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Subject Adviser: Olwen Hughes

59 Charlton Rise, Ludlow, SY8 1ND

e-mail: davilwen@talktalk.net tel: 01584 878418 ���������������������������������������������

Our picture for Autumn above: The Port Authority by Sean Keating Winter- January: Spring- April: Summer- July: Autumn- October

Autumn 2012

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It seems strange to be writing an Autumn issue of the Newsletter -- what happened to the summer sunshine? I had thought to include a selection of sea-scapes showing the pleasures of being beside the sea; perhaps there has not been the chance to enjoy a sunny beach but that cannot detract from lovely sea-views so I’ll include them anyway.

We can enjoy Dame Laura Knight’s view of the Cornish coast on a sunny day.

Even Salvador Dali enjoyed being beside

the sea!

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Michelangelo is in the news again. John Spike has written on the first 30 years of the master, rather

exhaustive but absorbing. I found a second-hand copy of the Folio Society’s gold-tooled issue of Vasari’s in-depth Life of MA. By the time I have read both books, I

will be able to recite both tomes! MA is one of my all time favourites – for me his drawings and sculpture are second to none. I saw the exhibition of his drawings at the British Museum: they were superb – altho’ I felt I was intruding on private thoughts. ‘Restoring’ the Sistine seemingly has aroused some anger. We will be airing our comments in our next

group meeting here in Ludlow.

Brain teasers: from Issue 12 Reynolds liked Gainsboro’s scratches & marks

Burne-Jones did not appreciate the Impressionists!

Newsletter no. 13

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I was fascinated to read about Caravaggio’s lost paintings. I found one which showed some saints. One saint was holding a metal frame and I felt it must be St Laurence. I had enjoyed researching

him and recently gave a talk on him for our church.

The famous grid on which he was sacrificed can just be seen (with the eye of faith and you may have to believe me!) in the hands of the saint on the left. The four metal bars on which he is leaning can be seen on the larger picture - my apologies that I cannot include a larger clearer view.

Which artist was born in Italy, educated in France, looked German, spoke English and painted like a

Spaniard?

Question: “Why do clocks go clock-wise?”

Answer: “They don’t always: Uccello designed a clock in 1443 which works in an anti-clockwise direction”

And I wonder why? Can anyone tell me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Last summer I mentioned that whilst on holiday in Scotland, we had great pleasure in visiting various exhibitions arranged by the Open Studios. Has anyone had the chance to visit some of these shows? - we couldn’t resist a Howard Butterworth landscape and it would be good to hear from you.

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Reports from Members

Evelyn Ross visited Coventry Cathedral and Museum with her group, finding the building confusing but the Epsteins superb. The Graham Sutherland

tapestry was somewhat disappointing at first sight. A huge white egg seemed to be leaning against

Christ’s legs and his ankles and feet were thick and coarse. It became obvious that his knees were visible

through the garments which changed the first impression.

Overall, the group’s enjoyment was somewhat marred initially but things improved towards the

end.

Evelyn: many thanks for your letter so well expressed and to the point! I took a group to Coventry in mid July and using the staircase from the Visitor Centre certainly improves the impression. Most of the statues are at the east end of the Cathedral and the stained glass walls are angled to be seen at their best from that entrance. I do understand Evelyn’s reaction to the Sutherland; I was also quite surprised at his unusual depiction.

Sutherland’s portrait of Somerset Maugham was once thought to look like an old Chinese madam in

a brothel. Rather a hard assessment?

Helen Turner returned for her annual pilgrimage to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park – the third year

running, this time with friends. Sadly, it was too wet to stroll outside but the two exhibitions – Miro and Anish Kapoor – were well worth seeing. Using the mini-bus on site saved everyone from getting wet. Moving on to Hepworth Wakefield with some new exhibits, the Richard Long Gallery was well liked. However, the main focus for the visit was on

Hockney at Salts Mill. His IPhone sketches of vases of flowers or single stems were quite enchanting and different from his earlier works. The group saw

most of his key sites – Thixendale & the three trees, the Tunnels, Tote & Woldgate – in sunshine with a marvellous sunset at the end of the third day of

exploration. Looking at the Wolds through Hockney’s eyes shows how lovely the landscape is; the party travelled

along little lanes, through small villages seeing many things he should have painted also. Helen now tells me she can wax lyrical about a nettle for hours! We are urged to consider a visit for ourselves – friendly

people and great food pubs are all there.

