Exit Through The Giftshop - Pictures At An Exhibition #19

 Memories of treasures past...

1) CLOISTER OF SAINT ANTONINUS, SAN MARCO, FLORENCE (1436-1446) - Michelozzo

A favourite place in Florence, this is the cloister you enter into when you visit the San Marco convent.  From the busy square of the same name, you suddenly find yourself in the tranquil cloister with a large fresco of Saint Dominic with the crucified Christ by Fra Angelico facing you at the end of the first corridor. To your right is the entrance to the former pilgrim's hospice which houses many works by Fra Angelico in a single large room.  

The site of a monastery since the 12th Century, in 1437 the occupant order of monks were ordered to leave, making room for the Dominicans from the nearby village of Fiesole.  Finding the buildings in a bad state of disrepair, the monks requested help from Cosimo Medici The Elder who commissioned the architect Michelozzo to rebuild San Marco.  It's a must-see when visiting Florence.

2) AMERICAN GOTHIC (1930) - Grant Wood

An icon of 20th Century American painting, Grant Wood's AMERICAN GOTHIC has had a life of it's own from being used for endless parodies and instant cultural references.  I saw this at the Royal Academy's 2017 exhibition AMERICA AFTER THE FALL which looked at American art from the 1930s. Wood was born in Iowa in 1891 and started painting at an early age, drawing on the midwest landscape and people that surrounded him and he would later teach painting at the University of Iowa.  He died the day before his 51st birthday of pancreatic cancer.  

He lives on in his work and of course with AMERICAN GOTHIC, a painting of his sister Nan and his dentist Dr McKeeby!  The American Gothic alludes to the tall window in the farmhouse behind the couple.  Wood rejected all the reviewers who thought it must be a satire of mid-western people and said he meant it to be an honest representation, it is certainly hard to view without all the parodies coming to mind.

3) MAN OF SORROWS (1441) - Fra Angelico

One of the many stunning frescoes on the first floor of the San Marco convent (after you have past through the lovely cloister as seen above).  This is in cell 26 and the cell paintings were never meant to be seen by anyone but the Dominican monks who occupied the cells.  That is why the cell frescoes have a distilled quality to them, these are for meditation on the subject - here the suffering of Christ. 

Christ stands in his tomb presenting his wounds to a sorrowful Mary and the kneeling Saint Thomas.  What I love about it is the startling background: the cross, spear and sponge are physical objects of the crucifixion while - almost in filmic cut-aways - Christ is seen being kissed by Judas, St Peter being identified as an apostle, Christ is spat at and beaten with sticks while 30 pieces of silver are passed from hand to hand.  It's wonderful...

4) DUNCAN GRANT IN FRONT OF A MIRROR (1915-17) - Vanessa Bell

This was bought at the Dulwich Picture Gallery's fine exhibition of paintings by Vanessa Bell in 2017.  No doubt painted at Charleston, the painting gives an immediate sense of intimacy as Duncan poses with a coloured towel draped over his head, staring at himself and Vanessa in the mirror.

Duncan and his lover David Garnett had declared themselves concientious objectors during World War I which led to Vanessa finding Charleston Farmhouse in Firle to move into so the couple could stay there too while working as fruit farmers.  Friends since 1909, Vanessa and Duncan would briefly become lovers during this period which resulted in the birth of their daughter Angelica in 1918 - a fact that was kept from her until she was 18.

5) MADONNA OF HUMILITY (1440) - Fra Angelico

I bought this at Amsterdam's Rijks Museum where one of Fra Angelico's paintings of the Madonna of Humility is on permanent display.  Fra Angelico had a particular talent for this style of Madonna and child interpretation, representing not so much a static religious image but more of a tender moment caught between mother and child.

The glorious colour is lost in the postcard reproduction but Mary's blue cloak drapes and folds around her, the delicate gold edging coming and going among the folds.  This blue is offset by the rich gold of the emroided cloth that serves as a backdrop as well as the pattened golden cushion that she sits on.  A heartwarming rendition of a over-familiar image.

Exit Through The Giftshop - Pictures At An Exhibition #18

Memories from when galleries and museums were open...

