Masterpiece London 2014

Masterpiece London 2014, Royal Chelsea Hospital

Masterpiece London art, antique and design fair 2014 came to a close yesterday after it successfully concluded its fifth opening year.

Perusing with the rich and fabulous amongst Old Masters, medieval sculptures and modern canvases was an understatement. Tickets were £25 (my tickets were free, courtesy of the Courtauld), small ciabatta chicken rolls were £7 and cans of lemonade were £3 from the inside cafes. I wanted wine but my overdraft said no.
For some reason I thought that the artwork I would see at Masterpiece would be by artists I didn't know, either because they were particularly rare or because I was not as up to date as I thought with the art market. I thought I would leave sheepish and anxious, worrying about never getting a job because I didn't know enough about the art world. Panic over, I knew plenty!

Entrance to Masterpiece London

 All of those artists I have loved throughout my childhood, education and degree were there. It became quickly obvious that academia rules the art market to a large extent. I was able to look at beautifully coloured Chagalls without glass hindering their beauty, without the worry that some nutter might vandalise the work; the man that threw acid over Rembrandt's the Night Watch in the '90s automatically springs to mind. The art at Masterpiece were without ropes keeping you within two or three feet. Many guests wandered around with glasses of wine and champagne, pointing with one hand and sipping with the other. I could have touched the layers of acrylic, the wavy mountainous oil paint which dazzled the artificial lights and no-one would have questioned me because I could have been a buyer.

The guards outside the most expensive artwork and jewellery booths addressed me as 'Good morning madam', at first I looked over my shoulder to see who they were talking to. This felt like a different world to people I meet on the train, the hustle and bustle of commuters in the stations, always in a rush, it was different to the students I meet, even if they are at one of the top universities for History of Art in Europe. The people at Masterpiece had nowhere else to be, no worries, they could afford to be there on a Wednesday at midday without taking the day off work and without a limit on their credit cards.

Taxdermy Fox with Squid

I bumped into a lovely lady in the Crane Kalman Gallery unit trying to haggle for a Lowry for £500,000 cheaper…I’m not sure what the original price was but in the end she gave in and paid in full. A woman admiring a Picasso sketch of Jacqueline Roque, Picasso’s second wife, stood behind us and commented on how beautiful the artificial woman looked. I did not see it as one of Picasso’s best, it lacked his usual flair like several of his later sketches, but she proceeded to purchase the drawing nonetheless. I bravely asked a woman in one of the sculpture units how much the 3^rd reduction of Rodin’s The Kiss was going for, she answered £580,000.

Perhaps a classist observation, but after Grayson Perry’s Channel 4 programme on class a year or two ago it seems topical. Unlike the middle classes, always in competition, almost aggressive in their social climbing, the people visiting Masterpiece London seemed satisfied. There was no competition because money was no object, these people had never been without comfort because they inherited it and honestly, they were the friendliest group of people.

Artists featured at Masterpiece included Chagall, Picasso, Matisse, Bacon, Bridget Riley, Peter Blake, Lowry, Graham Sutherland, Reynolds, Lely, Warhol, Dali and Degas. The list is endless! One of my favourite pieces was a lithograph by Degas Nude Woman Standing, Drying Herself (1891-2). Although quite usual in subject for Degas, he did a series of nudes bathing, this piece had a particular charm that not all of the painterly versions possess. It was incredibly beautiful in its simplicity. Alongside the art were several units of antiques, jewellery, woodwork, furniture, clocks, globes, sculpture (Egyptian, Roman, Greek, modern), taxidermy animals and a maserati. Walking into that enormous space filled with treasures must have been how people felt when they first wandered into the Great Exhibition in 1851. It was a fantastic day out and I couldn’t fault it.

Visit http://www.masterpiecefair.com/ for more information on the fair.

A Very Happy Chicken

What has Waldemar Januszczak gone and done this time? Nothing, apparently. Yesterday’s Sunday Times Culture supplement extended an olive branch to Tate Britain, not from the beak of a pristine white dove but from the beak of a chicken, as Januszczak reviewed the new folk art exhibition at Millbank.