Thank you, Helen, for an amusing and informative letter. Hockney is not a favourite of mine usually but I feel quite intrigued by what you and your

friends experienced.

More members’ visits……

Margot Jones saw the Picasso and Modern Art Exhibition, (now showing in the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh) and felt that Andrew Graham-Dixon had put viewers off, although Tim

Marlow was more complimentary on TV. Living near Roland Penrose’s home, Margot has learned to enjoy Picasso’s work and there was much to see,

well worth a visit. Modern Art was a revelation, compared with Picasso’s aim -sometimes unclear- and altho’ Wyndham Lewis is not a favourite, Margot was

amused to learn that Lewis criticised Picasso for his limited subject matter when he was obviously

influenced by him. Henry Moore was also on show, another artist who learned from Picasso – overall, an

exhibition well worth a visit. A point made was how difficult it was for modern art

to gain any official recognition in the early 20th century.

Margot- you live in a lovely part of the country and I envy you the chance to visit encouraging art shows. Thank you for letting us know about your visits.

We went out for the day too…….

On holiday in Como – we visited the Brueghel exhibition - La Dinastia Brueghel - a superb, very extensive display of the family’s art. More than one hundred works from galleries and private collections were on show and I was in my element - I was also lucky to find one by Jan Brueghel with a portrait by Rubens. I had seen a picture many years ago by Snyders with a Rubens contribution to the face – it was great to see another example and I could

imagine the master going round his apprentices’ work, adding the supreme finishes. An absolute

gem, it would be great to see it in Britain. Nearer home, Forde Abbey near Lyme Regis has

some lovely pictures, copies and originals, by a very artistic family. Copies of the Head of Rubens, Fra Filippino Lippi’s self-portrait and two typical

Dutch scenes by de Cuyp and Snyders.

Who was responsible for clearing this untidy lot of

pictures and starting a system which we all enjoy today?

Overheard: I have plenty of talent and vision; I just can’t quite crack it.

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Exhibitions

Flight & The Artistic Imagination

Compton Verney 30.06.12 – 7.10.12

Edvard Munch – the Modern Eye

Tate Modern, London until 14.10.12

Van Gogh to Kandinsky

Scottish National Gallery until 14.10.12

Dickens and the Artists

Watts Gallery, Surrey until 28.10.12

** Turner, Monet, Twombly

Tate Liverpool until 28.10.12

Jorge Macchi – Liverpool Biennial

Walker Art Gallery until 25.11.12

Miro - the Sculptor

Yorkshire Sculpture Park until 6.01.13

17th

Annual East Riding Open Art

Beverley Art Gallery until 2. 02.13

** Andrew Graham-Dixon saw the Turner, Monet & Twombly exhibition and thought it an intriguing if

peculiar show. The links between Turner and Monet are well documented and to include Twombly

seemed to be a distinct aim to provoke the viewers, as he feels claiming any relationship between the three is bizarre. Twombly’s work can be regarded as the most modern of the three artists yet at the

same time, he clung to the old fashions. I wonder if any reader would agree with him?

I hesitate to comment as I do not know enough about Twombly – has anyone else visited this Tate show

and would like to tell us about it?

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I do feel I can comment on this picture from a country exhibition we visited whilst on holiday last year. I think Mike Jackson has caught so many moods and ideas – the more one looks at this canvas so much appears, in particular humour. I laughed at the burglar moving up the tower with his swag bag at the ready; the upset lodger at the top; the lamp-post needs repairs and the dog is teasing a policeman. I do enjoy visiting local art shows.

More viewing news

Leonardo is in the news yet again. The ‘Mona Lisa’ in the Louvre has been copied yet again and the version in the Prado has been restored giving a

beautiful new image. Still - well worth copying and restoring any time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Speaking about copying, using the same model every

time might be looked on as being limited! John William Godward seems to like this lady,

although I have not found her name.

