Ming: Fifty Years that Changed China, 1400 – 1450: The British Museum, London

Ming: Fifty Years that Changed China, 1400 – 1450:  The British Museum, London

            This exhibition provides a comprehensive picture of China as it was in the fifteenth century when it was a global superpower ruled by one family - the Ming family – during the years 1400 to 1450. It was a dynasty that ruled through a vast network of courts; the most famous being the Forbidden City in Beijing; and that was to transform the country. The exhibition is a multimedia guided tour and features priceless and opulent works of art, decorative art and literature never before seen outside of China.

As you begin there is an interesting four minute film explaining the background and subject of the exhibition. We learn that China was the largest state in the world and boasted a population of 85 million with a sophisticated civil bureaucracy. The Ming dynasty comprised of five rulers who spanned three centuries and the founder selected the word ‘Ming’, meaning brightness, to represent his era. The emperors commissioned amazing crafts, art, decorative arts and literature. They had several wives and thus many offspring who they sent across the regional courts throughout China to help rule and represent the country. One of the first achievements of the Ming dynasty was that the first emperor, Xuande, moved the new capital from Nanjing to Beijing. The palace was completed in 1445 and acted as the centre of government as well as being the residence of the imperial family. We are introduced early on to the huge and beautiful hanging scrolls, the first being a picture of the Forbidden City and comprising 720 thousand square metres.

An important hanging scroll was the ‘Portrait of Daoyan’ which is in ink and colours on silk. It is the only surviving portrait of a Buddhist monk who became Emperor Yongle’s chief advisor on civil and military matters and who was his lifelong mentor. The emperors invested their princes with ornate silk robes, jewels and belts and jewellery for their wives. The Prince Zhuang jade belt that is on display is magnificent, comprising of 18 intricate and delicate individual plaques which would have been sewn onto the leather belt.  This was a symbol of prestige and power and was excavated from the Prince’s tomb, who was the 9^th son of emperor Yongle. Likewise the beautiful gold hair pins in the shape of a phoenix are astonishing and are one of the highlights of the show. The hair pins are made up of filigree fine metal threads all beautifully woven to look like a phoenix; the symbol of the empress. These were found together with gold arm bangles and bracelets of exquisite craftmanship. Throughout the show is an array of different objects such as lacquer boxes, Syrian glass flasks, gold basins, cloisonné jars and covers and blue and white porcelain vases. The deep red lacquer table desk with drawers is stunning and is the largest surviving piece of lacquer furniture from the Forbidden City. Lacquer was unique to China and made from the sap of trees on which were carved intricate and complex decorations. This table had designs portraying both the dragon and the phoenix, symbolising the emperor and the empress together in symbolic grandeur.

One interesting item is the early Ming sword and scabbard which is in ornate, intricate Tibetan style and which was commissioned by emperor Yongle who was a fantastic military leader. During the Ming dynasty China developed the largest armies in the world. There is a hauntingly beautiful hanging scroll called, “2 steeds under the shade of a willow tree” which depicts two white horses against a grey, brown background of foliage and trees. Horses were essential in warfare in Northern China and so equestrian art was very popular. The courts were also centres for culture, music, publishing and art and commissioned painters to create art work on silk and paper and murals for temples and palaces.

            One of the aspects of Ming art that had an important significance for Europe was its distinctive blue and white porcelain. Such porcelain was always blowy and windswept so as to portray carefreeness and the relaxed fun of the outdoors. The enormous wine jar on display has scenes of figures engaged in cultured pastimes. In the painting at the end of the show, ‘The Adoration of the Magi’, by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea Mantegna, we see how important porcelain was as it is one of the gifts given to the Christ baby by one of the Magi. It spurred many European workshops to try and make their own porcelain. We learn that there were many varying belief systems in China, including Buddhism, Daoism, Judaism and the Muslim faith as well as other individual cults. The emperors and princes published religious texts and lavishly illustrated books. You can see a magnificent painting called ‘Painting for the water and land ritual’, dated 1459, which is one of a set of 139 paintings that survived. It details the Buddhist ritual of bringing comfort to the souls of the deceased and shows a whole panorama of the universe including actors, entertainers, scribes and ordinary people. Towards the end of the show is a hanging scroll entitled ‘Tribute of giraffe with attendant’ which was given to the emperor by the Sultan of Bengal and signified heaven’s blessing on the dynasty. There was an elaborate tribute trade between the varying embassies of the world and gifts were accepted and given. This scroll marks the 600^th anniversary of its presentation!

