HOSPITAL ARTS - CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER HEALTH CHARITY

The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, in Chelsea, London, has an unexpectedly interesting and stimulating collection of art.  I saw it when visiting the hospital this month.
In the 'gallery', which is a long display area on the first floor, are works by Dominic Madden and James Martelli.

Hospital Arts at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital

BACK FROM JAMAICA, AND WISHING I WAS THERE WHEN VISITING THE GAUGUIN EXHIBITION AT THE TATE MODERN.

PAUL GAUGUIN, MAKER OF MYTH - TATE MODERN - UNTIL 16 JANUARY 2011.

I went to the big (or rather medium sized) exhibition at the Tate Modern yesterday afternoon.  As the weather was dire, and everybody preoccupied with Christmas parties and shopping, there was no queue, despite the Tate web site giving dire warnings that it is essential to prebook.

I walked straight in, on the 4th floor of the Tate, and found the people inside were quite thinly distributed. although a lot were collected on the various benches, probably absolutely exhausted.

I do not recall visiting the previous Gauguin shows in London, though of course I have seen a lot of the paintings in mixed exhibitions.  Some of the work was completely new to me, and I noted several from Russian collections.

There was a couple of rooms showing the background to his decision to visit the tropics, - letters -  photos of Tahiti for example.  Also examples of his wood block prints, and other graphic productions, and examples of the journal he published, called La Sourire.  In room 4 are some of his drawings.  I got the impression that he struggled and was obsessive, endeavoring to conquer the various mediums.

Dotted around in the rooms are  some of Gauguin's wood carvings, and ceramic figures, and the huge door-surround which he constructed and carved in the Marquesas.

Maybe Gauguin was a man who was trying  anything which he fancied?   There was a lot of bits and pieces, a little carving, a little pottery, some lithographs etc plus several styles of painting.  

In Room 7 is a beautiful study, called Head of 2 Marquesans, described as 'Traced Monotype'  1902 from the British Museum collection.  The heads are used in a painting called The Escape, 1902, from Prague.  The colours are browns, golds, pinky red, blue, green.  Absolutely, it works.

Painting, I presume, was his main preoccupation.  I have not read his letters or any books on him, so I am unable to back up this statement.  However, the styles vary a lot, that which I admired most was beautiful portraiture of the girls in the tropics.

There are some magnificent paintings, particularly in Room 9, where are hung five beauties.  In particular the painting Aha oe Fii? (What, are you jealous?), (1892)    seems to vibrate with light and depth.  The figures rounded and delicious.  Colours almost edible and chocolaty.

These are the paintings, in this room 9, that I would love to take home. In this room are:  Two Tahitian Women, 1899, from New York Met, and Tehamana has many Parents, 1893, from the Art Institute of Chicago., and Eu Haere  ia oe (Woman holding a fruit), 1892, from the Hermitage, St Petersburg.

There were others, of course, that I admired.  Particularly interesting was the use of bright bluish pinks, yellow-greens, and the pale blue of tropical seas, used as clothing and in the landscape backgrounds.  I wonder how he came by the pigments, being so far from main artists suppliers;  maybe he sent for them to be delivered by ship?  The paintings seemed to be in good condition, considering their possible lack of care after Gauguin died in the Marquesas.

I have just returned from a holiday in Jamaica, near Ocho Rias, and I thought longingly of the beautiful sky there, the black night with its stars, the luscious sea-grape trees, the ginger lilies and all the other delicious tropical green shrubs and flowers.  I can see why Gauguin painted those people, those greens and blues, and the strong, dark contrasts and shadows.  Wish I was back in Jamaica!

BEST FIVE EXHIBITIONS NOVEMBER 2010

Here are the  five top London shows I want to see:

Royal Academy -' Treasures from Budapest:  European Masterpieces from Leonardo to Schiele'.
It ends on 12 December.  Sounds like  it includes some great stuff, judging by  reviews I have read,
Link:
Royal Academy, Piccadilly, London

Turner Prize - at the Tate Britian, because I  found Dexter Dalwood's huge paintings/collages very interesting when I saw them several years ago at the Gagosian Gallery, London.
Link:
Turner Prize, at Tate Britain, Millbank, London

Thomas Lawrence at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martins Lane, London, to 23 January.  I rate him highly and find his portraits an inspiration.
Link:
Thomas Lawrence, portraits

British Museum, an exhibition of graphic art entitled Picasso to Julie Mehretu, to 25 April

Sounds fascinating, and the BM Prints Department Graphics comprise an unknown treasure house.
Link:
British Museum, Picasso to Julie Mehretu

The Courtauld Institute of Art, Gallery, London

A small exhibition of Cezanne's paintings of peasant card players and more, until 16 January
Link:
.Cezanne's card players

ZURBARAN, PAINTER OF PRIESTS, VELEZQUES, PAINTER OF PAINTERS

I was fortunate to hear the talk by Dr Xavier Bray, from the National Gallery, who demonstrated to us the greatness of Velazquez, and the considerable talent of Zurbaran.
Some information about Dr Bray is at this link from the Threadneedle Art Prize website

Xavier Bray

Of course we have been able to see two magnificent shows of Velazquez in London, fairly recently.   I have been lucky enought to visit to Prado in Madrid, too where there are fantastic paintings by him.
Here is useful information about Velazquez with some thumbnail images of some of his work.

Velazquez

I used a visual reference from the stupendous portrait of Philip IV in Brown and Silver, by Velazquez in the National Gallery- you can see him in the corner of my portrait of Ben, in similarly stuffed and puffed up clothing.

Philip IV of Spain in Brown and Silver

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