Exit Through The Giftshop - Postcards at an exhibition....

More bootiful booty from museum and exhibition gift shops...

1) TITLE PAGE OF THE FIRST FOLIO OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS (1623) - Martin Droeshout

I bought this in Stratford-on-Avon at Shakespeare's birthplace - it seemed the most obvious purchase really.  The First Folio was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death, by John Heminges and Henry Condell who were actors in The King's Men, the acting company that the Bard wrote for.  Although many of Shakespeare's plays had been published in smaller Quarto publications, these were cheaply produced and fluctuated in quality. 

The First Folio compiled 36 plays, 18 of which for the first time including THE TEMPEST, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, JULIUS CAESAR and MACBETH.  It is believed about 750 editions were published and is now considered one of the most important publications in history.  A copy was sold in 2001 at Christies, NY for over £3 million.  21 year-old Martin Droeshout's engraving has become the one that most Shakespeare imagery is based on.

2) PLEIN AIR (1890-1) - Ramon Casas

I bought this in the MNAC Gallery in Barcelona which celebrates Catalonian art.  In 1890 the 25 year-old Casas was living and working in Paris and his painting 'Plein Air' shows the influence of the Impressionist painters on him.

Casas' painting has a haunting quality as a smartly-dressed woman sits outside at a table in the gloaming, staring at a man across the empty courtyard who is turned away from her gaze, looking out of the gate to the town beyond.  The white of the tablecloth and the red wine in the carafe is contrasted against the black of the woman's outfit giving the viewer a focus in the surrounding muted colours.

3) MAP READING (1932) - Stanley Spencer

I bought this at Somerset House when they recreated Stanley Spencer's 19 canvasses in situ as they appear at the Sandham Memorial Chapel in Burghclere, Hampshire.  The Chapel was commissioned to honor Lieutenant Henry Sandham who died in 1920 by his sister and brother-in-law.  They turned to Stanley Spencer to decorate the Chapel with the paintings for which he drew on his memories and observations while working as an orderly in the Royal Army Medical Corps in WWI.

Over his cycle of paintings we follow Spencer's experiences from the training hospital in Bristol where he was confronted with the injured and maimed from the Front in the benign surroundings of the hospital to being an orderly in the field in Macedonia.  In "Map Reading", an officer studies a map of the Macedonian terrain while his soldiers lounge on either side of the road, some clambering among bilberry bushes for food while one sits feeding the officer's horse who stares out at the viewer with an accusing stare.  As usual, what I love about Spencer's painting is the topsy-turvy lay-out, the humanity and gentle humour that he finds in the scene, and in particular the glaring horse - is he angry about being used as a desk by the officer or at the world that has made the situation happen?

4) THE ANNUNCIATION (CELL 3) (1438) - Fra Angelico

 

I bought this at the former Dominican friary San Marco in Florence which now houses many works by the Renaissance painter Fra Angelico who lived there from 1436 to 1445.  The first floor of the friary contains a number of frescoes by Fra Angelico that make it an essential place to visit for any art lover.  As you climb the broad staircase and turn the corner to the last flight up to the first floor you see ahead of you his magnificent fresco of "The Annunciation", one of the great works of Renaissance religious art, but the first floor also has a wonderful collection of frescoes that he painted for each of the monk's cells as subjects for contemplation during prayer. 

The austere beauty of these works is reflected in this fresco of The Annunciation.  Only a few doors down from the more-well known and larger fresco that greets you as you turn the stairs, this one has a stripped down beauty which highlights the Fra's use of perspective and his genius for distilling a deep tension between his figures:  Mary kneels in a pale pink gown, disturbed from her reading by the Angel Gabriel whose multi-coloured wings hide the lurking figure of Saint Dominic who bears witness to what is about to happen.  The glowing simplicity and held moment in time dazzles.

5) SUPPER IN EMMAUS (1861) - Augusto Betti

I bought this at the Medici Chapel in Florence.  I can find no reference to this anywhere online so guess I will just have to describe why I like it!