The British Museum has put together a clever and detailed exhibition on a small period of Chinese history in all its glory and it is definitely worth a visit.

Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, Visitmuseums.com
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The First Georgians - Art &Monarchy, 1714-1760, The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace; 11April - 12 October 2014

The First Georgians - Art &Monarchy, 1714-1760, The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace; 11 April - 12 October 2014

The Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace has put together a wealth of information in the shape of letters, paintings, maps and works of art to portray the world of Georgian England. In 1714 Georg Ludwig, Elector of Hanover in Germany became King George I, the country’s first constitutional monarch and this exhibition marks the 300th anniversary of his succession.

The exhibition opens with a stunning oil painting of George I, King of Great Britain and Ireland, whose claim to the throne was legitimate but he was only 50th in line and was chosen for his religion. He is presented as a Roman soldier, in full armour, a symbol of peace and prosperity. The many letters and maps that are displayed include Johannes Kip’s “View and Perspective of London, Westminster and St James Park. It paints a splendid panaroma of London in 1715 and shows the royal residences of St James Palace and George I with his children in carriages. Medals commemorating the Battle of Culloden and designed by Richard Yeo are on display as is a portrait of the Duke of Cumberland; an important and seasoned soldier in the city’s history who was admired for his courage. 

 A section of the exhibition is devoted to William Hogarth, a brilliant satirist and the man instrumental in starting printmaking in Eighteeth century England. He set up an independent copper plate engraving company, undertaking small commissions such as shop cards or book illustrations. Much of his work was based on modern moral subjects and he had a fascination with life in the city. He eventually had 240 subscribers and became immensely popular. We see also the beautiful furniture that was being made such as a pair of magnificent James Moore Pier stands and a table with the cipher GR meaning Georgious Rex in prominent display. 

Some stunning paintings are on display including Trophine Bigot’s “Christ in the Carpenter’s shop” which was in the style of Caravaggio and which restates the biblical story in a modern scene. The oil lamp in the painting suggests the light of the world and the luminous, beautiful quality of the carpenter’s face and his wife’s is radiant against the black of the chosen background. A room full of beautiful miniatures can be seen, most of which are in perfect condition as is a room of decorative plates..  The William Kent frame surrounding the painting by Rubens of “The Holy family with St Francis” is unbelievably intricate; details of acorns running down the each side of the painting. It is a world of ornate but discreet splendour with other decorative objects to be seen such as rifles, snuff boxes, gold boxes and so on. The rapid growth of the luxury industry in the Georgian period can be felt. In Philip Mercier’s painting of “A music party” we see Frederick, prince of Wales playing music with his sisters. Here a down to earth new version of the royal family is depicted: a boy with his family engaged in the arts. It shows a Georgian royal family that has managed to integrate itself into British society.  The enormous painting entitled “St James’ Park and the Mall”, portrays a country setting where princes walk in public parks rubbing shoulders with other people of many race, rank and sex. It is of immense interest and opens insight into the world of Georgian London. The new bourgeois society shows husband and wife to be equal seen also in the lively, cheerful Hogarth painting of Garrick and his wife, Eva Maria Veigel. We see Mrs Veigel tiptoeing behind her husband with the hope of snatcing away his pen. There are two astounding Canaletto’s in the exhibition which for me formed the highlight of the show. Both are of scenes of London and the Thames; both are stunning and accurate portrayals of the city as seen by the artist. The immediacy of his work is attesting.