The Sunday Times Culture. 15/06/14. Pages 18 & 19.

I have seen this exhibition advertised on the tube but I haven’t visited it yet. I know very little about folk art but it did not strike me as an exhibition that Januszczak would find awe-inspiring. Januszczak, during his Curtis witch-hunt in April stated that the ‘Tate Britain’s obvious problem is that it no longer connects with its audience’ and to be honest I am not sure that this exhibition strikes mass appeal; it is a niche genre.

Januszczak, on the other hand, loved it. Dredging the kindest adjectives from the lake of his mind he writes a coherent and uplifting review of an exhibition which ‘takes us on a notably airy journey through the Sherwood Forest of native creativity.’ He notes that ‘times change, and so do aesthetic dynamics’, perhaps suggesting an acceptance of the direction of Tate Britain under Penelope Curtis. This exhibition is ‘lovely’, ‘carefully colour-coded’, ‘inventiveness, a belief in effortless skill’ and ‘Judging by this delightful and beautifully presented tribute, it is, essentially, a happy language driven by important communal understandings.’

Confused by such a heart-wrenching review, it is like reading about a child experiencing its first memorable Christmas. I am pleased that Januszczak has kissed and made up with Tate Britain but I think I need someone to throw a glass of fresh water in my face to really believe it.

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2014

Having handed in my MA dissertation the day before, in a blur of confusion and angst, a formatting crisis and a 2.30am printing session, my mother and I set off for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on Friday (mildly hungover from dissertation celebrations).

Stolen Thunder II by Cornelia Parker

For anyone in yearly attendance of the Summer Exhibition, you will agree that one needs a couple of days to process the vast display and sheer volume of work hung floor to ceiling. A million different themes and subjects, mediums and colours, this exhibition is not for the faint-hearted. You can do little to prepare yourself for this overwhelming but incredible collection.

This year felt far more cheerful and witty than previous years with work such as Stolen Thunder II by Cornelia Parker, a play on last year’s Stolen Thunder I, which was a play on the red sales dots showing the popularity of an original print.

Work No. 398: ‘Assholes’ by Martin Creed

Work No. 398: ‘Assholes’ by Martin Creed in the Lecture Room was another jovial piece. I researched Creed’s Work No. 227: The Lights Going On and Off for a lecture Penelope Curtis is delivering next year at the National Gallery and I didn’t really understand the significance of such a simple piece. It is not until Creed talks about his work in interviews that realisation hits. Art has the potential to fill a space, to be all-consuming, you can be locked in a room with it and unable to escape it, it is power. Creed does not only work with visual art but also works with music. In an interview by Mikel Toms, Creed explains that music is an interesting medium for art as you are able to watch it being produced; it takes you on a journey as the symphony unravels. Painting however, only allows you to see the finished product; in many ways the process is irrelevant. The Lights Going On and Off was a visual piece of art, it was making sculpture like a piece of music. It filled a room and provided a journey through a changing space, like music filling a car from a stereo.

Assholes is nothing like The Lights Going On and Off, it is simply ‘assholes’ spelt out in white neon lights, placed centrally on a white-washed wall, unassuming and happily offensive. However, around every letter is a sort of aura, it is its own energy. For some reason this piece would not work in another colour. The light is pure and fantastical, phonetically spelling ‘arseholes’ to give the reader the same northern dialect as the artist himself. Light, like music, fills a room. If this room was dark it would be the only artwork that could be seen and it would reflect off of the entire space in varying degrees. This art is another of Creed’s all-consuming, inescapable pieces providing a journey no matter how crude.

Tom Philips’ After Henry James.

Cake Man (II) by Yinka Shonibare

Other pieces included Cake Man (II) by Yinka Shonibare, a wonder in textile as well as contemporary sculpture. This piece is in every child’s imagination, there is something magical about it. It is the precarious balance of colour and height. Everyone wants to be the hero by catching the cake at the top of the pile which is mid fall. It was good to see an overlap of literature and art with a quote from Henry James’ The Middle Years in Tom Philips’ After Henry James.

