Tag Archives: Sargent

Tempests, Tyrants and Tragedy

Shakespeare in Art: Tempests, Tyrants and Tragedy, Compton Verney, Warwickshire CV35 9HZ, until 19th June 2016

OpheliaÔÇÖs Ghost ® Kristin and Davy McGuire, photograph by Electric Egg

OpheliaÔÇÖs Ghost
® Kristin and Davy McGuire, photograph by Electric Egg

Many of you will have heard of the national award-winning art gallery Compton Verney which as well as having permanent collections which are well worth visiting (Naples, Northern European Art 1450-1650, British Portraits, Chinese, British Folk Art & The Marx-Lambert Collection) also hosts special exhibitions and one can certainly say that this one – Shakespeare in Art – is indeed special.

Dame Diana Rigg and Dame Helen Mirren in the grounds at Compton Verney between takes - Sir Peter Hall’s film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1968. Photograph by David Farrell, courtesy of the David Farrell Estate (c) DFP

Dame Diana Rigg and Dame Helen Mirren in the grounds at Compton Verney between takes – Sir Peter Hall’s film of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 1968.
Photograph by David Farrell, courtesy of the David Farrell Estate (c) DFP

Fittingly, as it marks the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death, the exhibition has been designed by the The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Director of Design, Stephen Brimson Lewis. There are more than seventy works on view from the 18th century to contemporary and they are divided thematically into eight acts which include The Tempest, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth, King Lear and Henry VIII.  It is an engrossing experience that underlines the magic of Shakespeare’s plays.

John Singer Sargent, Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth © Tate, London 2015

John Singer Sargent,
Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
© Tate, London 2015

In addition to this exhibition is a complimentary one which introduces us to John Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery which used to be on London’s Pall Mall (the sight is now occupied by the new Philip Mould Gallery). Boydell, a print publisher, opened it in 1789 and commissioned prominent artists of the day, including Romney, Fuseli and Northcote to produce works (history paintings) inspired by Shakespearian scenes.

Henry Fuseli, Prospero, Miranda, Caliban and Ariel, Plate 4 from The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery 1786-89 ® York Museums Trust

Henry Fuseli, Prospero, Miranda, Caliban and Ariel, Plate 4 from The Boydell Shakespeare Gallery 1786-89
® York Museums Trust

 

 

http://www.comptonverney.org.uk

 

Capturing Life

Impressionism: Capturing Life, The Holburne Museum, Great Pulteney Street, Bath BA2, until 5th June 2016

Young Woman Seated, 1876 Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm © The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

Young Woman Seated, 1876 Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) Oil on canvas 66 x 51 cm
© The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham

The emphasis of this delightful exhibition is on the figure in Impressionist paintings and the twenty-eight works on show come from UK collections. The colours in the 1876 painting Young Woman Seated by Renoir provided the inspiration for the four themed areas of the show – ‘Painting of the Future’, ‘Private Worlds, Public Gaze’, ‘Modern Life’ and ‘Impressionism in Britain’ – but the lay-out is cleverly designed so that the visitor can see glimpses of each area wherever they are in the exhibition space and thus looking forward or glancing back they may experience the full impact of this very special show.

Study of a Harvester, about 1900 Sir George Clausen (1852-1944) Black chalk and pastel on brown paper, 38.8 27.5 cm © The Holburne Museum. Photo © Dan Brown

Study of a Harvester, about 1900 Sir George Clausen (1852-1944) Black chalk and pastel on brown paper, 38.8 27.5 cm
© The Holburne Museum. Photo © Dan Brown

Many of the artists included were part of the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris in 1874 but exponents of Impressionism in the United Kingdom are also recognised with the inclusion of artists such as Sisley, Steer and especially Sir George Clausen through a group of eight of his works on paper, including pastels, from the Holburne’s own collection.

The Fisherman, 1884 Jean-Louis Forain (1852-1931) Oil on canvas 94.7 x117 cm © Southampton City Art Gallery / Bridgeman

The Fisherman, 1884 Jean-Louis Forain (1852-1931) Oil on canvas 94.7 x117 cm
© Southampton City Art Gallery / Bridgeman

Seriously, don’t miss this exhibition!

Hélène Rouart in her Father’s Study, about 1886 Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Oil on canvas 162.5 x 121 cm © National Gallery, London

Hélène Rouart in her Father’s Study, about 1886 Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Oil on canvas 162.5 x 121 cm
© National Gallery, London

 

http://www.holburne.org

National Portrait Gallery

SARGENT: PORTRAITS OF ARTISTS AND FRIENDS, National Portrait Gallery, London, until 25th May 2015

Robert Louis Stevenson by John Singer Sargent, 1887 Copyright: Courtesy of the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio

Robert Louis Stevenson by John Singer Sargent, 1887
Copyright: Courtesy of the Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio

This impressive show, which goes on to New York’s Metropolitan Museum in late June, brings together the artist’s wide circle of friends from the theatre, literature, music and the arts whether in New York, Boston, Paris or London nor forgetting his forays into the countryside of Italy and England. Included from these latter expeditions are pictures of fellow artists Jane and Wilfrid de Glehn who accompanied him. You may be interested to know that the de Glehns’ are the subject of an exhibition at Messum’s until 17th April (www.messums.com).

Dame Ethel Smyth by John Singer Sargent, 1901 Copyright: National Portrait Gallery, London

Dame Ethel Smyth by John Singer Sargent, 1901
Copyright: National Portrait Gallery, London

Through these highly engaging portraits and studies we see a more intimate and relaxed approach to his subject matter than found in his commissioned portraits. A factor perhaps best summed up in the words of Richard Ormond CBE, who has curated this exhibition: ‘Sargent’s enthusiasms were all for things new and exciting. He was a fearless advocate of the work of younger artists, and in music his influence on behalf of modern composers and musicians ranged far and wide. The aim of this exhibition is to challenge the conventional view of Sargent. As a painter he is well known; but Sargent the intellectual, the connoisseur of music, the literary polymath, is something new.’

Group with Parasols by John Singer Sargent, c.1904–5 Copyright: Private collection

Group with Parasols by John Singer Sargent, c.1904–5
Copyright: Private collection

npg.org.uk