 All shapes and forms of life in the setting of Georgian England and London are conveyed in this eclectic and thought provoking exhibition. It is well worth a visit. 

Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, Visitmuseums.com

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Henri Matisse - The cut outs - Tate Modern

Henri Matisse - The cut outs - Tate Modern, London until 7th September 2014

This is a once in a life time exhibition of one of the world’s greatest artists of all time as he discovered a new artistic genre; Henri Matisse. Matisse invented a ground breaking new method of art in the brilliant final chapter of his life - that of cutting shapes and assembling them to form new paintings of swirling, brilliant colours; namely the cut outs.  The Tate Modern has assembled some 120 of his works and take us on a detailed journey of his inner thinking and creations.  Many of these works are too fragile to travel or be exhibited again so this may be the last time you will be able to admire them.

Born in 1869 Matisse’ preferred artistic genre up until the 1940’s was oil but health problems limited his mobility and he soon was forced to develop a new art form leading him to the cut outs. This involved using repainted sheets of colour which were to become his ‘palette’ from which he would cut out numerous shapes using gigantic scissors which he would then assemble into paintings using his assistants to help him.  One of his most beautiful creations on display is his huge book called Jazz. “Two Dancers” is part of Jazz whereby we see two bounding black figures who are barely contained by the frame surrounding them and the juxtaposition of black, blue and red. Matisse had a passion for colour, portrayed in all of his work, especially “The Horse, The Rider and the Clown” where he places the sharp purple of the horse against a bright blue background. In ‘The Cowboy’ Matisse adventurously mixes greens, yellows and blues as the background to his two black subject forms. The colour effect is brilliant and uplifting and as you weave through the show it is hard not to feel a sense of delight and positive energy and you can see why Matisse was called the greatest colourist of the twentieth century.

Somehow Matisse was able to find a way to access a whole realm of stored images in his mind and he worked at a prolific pace. He said himself: ‘With my eyes wide open I absorbed everything as a sponge absorbs liquid. It is only now that these wonders have returned to me, with tenderness and clarity” We see how his studio in Vence became the foundation for his cut outs which he composed directly on the wall and many shapes emerged: coral, algae, birds, fish, plant and seaweed shapes and these were assembled all together to create a myriad of shapes and colours on the walls of his studio.The video footages of Matisse and his assistant at work together in his studio are particularly interesting. Much of Matisse’ work culminated in his famous designs for the Domenican Chapel of the Rosary in Vence whereby he took on the whole decorative scheme of the Vence chapel from the stain glass windows to the chasuble robes worn by the priests. He turned his entire studio and bedroom into a replica chapel so he was immersed at all times in it. We see how the pale blue window is composed of panels of different colours with green taking up half and blue the other. The chapel is quintessentially mediterranean. 

One of the highlights of the show, certainly for me, is Matisse’ Blue Nudes, assembled as they are all together in one room. They are a pure delight and the most striking example of what Matisse called himself “cutting directly into colour” as if they are sculptures. Blue Nude IV was the first of the series which show faint lines of charcoal drawings and layered separate small pieces of blue paper as Matisse struggled with the shape. The other Blue Nudes were cut in one single movement  and you see how each shape combines to make a whole.Their grace and beauty are timeless. Similarly his ‘Snail’ is likewise astounding; as Matisse drew from nature to create a work of art where he distills the movement of the snail into a cartwheel of colours. 

It is a veritable treasure of images, compositions and colour revealing Matisse to be not only a talented artist but a pioneer of a new art form. The extraordinary energy and sense of joy that emanates from his works is incredible. It is an exhibition that is a must for your diary.!

Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor Visitmuseums.com

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Hockney - Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, UK

Hockney - Dulwich Picture Gallery

The Dulwich Picture Gallery is holding the first show dedicated solely to Hockney’s prints and it  covers his life time’s work of sixty years. Ranging from his early works and self portraits to his later gay love scenes and some of his famous ‘Swimming pool” pieces the show aptly demonstrates how versatile, playful and enormously talented Hockney is.