Finally, Joe Tilson exhibited several similar pieces on Venice, although they were not curated together but separated to different rooms. Stones of Venice San Nicolo Dei Mendicoli Venusia depicts a small twelfth-century church in the centre dedicated to St Nicholas, originally used for worship by poor fishermen. The church is surrounded by a coloured tile effect. It brings the classical Venice, in the form of early architecture, in conjunction with the modern tourist, surrounded by colourful stalls displaying jewellery and clothes. The different orientation of the tiles on this piece remind me of the cramped shops of Venice down tiny streets, the never ending crowds of people brushing past you and the colours made in the water by the surrounding buildings.

Stones of Venice San Nicolo Dei Mendicoli Venusia by Joe Tilson

If you have the stamina and the concentration, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition is a fantastic exhibition of contemporary art. You may even pick up a piece to take home as prices vary between £40 and over £600,000.

Penelope Curtis: Matriarchy in the U.K

‘Phyllida Barlow is 70. I mention it immediately because it is the most impressive thing about her.’

Although commencing his article with this rather damning statement, Waldemar Januszczak does try to give Barlow’s most recent exhibition at the Tate Britain some merit for being able to successfully fill the gigantic Duveen Galleries with her installation Dock. This merit of course does not last long, ending a brief review of the art world’s ‘taste for older women’ with a comparison of Dock to a ‘humongous episode of Blue Peter…some old loo rolls and a box of toothpicks borrowed from a giant’. This comparison is hauntingly reminiscent of an article by Januszczak last year in which he criticised Fischli and Weiss’s Rock on Top of Another Rock over a substantial spread, challenging visitors to ‘hurry along to the Serpentine if you want to see a carrot balancing on a Coke bottle and witness the collapse in artistic values.’ Rock on Top of Another Rock has remained a permanent feature of the Serpentine Gallery and, although perhaps not to everyone’s taste, it does portray natural beauty at its most primitive. It is harmless in that it is natural, it is not made from non-biodegradable plastic, it does not dominate the surrounding park, and it is not painted bright orange.

Rock on Top of Another Rock by Fischli and Weiss. Taken from http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/3/8/1362742543724/764ac9ea-eb49-4370-bd5d-36dd2e841204-620x372.jpeg

Having complimented Barlow with the back of his hand and a light slap in the face, Januszczak then seamlessly progresses to criticise the woman responsible for the Tate Britain since 2010, Penelope Curtis. I met Penelope Curtis for the first time last week for a business meeting in which she appeared highly organised, passionate about the Tate, pleased with the work I had done and was interested in my professional opinion, regardless of her obvious seniority. As Januszczak’s previous employer, the Guardian, has coherently put it, he has ‘called for her head’ describing her as a ‘disaster’ who ‘has to go.’ However, Januszczak’s argument seems rather unsubstantiated, claiming that the public have lost interest in the collection at the Tate Britain leading to a 10% loss in visitor numbers last year. This decrease in visitors is hardly surprising when over a quarter of the gallery was closed until November 2013, due to its huge £45million refurbishment. Other than this figure, Januszczak supports his argument only with his opinion that recent exhibitions at the Tate have been below par and that he hasn’t liked Curtis’ exhibitions in the past.

Whether or not you agree with Januszczak’s statement that Curtis has been a disaster, I think it has to be taken into consideration that she is a woman at the top of her game. No, not the sexism card I hear you cry! I am not implying that Januszczak’s attack has been misogynistic; in fact it would be misogynistic not to challenge an art director because she is female. However, with so many of the top London art galleries directed by men shouldn’t we be encouraging a woman who has reached the top of her field? The Royal Academy is directed by Chris le Brun, the Tate Modern by Chris Dercon, National Portrait Gallery by Sandy Nairne, the National Gallery by Nicholas Penny and the Hayward is directed by Ralph Rugoff, to name a few.

