Sublime Gardens

Feb17

Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse, Main Galleries, Royal Academy of Art, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1, until 20th April 2016

Auguste Renoir, Monet Painting in His Garden at Argenteuil, 1873
Oil on canvas, 46.7 x 59.7 cm
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT. Bequest of Anne Parrish Titzell, 1957.614
Photo (c) Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT

The star of this show which celebrates artists and gardens is, of course, Claude Monet. Rightly so because he was a serious horticulturalist and one would certainly not disagree with him when he wrote ‘I perhaps owe it to flowers that I became a painter’.

It is a large show that welcomes more than one visit and the fact that like some gardens the paintings are arranged in themed rooms such as Impressionist Gardens or Gardens of Reverie gives the visitor ample scope to re-visit as one would a favourite part of a garden.

Joaquin Sorolla, Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1911
Oil on canvas, 150 x 225.5 cm
On loan from the Hispanic Society of America, New York, NY
Photo (c) Courtesy of The Hispanic Society of America, New York

The paintings whether Impressionist, Postimpressionist or Avant Garde tell a story too of the growing interest in gardens by the middle classes through a variety of materials such as journals, receipts and letters.

Although not a gardener myself I enjoyed this show and found myself deeply moved in the last room where the three great Monet water lily paintings – the Agapanthus Triptych of 1916 – 1919, normally in the The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art and Saint Louis Art Museum, hang reunited once more.

Claude Monet, Nympheas (Waterlilies), 1914-15
Oil on canvas, 160.7 x 180.3 cm
Portland Art Museum, Oregon. Museum Purchase: Helen Thurston Ayer Fund, 59.16
Photo (c) Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon

www.royalacademy.org.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

The RA’s Summer Exhibition 2015

Jul14

Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Art, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1, until 16th August 2015

View of the Central Hall
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour
(c) Royal Academy of Arts

From the moment you enter the courtyard and experience Conrad Shawcross’s The Dappled Light of the Sun, 2015 you realise that this year’s Summer Exhibition is going to be different in a good way. Upon entering the building this is confirmed by the main staircase which has become ZOBOP a highly colourful installation by Jim Lambie, which is made up from pieces of vinyl tape. When you enter the exhibition you are greeted by the vivid green walls of the Wohl Central Hall with to the right the bright blue of the Lecture Room and to the left Gallery III is a wonderful deep pink colour. The hang and display of the works is different too as there is a sense of balance and a less cluttered feel. This is helped by the fact that the Architecture Gallery is in the Large Weston Room and that two galleries are devoted to Prints.

Michael Craig-Martin CBE RA unveiling a new site-specific artwork by Jim Lambie for the Summer Exhibition 2015
© David Parry, Royal Academy of Arts

All these positive changes are down to this year’s co-ordinator Michael Craig-Martin CBE RA and the hanging committee which includes Royal Academicians Norman Ackroyd, Olwyn Bowey, Gus Cummins, Jock McFadyen, David Remfry, Mick Rooney, Alison Wilding, Bill Woodrow and Ian Ritchie. They have set a high bar for their successors next year.

Gallery III of the Summer Exhibition 2015
(c) David Parry, Royal Academy of Arts

The whole raison d’être of the Summer Exhibition is aptly summed up by Bob and Roberta Smith RA: The Summer Exhibition is about artists’ generosity and democracy. No other gallery in the world tries to do what the RA does – open its doors to everyone who thinks of themselves as an artist, to have their work judged by their peers.

Royal Academician Conrad Shawcross stands in front of The Dappled Light of the Sun, 2015
(c) Royal Academy of Arts, Benedict Johnson

www.royalacademy.org.uk

View of the Lecture Room
Photography: John Bodkin, DawkinsColour
(c) Royal Academy of Arts

BROWN’S ART WEEKEND

Jul2

I am bringing you these two blogs today because they update the story of London as a key art market and between them celebrate art from antiquity to the present times and provide a wonderful opportunity to learn and buy.

Many thanks to my patient readers for putting up with the number of blogs I have published in recent weeks but they represent the vibrancy of London as a world centre of art and antiques, especially at this time of year.

Brown’s London Art Weekend, 3^rd – 5^thJuly 2015

Gabriel Hartley
Phase, 2014
oil and spray paint on canvas
175 x 390 cm, 68.9 x 153.5 in
Image courtesy Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London. Copyright the artist.

Now in its second year this exciting weekend not only provides the opportunity to visit the various exhibitions taking place in galleries and auction houses in Mayfair and St. James’s but also to attend some of the specialist lectures at Brown’s Hotel, which include topics from ‘How to start your art collection’ to ‘Fashion in Art’ and ‘The history of art in Mayfair’. Each talk will be hosted by a leading art expert and will last 45 minutes at £30(including refreshments).

