Andy Warhol, Lucy Jones and Italian Pop

Warhol Icons, Halcyon Gallery, 144-146 New Bond Street, London W1, until 26th June 2016

Andy Warhol
Blackglama (Judy Garland) 1985

This is the gallery’s first exhibition solely focusing on the works of Andy Warhol. It is wide-ranging with over a hundred works on display, including iconic figures, early works and the Anatom (Rado Watches) which was one of his last works.

Andy Warhol
Paramount 1985

http://www.halcyongallery.com

Lucy Jones, The Cycle Of Life, Flowers, 21 Cork Street, London W1, until 21st May 2016

Lucy Jones,
Sitting, 2015,
Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm
(c) Lucy Jones, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

This exhibition of new portraits and landscape paintings is well worth seeing. Her portraits are frank and also revealing of the sitter’s inner persona but handled with great understanding. Her landscapes are a personal interpretation of the countryside along the border between England and Wales and like her portraits there is a personal resonance in them. The artist describes her process as “grabbing hold” and “pinning down” the essence and colour of the place.

Lucy Jones,
Tree, 2015,
Oil on canvas, 91 x 122 cm
(c) Lucy Jones, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery London and New York

www.flowersgallery.com

Italian Pop, Tornabuoni Art, 46 Albemarle Street W1, until 18th June 2016

Mimmo Rotella
Italia e Corona , 1962
Decollage on canvas
22.4 x 22.4 in / 57 x 57 cm
Courtesy Tornabuoni Art

This is a heady celebration of the Italian Pop Art movement which came to the fore in the early 1960s. The gallery’s director, Ursula Casamonti, sums it up saying “We wanted to provide a counterpoint to Italian post-war abstraction and the Milanese avant-garde that we typically show at Tornabuoni Art and present a different side to the Italian 1960s, one driven by Rome and by the people’s relationship to Italian culture and the ‘Dolce Vita’.”

The artists included in this striking show are: Valerio Adami, Franco Angeli, Mario Ceroli, Tano Festa, Giosetta Fioroni, Mimmo Rotella, Mario Schifano and Cesare Tacchi

Cesare Tacchi,
I guardiani della primavera Pop, 2006
paint on printed fabric and relief (triptych)
210 x 300 cm / 82.7 x 118
Courtesy Tornabuoni Art

www.tornabuoniart.com

A Gentle Reminder: Charles Cundall – A Working Method

Apr27

Just to let you know that the exhibition can now be seen in London at Sotheran’s, 2-4 Sackville Street, London W1, 28^th April – 7^th May 2016

Dusk, Anticoli Corrado, 1921
Framed (ref: 44)
Oil on canvas
16 1/2 x 11 in. ( 42 X 28 cm)
Exhibited: – A Working Method,Young Gallery Salisbury, March- April 2016, Sotheran’s, April-May 2016.
Literature: Charles Cundall – A Working Method, Edited by Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss, published by Liss Llewellyn Fine Art, February 2016.
Provenance: the artist’s wife, Jaqueline Pieterson
Anticoli Corrado, a small village south of Rome, was famed for the beauty of its inhabitants and had, since the nineteenth century, been popular with Italian painters

http://www.lissfineart.com

DESIGN: Eric Schmitt and Robert Stadler

Apr26

Eric Schmitt, Dutko Gallery, 18 Davies Street, London W1, until 14^th May 2016

Eric Schmitt
Chauffeuse Osselet, 1996
Patinated bronze feet and leather
Limited-edition
Photo: Sylvain Leurent
Courtesy Dutko Gallery

Eric Schmitt’s elegant furniture, lights and objects evoke the Art Deco period with great élan but remain true to the present day. He is soon to be justifiably celebrated in a new book which looks at his wonderful creations in detail. I dare you not to be tempted!

Eric Schmitt
Sugegasa table lamp, 2013
Polished and lacquered brass and patinated cast steel
Limited-edition
Courtesy Dutko Gallery

http://www.dutko.com

Robert Stadler – Cut_Paste, carpenters workshop gallery 3 Albemarle Street, London W1, until 20^th May 2016

ROBERT STADLER – Exhibition View

This exhibition contains three new pieces added to the series launched last year in Paris. Stadler’s Cut_Paste series reflect the art of building construction by using shapes that evoke discarded pieces found on building sites. However these are transformed through the materials used into striking, elegant but useful furnishing pieces. Very moreish indeed.

