Sunday, October 16, 2016

Who's made a mark on art 161016?

I'd like to say a very sincere "Thank YOU" to all the people who wrote lovely comments on my Retirement post and on Facebook and especially to those who sent me personal messages via email. (You can write to me any time - my email is in the right hand column. However I'm afraid I can't help at all with some queries - and I do get some weird ones - and consequently I now typically only reply to those I can help.)

I'd also like to remind people that I'm not disappearing off the face of the earth and am just going to be blogging less on Making A Mark in future as I do rather more of what I particularly like doing!

So what happened in my first week?


I visited six museums/galleries and went to five exhibitions - and I haven't done that in a LONG time!

Sunday 2nd October - South Bank - Tate Modern and Bankside Galleries


We visited Bankside on Sunday and went up the Switch House for the first time to see what the fuss was about the Viewing Gallery. One nearby resident made it very clear what the problem was (see below). Frankly given there is no view on that corner - except into people's flats - I don't understand why they can't install opaque glass on that corner which causes the problems

One resident's perspective on The Switch House Viewing Gallery!

Tuesday 4th October - my official Birthday Treat Day!


On Tuesday morning I went to see Georgia O'Keeffe at Tate Modern - which I'd been saving up for a treat. I definitely recommend this and I'm going to be going back at least once before it finishes on 30th October.

This is the Georgia O'Keeffe: Room Guide for those who have missed it (it's not obvious!)

You can also Download the large print guide [PDF, 822Kb] - which provides details of all the paintings on display.

Note to self: I must remember to take advantage of the members hours (on 15 Oct 2016, 16 Oct 2016, 22 Oct 2016, 23 Oct 2016, 29 Oct 2016, 30 Oct 2016) when it opens before it's open to the public.  I didn't get there early enough and it was swamped with school children on trips - all sat or stood around drawing - which is great but it makes it very difficult to navigate between paintings! I almost wish they would have a day each week when it's just school children....

We then had lunch at the Club Gascon in Smithfields. I drew all my courses but have still to finish colouring them. Here's one of the courses...

Marbled Duck, Figs, Maury & Pickled Mirabelle
pen and ink and coloured pencils
On Tuesday afternoon I found the Early Physic Garden I'd been searching for at the back of the Barber-Surgeon's Hall in the City of London and then went to see the earliest painting of the City of London in oil (i.e. pre-Great Fire) at the Museum of London which I'll post about later.

Wednesday 5th October - Picasso Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery


Wednesday morning  was the Press View for Picasso Portraits at the National Portrait GalleryHere's a taster and I'll be writing more about this soon. Reviews include:

Portrait prints and a painting by Picasso at the National Portrait Gallery
I then went down to the Mall Galleries for lunch and to view the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries (see Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2016) - which celebrated their 50th anniversary of their Royal Charter. It was nice to see an art society filling all three galleries again as they used to do when I first started visiting the Mall Galleries. So much more to see and appreciate!



Friday 7th October - Maria Merian's Butterflies at the Queen's Gallery


I then took a breather on Thursday before visiting the Maria Merian Butterflies exhibition at the Queen's Gallery on Friday. You can read my REVIEW: Maria Merian's Butterflies and what I learned about Merian's techniques in terms of collecting her natural history and botanical specimens and how she created a luxury version of both paintings and book for a select audience. Maria Sibylla Merian  was a very smart woman when it came to marketing her artwork!

Maria Merian's Butterflies and
a rare counterproof edition of Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium
(the Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname)
......and that was the first week!

Exhibitions


Below are more current and upcoming exhibition I've highlighted previously or intend to see in the near future - or would like to go to!

Current Exhibitions


Museums and Art Galleries


Artists


Art Society Exhibitions

"River Thames towards Kew Bridge" by Angus McEwen EWS
Went to the PV. I thought the exhibition was the strongest at RWS for a long time.

Upcoming Exhibitions



The first exhibition to focus on images of artists from within the Royal Collection, Portrait of the Artist not only show-cases self-portraits by world-renowned artists including Rembrandt, Rubens, Artemisia Gentileschi, Lucian Freud and David Hockney but also features images of artists by their friends, relatives and pupils, including the most reliable surviving likeness of Leonardo da Vinci by his student, Francesco Melzi. Well-known self-portraits intended to advertise the artist's talents will be shown alongside more intimate and personal works. The exhibition will examine a range of themes played out within these objects, from the 'cult' of the artist to the symbolism evoked through images of the artist’s studio.


View digital images of the collection on the Sotheby's website 

Art Competitions





Art Society Exhibitions


At the Mall Galleries, in the next month, you can see:

Artists



Jonathan Jones lets himself down. Let me be very clear - if I ever had to choose between Jonathan Jones and Grayson Perry, I'd choose Grayson every time for bringing some genuine original thought into commentary on contemporary art and society.

Art Business and Marketing



Art Education





Art History in schools will no longer exist at "A" level in the UK after 2018. This is progress? READ these articles:


Art Materials and Media


Soft Pastels


  • Michael Chesley Johnson (blog) provides a video of a lecture "The Fine Art of Pastel" about using soft pastels which is worth a viewing for those interested in dry media



  • Deborah Secor is a a well established tutor of landscapes using pastels. She has written an excellent book and she's giving it away for FREE! It's available as a pdf or as an ebook. Please note this may be downloaded for PERSONAL USE ONLY; users are forbidden to reproduce, republish, redistribute, or resell any materials from this weblog in either machine­readable form or any other form without specific written permission of the author.

and finally.....


London Urban Sketchers in West Smithfield Park - Smithfields in the background

Yesterday I did my first trip out with Urban Sketchers London since I tore the meniscus in my knee! I've been in training for the last couple of months - gradually increasing trips out with my other half as my knee began to recover.

Yesterday UskLondon went to Smithfield all day. You can see the sketches in the Urban Sketchers London Facebook Group. You can also find information about future trips in upcoming blog posts on the blog:

2 comments:

  1. Blimey, Katherine! I thought you were going to slow down. Glad your enjoying yourself; well deserved.

    I'm still glowing from your Maritime posting.

    ReplyDelete

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