Tag: art
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Theatre Picasso Exhibition at Tate Modern
Although not a favourite of mine I admire his inventiveness, imaginative qualities, curiosity and eclecticism and this was a fascinating exhibition bringing to the public gaze the Tate’s collection of the most significant painting and drawings by the artist in the collection and exploring performance and ambiguity in Picasso’s work. Looking at the spectrum of…
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RA Summer Show 2025
Kate and I took our usual annual visit to the RA. We usually have a great time and this year was no exception. We’re pretty sceptical and often play “zeitgeist bingo” which entails choosing a few themes we think will be well represented. This year it was “sheds”, “urban decay”, and “animals”. We were pretty…
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Tokyo National Museum… a rainy day
Yesterday ended well. Marci, (an American) had her birthday so Roxanne (Dutch) and I went out to a great restaurant to celebrate with her. The restaurant was on the seventh floor of a building in Shibuya. I’m always surprised by what goes on in these high rises; this one had several restaurants, a theatre, cinema,…
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Tate Britain … 400 years of women artists in Britain
I visited this exhibition today with my friend. It was really interesting and inspiring to see such an excellent representation of women artists. While i knew many of them it was intriguing to see them together and explore the gradual development of their art in the context of the various artistic zeitgeist through the centuries.…
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Die Blaue Reiter at Tate Modern
Today I decided to indulge my passion for German Expressionist painting which I rekindled last month in Munich and Vienna. Since university I’ve always loved the energy and somewhat mystical nature of their work and Marc and Kandinsky have always been favourites. The exhibition was well put together and included many works by Kandinsky and…
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Morning at The Albertina … Lichtenstein, The Blaue Reiter, Die Brucke and other delights
A beautiful and warm morning and yet another gallery. Im a bit obsessed I think no but they give such pleasure and open my eyes to new things. The Lichtenstein was really wonderful really well curated. I saw an aspect of his work I was unaware of. I knew of his use of comics, films…
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Entangled Pasts … Art and Colonialism at the Royal Academy
As you enter the courtyard you are instantly arrested by First Supper by Tavares Strachan a reimagining of Leonardo’s Last Supper in black and gold portraying famous black historical figures. It’s a suitable introduction to this exhibition exploring art in the eighteenth century and beyond and its difficult, complex and often contentious relationship with slavery…
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My last day
Well I’ve just finished my last lesson. My Italian has improved and I’ve learned a lot although I got off to an over ambitious start which dented my confidence. The grammar of prepositions has been very difficult as Italian has about seven variants for each one and they use them differently … English is much…
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At the Munch Museum
I was blown away by this museum. A comprehensive view of Munch his life, his art and his themes and their interconnection. Of course like the Mona Lisa the Scream was almost impossible to see. However the vast array of prints, paintings and drawings more than made up for it. The themes that coloured Munich’s…
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First impressions of Oslo
Well the hostel is fine if large like all these northern hostels. I miss the smaller type of hostel I found in Italy. The city is modern and I was told it was boring but so far I’ve walked the city centre, past the Cathedral and ended up by the fjord and the Akerhus fortress…
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After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art… National Gallery
I visited this exhibition on impulse having seen it advertised on recent trips to London. It was worth it. The exhibition examined the way in which Impressionism acted as a catalyst for various movements in Modern Art; Abstraction, Cubism, Post Impressionism, Fauvism, German Expressionism and many more. The exhibition contained works by so many artists…
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The afternoon tour
This afternoon our tour with the lovely Maurizio took us to the 13th century church of Santa Maria Novella. Not necessarily beautiful architecturally though it was interesting. A large church it’s principal interest lay in the wonderful frescoes in the Tornabuoni chapel by Ghirlandaio from the late 15th century and those earlier frescoes in another…
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A visit to the Museo del Duomo e La Battisteria
This morning I awoke a little later than usual. I didn’t realise how tired I was. I had booked tickets for the museum and the Baptistery as the weekend is free. It’s a little drizzly today but very warm. The museum is excellent. To preserve them many of the original sculptures together with Ghiberti’s fabulous…
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Pomeriggio a L’ospidale degli Innocenti
This afternoon we had a wonderful afternoon at the Ospidale. A very beautiful renaissance building by Brunelleschi. It was a fascinating place founded by the guild of silk makers in the fifteenth century as a place where women who were poor, prositutes and abandoned children could be left to be cared for by the church.…
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At the Tate … dissolving in light … Turner
The wet dawn inks are doing their blue dissolve.On their blotter of fog the treesSeem a botanical drawing. Sylvia Plath, Winter Trees These late Turner’s speak for themselves … almost unknown in his lifetime they are incredibly influential in modern art history; think Monet, Rothko and so many others.
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Ravenna III
Baptistery of Neoniano Another beautiful little brick building hiding wonders. Sixth century. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves
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Ravenna II
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia This tiny fifth century brick building is a jewel inside. It looks nothing from the outside but the interior is full of wonders. The mosaics show early Christian iconography and imagery in Byzantine style; very different from our later ways of depicting Christ. It is utterly moving and so beautiful. The…
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The Mosaics of Ravenna I
San Vitale I’ll publish each church separately Begun in 525 this remarkable building was built and later decorated under the aegis of the Emperor Justinian and his wife, the powerful Empress Theodora. Both appear in these fantastic mosaics. They are truly inspirational in scale and workmanship. The photos don’t do them justice … the golden…
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A lovely day with a new friend
A lovely chilled day in the sunshine with a coffee and walk around the city with Sophy who lives in Devon. We had a relaxing wander and found we had a lot in common. Lunch of polenta, sausage and cheese rosti at a boho restaurant with a relaxed vibe … outside in the sunshine. Then…
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Street Art in Desanzano del Garda
This is a very pretty little town: and very up market. As a result there is a lot of interesting street art. The big fibreglass animals are great fun. There are also some good modern sculptures throughout the squares I had the chance to catch a street installation … “Riflessi del Lago”. Using recycled clothing…
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Santa Croce Florence
The church of Santa Croce in the centre of Florence has an important place in the history of art as it contains two seminal fresco cycles painted for the chapels of the wealthy Bardi and Peruzzi families. Giotto is important to the Renaissance as he was one of the first artists to attempt to portray…
Escape to myself 