THE ART OF LIVING · THE ART OF LIVING MARIANkA SwAIN shares her capital cultural highlights...
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THE ART OF LIVING MARIANKA SWAIN SHARES HER CAPITAL CULTURAL HIGHLIGHTS COMMUTER CORNER PICK OF THE MONTH PUBLIC DISPLAY DON’T MISS MODERN MASTER Tracy Chevalier’s latest novel journeys into California’s redwood forests and Ohio’s Black Swamp to chronicle the implosion of a warring pioneer family that echoes through the generations. At the Edge of the Orchard (hardback £26.69, Kindle £9.99) is anchored by two real-life 19 th -century tree men: legendary Johnny Appleseed and English plant collector William Lobb. Best read with a juicy apple to hand. Or if you’re more of a horror fan, try the iLovecraft Collection (£2.49). This haunting multimedia app immerses you in the dark and twisted mind of American author H. P. Lovecraft, pairing his monstrous tales with 180 illustrations, 50 animations, and a spooky soundtrack. Tap on the animations to watch them move in creepy ways – if you dare… How are you livening up your commute? Let us know via Twitter @Move_To Ralph Brown’s ‘Meat Porters’, 1959 © The Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, Potter Palmer Collection, 1922.404 Eugène Delacroix, ‘Lion Hunt’, 1861 Barbara Hepworth’s ‘Contrapuntal Forms’, 1951 Love, murder and war: welcome to the daringly expressive world of Eugène Delacroix. The French Romantic artist transformed 19th-century painting, and his influence can be seen in the bold colours and abstract shapes of Matisse and Kandinsky, the expressiveness of Van Gogh and Gauguin, and the vibrant complementary colours of the Impressionists. Delacroix drew inspiration from British art and literature, North African travels and Biblical scenes, but whatever the subject, his first priority was that the painting be “a feast for the eye”. This overdue celebration of the passionate rebel traces 50 years of his legacy, including works by contemporaries such as Courbet and Géricault and disciples like Renoir, Gauguin and Matisse. Vincent van Gogh, ‘Pietà (after Delacroix)’, 1889 © Van Gogh Museum (Vincent Van Gogh Foundation), Amsterdam Kandinsky, ‘Study for Improvisation V’, 1910 © The Minneapolis Institute of Art, Gift of Bruce B. Dayton © Harlow Arts Trust DELACROIX AND THE RISE OF MODERN ART TO MAY 22 National Gallery, Trafalgar Square WC2N Adults £14, children and members free www.nationalgallery.org.uk How often do you walk past a piece of art without giving it a second glance? A new Historic England exhibition at Somerset House aims to change that by highlighting exceptional public work created between 1945 and 1985 by artists like Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Geoffrey Clarke and Elisabeth Frink – much of which has since disappeared, explains curator Sarah Gaventa. “We’re desperately trying to track these pieces down, and leads are still coming in. There’s actually a wall in the exhibition with descriptions of lost art, like the missing cat posters stuck on trees. This is our – the nation’s – collection, but unless we all get involved, we’re in danger of losing even more of it.” The post-war period was extraordinarily democratic, notes Sarah, with local authorities regularly commissioning art to go with new structures like hospitals. “They believed working people deserved access to art – and should be reflected in it, like in Ralph Brown’s Meat Porters for Harlow Main Square. It’s a big change from politicians on plinths.” But public art is vulnerable, subject to vandalism or neglect, “especially when the built environment changes. Bill Pye’s sculpture at Gatwick was sent straight to the scrapyard – the developers didn’t even contact the artist.” Two of Sarah’s favourite monumental pieces are currently homeless: a Paul Mount fibre-glass wall panel, which he salvaged from a skip when a Falmouth supermarket was torn down; and a concrete mural made by Trevor Tennant in 1963 for Welwyn Garden City, Britain’s first NHS hospital. “It was an age of great hope and ambition – creating communities for local people, with real quality in housing, services and culture. We seem to have lost touch with that. But in these cash-strapped times, surely people would love to adopt these incredible works? We need some serious upcycling.” Historic England has taken action by listing 40 pieces, which should demonstrate the value of such art to councils and developers. “There are sculptors like Anthony Gormley who would love more public platforms if the commissions were there,” notes Sarah. She hopes the exhibition, which features drawings, maquettes, letters and photographs as well as large- scale pieces, opens our eyes to such art. “There’s a Barbara Hepworth Winged Figure off Oxford Street ignored by a million people every day. Let’s appreciate how much this work enriches our lives, because it might not be there if we don’t.” OUT THERE: OUR POST-WAR PUBLIC ART TO APRIL 10 Somerset House, Strand WC2R Adults £6.50, concessions £5 www.somersethouse.org.uk William Mitchell’s 1963 Harlow Water Gardens work © Historic England © Historic England
Transcript of THE ART OF LIVING · THE ART OF LIVING MARIANkA SwAIN shares her capital cultural highlights...
