NEW OILS, HENLEY REGATTA AND THE LEGS SERIES - RUGBY PLAYERS AND JOCKEYS

I have finished two paintings recently.  Here is the first idea for the Henley painting.

Then the second version, this time image reversed

Had difficulty in decided on processing the Red Shoes and made a considerable change in the composition. I roughed the painting in thin oil, then thought about it a bit, and put in a row of the pretty girls I noticed when visiting this summer.  Actually they were not wearing red shoes, but the shoes themselves were very pictorially interesting.  You know the old saying,  red shoes............?

Almost completed...

Here is the first stage for the Rugby legs painting (I reversed the image to evaluate it better.)

Here is the next stage:

and here is the final version

The rugby legs painting is on show at the Richmond Art Society autumn show at Vestry Hall, Paradise Road, Richmond upon Thames, until Sunday, 7 November 2010

VAN GOGH AND GAUGUIN - A TALK BY MICHAEL GAYFORD - MAN WITH A BLUE SCARF - RICHMOND

The presenter of this talk is well known as:
A Man with a Blue Scarf.

He is the subject of a painting by Lucien Freud which has been publicised in the media recently.
The book is called 'Man with a Blue Scarf: on sitting for a Portrait by Lucien Freud'.

A podcast about Martin sitting for his portrait is from the Museum of Modern Art website, here

MOMA AND MARTIN GAYFORD

Michael answered questions about sitting for Freud at the end of his talk.
For example, did Freud talk a lot?  Yes, apparently but Michael said the more he talked, the slower he painted, and he was not sure this was a good thing. 

The subject of the talk by Martin at Richmond was the 5 weeks the two artists, Van Gogh and Gauguin,  spent together in Arles, France, in the autumn of 1888.
Michael  outlined the background of Van Gogh's residence in Arles and why he lived in the Yellow House.
Apparently he lived in a hotel to start with, and the house was empty, next to the bar he frequented.
Van Gogh had enough money to rent the house, decorate it and buy furniture.
He had met Gaguin before, in Paris.
Gaguin might not have been easy to live with, but I bet Van Gogh was absolutely unbearable over a long time, because he talked incessantly!

Made: Artist of the Week - Ali Yanya

Made: Artist of the Week - Ali Yanya

Here is a link to an interesting website, the author is interviewing a London based artist I particularly admire

ART FAIR - PALACE ART FAIR AT FULHAM PALACE, FULHAM, LONDON IN OCTOBER

The art fair is the first one to be held in by the organisers in Fulham.  It was held on 7. 9 and 10 October 2010
They also run the Brighton Art Fair every year.

Palace Art Fair
The site of the fair is excellent, in the old Fulham Palace, formerly a bishop's residence, access from Bishops Avenue, and  set in a beautiful park.

Fulham Palace and park - well worth a visit
You can walk there easily along the river Thames, with Putney on the opposite bank.  Putney Bridge underground station is on the District Line.

On site were marquees full of stands for the artists.   Painters, printmakers, potters, sculptors etc....
I met several I knew
Beth, Ali, Pippa...

I particularly liked the work of Ali Yanya, have a look at a blog I came across,

This blog

and Ali's website 

Also it is possible to get nice cups of coffee or tea during the day even when no events are on, and food from the cafe seemed excellent. On a nice day you can site outside on the terrace and watch the children play on the grassy lawns.

The show was attracting a lot of well-heeled upper class Londoners and the friends of the artists and gallery owners.

The excellent gallery, Art Dog, was represented by Pippa Graber, who was selling work by Moira Jarvis, as well as other artists.

Art Dog

TIME AND TIDE MUSEUM - GREAT YARMOUTH, NORFOLK - EXCELLENT

It is well worth a visit.
This is the second time we went along.
The cafe is good but unfortunately no local beers served.
And we couldn't get the picked herrings this time.
On our first visit we enjoyed delicious local beer, now its just one multinational bottled beer on offer.
Here is a link to website but it doesn't do the museum justice.

TIME AND TIDE MUSEUM GREAT YARMOUTH

It is in several very old buildings in Blackfriar's road.
The old smoke houses are the originals and still smell of smoked herrings.
Inside them it is quite dark, and you can peer up to the roof, immagining the men straddling the spaces between the rows of wooden poles rising to the roof, one leg on each side of the wide gap.

There is a gallery where some paintings of the local circus are on display at present.
Great Yarmouth Hippodrome Circus is the only surviving total circus building in Britain,
It was built in 1903 by George Gilbert.

Hippodrome Circus, Great Yarmouth

Upstairs at Time and Tide are excellent displays of life as a seaside resort, with photos of bathing machines
Later the Mods used to come to Great Yarmouth in the 50s on the scooters.
The start of what is now the Royal National Lifeboat Instution is explained with vivid pictures of wrecks and rescues.

RLNI

There are photos of the dreadful bomb damage in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, as this area had a huge amount of bomb hits during the Second World War.  Large parts of the old towns are rebuilt as a result.
A few of the famous 'rows' in Great Yarmouth still exist in the town. The 'rows' are from mediaeval Great Yarmouth, built within the town walls which still exist in part, and where the poor people lived.
In this museum is a good reconstruction of a 'row' of little houses and shops, separated by an narrow alley

JOHN IDDON - TALK ON MEN BEHAVING BADLY

THE RICHMOND ART SOCIETY  was host to John Iddon, who gave an amusing talk with the theme Men Behaving Badly- Rogues and Vagabonds.

He spoke about  both artists and the subject of paintings and sculptures.  The role-call was long!  Included was Henry VIII by Hobein, right up to sculptures by Eric Gill and Epstein.

In future I'll have to take a notebook along because the talks at Richmond are so intense and informative, I can never remember the half of them  Usually the lecturers are of the highest quality.

I recall that I should look out for the scuptures on Zimbabwe House in the Strand, London, done by Epstein, which have had their vital bits removed!

John Iddon has a gallery, and is a lecturer at the Tate, among other venues.
John Iddon Fine Art

WHITECHAPEL ART GALLERY - ALICE NEEL: PAINTED TRUTHS EXHIBITION

This exhibition ends on  - when?  Not sure.  It is well worth going to see - sorry about lack of details.

http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/exhibitions

I like the Whitechapel Gallery despite its a real pain to get to from here.  The nearest tube station is Algate East.   We found a good place to eat just near by, on the main road.  Its on the corner, same side as the gallery, and is an 'Indian' run by friendly blokes from Bangladesh.  The food is excellent.

Liked the exhibition too, though of mixed quality.  Early stuff (portraits) reminded me of the self portrait done by Lowry. 
Later work quite dynamic and holds the attention. 
I particularly liked the portrait of two  men  'Geoffrey Hendricks and Brian, 1978.'  Good colour. 
I noticed the hands in a lot of the portraits are very elongated, as if she had been looking at El Greco.  Also she draws with the brush in blue.

PS the exhibition was from  8 July to 17 September 2010.

Record-breaking Gauguin Restrospective opens at Tate Modern

This is a must-see exhibition but I will wait until later in the winter, just in case the crowds get a bit less.
I think it will be worth reading Brian Sewell's piece on the exhibition in the London Evening Standard.