The beginning of the show concentrates on his black and white prints of “A Rake’s Progress” - some thirty different pieces that fizz with energy and humour. Hockney’s habit of using actual words in his prints to highlight an idea or thought can be seen. There is also the compete set of his series of erotic images of gay love, illustrating Cavafy’s poems. Cavafy, we learn, is an Egyptian poet who was born and raised in Alexandria and who wrote about the city’s homosexual subculture in the 1910’s and 1920’s - a movement that Hockney himself was a firm advocate of. As you move through the rooms it is as if colour is gradually added and we can admire some of Hockney’s colour prints and still lifes. Hockney very much admired Van Gogh and this influenced him in his drawing of the “Van Gogh Chair” with its vibrant orange colour in the foreground. It is as if the chair is posing for a portrait in the middle of the picture and Hockney is playfully drawing it for us.

One of the recurring  images that Hockney likes to draw is his by now famous two sausage dogs! His 1995 print, entitled “Horizontal Dog” is a delightful and true to life drawing of his two favourite pets. Hockney himself said, “These two dear little creatures are intelligent, loving, comical and often bored. They watch me work. I notice the warm shapes they make together, their sadness, their delights. And being Hollywood dogs they somehow seem to know that a picture is being made” It is delightful how he always draws them together, inseparable and it opens up an insight into Hockney’s life and day to day existence. The red and blue of the print combine together to create a lively, intimate and warm picture. His self portrait, finished in 1954 is based on the antipathy of oil and water and is modelled on the artist Stanley Spence. It is a little formal, perhaps less relaxed; his arms folded and a little edgy.  Hockney’s love of Los Angeles and the charmed, outdoors, carefree life one can have out there is well known. His “Swimming Pool” series capture the light, warmth and freedom of California that he is trying to convey.  His three series set called “Afternoon Swimming”, created in 1980, aptly depict the shape, movement and colour of the swimming pool water as someone dives in. Hockney is constantly challenging himself to depict and graphically describe water in its continuously moving form. I would gladly take one of these prints home with me!

In the last wing of the exhibition is his “Moving focus” series which comprise of twenty nine interiors, portraits, landscapes and still lives of the views of Hotel Acatlan in Mexico. In these vibrant, colourful and playful prints we see Hockney collaborating with the artist Ken Tyler and his experimenting with Cubism and different shifting perspectives. There are depictions of the hotel’s red central, circular courtyard, basking in the brilliant sun, and how this changes with each different view point. In his print of two chairs he uses graphic language to place them in their surrounding. His use of flexiglass blurs the distinction between the image and the viewer. The chairs seem so life like to me that I can almost imagine them getting up and walking out of the frame. Cubism for Hockney was one of the most profound discoveries of the art world.

This collection of prints is brilliant and not to be missed. Hockney is truly one of the most prolific and talented artists in the art world today.

Larissa Woolf, VisitMuseums.com Arts Editor

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The Renaissance and Dreams, Musee du Luxembourg, Paris

The Renaissance and Dreams, Musee du Luxembourg, Paris

The Musee du Luxembourg, located in the charming Jardins de Luxembourg in the sixth district of Paris, has amassed eighty works of art ranging from Durer to Caravaggio in this fantastic exhibition on dreams during the Renaissance. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries philosophers, poets,artists and theologians attached a lot of importance to dreams and the relationship between sleep, dreams and the dreamer. Many believed that dreams were prophetic and a mirror to the soul and described contact with the next world. 