THE ART OF LIVINGMARIANkA SwAIN shares her capital cultural highlights
COMMUTER CORNER
picK OF the MONthPUBLIC DISPLAY
DON’t MissMODERN MASTER
Tracy Chevalier’s latest novel journeys into California’s redwood forests and Ohio’s Black Swamp to chronicle the implosion of a warring pioneer family that echoes through
the generations. At the Edge of the Orchard (hardback £26.69, Kindle £9.99) is anchored by two real-life 19th-century tree men: legendary Johnny Appleseed and English plant collector William Lobb. Best read with a juicy apple to hand.
Or if you’re more of a horror fan, try the iLovecraft Collection (£2.49). This haunting multimedia app immerses you in the dark and twisted mind of American author H. P. Lovecraft, pairing his monstrous tales with
180 illustrations, 50 animations, and a spooky soundtrack. Tap on the animations to watch them move in creepy ways – if you dare…
How are you livening up your commute? Let us know via Twitter @Move_To
Ralph Brown’s ‘Meat Porters’, 1959
© T
he A
rt In
stitu
te o
f Chi
cago
, Illin
ois,
Pot
ter P
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922.
404
Eugène Delacroix, ‘Lion Hunt’, 1861
Barbara Hepworth’s ‘Contrapuntal Forms’, 1951
Love, murder and war: welcome to the daringly expressive world of Eugène Delacroix. The French Romantic artist transformed 19th-century painting, and his influence can be seen in the bold colours and abstract shapes of Matisse and Kandinsky, the expressiveness of Van Gogh and Gauguin, and the vibrant complementary colours of the Impressionists.
Delacroix drew inspiration from British art and literature, North African travels and Biblical scenes, but whatever the subject, his first priority was that the painting be “a feast for the eye”. This overdue celebration of the passionate rebel traces 50 years of his legacy, including works by contemporaries such as Courbet and Géricault and disciples like Renoir, Gauguin and Matisse.
Vincent van Gogh, ‘Pietà (after Delacroix)’, 1889
© V
an G
ogh
Mus
eum
(Vin
cent
Van
Gog
h Fo
unda
tion)
, Am
ster
dam
Kandinsky, ‘Study for Improvisation V’, 1910
© T
he M
inne
apol
is In
stitu
te o
f Art,
Gift
of B
ruce
B. D
ayto
n
© H
arlo
w A
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Trus
t
DELACROIX AND THE RISE OF MODERN ARTTO MAY 22
National Gallery, Trafalgar Square WC2NAdults £14, children and members freewww.nationalgallery.org.uk
How often do you walk past a piece of art without giving it a second glance? A new Historic England exhibition at Somerset House aims to change that by highlighting exceptional public work created between 1945 and 1985 by artists like Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Geoffrey Clarke and Elisabeth Frink – much of which has since disappeared, explains curator Sarah Gaventa.
“We’re desperately trying to track these pieces down, and leads are still coming in. There’s actually a wall in the exhibition with descriptions of lost art, like the missing cat posters stuck on trees. This is our – the nation’s – collection, but unless we all get involved, we’re in danger of losing even more of it.”
The post-war period was extraordinarily democratic, notes Sarah, with local authorities regularly commissioning art to go with new structures like hospitals. “They believed working people deserved access to art – and should be reflected in it, like in Ralph Brown’s Meat Porters for Harlow Main Square. It’s a big change from politicians on plinths.”
But public art is vulnerable, subject to vandalism or neglect, “especially when the built environment changes. Bill Pye’s sculpture at Gatwick was sent straight to the scrapyard – the developers didn’t even contact the artist.”
Two of Sarah’s favourite monumental pieces are currently homeless: a Paul Mount fibre-glass wall panel, which he salvaged from a skip when a Falmouth supermarket was torn down; and a concrete mural made by Trevor Tennant in 1963 for Welwyn Garden City, Britain’s first NHS hospital.
“It was an age of great hope and ambition – creating communities for local people, with real quality in housing, services and culture. We seem to have lost touch with that. But in these cash-strapped times, surely people would love to adopt these incredible works? We need some serious upcycling.”
Historic England has taken action by listing 40 pieces, which should demonstrate the value of such art to councils and developers. “There are sculptors like Anthony Gormley who would love more public platforms if the commissions were there,” notes Sarah.
She hopes the exhibition, which features drawings, maquettes, letters and photographs as well as large-scale pieces, opens our eyes to such art. “There’s a Barbara Hepworth Winged Figure off Oxford Street ignored by a million people every day. Let’s appreciate how much this work enriches our lives, because it might not be there if we don’t.”
OUT THERE: OUR POST-WAR PUBLIC ARTTO APRIL 10
Somerset House, Strand WC2RAdults £6.50, concessions £5www.somersethouse.org.uk
William Mitchell’s 1963 Harlow Water Gardens work
© H
isto
ric E
ngla
nd
© H
isto
ric E
ngla
nd