1) SELF PORTRAIT WITH CERISE RIBBONS (1782) - Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun

 

This was bought at the wonderful Le Brun exhibition that was on at the Grand-Palais in Paris which I saw in 2016, the first ever retrospective of her portraits both pre- and post-revolution.  

Elisabeth, aged 27, looks out at us fresh-faced and apple-cheeked, a vision of prettiness with her hair tumbling naturally to her shoulders.  Her soft white dress as accenuated by the bright cerise pussy-bow and sash, and the black lace shawl and jaunty plumed hat.  For a working portraitist, it also served as unoffical advertising, showing the fashionable women of Paris that she could paint them like this too.

2) LADY AGNEW OF LOCHNAW (1892) - John Singer Sargent

A century on from Le Brun, the society painter of choice was John Singer Sargent who, like Elisabeth, gave the sitter exactly what they wanted only with more insight.  The commission came through from the 9th Baronet of Lochnaw Castle to paint his wife Gertrude (née Vernon).  I bought this at the National Gallery of Scotland where she sits in residence.

A glorious portrait, Sargent always managed to give the impression of capturing his subjects 'live', negating the length of time it would have taken to paint.  Her full white dress is accentuated by the mauve sash which also ties in the tones of the silk backdrop and French upholstery of the chair.  She holds a white rose in her lap and languidly drapes her arm over the arm of the chair to hold the chair frame.  She stares directly at Sargent and at us, almost saying "Kiss all this opulence...".

3) STATUE OF EBIH-IL (circa 2400 BC) - unknown

This glorious chap is Ebih-Il, the superintendant of the ancient city of Mari, now in Syria, sculpted at his prayers.  I made his acquaintance at the Louvre in Paris where he is currently residing.  He was discovered in 1934 by French archaelogist André Parrot at the site of the temple of Ishtar.

He is seated on a whicker seat and wears a bulky skirt of animal skin. What makes it stand out however is the marvellous rendering of his face with his happy smile and the vivid blue of his lapis lazuli eyes.  He stands - or sits - just over 20 inches tall and I would head straight for him when the Louvre let me run around with a shopping trolley.

4) THE RAISING OF THE SON OF THEOPHILIS (detail) (1428-1484) - Masaccio and Filippino Lippi

Part of the marvellous fresco cycle which adorn the walls of the Brancacci Chapel within the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence.  The frescos can only be viewed on short timed visits through the cloisters next to the church so the vibrant paintings are not damaged by constant visitors.

I was immediately drawn to this group of observers who rather dispassionately are watching Saint Peter raise a young man from the dead.  Their faces are remarkable and you will definitely have seen them walking along the streets of Florence to find the church of Santa Maria del Carmine. My personal favourite is the man second from the right, turning to his neighbour with a resigned look on his face. Work on the frescos started in 1425 by the painter Masaccio but he stopped when he had to travel to Rome in 1428 where he died aged only 27.  Filippino Lippi completed them 55 years later!

5) THE LAOCOON GROUP (possibly circa 27BC and 68AD) - unknown

One of the most iconic works of art, it's wonderful to see it in 'the marble' and to realise you are looking at a statue that Pliny The Elder wrote about.  If Laocoon and the lads hadn't suffered enough, they are missing a couple of limbs - and a bit of upraised snake - but it does not detract from the overall power of the work and your feeling of helplessness observing it.  The postcard was bought at the Vatican where the statue stands in the Pio-Clementino Mueum.

The Trojan High Priest Laocoon's fate was written about by Sophocles in a now-lost tragedy and by Virgil who tells of him throwing a spear at the Trojan Horse and being killed along with his sons by venomous snakes sent by the god Poseidon.  Sophocles had another take on it and sexed up the tale by having the gods send the snakes to kill his sons in revenge for him breaking his vow of chastity to the god Apollo.  The huge statue was re-discovered in 1506 and Michelangelo was one of the first to inspect it - you can definitely see the influence in his work.  The statue's actual date is still widely open for conjecture and there is no definite idea if it is Greek of Roman.  What most - apart from silly old John Ruskin - are agreed on is it's tragic power.

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.

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

I haven't done one of these for a while...  more postcards from exhibitions and galleries...