ROBERT STADLER | CUT_PASTE #9
2015
MARBLE (BIANCO CARRARA, OLIMPO STRIATO, ONYX SMOKE), ALUMINIUM
H109 L209 W47 CM / H42.9 L82.3 W18.5 IN
LIMITED EDITION OF 8 + 4 AP

http://www.carpentersworkshopgallery.com

Three London Galleries

Apr25

Blair Thurman – Mature Blonde, Almine Rech Gallery, 1^st Floor, 11 Savile Row, London W1, until 14^th May 2016

Blair THURMAN
Dynamic Friend (Night Owl), 2016
Acrylic and canvas on wood
243,84 x 114,3 x 16,51 cm
96 x 45 x 6 1/2 inches
Photo: Melissa Castro Duarte
Courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech Gallery

These exciting works made of canvas on wood are by the American artist Blair Thurman. His work reflects his interest in cars and racing games and also has a nod to minimalist and pop art.

Blair Thurman
View of the exhibition Mature Blonde
Almine Rech Gallery, London
31.03 – 14.05.16
Photo: Melissa Castro Duarte
Courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech Gallery

http://www.alminerech.com

Mouna Karray – Nobody will talk about us, Tyburn Gallery, 26 Barrett Street, London W1, until 21^st May 2016

Mouna Karray,
33°28’34.8″N 9°20’54.3″E,
Inkjet print on Hahnemühle paper, 2012-2015,
Copyright the artist, Courtesy Tyburn Gallery

These are powerful images of the neglected south-western area of the photographer’s native Tunisia since a body in a white sack is deposited in various locations and symbolises through the body’s struggling against the fabric a hope to change and fight the oppression that the people of this area endure.

Mouna Karray,
Installation View
Copyright the artist, Courtesy Tyburn Gallery

tyburngallery.com

John Kørner: Apple Bombs, Victoria Miro Gallery, 14 George Street, London W1, until 14^th May 2016

John Kørner
Running against apples, 2016
Acrylic on canvas 150 x 120 cm, 59 1/8 x 47 1/4 in
Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London© John Kørner

The new paintings by the Danish artist John Kørner certainly engage our thought processes as the mix of pictorial elements on the canvases presents us with images we have to discern and interpret in a mental rather than physical workout.

John Kørner
Architecture lines, 2015
Acrylic on canvas 150 x 120 cm, 59 1/8 x 47 1/4 in
Courtesy the Artist and Victoria Miro, London© John Kørner

http://www.victoria-miro.com

Bronte with a twist

Apr22

Charlotte Bronte at the Soane, Sir John Soaneʼs Museum, 13 Lincolnʼs Inn Fields, London WC2, until 7^th May 2016

Charlotte Brontë at the Soane,
courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum.
Photo: Gareth Gardner

I shall let the exhibition’s creator the artist and writer Charlotte Cory sum it up in her own words: “I am thrilled to be curating Charlotte Brontë at the Soane on the anniversary of her birth. There is no evidence that Charlotte Brontë visited the Soane – but she should have done! She did most of the other things in her guide book and she would have loved the place. I canʼt think of a better 200th birthday present than to bring her here. The exhibition is fun but informative, touching and thought-provoking, and what is wonderful is that the Museum is exactly the same today as when she could have visited it. When you walk through the Soaneʼs front door you might as well be Charlotte Brontë back in 1850.”

Charlotte Brontë at the Soane,
courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum.
Photo: Gareth Gardner

http://www.soane.org/bronte

Photography: Martin Parr, Paul Strand et al

Apr21

Unseen City, Guildhall Art Gallery, London EC2, until 31^st July 2016

TheDrapers’ Livery 650thAnniversary, TheQueen visiting the Drapers’ Livery Hall 2014.
© Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

The noted Magnum photographer Martin Parr has been the photographer-in-residence for the City of London since 2013 and this engaging exhibition reveals both front of house and behind the scenes glimpses into City occasions and events.

