A Private Paradise

Nov30

Lionel Bulmer & Margaret Green – a private paradise, Messum’s Fine Art, 28 Cork Street, London W1, until 24^th December 2015

Lionel Bulmer (1919-1992) NEAC,
Night Windows, 1957,
Oil on Board, H 92 x W 122 cm

This is a rather special exhibition that reveals both the artistic and private world of these two artists who met at the Royal College of Art after the war and became inseparable, so much so their friends referred to them as Margaretandlionel.

Margaret Green (1925-2003) NEAC,
Walberswick Ferry, circa 1965,
Oil on Board, H 39 x W 49 cm

It would have been wrong not to include a work depicting Warbleswick as together with neighbouring Southwold it was a place they loved for several decades and I, for one, totally agree with them in that.

http://www.messums.com

BOOK REVIEW – Marc Allum

Nov29

ALLUM’S ANTIQUES ALMANAC 2016

Marc Allum

Icon Books

£16.99, Demy HBK ● ISBN 9781848319356

9781848319356_lowres

Many of you will know antique specialist Marc Allum from his appearances on the BBC Antiques Roadshow and you can now enjoy more of his anecdotal insights and observations on this specialist world in this new edition for 2016. He reveals a world filled with the unusual, passion and avarice with subtle sense of humour and common sense. It is a book to dip into time and again.

http://www.iconbooks.com

BOOK REVIEW – Anna Spiro

Nov28

Absolutely Beautiful Things by Anna Spiro,

published by Conran Octopus, £25

Book Jacket

From the first look at the cover you know that this book is going to be about colour in interior decoration and this Brisbane-based designer uses it with competence and flair. She says ‘I believe in the concept of the more you layer the better. I’m a maximalist not a minimalist’. Anna Spiro very cleverly mixes art, furniture and objects from all periods and price ranges together to create a very liveable space. While colour is key, with often a theme colour to a room, thy are set against a backdrop of white walls which helps create rooms that sing with life and joy. It is a delight of a book full of practical suggestions for the furnishing and decorating of your home.

http://www.octopusbooks.co.uk

A Glimpse into the 18th Century

Nov26

Jean-Etienne Liotard, The Sackler Wing of Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1, until 31^st January 2016

Jean-Etienne Liotard, Self-portrait Laughing, c. 1770
Oil on canvas, 84 x 74 cm
Musee d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, inv. 1893-9
Photo Musee d’art et d’histoire, Geneva. Photography: Bettina Jacot-Descombes

Visitors to this wonderful exhibition will be left in no doubt as to the reasons why the Swiss artist Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) earned such international recognition as a portraitist in his lifetime. There are more than seventy works by him on view – oil paintings, miniatures, drawings and most importantly his speciality – pastels.

Jean-Etienne Liotard, Woman on a Sofa Reading, 1748â??52
Oil on canvas, 50 x 60 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Photo Gabinetto Fotografico dell’Ex Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico, Artistico ed Etnoantropologico e per il Polo Museale della cittÃ di Firenze

He was a well-travelled man and so as well as images of his own family and himself we meet members of British Society, the French Royal Family, the family of Maria Theresa, Continental Nobility and of course there are also the Orientalist pictures from his time in Constantinople. These are remarkable works, even more so when one realises that he did not flatter his sitters but painted them as they looked. It is a view into the real 18^th century.

Jean-Etienne Liotard, Archduchess Marie-Antoinette of Austria, 1762
Black and red chalk, graphite pencil, watercolour and watercolour glaze on paper, heightened with colour on the verso, 31.1 x 24.9 cm
Cabinet d’arts graphiques des Musees d’art et d’histoire, Geneva. On permanent loan from the Gottfried Keller Foundation, inv. 1947-0042
Photo Musee d’art et d’histoire, Geneva. Photography: Bettina Jacot-Descombes

One must not forget either that Liotard also painted some Still Lifes, Genre Scenes and Trompe L’Oeil. They too as in the case of Still-life: Tea Set, c. 1770-83 (The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) also provide a visual aid to the sort of porcelain and other objects used in the 18^th century. This picture is one of two works by him featured in the book accompanying the recent Tea, coffee or chocolate? – The rise of exotic drinks in Paris in the 18th century exhibition at Paris’s Museé Cognacq -Jay.

