barlow Fifty Years of Drawings, Hauser & Wirth London,
untitled, 1965-66
© Phyllida Barlow
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Alex Delfanne
In July Barlow will present ‘GIG’, the inaugural exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Somerset, England and don’t forget that her Tate Britain commission ‘dock’ can be seen in the Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain until 19th October 2014.
Phyllida Barlow Fifty Years of Drawings, Hauser & Wirth London,
untitled, 1975
© Phyllida Barlow
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Alex Delfanne
untitled, 2001
Phyllida Barlow Fifty Years of Drawings, Hauser & Wirth London,
untitled, 2001
© Phyllida Barlow
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Photo: Alex Delfanne
Tim Forrest's E & A 