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

More postcards from exhibitions and galleries...

1) IL PROFETA ABACUC 'IO ZUCCONE' (1425) - Donatello

Donatello's statue is packed with character and humanity, I love the excellent way he has carved the swags and falls of the prophet's robes, supposedly this was Donatello's favourite sculpture. 

I bought this at the Museo Dell 'Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence where Zuccone (Bald-head!) resides.

2) LA MANDRA (1898-1900) - Ramon Casas

Bought from the Museu Nacional d'Art De Catalunya where room after room suggests to one that Catalonian artists followed rather than instigating movements down the years, one reaches the late 19th Century rooms with a sigh of relief to come across the great works of Barcelona artist Ramon Casas.

Yes they are again following the French impressionists but they have a charm and a quality that make them memorable - here a woman lazes on a bed in a quiet room, doing anything than what she probably should be doing...  This was painted just as Casas was becoming a proponent of the Spanish Modernista movement, this included being a part owner in the famous bar Els Quatre Gats with his friend Pe Romeu which became a hub from Barcelona's artist community.

3) LES PASSANTS (The Passerbys) (1906-7) - Raoul Dufy

Yes, London art galleries and museums... whenever you finally decide to have an exhibition of Dufy I will be there.

This glorious painting is in the Courtauld collection and whenever I visit, I love to spend some time entering into the lovely world of LES PASSANTS.  It's Fauvist colours and spare setting is a world I would love to live in... can I be in red please and own the green dog?

4) DAVID TRIBUNE (1501-4) - Michelangelo

I bought this in Florence at the Galleria dell'Accademia where Michelangelo's epic David stands in solitary majesty in a stark setting.

DAVID was originally placed in the Piazza della Signoria beside the magnificent Palazzo Vecchio.  It stayed there for 369 years until it was moved to it's present location in 1873.  Like all great art, it still manages to amaze when seen in the stone despite all one's previous sightings in books, films and adverts.

5) WOODEN CRUCIFIX (detail) (circa 1412) - Fillipo Brunelleschi

A detail from Brunelleschi's wooden sculpture which you can see in Florence's Church of Santa Maria Novella - see the full length postcard in my earlier "Giftshop" blog here.

According to the biographer/artist Vasari, this was Filipo Brunelleschi's response to a crucifix he disliked that Donatello had made in the church of Santa Croce. It's simple but glorious.