Jean-Etienne Liotard, Still-life: Tea Set, c. 1770â??83
Oil on canvas mounted on board, 37.5 x 51.4 cm
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, inv. 84.PA.57
Photo The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk

Jean-Etienne Liotard, L’Ecriture, 1752
Pastel on six sheets of blue paper, 81 x 107 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Photo (c) SchloB SchÃ¶nbrunn Kultur- und Betriebsges.m.b.H. Photography: Edgar Knaack

Escher

Nov24

‘The Amazing World of M. C. Escher’, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, London SE21 until 17^th January 2016

M.C. Escher, Day and Night, February 1938, Woodcut in black and grey, 39.2 x 67.8
cm, Collection Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands
© 2015 The M.C. Escher Company-The Netherlands. All rights reserved. http://www.mcescher.com

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898–1972) is an artist of great appeal and even though you may think you don’t know his work you will most likely discover that you do from your childhood and teenage years – perhaps even from a Mott the Hoople LP cover, even though he refused Mick Jagger’s request to create one for the Stones. His work has influenced our popular culture; think of films such as Labyrinth, Inception and television programmes like the Family Guy and the Simpsons and even the gaming app Monument Valley.

M.C. Escher, Contrast (Order and Chaos), Feburary 1950, Lithograph, 28 x 28 cm,
Collection Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands.
© 2015 The M.C. Escher Company-The Netherlands. All rights reserved. http://www.mcescher.com

As this first major UK exhibition which traces his whole career reveals he was a man of huge talent and imagination and one can totally understand why mathematicians find his work intriguing. The gallery’s Sackler Director Ian A. C. Dejardin sums it up eloquently: “It is difficult to think of an artist with a broader appeal than M C Escher. His images are so magical, and so incredibly clever, that he creates impossible images that feel utterly real, like the very best fantasy writers. Enjoying these impossible realities, it’s easy to overlook the astonishing skill that has gone into the drawing. This exhibition is a revelation; the artist defies categorisation, but Escher is a worthy addition to Dulwich’s wonderful series of exhibitions devoted to graphic artists”.

M.C. Escher, Regular Division of the Plane with Reptiles/ Lizards no.56, November 1942, 22 x 20.7 cm, Collection Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands.
© 2015 The M.C. Escher Company-The Netherlands. All rights reserved. http://www.mcescher.com

The works come together with archive material from the collection of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands.

M.C. Escher, Waterfall, October 1961, Lithograph, 38 x 30 cm, Collection
Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands
© 2015 The M.C. Escher Company-The Netherlands. All rights reserved. http://www.mcescher.com

http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

John Hinchcliffe – a Celebration

Nov23

John Hinchcliffe – ‘The Definitive Works of a Decorative Artist’, The Salisbury Museum, The Kings House, 65 The Close, Salisbury, Wiltshire, until 16^th January 2016.

‘June’
reproduced by kind permission of Wendy Barber

John Hinchcliffe (1949-2010) was a multi-talented man whose very individual style marked his weaving, ceramics and pictures and many of these reflect his love for nature and the rural such as is found in his lino-prints but equally so in his ceramics and textiles. Indeed much of his work between 1986 and 1991 was done at his Sixpenny Handley studio some fourteen miles from Salisbury.

Hypericum Plate
© John Hinchcliffe Estate, Photography by Jac Arnold

The exhibition reveals his love of colour and experimentation in all the aspects of his work and is a visual feast through which we learn much about the artist. It is aptly summed up by Kim van Rensburg, the museum’s exhibitions officer who said ‘These exhibits illustrate just how Hinchcliffe’s fascination with materials and surface decoration consistently challenged him, leading him to push both at the boundaries of making and use of materials.’

Co-curators: Wendy Barber (Hinchcliffe’s wife and design partner) and Jac Arnold

Consultant: Professor Simon Olding

http://www.salisburymuseum.org.uk

http://www.johnhinchcliffe.co.uk

Christmas the Waddesdon Way!

Nov21

CHRISTMAS 2015 AT WADDESDON, until 3^rd January 2016

Joana Vasconcelos Lafite 2015 Waddesdon The Rothschild Collection (Rothschild Family Trusts)
© Joana Vasconcelos. Photo Mike Fear © The National Trust Waddesdon Manor

The theme of Lights and Legends is one that transforms the interiors of some twenty rooms into a wintry wonderland that dazzles and enchants the visitor. The unifying idea of light is evoked through different cultures, stories and myths from across the years. The front of the house will be the background to a son et lumière and is framed by Joanna Vasconcelos’s installation Lafite two 10 metre high candlesticks made from 574 wine bottles.

