on Saturday 31st May, 11.15am (for about an hour & a half)
at The Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend
to explore the art of John Lavery (1856-1941) from his Belfast roots to student days in Paris, from one of the Glasgow Boys to official war artist, and far beyond via scenes of modern life, international travel and portraits of the great, the good and the fashionable…
My snapshot from John Lavery’s “The Family of King George V” [1913; Royal Collection Trust] which is currently on show as part of The Edwardians: Age of Elegance exhibition at The King’s Gallery. (For the exhibition website / overview click here: The Edwardians)
It’ll be a feast for the eyes, with lots to see and much to discuss – do come along if you can, it’s open to everyone! Please note a £10 request on the door to cover Lecture Theatre hire costs as well as tea/coffee/biscuits at the Jazz Centre downstairs afterwards.
Please note: I’m afraid I need to change the date of our next meeting from 28th June to 5th July – apologies!
Early 20th century Art & Visual Culture: London, Paris, Moscow & beyond.
“Nancy Cunard – An Uncommon Viewer”
***
My word, what a pleasure to attend The King’s Gallery last week to view the new Royal Collection Trust exhibition “The Edwardians: Age of Elegance” – it really is absolutely stunning. In the Press Release, the exhibition curator Kathryn Jones notes: “The Edwardian era is seen as a golden age of style and glamour, which indeed it was, but there is so much more to discover beneath the surface. This was a period of transition, with Britain poised on the brink of the modern age and Europe edging towards war” – and certainly the viewer marks a full sense of royal glamour whilst, intertwined, noting accents of cultural change and, interestingly, individual & personal perspectives.
So, yes, plenty of gorgeous glamour – indeed gorgeous painting: the colours & textures, shimmer & sheen are divine, and I couldn’t stop looking at “The Chinese Chippendale Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace” (designed in 1911 for Queen Mary’s collection, see here for complete details) painted by Richard Jack in 1926:
Couldn’t you just walk in there and sit down in that armchair!
It certainly shows – as curator Kathryn Jones pointed out – this was an age of collecting. Edward and Alexandra’s travel “scrapbooks” are fascinating, for example, as they bring together closely annotated pages of photographs as well as Alexandra’s own sketches (difficult to photograph I’m afraid) but definitely suggesting her own individually keen visual eye. Then intriguingly, the show also includes a watercolour of James Guthrie’s “In The Orchard” – presented to Edward at The Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry held in Glasgow 1888. It’s radical simplicity is far away from the glamour of the other pictures on display; the bold colour and loose brushstrokes signifying, rather, the radical avant-garde art of The Glasgow Boys that was then developing from their interactions with French artists.
All in all, there are so many treats to be found in The Edwardians that one feels oneself swept away – even a little glamorous…
at The Beaumont, Barchester Care, 15 Cannon Hill, Old Southgate, N14 7DJ
to explore the art & times of Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873) a German artist who found favour at the royal courts of Europe, especially Napoleon III’s Versailles, as well as with Queen Victoria and her family… Indeed his portraits “King Edward VII when Prince of Wales” and “Queen Alexandra when Princess of Wales” [both 1864; Royal Collection Trust] are currently on display in The Edwardians: Age of Elegance exhibition at The King’s Gallery (for exhibition overview / website click: The Edwardians).
There’ll be lots to look at and discuss – I hope you’ll be able to come along!
The discussions are for everyone, whether residents or local community. Please note a £3 on-the-door request to cover the cost of coffee and biscuits. With all thanks to Barchester Health Care.
on Saturday 26th April, 11.15am (for about an hour & a half)
at The Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend
to explore the art of John Lavery (1856-1941) from his Belfast roots to student days in Paris, from one of the Glasgow Boys to official war artist, and far beyond via scenes of modern life, international travel and portraits of the great, the good and the fashionable…
My snapshot from John Lavery’s “The Family of King George V” [1913; Royal Collection Trust] which is currently on show as part of The Edwardians: Age of Elegance exhibition at The King’s Gallery. (For the exhibition website / overview click here: The Edwardians)
It’ll be a feast for the eyes, with lots to see and much to discuss – do come along if you can, it’s open to everyone! Please note a £10 request on the door to cover Lecture Theatre hire costs as well as tea/coffee/biscuits at the Jazz Centre downstairs afterwards.
at The Beaumont, Barchester Care, 15 Cannon Hill, Old Southgate, N14 7DJ
to explore the Pont-Aven art colony in Brittany where artists such as Paul Gauguin and Emile Bernard painted and experimented to create pictures of the local landscape and people full of rich colour and symbolism that would influence artists across Europe.
Paul Gauguin “Paysage de Bretagne. Le moulin David” [1894; Musee d’Orsay]
Meeting a community of artists along the way, we’ll explore the significance of artists’ colonies and their broader impact. There’ll be lots to look at and discuss – I hope you’ll be able to come along!
The discussions are for everyone, whether residents or local community. Please note a £3 on-the-door request to cover the cost of coffee and biscuits. With all thanks to Barchester Health Care.
***
A new book by Sue Prideaux that might be of interest to you:
“Prideaux conjures Gauguin’s visual exuberance, his creative epiphanies, his fierce words and his flaws with acuity and sensitivity. Drawing from a wealth of new material and access to the artist’s family, this myth-busting work invites us to see Gauguin anew” (2024; Faber & Faber).
Early 20th century Art & Visual Culture: London, Paris, Moscow & beyond.
“Nancy Cunard – An Uncommon Viewer”
***
Exhibition: Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon
To celebrate the 90th anniversary of the opening of the Isokon Flats, the Isokon Gallery in Hampstead is pleased to announce Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon, an exhibition of previously unseen 1933–4 photographs by the Viennese, Bauhaus-trained photographer Edith Tudor-Hart (until November 2025)
on Saturday 29th March, 11.15am (for about an hour & a half)
at The Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend
to continue our exploration of the influence of Japanese art on European artists in the late 19th century, including James Abbott McNeill Whistler in London and George Henry of The Glasgow Boys group.
It’ll be a feast for the eyes, with lots to see and much to discuss – do come along if you can, it’s open to everyone! Please note a £10 request on the door to cover Lecture Theatre hire costs as well as tea/coffee/biscuits at the Jazz Centre downstairs afterwards.
at The Beaumont, Barchester Care, 15 Cannon Hill, Old Southgate, N14 7DJ
to discuss the development of artists’ colonies in Scotland in the late 19th century and their interconnections with European art movements.
James Guthrie: Hard At It [1883; Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC); artuk.org]
Meeting a community of artists along the way, we’ll explore the significance of artists’ colonies and their broader impact. There’ll be lots to look at and discuss – I hope you’ll be able to come along!
The discussions are for everyone, whether residents or local community. Please note a £3 on-the-door request to cover the cost of coffee and biscuits. With all thanks to Barchester Health Care.
on Saturday 22nd February, 11.15am (for about an hour & a half)
at The Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend
to explore the influence of Japanese art on European artists in the late 19th century, including among others Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh in Paris, James Abbott McNeill Whistler in London and George Henry of The Glasgow Boys group.
It’ll be a feast for the eyes, with lots to see and much to discuss – do come along if you can, it’s open to everyone! Please note a £10 request on the door to cover Lecture Theatre hire costs as well as tea/coffee/biscuits at the Jazz Centre downstairs afterwards.
thecommonviewer 