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

More postcards from exhibitions and galleries that have caught my eye...

1) TWO BATHERS (1921) - Duncan Grant

Not the best scan but the resolution on the card isn't the best either. I think I bought this at Tate Britain, possibly as part of the exhibition on art critic Kenneth Clark.

Two young male bathers relax after a swim, one is still drying himself while his friend sprawls on the grass gazing into the mid-distance, his languid fleshiness the central focus of the painting.  I like how Grant has fitted his frame into... the frame!

2) SANTA MARIA SOPRA MINERVA, ROME

Bought in the very place, Santa Maria Sopra Minerva is a basilica for the Dominican order in Rome, a stone's throw from the Pantheon.  Built over an ancient Roman temple, the church was completed and consecrated in 1370.

Yes that is an elephant obelisk in front of the church, the oblisk itself dates from the 1st Century and was found in 1665 in near-by excavations and certainly makes the church easy to spot!  The base was designed by the sculptor Bernini.  The church - which was hidden under scaffolding when we visited - is home to Michelangelo's magnificent marble statue of Christ The Redeemer (1521) and the grave of the Early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico.

3) COSTUME FOR MLLE BRIAND IN "LE ROSSIGNOL" (1914) - Aleksandr Benois

A lovely and delicate watercolour drawing of a costume design by the artist and scenic designer Benois for Stravinsky's opera LE ROSSIGNOL (The Nightingale).  This was part of a Barbican Gallery exhibition on Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes in 1996.

Benois is famous for his designs for the Ballets Russes but was also the Scenic Designer for Marinsky Theatre, home of the Imperial Ballet.  I find it utterly charming and transcends it's practical theatrical function.

4) VIRGIN AND CHILD (1450) - Fra Angelico

I bought this in Paris at the lovely Musée Jacquemart-Andre in 2011 when they had an exhibition called FRA ANGELICO AND THE MASTERS OF LIGHT which showcased the Early renaissance painter and contemporaries.  It is a nice memory of seeing Owen overjoyed to be finally able to stand in a gallery surrounded by paintings of his favourite artist.

As Owen said at the time, the power and intensity of his paintings comes from the belief he has in his subjects; as formal and fixed as his figures are, there resides in them a lovely tenderness of gaze and humanity.  Mary's watchful gaze is fixed on her son who stares at the viewer with an unsettling directness and, as usual when faced with his works themselves, ages can be spent marvelling at the glorious colours and detailed drapery of the curtains and robes.

5) SOLARISED PORTRAIT OF LEE MILLER (1929) - Man Ray

I bought this at the thrilling Man Ray exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 2013. Both Man Ray and Miller had a growing interest in the process of solarisation, which excited the Surrealist photographer.

In the 1920s, Lee Miller had been one of the most sought-after fashion models in New York but in 1929 she moved to Paris to seek an apprenticeship with the photographer and artist Man Ray who, despite initial resistance, soon gave in and she became his muse, lover and more-than capable assistant - and all at the age of 22.  This personal daring and directness shines out of Man Ray's photograph.