©National Trust Waddesdon Manor photo Mike Fear

Outside in the garden, in this the last year of his residency, Bruce Munro takes us on a journey that reflects our current world but is through music and sound also nostalgic. The visitor follows a winding path through the gardens, lined with illuminated tents, whose colours change, while music, voices and static remind us of tuning-in old radios. Periodically, in both sound and light, the international Morse code distress signal interrupts and reminds us that these tents are inspired by the work ShelterBox does to provide shelter and relief to those affected by disasters, natural or otherwise.

…—… SOS
© Bruce Munro 2015, Waddesdon Manor photographer Mark Pickthall

http://www.waddesdon.org.uk

http://www.brucemunro.co.uk/

http://www.shelterbox.org/

Vivien Leigh

Nov20

Vivien Leigh: Public Faces, Private Lives, Treasurer’s House, York, until 20 December 2015

The original costumes standing proud in the historic hall © National Trust / North News Agency

Vivien Leigh was theatrical royalty in Britain before going to Hollywood to undertake the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind – the role with which she is most closely associated along with her later incarnation of Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire.

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London finishing the hang in the Streetcar Named Desire room
© National Trust / North News Agency

She is the subject of this exhibition, organised by the V&A, in the historic setting of Treasurer’s House in York, the former home of early 20^th century businessman Frank Green, who had a passion for the arts, especially theatre. Although there has been a small touring exhibition this is the first major display of objects from Vivien Leigh’s personal collection since her private archive of more than 10,000 items was acquired from her family in 2013 by the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London checking out the names in the guest book of from the Olivier home
© National Trust / North News Agency

Her romance with Laurence Olivier scandalised society even though they later married and she became Lady Olivier when Sir Laurence was knighted. Lettters written to Leigh by luminaries such as Sir Winston Churchill, Bette Davis, Tennessee Williams, The Queen Mother and a young Judi Dench at the beginning of her own career can be seen alongside love letters written by Leigh to Olivier

Keith Lodwick, Curator, Department of Theatre and Performance, Victoria and Albert Museum, London getting into the frame with one of the stereoscopic images in the slide show room
© National Trust / North News Agency

As well as the Becoming Scarlett section there are other dresses she wore, annotated scripts and a number of stereoscopic colour photographs which give us a unique glimpse into her world – some are part of a 3D slide show. The exhibition is a thrilling reminder of a wonderful, if complex, actress whose contribution to twentieth century theatre and film remains undimmed.

Visit the website for opening days and times. www.nationaltrust.org.uk/treasurershouse or telephone 01904 624247.

Beyond Racing

Nov19

Michelle McCullagh – Beyond Racing, Gallery 8, 8 Duke Street, London SW1, until 28^th November 2015

Looking Over
oil on board
16 x 29 ins

The Animal Art Fair hosts this exhibition of new works by Michelle McCullagh at Gallery 8 and what an exciting body of work it is. She describes her distinctive style saying “I started with studies of anatomy. I amalgamated these studies with those of movement onto canvas and then added colour, which is always so exciting – I love it. Layers of thinly applied oil paint construct different moods and emotions … excitement out of reach… lost in mist… just a fleeting glimpse… passed in a flash then gone. It is a thrilling process as the paintings literally come alive in my hand.”

Mare and Foals at Whitsbury Manor Stud
Pencil
6 x 8.5 ins

I feel sure that lovers of horses and horse racing will be inspired to acquire them

Landing
pencil
8.5 x 5 ins

Moonlight
Oil on Board
16 x 12 ins

http://www.mccullagh.co.uk

http://www.animalartfair.com

Botanical Ceramics

Nov17

Claire Potter – ‘Botanical Ceramics, Mallett, Ely House, 37 Dover Street, London, until 27^th November 2015

PurpleCabbage

London is very fortunate to be able to enjoy this first solo exhibition of work by Clare Potter. She is a New York-based ceramicist whose love of flowers and things botanical led her, untrained, to start creating these marvellous pieces in colour-washed biscuit porcelain. Be warned and get in there quickly for her New York shows are usually a sell-out.

Peonies

Lemons

Hydrangeas

http://www.mallettantiques.com

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Monthly Archives: November 2015