Raoul Dufy 1877-1953
Les Canotiers, la Marne, 1935
Signed lower right
Oil on canvas
50 x 73 cm, 19.7 x 28.7 in
Connaught Brown

This year the Royal Academy will host the Burlington Gardens Festival on 4^th July. It is a street party to celebrate the history and future of the building before is redevelopment. The street will be pedestrianised and a special forecourt will be constructed. Among the hosts will be Royal Academicians Will Alsop, Yinka Shonibare, Bob and Roberta Smith and Richard Wilson.

Bruce Nauman,
Live or Die (State II), Lithograph, 1985.
Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 25.
Printed on Rives BFK White paper by Robert Arber. Published by the artist and Arber and Son Editions, New Mexico. (Cordes 53), 38.1 x 27.9 cm
Sims Reed Gallery

The participating galleries are:

Paulette Tavormina.
‘Lemons and Prickly Pears, 2013’
Beetles + Huxley

Nelson Mandela
Hand of Africa
signed lithograph
Belgravia Gallery

HENRY MORET
French (1856-1913)
Lande Bretonne
Painted circa 1903
Waterhouse & Dodd

VARI SOPHIA,
Le Retour, 2011, Marble, 35 x 16 x 28 cm
ContiniArtUK

Philip Guston
The Hill, 1971
Oil on canvas
57 1/4 x 81 1/2 in. / 145.4 x 207 cm
© The Estate of Philip Guston, courtesy Timothy Taylor , London

www.brownslondonartweekend.co.uk

RA Schools

Jun14

RA Schools Show, RA Schools Studios, Royal Academy of Arts, 6 Burlington Gardens, London W1, until 28^th June 2015

Work by Maria de Lima in the RA Schools Show 2015
© Andy Keate

This is an annual exhibition to look forward to as it features the works of the artist graduating from the UK’s longest established art school. It is the one hundred and fortieth anniversary of the student’s having public exhibition of their work. This year’s show consists of works, in a wide variety of media, by the seventeen graduates.

Work by Adam Collier + Ziggy Grudzinskas in the RA Schools Show 2015
© Andy Keate

This show runs alongside the Summer Exhibition (on which more from me later) which as Michael Craig-Martin RA explains is appropriate as ‘It is not always fully appreciated that the funds raised by the Summer Exhibition contribute towards the funding of the RA Schools which are the only graduate art school in England which does not charge tuition fees.’

Work by Sean Steadman in the RA Schools Show 2015
© Andy Keate

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk

Work by Evelyn O’Connor in the RA Schools Show 2015
© Andy Keate

One More Time

Jun5

Cornelia Parker RA – One More Time, St Pancras International Station, Euston Road, London N1, until early November 2015

One More Time, 2015, by Royal Academician Cornelia Parker for Terrace Wires at St Pancras International station, co-presented by HS1 Ltd. and the Royal Academy of Arts © Tim Whitby, Getty Images

This is the first work to be shown at the station as part of a four years partnership between the Royal Academy of Arts and HS1 ltd who own the station and run the Terrace Wires commissioning programme.

One More Time, 2015, by Royal Academician Cornelia Parker for Terrace Wires at St Pancras International station, co-presented by HS1 Ltd. and the Royal Academy of Arts © Tim Whitby, Getty Images

Cornelia Parker describes her piece as the “shadow side of time” and says the project is a “dream come true”. Her new work is an exact working replica of the station’s iconic Dent Clock, except hers, suspended sixteen metres in front of the original, is the “negative” image being black, with white numerals and hands and the detail picked out in silver. Passengers arriving by train will see the original white clock “eclipsed” by the black one as they walk up the platform.

One More Time, 2015, by Royal Academician Cornelia Parker for Terrace Wires at St Pancras International station, co-presented by HS1 Ltd. and the Royal Academy of Arts © Tim Whitby, Getty Images

stpancras.com

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk

‘Experiments in Paint’

May10

Joshua Reynolds:’Experiments in Paint’, The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, London W1, until 7th June 2015

Joshua Reynolds,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, c. 1747-49,
© National Portrait Gallery, London

I have to admit to being a fan of the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds, a founder and the first president of the Royal Academy, indeed my first holiday project at school was on him. So imagine my delight in the current exhibition at the Wallace Collection and, like many others, I have visited it more than once and will certainly return again.

Joshua Reynolds,
The 4th Duke of Queensberry (‘Old Q’) as Earl of March, 1759
© The Wallace Collection

Although many of his clientele were establishment figures of the day, Reynolds was keen to experiment with materials and the methods of creating his paintings as the twenty on view, together with X-ray images and archival sources reveal. You will discover compositional changes, his sometimes unusual choices of materials and how he built up the image on canvas.

Joshua Reynolds, Studio Experiments in Colour and Media
© Royal Academy of Arts, London.