The first painting we encounter in the exhibition was commissioned by Michele de Ridolfo del Ghirlando and is attributed to Michelangelo. The painting belongs to a four part series of allegories, painted between 1526 - 1531, about the times of day and this one is entitled ‘Night’. It is an evocative, allegorical painting and alludes to the beauty and duration of sleep with as its central figure a beautiful and rounded figure of a sleeping woman . Interestingly Night was always personified as a sleeping woman in the Renaissance, often surrounded by strange and unreal creatures. Sleep had ambiguous interpretations as both soothing and as a time of terror or trouble. One of the most stunning works in the exhibition is Correggio’s painting entitled, “Venus and love sleeping discovered by a Satyr’. It is a large painting in a landscape of muted trees where the figures take central stage; a voluptuous Venus and her son are sleeping touching fingers, denoting the close bond between them, and his head is resting in the crook of her arm. There is an allusion not just to physical love and motherhood but also the role of spiritual love, found in the literature written at the time, one example being Bocaccio’s Decameron where man’s spiritual elevation is inspired by physical beauty. Often painting during the sixteenth century had a mythological or Christian frame of reference. It is interesting to learn that it is the first time this painting of Correggio’s has been shown in France.

During the 15th and 16th centuries there were many different interpretations of the world of dreams, the ghosts that peopled it and the barrier between real and dream worlds. We see in el Greco’s colourful masterpiece “The dream of Philippe II” how there is a link between heaven and earth. Philippe II was the son of Charles V and was a great partisan of the greater Reformation. He symbolises here the close relationship between temporal power and spiritual conquest. In Ludovico Cardi’s painting “Le Songe de Jacob’ we see a personification of the dreams of angels as they ascend and descend the ladder between Heaven and Earth. This picture was inspired by the Book of Genesis and Jacob’s dream personifies the gateway between heaven and earth and also his earthly descendants. In complete contrast to these rather dreamy works we are then confronted with the chaotic and apocalyptic vision of the Netherlandish painter, Hieronymous Bosch. His grotesque depictions of mutilated people and distorted images provokes soul searching questions such as where are we? and who is the devil? Bosch used his colourful, fantastical and violent imagery to illustrate the moral and religious narratives that were troubling him. His monsters are chimeras, appearing to people who are asleep and the elongated and spectral figures are quite awe inspiring. 

One of the highlights of the show is Michelangelo’s drawing ‘The Dream or Allegory of Human Life’, lent from the Courtauld Institute in London. Inspired by the poet Giovan Francesco Pico della Mirandola’s whose poem invited Man to refuse carnal pleasure and sleep for the purity of Heaven where an eternal and joyful state of wakefulness awaited him. It is one of the most famous drawings of the Renaissance. It was the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Francesco I de Medici who was its subject. Here we see the idea of dream being an element of freedom and of travel through time to other celestial and existential adventures. 

Go to this great and oddly experimental exhibition and allow yourselves enough time to really appreciate and study the work on display. Then afterwards you can delight in a lovely walk amongst the sculptures and beautifully landscaped gardens of the Luxembourg park.

By Larissa Woolf, Arts Editor, Visitmuseums.com

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Feelings by Larissa Lockwood, Poems echoed by Drawings of Tremois

First Steps of the young Poet, Larissa Lockwood. These poems are illustrated by Tremois.  Limited Edition.<p> 

Feelings by Larissa Lockwood

Larissa Lockwood's book, Feelings, is a collection of beautiful, intense and intimate poems. Larissa has been writing poetry since her teens and she shares with us her everyday experiences and memories; feelings of joy and sadness, serenity and fear; anxiety and humour. Her poems describe and explore issues such as lovers, depression, teenage love, motherhood and loss.<p> 

She captures images and thoughts with her words and illuminates issues we can all relate to. We accompany her on her journey from teenager to womanhood and motherhood as she recollects the instances and emotions that have marked and shaped her life. Her poems are illustrated by the well renowned artist, Tremois, whose drawings echo many of Larissa's feelings. It is an illuminating and beautiful book of poems and drawings.