Lord Mayor’s Show, Guildhall, City of London, 2014.
© Martin Parr / Magnum Photos

cityoflondon.gov.uk/martinparr

www.martinparr.com

Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers, Barbican Art Gallery, Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2, until 19^th June 2016

Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers
Curated by Martin Parr
Installation View
Barbican Art Gallery, London
© Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

Curated by Martin Parr, this exhibition features the work of some twenty-three international photographers dating from the 1930s onwards and provides fascinating glimpses into British life, be they social, cultural or political. While some of the images were perhaps familiar to me the show is still worth seeing because it shows how much this country and life in it has changed over the decades and will be a revelation to generations younger than mine.

Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers
Curated by Martin Parr
Installation View
Barbican Art Gallery, London
© Tristan Fewings/Getty Images

The photographers featured are: Tina Barney (USA), Gian Butturini (Italy), Henri Cartier-Bresson (France), Bruce Davidson (USA), Raymond Depardon (France), Rineke Dijkstra (The Netherlands), Jim Dow (USA), Hans Eijkelboom (The Netherlands), Robert Frank (Switzerland),Bruce Gilden (USA), Frank Habicht (Germany), Candida Höfer (Germany), Evelyn Hofer (Germany), Axel Hütte(Germany), Sergio Larrain (Chile), Shinro Ohtake (Japan),Akihiko Okamura (Japan), Cas Oorthuys (The Netherlands), Gilles Peress (France), Paul Strand (USA),Edith Tudor-Hart (Austria), Hans van der Meer (The Netherlands) and Garry Winogrand (USA).

www.barbican.org.uk/artgallery

Paul Strand: Photography and Film for the 20^th Century, V&A Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 until 3^rd July 2016

Installation view of Paul Strand at the V&A, 19 March – 3 July 2016
(c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

This rather special exhibition traces the life of this highly talented American photographer through photographic prints, films, notebooks, sketches and even his cameras. Although primarily thought of as an American photographer this exhibition in the words of its curator Martin Barnes “challenges the popular perception of Strand as primarily a photographer of American places and people of the early 20^th century” as he was in fact an international photographer as can be seen through images taken in Italy, France Romania and South Uist.

Installation view of Paul Strand at the V&A, 19 March – 3 July 2016
(c) Victoria and Albert Museum, London

vam.ac.uk

Delacroix inspires!

Apr20

Delacroix and the Rise of Modern Art, Sainsbury Wing, National Gallery, London, until 22^nd May 2016

Eugène Delacroix
The Death of Sardanapalus (reduced replica), 1846
Oil on canvas
73.7 x 82.4 cm
© Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania
The Henry P. McIlhenny Collection in memory of Frances P. McIlhenny, 1986 (1986-26-17)

This is a very interesting exhibition because while sadly it may not be so much of a crowd drawer as other exhibitions, it tells about an important chapter in 19^th century French painting – the story of Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863) who despite being trained in the Neo-Classical school broke away from that tradition and became as Baudelaire put it ‘a poet in painting’.

Eugène Delacroix
Self Portrait, about 1837
Oil on canvas
65 x 54.5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris (RF 25)
© RMN-Grand Palais (musée du Louvre) / Jean-Gilles Berizzi

Delacroix was an admirer of Rubens and of English painting. His works with their bold brushstrokes and use of colour were criticised by the establishment as were his choice of subjects but he was supported by his fellow artists such as Courbet. Delacroix wrote in his diary “I dislike reasonable painting.”

Paul Signac (1863-1935)
Snow: Boulevard de Clichy, Paris, 1886
Oil on canvas
66 x 43.2 cm
© The Minneapolis Institute of Art
Bequest of Putnam Dana McMillan 61.36.16

While a third of the paintings on show are by Delacroix, the majority are by other artists –Impressionists, Post Impressionists, Symbolists, and Fauves – who were influenced by the genius of his work and also, like him, dared to break the rules and be innovative. As Cézanne aptly summed it up – “We all paint in Delacroix’s language”.