As well as works from the Wallace collection there are also loans from the UK, Europe and the USA so that one can gets a wide survey of his works, whether portraits, historical or “fancy” subjects. As Reynolds said in 1784 “A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts”

The Strawberry Girl
Joshua Reynolds,
The Strawberry Girl, 1772-3,
© The Wallace Collection,
Photo: The National Gallery, London

Hopefully see you there!

Joshua Reynolds,
Mrs Mary Robinson, 1783-4,
© The Wallace Collection,
Photo: The National Gallery, London

wallacecollection.org

An April Shower of Fairs

Apr16

I thought I would share this cluster of fairs that are happening over the next ten or so days. All are well worth a visit.

The Chelsea Art Fair, Chelsea Old Town Hall, King’s Road, London SW3, April 16^th -19^th April 2015.

Faye Anderson
“Bert”
8″x6″ (20cmx15cm),
Egg Tempera
Courtesy of Cameron Contemporary Art

This is a popular fair, which has well over thirty galleries from the UK exhibiting and is best summed up by its director Ben Cooper “Since our revamp three years ago, the Fair has gone from strength to strength and we have very much established ourselves as the London Fair which offers Londoners a fantastic selection of galleries with a variety of works which appeal to a wide range of art lovers.”

www.chelseaartfair.org

The London Antique Rug & Textile Art Fair 2015, The Showroom, Penfold Street, Marylebone, London NW8, 16^th – 19^th April 2015

Rare C19th Qashqai (Persia) bagface
Owen Parry.

This jewel of a fair offers a tempting array of rugs and carpets, textiles, tapestries and tribal weavings from all over the world. Among the twelve specialist dealers are two new exhibitors – Kennedy Carpets (London) and Hagop Manoyan (New York). The intimate bazaar-like setting compliments both the rare and decorative pieces available. Just as last year the Fair will be on view online too.

www.larta.net

Ceramic Art London 2015, Henry Moore and Gulbenkian Galleries, The Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London, SW7, 17^th – 19^th April 2015

Barbara Hast,
Teapot and Cup,
porcelain, thrown, modeled, relief painting, 5.5 inches.
Courtesy of Ceramic Art London

Some eighty ceramic artists from around the world will be showing here in this leading international fair. Whether you are looking for the more practical or decorative this is the place to come as you will discover both traditional and cutting-edge approaches to the making of wonderful ceramic objects. Pots rock!

http://www.ceramics.org.uk

Spring Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, London SW11, 21st – 26th April 2015

c1920s sketch of a decorator’s scheme for an apartment
Charles Plante Fine Arts

The Spring edition of this enduringly popular and tempting Fair has the Passementerie Garden as its Foyer Exhibition. It promises to be fun with a wide array of antique and textile trimmings. A 19^th century room is being recreated by Charles Plante Fine Arts using extravagantly-trimmed curtains and textiles; a setting which will reflect his carefully chosen stock of watercolours and drawings of interiors, gardens and architecture. Who could ask for anything more?

www.decorativefair.com

The Other Art Fair, B1, Victoria House, Bloomsbury Square, London WC1, 23^rd – 26^th April 2015

Tommy Clarke
‘Entry’
C-type print, framed, 63.5 x 60 cm
Edition of 100

The Other Art Fair (TOAF) is an interactive experience because visitors can actually speak to the artists exhibiting there and learn more about the processes involved in creating these highly individual works of art. It is a great way to introduce younger members of your family to the world of art collecting as it is in a relaxed, more informal setting than many other fairs.

theotherartfair.com

The London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1, 23rd-26th April 2015

Tommaso Piroli (1752–1824) after Friedrich Rehberg (1758–1835)
Emma, Lady Hamilton’s ‘attitudes’, plate III, 1794
Engraving and etching on ochre prepared paper, 26.3 x 20.1 cm
RCIN 655736
Purchased by the Prince Regent (later George IV) from Colnaghi & Co. on 15 April 1816 for 7s 6d (for the set)
Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2015

This exciting fair, covering both old and contemporary, is now in its thirtieth year a fact which is honoured by a loan exhibition of thirty prints from the Royal Collection. As always a must for devotees of this discipline.

James Gillray (1756–1815)
A New Edition Considerably Enlarged of Attitudes Faithfully Copied from Nature, plate III
1807
Etching on blue paper
25.9 x 19.6 cm
RCIN 655737
Purchased by the Prince of Wales (later George IV) from Hannah Humphrey on 24 April 1807 for 15s (for the set)
Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2015

londonprintfair.com

Rubens and His Legacy

Feb19

Rubens and His Legacy: Van Dyck to Cézanne, Main Galleries, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1, until 10^th April 2015

Peter Paul Rubens
The Triumph of Henri IV, 1630
Oil on panel, 49.5 x 83.5 cm
Lent by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1942 (42.187)
Photo c. 2013. Image copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art / Art Resource / Scala, Florence

For anyone intending to visit this glorious exhibition the keyword is legacy.