Please buy your limited edition copy here on Amazon

Daumier (1808 – 1897): visions of Paris, Sackler Wing of Galleries, Burlington House, Royal Academy, 26th October to 26th January 2014

           The Royal Academy has amassed some 130 works of art by the legendary French artist and chronicler, Honore Daumier, who lived during a turbulent and pivotal time in French Nineteenth century history. He is an artist who had the capacity to respond to the events of his time with humour, empathy and satire and is explored in great detail in this exhibition – the first for over fifty years – focusing on his paintings, drawings, watercolours and sculptures.<p>

            Daumier was a meticulous artist who made drawings of his subject matter and then returned to his studio to draw from a combination of memory and from his notes. He did not employ models. One of his predominant interests was the life of the ordinary man and the role of the artist in society in portraying him as he tried to escape poverty, war and disease. He worked for two main French newspapers, La Caricature and La Charivari in which his satirical drawings of men, often political men, were showcased. On display are his real to life clay heads of different personages; one of them being Jacques Lefevre a pompous politician. You can see the pomposity in his haughty expression and the delicate way Daumier has copied his face. Daumier’s incredible talent, draughtsmanship and focus on detail is reflected in these small sculptures.  He was a prolific artist - he drew in total 4000 lithographs and 1000 designs for wood engravings which were published in both newspapers and from which he received his main income. Throughout the exhibition are information panels explaining different techniques, historical facts and reflections on society as it was then, such as the explanation of lithography, which are extremely interesting.<p>

Ecce homo, 1849, Daumier

 ‘Ecce homo’ which Daumier painted in 1849 is his largest painting and takes as its theme Christian art. We see the ambiguity of mood and meaning as Daumier portrays a mass of crowds as they view Christ.  The inherent danger and volatility of crowd mentality and ignorance is suggested. Christ can be seen as a figure who challenges the prevailing order of society. Daumier’s style is loose and free with less of a focus on detail and the crowds of people are painted mainly in profile. A hint of melancholy can be found in much of his work, for example, in his small painting called ‘The Watering Place’. This is a bleak portrayal of a man on a white horse with the suggestion of the city behind. His two mirror image paintings of a ‘Man on a Rope’ portray a working man suspended on a building. One can see the muscular form of the man with his use of browns, yellows and whites to portray the artist’s respect and concern for the ordinary worker. Similarly in ‘The Launderess’ we see a simple painting of a woman and child as they climb the steps from the Seine with their washing. Suffused in blues and greys the simplicity of the scene is amazing and we have a modern, evocative portrayal of poor people as they go about their daily life.<p>

            Daumier refused throughout his life to pursue more lucrative genres, for example portraiture or book illustration. Moreover much of his work anticipates other famous artists who took his work as a source of inspiration. For example his painting ‘The Muse of the Brasserie’ where the crowd is reflected in the mirror behind a central figure is a precursor to Manet’s famous painting,’ The bar of the Folies Bergeres’ which uses the same subject matter. The isolation of the individual in the city was a favourite theme of Daumier’s and in this he shared his interest with the photographer, Charles Negres’s who recorded people in photographs. One of Daumier’s most famous watercolours and the highlight of the show for me is the painting, ‘The 3^rd Class Railway Carriage.’ Here we see ordinary people in a crowded railway carriage, painted in warm hues of reds, browns and oranges. The central figure is an old lady hemmed in by a sleeping child and a nursing mother with the top hats and backs of men flanking her in the back. Her troubled face is lined with worry, and old age. It is as if you can feel the hardship of her life and the troubles she resolutely faces. The painting depicts all ages of man as old and young are portrayed together. Daumier fortunately was very popular with collectors which helped ease his life, particularly when he was faced with difficulty, for example when he was dismissed from Le Chaviravi. Degas owned 750 of his prints, 5 drawings and 1 painting and Van Gogh too talked about Daumier ceaselessly in his letters. Daumier’s later lithographs, located in the last room of the exhibition, depicted the political instability in Europe as the 3^rd Republic was shaped into being in France. All the conflicts of the twentieth century are anticipated as is the struggle of power within a world  where the increasing need for arms became a major reality.<p>

            If you want to learn much about France in the nineteenth century whilst also admiring a fine artist you should not miss this show. In Daumier is both past and present - much of his work is reflected in the art of contemporary artists such as Peter Doig, Paula Rego and Gerald Scarfe. He was a fine master of his art.<p>

By Larissa Woolf, arts editor, visitmuseums.com<p>

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