Here the lady is A Roman Beauty and indeed she is. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I referred to Alma-Tadema’s pseudonym in the last News issue – a marbellous artist. I looked him up and learned that he was of Dutch descent who settled in London in 1870, becoming a citizen in 1873. His speciality was historical genre scenes but following a visit to Pompey he turned more to the ancient world for inspiration. His nickname came from paintings of those times – beautiful women, exotic costumes in marbled settings. He lived a sumptuous lifestyle in a house which he re-modelled as a Roman villa. Artists who were influenced by him included Edwin Long and John William Godward, the artist of the above Roman ladies.

More on galleries: Heard in a Monet exhibition: I don’t want to see any more……………waterlilies as

long as I live!

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Looking for new ideas?

In my groups we had a most interesting series of meetings by looking at a variety of themes involving English painters. The Miniaturists started us off with Hilliard and Oliver; following Tudor times, we considered the famous Portraitists, the Moral Genre, Conversation pieces and Spiritual Visions.

Sport, Landscapes, Earth Fire & Water and Mythologists eventually led us to Victorian Schools, the Pre-Raphaelites, Aestheticism, Neo-Impressionism and Modern artists ending a very enjoyable time.

My friends in the groups had looked rather taken aback at the titles but I chose the artists carefully and we all agreed that it had been a worth while exercise. Looking at the titles had made me think we deserved some more attractive ones, so to lighten things slightly, I then planned Posters, Magazines, Journals and Illustrated books followed by Prejudices, Politics and to insert a little more fun – Humour and Cartoons.

Later, we spent some time looking at Galleries and Museums in Europe. Everyone was given a venue to visit (through books I hasten to add) and bring three items back to discuss. That led to some enjoyable sessions and we all learned more about the countries of the artists, in turn appreciating the artists more.

The great thing about Art History is that it never ends and there is always something else to intrigue, amuse and uplift us – perhaps I am biased? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This railway advertising poster by Stanhope Forbes dates back to the 1940s. I wonder if the recent Olympic posters will last as long –or look as good?

Idiosyncracies and Innovators Gericault- one of the first to use a black figure in

European art to symbolize the hopes of all humanity. Durer was one of the first watercolourists.

Chardin never painted with people watching.

Appreciating art (based on John Farman)

Part 7 The High Renaissance – the 1500s

England had a new king: Henry VIII. Spain was conquering just about everyone but Italy was now

very civilized leading the art world with the Renaissance. One name was top of the pops –

Leonardo: first to call the shots and paint what, and for whom, he wanted. He dabbled with disciplines

like writing, science and a few secrets of the universe. This is where the term Renaissance came

from: an ability to produce nearly everything.

There were no art schools but a bright kid could learn by helping his artist boss by washing out paint pots, mixing colours, filling in big areas of paint and young Leonardo was really happy in Verrocchio’s

place: carving rocks, making metal bits, delving into anatomy and sculpting, soon setting up on his own.

He didn’t want his ideas pinched so he wrote back-to-front (didn’t trust anyone!) but became known

for taking on more work than he could do and hardly ever finished anything. Regarded as a genius, he got

away with it.

His most famous painting was Mona Lisa, - not much of a looker but the secret seems to lie in her

expression. He must have known it would cause confusion as he invented sfumato which blurs and hides details in shadow. Mind you, he discovered

how to show something beyond good faces. More experts in the limelight next time!

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Bocklin’s Greek God fights off invaders – our final sea-scape.

Looking for ideas for your group studies? Susan Radford in the U3A Resource Centre can help. Her extensive list of

artists, schools, sculpture and workshops would be hard to match and it is free to borrow material, just return

postage is involved. resource.centre@u3a.org.uk or call 020 8315 0199

If you are seeking ideas for your planning, I can offer a Syllabus and worksheets. Designed for beginners or advanced members, it covers Western art from the

Byzantines to the present. Beginners start by researching schools of painting, later looking at specialities of

painters’ work, developments, influences, legacies, etc. Easily arranged for small or large groups and adaptable

for all levels of expertise. No cost is involved. davilwen@talktalk.net or call 01584 878418