Jean-Antoine Watteau
La Surprise: A Couple Embracing While a Figure Dressed as mezzetin Tunes a Guitar, 1718-19
Oil on panel, 36.3 x 28.2 cm
Private Collection
Photo: Private Collection

Rubens was a highly accomplished artist whose works cover many themes – Poetry, Elegance, Power, Lust, Compassion and Violence and while this exhibition offers fine examples of the master’s hand on these subjects it concentrates on successive generations and schools of artists whose works were inspired and influenced by him. Thus you will encounter Turner and Constable, Watteau and Fragonard, Delacroix and Cézanne and many other artists along the way.

Peter Paul Rubens
Pan and Syrinx, 1617
Oil on panel, 40 x 61 cm
Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Gemaeldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel
Photo: Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Gemaeldegalerie Alte Meister/Ute Brunzel

As the exhibitions curator, Dr Nico Van Hout, says, “It is no coincidence that Delacroix, Vigée-Lebrun, Reynolds and Renoir devoted fascinating discourses, journal entries and letters on the virtuosity and confidence of Rubens’ brushwork, as many artists were trained by seriously studying his altarpieces, allegories, portraits and landscapes. Each artist focused on different aspects of his oeuvre and the works in this exhibition show the great variety of this impact: they include exact copies, creative copies, pastiches and quotations to works that only echo Rubens’ style. Only the best artists were able to translate Rubens’ visual language into a personal idiom and we are delighted to bring together such a rich selection of works to showcase the ongoing strength of Rubens’ legacy throughout the past three centuries.”

Paul Cezanne
Three Bathers, c. 1875
Oil on canvas, 30.5 x 33 cm
Private Collection
Photo: Ali Elai, Camerarts

One could suggest that perhaps a few more works by Rubens would have been better or wonder why some of the pictures were chosen as being influenced by him but in the end it does not really matter for the aim of showing how great the legacy of Rubens is addressed with verve and success.

Eugene Delacroix
Crucifixion, 1846
Oil on panel, 37 x 25 cm
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam/Photographer: Studio Tromp, Rotterdam

www.royalacademy.org.uk

Peter Paul Rubens
Tiger, Lion and Leopard Hunt, 1616
Oil on canvas, 256 x 324.5 cm
Rennes, Musee des Beaux Arts
Photo c. MBA, Rennes, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Adelaide Beaudoin

RA Schools

Feb18

Premiums Interim Projects, Royal Academy, Burlington Gardens, London W1, until 11^th March 2015

Anna Hughes,
Untitled, 2014,
mixed media
(c) the artist

This is a great chance to see the work of seventeen nascent artists who are postgraduate students at the RA Schools. An RA programme which incidentally is the only free three-year postgraduate course in the UK. As Eileen Cooper RA, Keeper of the Royal Academy, said, “I’m very much looking forward to Premiums, an exhibition which marks the halfway point of the students’ time at the Royal Academy Schools. The work on show will be diverse, both in range of media and intention. In the galleries of the Royal Academy, we are used to seeing work that is already known and one of the special things in Premiums is that the work on show is being tested outside the artists’ studios for the first time. This is the visitors’ opportunity to form their own opinion.”

Claire Undy,
Still from Notwithstanding, 2014,
video still, duration 14 minutes
(c) the artist

You should definitely go along and see the work of these students who are: Rhys Coren, Rian Coughlan, Elliot Dodd, Alana Francis, Kira Freije, Gery Georgieva, Anna Hughes, Frank Kent, Neill Kidgell, Jack Killick, Molly Palmer, Anna Paterson, Robin Seir, Rafal Topolewski, Claire Undy, Wanda Wieser and Tom Worsfold.

Tom Worsfold,
Afternoon Haircut, 2014,
gouache, acrylic, oil and collage on canvas
(c) the artist

Good luck to them!

Wanda Wieser,
Untitled (Testpiece), 2014,
ciment fondu, copper powder
(c) the artist

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk

	Yellow Walls - Why D… on THE ART OF DESIGN AT CHRISTIE’…
	Lorena on The Wallace Collection on…
	dunelight on BOOK REVIEW: Marjorie Merriwea…
	http://tfeanda.wordp… on ‘Syrian Art: Of Today’ –…
	Online slots on ‘Syrian Art: Of Today’ –…

Tim Forrest's E & A

Art & Antiques, etc – news from London and around

Tag Archives: Royal Academy of Arts

Sublime Gardens

A Glimpse into the 18th Century

The RA’s Summer Exhibition 2015

BROWN’S ART WEEKEND

RA Schools

One More Time

‘Experiments in Paint’

An April Shower of Fairs

Rubens and His Legacy

RA Schools