Paul Gauguin
Still Life with a Sketch after Delacroix, 1887
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 cm
Musée d’Art moderne et contemporain de Strasbourg
© Photo Musées de Strasbourg, M. Bertola

Certainly, to my mind, Delacroix rules over this well worth visiting show.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk

Fairfax Gallery’s London Exhibition

Apr19

Shaun Ferguson Solo Show, Gallery 8, 8 Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1, 20^th – 23^rd April 2016

‘Boxer’
Oil on Canvas 66 x 61 cm

Fairfax Galleries bring this new exhibition of paintings by Shaun Ferguson to London. The Royal Academy-trained artist is showing eighteen new works. Each figurative work has a subtly expressed and atmospheric ambience that engages the viewer. Ferguson says of his work that ‘a good painting works because of its abstract relationships’.

‘Books’
Acrylic on Canvas 66 x 61 cm

http://www.fairfaxgallery.com

Nicholas Price at the Spring Battersea Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair

Apr17

The Spring Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea Park, 19^th– 24^th April 2016

His Majesty (Head of a Lion)
Signed in pencil by the artist
Published in April 1888
by C.E. Clifford & Co., London
23½ x 18½ in / 59.5 x 47 cm
Exhibited: RA 1888, No. 1595

While the theme for the foyer exhibition at the Fair is of works of art and designs with a royal connection or association I thought that I would bring this rather special exhibition on the stand of Nicholas Price to your attention.

The works featured are the remarkable black-and-white etchings of twenty-five big cats, including lions, tigers and leopards by the noted wildlife artist Herbert Dicksee (1862-1942). What makes them remarkable is that Dicksee studied and drew them from life, spending long hours in London’s Zoo in Regent’s Park.

Play (Two Leopards at play)
Signed in pencil by the artist
Published in May 1907
by Frost & Reed Ltd,
19¾ x 26½ in / 50 x 67.5 cm
Exhibited: R.A. 1907, No. 1379

As Nicholas Price says: “Few artists have been able to capture the incredible majesty of lions, tigers and other big cats of the world like Herbert Dicksee. Dicksee was a naturally gifted draughtsman and a master of the art of etching, a complex printmaking technique whereby a chemical reaction is used to incise lines onto a metal plate. His etchings were produced to a remarkably high standard and combine both meticulous observation and detail with notably free facility of line. The result is both impressive and seemingly effortless.”

If you are wondering why you don’t see more of them around in galleries and elsewhere the answer lies in the fact that he instructed his daughter as his executor to destroy most of the plates for his etchings.

The Watcher on the Hill (Recumbent Tiger)
Signed in pencil by the artist
Published in January 1900
by Frost & Reed, Ltd,
18¼ x 27 in / 46.5 x 68.5 cm
Exhibited: R.A. 1900, No.1564

After the Fair the works will go on show at The Park Gallery, 26 Connaught Street, London W2 from 26^th April 26 – 6^th May 2016

www.decorativefair.com

www.pricefineart.com

http://www.theparkgallery.com

REVOLUTIONARY ART

Apr15

Revolution under a King: French Prints 1789-92, UCL Art Museum, South Cloisters, Wilkins Building, Gower Street, London, WC1, until 10^th June 2016

Jean-Michel Moreau after Noël Le Mire,
Louis Seize: Bonnet des Jacobins donné au Roi, le 6 Juin 1792, Copper Engraving,
UCL Art Museum

This is a delightful small exhibition that focuses on the period between the Fall of the Bastille on July 14^th 1789 and the end of 1792. This was a period when Louis XVI was still king but the old order was undergoing radical change that not only affected France but also caused concerns in the rest of Europe. The prints are a wonderful record of what was happening in France in this short period as they give an easily understandable interpretation of the very complex issues involved.

Louis XVI was executed on 21^st January, 1793.

For visitor information please go to

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/uclart/visit/exhibitions/Revolutionunderaking

Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics, House of Illustration, 2 Granary Square, King’s Cross London N1, until 15th May 2016

“Genesis 3” Alison Sampson © Alison Sampson Courtesy of the artist

In some ways this exhibition might be described as “revolutionary” as it traces the emergence and work of female comic creators from the 19^th century until the present day, but with an emphasis on the 21^st century creators. Many of the works are having their first public airing.

“The Collector” Marion Fayolle © Marion Fayolle Courtesy of the artist

houseofillustration.org.uk

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Monthly Archives: April 2016