As one of hundreds of female graduates in History of Art I find it disheartening that so many of the top jobs in the art world are still dominated by men. I am aware that things are changing with women like Iwona Blazwick, Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, slowly changing the system. However, female graduates need to see successful women in order to aspire to be the best in their field. How can they possibly do this when the most successful female art director in the UK is being forcefully encouraged to step down over what is essentially a difference of opinion?  Janusszczak’s article is not the first to criticise Penelope Curtis with Zoe Pilger at the Independent covering the reopening of the Tate last November. Titling her article ‘Matriarch of the Museum’ she then bluntly states that ‘Curtis is single and has no children. She lives in Shepherd's Bush.’ Maybe this is just public interest but would a writer describe a man as single (possibly) but childless? Probably not.

Sources:

http://www.waldemar.tv/2014/04/tate-britain-is-in-a-right-old-mess/

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/apr/11/tate-britain-boss-attacked-over-gallerys-direction

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/penelope-curtis-matriarch-of-the-museum-8933484.html

Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice

Opening only four days ago, Veronese on a Saturday was busy but not heaving. A noticeably older crowd, who I seemed to tower over (I never tower over anyone as I'm only 5'5" (5'6" on a good day)) settled around favourite pieces. Being incredibly ignorant about Veronese and Italian Renaissance art generally, I felt a little out of my depth but the tiny booklet was interesting and the audio guide that my friend picked up, even better. The vast display if biblical scenes, women with heaving bosom and men in fur seemed at times a little repetitive but the colour of each piece was fabulous with blues and reds as bright as the day they were painted. The only real down side to this exhibition was that the huge canvases were closely spaced together, making it easy to tread on the feet of the people behind. The National Gallery seemed a little pushed for space with Strange Beauty running at the same time next door in the Sainsbury Wing. Overall, worth seeing and very informative for those wishing to be better educated in Italian Renaissance.

http://media.timeout.com/images/101506671/660/370/image.jpg

Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined at the Royal Academy

As the Royal Academy's latest exhibition enters its last few weeks, my mind keeps revisiting this colourful and ambitious architectural display.

The work of Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined consists of modern and fantastical architecture, scaled down and working in harmony with the ornate and white washed rooms of the RA. Seven architectural practices were chosen from around the world to represent innovative structural design.

Micro-architecture, as it is often described, (structures displaying architectural motifs on a smaller scale than an original building) has existed since the Middle Ages. Woodwork, such as choir stalls in cathedrals and wooden ecclesiastical  chests often demonstrated designs which were used on the fabric of new churches.

Choir Stalls at Ulm Minster. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Ulm-Muenster-ChorGestuehl-061104.jpg

Metalwork such as censers, which contained incense and were swung during church services, also contained micro-architecture such as quatrefoils, ogee arches and triple lancets. All of these can be seen in medieval cathedral designs. Censers were often used as a method to transport architectural ideas, often acting as modern drawings do today.

Ramsey Censer, found in Huntingdonshire in the 19th century, dated 1325. On display at the V&A.

Two censers both on display at the V&A. First from Venice 1500, second from England 1350.

Censer similar to the Ramsey Censer illustrated in stained glass in Rotherfield, East Sussex. Proof that architectural designs were moving around the country through mediums like metalwork.

The Royal Academy, bizarrely, provides the perfect space for Architecture Reimagined. Although its ceilings are classic and ornate with gold angels and filigree coating every edge, this modern architecture provides a welcome contrast. Pezo von Ellrichshausen's installation is incredibly dominating but also interactive with spiral staircases filling the cylindrical pillars. Climbing to the top of this structure allows the RA to be viewed from a completely different perspective, the decoration of the ceiling can be seen up close and the features of the moulded angels and be fully appreciated. It is architecture within architecture, a play on function and space to distort size and perspective. I don't want to say much more about this exhibition but I urge you to visit it. A fantastic interactive exhibition for the whole family.