Betti gives us a reduced almost geometric look to the scene where Jesus appeared to two of his Apostles days after rising from the dead and their rapt attention is offset by the servant who is pouring water out of a jug and the dozing, scruffy dog under the table.  Outside the evening falls...  I like the unfussy painting which stood out against some of the more florid works in the Medici Chapel.

Barcelona Weekend

Back from our long weekend in Barcelona which continues to enchant me despite lowering clouds and the frustration of not getting to see either Gaudi's gate houses at Finca Guell or the Palau de la Musica Catalana.

We arrived on Saturday to find the city basking in warm sunshine and, after getting settled into Le Meredien off the top of Las Ramblas, we ventured out to join the florists, pet-sellers and mimes along that colourful thoroughfare. Visits to old favourites: the dazzling La Boqueria market, L'Espirtu cafe, Carrer de Montcada - the street of a 1,000 ceramic shops - and the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mare (just in time for a wedding!) was topped off that evening with a visit to the small Pizza Nostra... home of the half and half pizza. Why have one pizza when you can have two halves of different ones?

Sunday was another wonderful sunny and hot day (hitting 30 in the afternoon) so, Constant Reader, your intrepid twosome deceided that was the day to race around the city like things possessed. Ventured up to Pedralbes for the first time to see the very grand Palau Reial - now the Museum of Ceramics and Decorative Arts. Nice to wander around and the gardens were nice and quiet too. Next to them is one of Gaudi's first commisions... the impressive gate at Finca Guell in the shape of a fearsome dragon made out of wrought iron. Eeek!
 
Not wanting to hang about waiting 45 minutes till the next tour of the Gaudi gatehouses we headed off for another favourite: Parc Guell. Worth every step of the long walk from the station, Gaudi's magical park never fails to make me feel at peace... despite the crowds. Third time lucky... this time we finally managed to get into see the interior of the 'gingerbread' gatehouse which had been closed the previous visits... a ho-hum exhibition of the park's history but a wonderful space that made me want to live in it's small curvy rooms. But then I want to live in Parc Guell full-stop!

I somehow managed to talk us both out of getting the Metro back into the centre and instead plumped for walking down the Carrer Gran de Gracia which leads into the elegant Passeig de Gracia - actually it didn't take as long as I expected and it was quite quiet being a drowsy late Sunday afternoon. Some lovely houses were seen on our journey down and somewhere along the way I passed the house where my nice shop customer Vicente was born 70 odd years ago.

After a visit to another much-loved haunt - the rooftop of La Pedrera - we wolfed down our late late lunch at the always welcoming Qu Qu. After somehow dragging ourselves out later for dinner at Montello on Via Laietana, sleep finally claimed us.

Sadly the extensive walking of Sunday put paid to any dynamism on Monday allied to an overcast and mostly grey day. After another attempt at Finca Guell - and God help the bastard who told me on their phone enquiries that you could go in without the guided tour - we high-tailed it diagonally across town to finally get to see inside the palatial Palau de la Musica Catalana... to be greeted by a small sign that all tours were sold out for the day.   

Constant Reader, I was plunged into the pit of Catalan despair which finally was lifted by retail therapy and the thoughtfulness of his Oweness. The evening improved with a visit to our favourite restaurant Citrus on the corner of Passeig de Gracia and Carrer Consell de Cent. Dunno whether it had anything to do with the e-mail reservation Owen sent the week before but when we went upstairs we found we had a window-seat. I should add that Citrus is on the first floor and it's huge window gives a majestic view up and down the Passeig.  Delicious food, a nice Rioja and a glass of Cava to toast our third anniversary... people who live any other way are just silly.

I cannot wait to re-visit this amazing city.

Holiday!

 
Normal service will be resumed next Tuesday when Owen and I return from our long weekend in Barcelona! I hasten to add this trip is not just an excuse for shopping... it's our third anniversary on the 10th - and they said it wouldn't last.
 
Mind you... there WILL be shopping!