1) ELLEN TERRY (1889) - John Singer Sargent

I bought this at the National Portrait Gallery after seeing the wonderful exhibition of Singer Sargent's portraits. In a room filled with other larger-than-life portraits of the rich and famous, Ellen Terry's ruled them all with the intensity and majesty invoked.

Capturing Terry in her role as Lady Macbeth which she played aged 42, you can see how Singer Sargent has captured lightening in making you aware of both the power and the incipient madness that must have been conjured by Terry's performance.  The portrait is all the more remarkable in that it is pure imagination as there is no such scene in the play.  Singer Sargent has painted her in an extended, larger-tan-life pose to show off the heavy medieval costume, jewelry and accessories and those enormous plaits!  But what arrests the viewer is the intense look on Terry's face, her eyes unfocused and lost in a reverie of power

2) MONA LISA (1503-6) - Leonardo de Vinci

Well... how can you not buy a postcard in the Louvre where Lisa del Giacondo stares out at you from anything and everything.  Started by Leonardo when she was 24, Lisa Gheradini had been married at 16 to (gasp) Francesco di Bartolomeo di Zanobi del Giocondo, a silk and cloth merchant.  It is believed that he commissioned the portrait of his wife but Leonardo never delivered it to the couple and worked on it over the years until it was found in his possession when he died in Paris in 1519.

I wonder did Lisa ever entertain thoughts of becoming well-known, possibly when her husband became a Florentine official in 1499.  But as the mother of five she probably thought she would be known only to family and friends.  I wonder how she would feel to know that her face is one of the most famous in history?  As you cannot get close to the painting in it's bullet-proof shrine, really the only way to study it up close is though the postcards, books, posters, prints, tea-towels, fridge-magnets...

3) VERGINE ANNUNCIATA (1528) - Jacopo Pontormo

How many surprised Virgin Marys does one see in Florence?  This postcard was bought when we visited the church of Santa Felicita in Florence which boasts several works by the Renaissance painter Pontormo.  In this fresco of The Annunciation, Pontormo gives us a restrained version of the event as Mary turns to look behind her at the arrival of the Angel in her bare whitewashed room.

It reflects a Mannerist influence where the bling and emotionalism of Renaissance painting is stripped back to a clear, restrained version of the story.  The light shining on her face could be from an external source or from the Angel's radiance and it highlights her pale colouring, blond hair and the simple colours of her robes.  I think it's rather lovely.

4) THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH (1851-3) - John Martin

I bought this in 2011 when we visited the John Martin exhibition at Tate Britain.  Odd how things trigger memories... we came out of this and I remember getting some very sad news so that is what stays with me when I see Martin's extravagant painting of the Apocalypse. I remember walking round the exhibition and wondering what the Victorians thought of his huge panoramas of sturm und drang. To me, they seemed to be early incarnations of the Biblical epics of Cecil B. deMille; massive palaces with huge empty terraces spotted with 'extras', or as here, huge set-pieces come alive with huge visual effects.

Two huge mountains of earth rise up to be crashed to earth with a zig-zag of lightning cracks across the sky to hit the tiny house raised high off the ground.  At the bottom of the painting, tiny figures cower in terror as the end approaches... and all lit by a sickly, glowering deep-red sunset.  This painting was one of a triptych that Martin painted about the end of days and they actually toured around theatres in England and America, presented like a sound-and-light show with music and lights to scare the bejesus out of the audience!

5) BANKS OF THE SEINE AT CARRIERES-SUR-SEINE (1906) - Maurice de Vlaminck

I bought this at the Courtauld Gallery which boasts a wonderful collection of both Impressionist and  Post-Impressionist paintings, and one of them is this vibrant landscape by Vlaminck.  I love his Fauvist world of reds, blues and greens; the year before he painted this, he did a town landscape called "Restaurant de la Machine a Bougival" and whenever I see it I just want to leap into it and live there.

Vlaminck's painting of the banks of the Seine in a town to the north of Paris glows with life and the joy of painting.  The whole painting moves with the breezes that swirl the branches of the trees and bushes.  The houses on the far side of the Seine offer solidity and community - but on this bank all is life, nature and vivid colour.