Pezo von Ellrichshausen's installation

From the top of Pezo von Ellrichshausen's installation

Diébédo Francis Kéré, Sensing Spaces installation

Diébédo Francis Kéré, Sensing Spaces installation

Eduardo Souto de Moura, Sensing Spaces installation

Grafton Architects, Sensing Spaces installation

Kengo Kuma, Sensing Spaces installation

International Women's Day

International Women’s Day has been celebrated with a series of articles and photographs of inspirational women throughout history. Cherie Blair in the Independent declared, rather depressingly, that women still have a long way to go to reach true equality. Photographs of Angelina Jolie, Lupita Nyong'o and David Cameron vowing ‘we cannot rest until someone is prosecuted for FGM’, have dominated the internet in the run up to today. Lets not forget the classic quotes from Coco Chanel – ‘A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous’ and Margaret Thatcher – ‘If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.’ 

Yet, despite all of this publicity no-one seems to have considered or challenged how far back inspirational women go. Everyone knows about the Virgin Mary, she was a famous and inspirational woman but rather overshadowed by her son. Helen of Troy from Greek Mythology and Brad Pitt’s CV was only famous because she was the most beautiful woman that ever existed (I guess there is nothing wrong with that) and Joan of Arc was fifteenth-century so not really as ancient as I’d like to venture.

As a student at the Courtauld studying Gothic Architecture for my MA, I can appreciate any notable woman who pops up in my research; they are the exception in a male-dominated medieval world. Of course, inspirational women in the Middle Ages did exist and Blanche of Castile is my favourite. Born in Spain in 1188, Blanche, aged 11, was forced into a marriage treaty with Louis VIII, son of King Philip II Augustus of France. Although Blanche was only French by marriage, she quickly considered France her country, particularly after the birth of her son, Louis IX. 

When her English uncle King John died, Blanche quickly saw the opportunity to increase French territory by seizing the English throne. Her husband, Louis, invaded England in 1216 but failed to secure any land. After Louis died following a crusade in 1226, Blanche became guardian of their son and regent of France. This caused uproar in rebellious parties and a revolt in France, supported by the English King Henry III. Blanche however, maintained her power as regent of France, riding into battle ahead of her troops, dressed in white, and eventually pacifying the English and French. Even after her son Louis was old enough to take the throne of France, Blanche did not abandon her responsibilities. When she heard that the poor were being mistreated by the cathedral chapter in Paris, she rode there herself to ensure that they were released from prison. The stability that she created in France was unquestionable. 

Although sometimes overlooked by male scholars, Blanche was an architectural patron of three Cistercian foundations: Royaumont, a male monastery; Maubuisson, a female convent and Le Lys another female institution. It is also very probably that Blanche patronised some of the stained glass in the choir at Chartres Cathedral, as it clearly displays Castilian and Capetian heraldry, including the fleur-de-lys.

Books in the Middle Ages were extremely expensive to produce and were therefore scarce. Blanche, however, along with her many other manuscript commissions asked for three Bibles Moralisées to be made. The most famous image of Blanche of Castile appears in the last leaf of this book, seated next to her son, she is depicted as powerful. Not only is she the same height as Louis IX, thus illustrating her as equal to the king, she is also gesturing actively in contrast to Louis. Louis passively listens to what his mother is saying. Cleverly, she is placed above the cleric, senior to the lay craftsman painting the manuscript on the right. Louis is placed above the craftsman suggesting that he is the worker, rather than the decision maker, in his relationship with his mother.

 

Image taken from: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7002/6434543387_96f46327d8_o.jpg

Research can be attributed to: Gajewski, A., 'The Patronage Question under Review: Blanche of Castile (1188-1252) and the Architecture of the Cistercian Abbeys at Roymaumont, Maubuisson, and Le Lys', in Reassessing the roles of women as 'makers' of medieval art and architecture, ed. Therese Martin (Boston, 2012) 197-244. & http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/68868/Blanche-Of-Castile