Books about Town

Throughout the summer The National Literacy Trust  has worked in conjunction with Wild in Art  to display illustrated, book shaped benches around London. Today, the benches are been auctioned off to raise money for the Trust's work to improve literacy in the UK. 

James Bond - Ian Fleming
Artist: Freyja Dean 

As I don't have a spare couple of thousand, unfortunately I won't be buying one. However I have gathered together a list of my favourites. 

To see my top 5, take a look under the jump:-

Henri Matisse, The Cut-Outs at Tate Modern

I'm aware that I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to art, I don't have a very wide knowledge when it comes to artist or art movements, but when my mum was in need of someone to go to the Matisse exhibition with her I thought it would be a good opportunity to learn more.

Southbank, London 

When ill health in his sixties started to prevent Matisse from painting, he invented a new medium to create his art, paper cutting. He had used paper cut-outs previously, before painting he would experiment with the composition if his piece by pining and rearranging paper on a canvas, but later the paper cut-outs became the actual artwork and not just a practice.

The exhibition itself is well laid out, it's done chronologically so you can easily see how his technique developed over time.  I expected it to be a lot busier than it was, when we saw the pre-Raphaelite exhibition it was so crowded we could barely get close to paintings, but we didn't have any difficulty at Matisse. Perhaps, it's because we went on a week day, Friday at 1:30. The Cut-Outs is only running until 7th September, so you'll have to get in there quick if you want to go.

Unfortunately their no photos allowed in the exhibit (though I did notice some people taking some stealth shots), so none of these Matisse pictures are mine..

Blue nude
(pencil marks clearly visible)
picture source

I definitely came away with a greater appreciation for Matisse. Seeing the cut-outs in the real meant I could see how the paper had been layered. Also, I'm pretty sure one of the blue nudes has a tyre track on it from Matisse's wheelchair. Part of me thought that he should have been more carefully with his cutting out, it's easy to see where parts have been chopped of and then stuck back on, there are pencil marks all over some of the pieces and the edges of most of the works are rough, but I suppose this must have been intentional. In art speak, you'd properly call the cut-outs 'raw' and 'honest', there is no covering of mistakes and the indecision and creative process is visible.

Blue Nude
 I think that a wheelchair track mark towards the lefthand side, going through the arm and leg.
 picture source

Matisse was known to be an expert at using colour, and I did like the vibrancy of the cut-outs. He was inspired by dance and jazz and there is a lot of movement in his work.

The Codomas

I found it really useful to know the names of pictures and have the context of the surrounding artwork to appreciate the art properly. At first we didn't understand what was going on in The Codomas, but once we realised its part of his circus series, the trapeze and the safety net becomes obvious. The trapeze artists are just yellow squiggles, but they manage to give the impression  of performers flying through the air and leaping from trapeze to trapeze. It is important to look at negative space in Matisse's work, he creates the effect of the safety net not by doing a cut-out of the net, but rather using black squares to be the spaces inbetween the net.

I did get bored of all the lagoon pieces. I get that they were important to Matisse as he was able to create an outside environment within his studio when his own mobility was restricted, but personally there was too many of them at it got repetitive. Also I really don't understand the fuss about The Snail, to me it's just crap.

The Parakeet and the Mermaid
(see if you didn't know the title, you'd overlook that blue smudge to the left as a parakeet)

The Snail
picture source 

Overall I would say I was pleasantly surprised with my experience at Matisse The Cut-Outs, and came away feeling like I'd learnt something had a more of an understanding about Matisse's work and its importance. We spent about 2 and half hours in the exhibition, so felt we'd got our money's worth from the £16.00 admission fee.  

 

Petworth (inside)

Petworth has been a family home for over 800 years, and part of it is still home to the Wyndham family.

When it was first built by the Percy family it was intended for only occasional use, as the family seat was in Northumberland, however in the 1500s it became their permanent home after Queen Elizabeth I became suspicious of their relationship with Mary Queen of Scots.

More pictures of the inside of Petworth under the cut:-

Rob Ryan

Rob Ryan is an artist who specialises in paper-cutting. His designs are intricate and whimsical, they appear on prints, ceramics, textiles and jewellery. In addition, he has published three illustrated books, two of which I own.

To have a peek at some of the pictures of This Is For You (which would make a great valentines gift btw) and A Sky Full Of Kindness, have a look after the jump:-

Li Hongbo, art made from paper

Just seen a small feature on the telly about Li Hongbo, an artist who makes incredible structures out of concertinaed paper. The sculptures are moveable.

picture source

picture source 

John Craxton

I've already broken a promise I made to myself to blog with a some sort of regular schedule, never mind. Here are some photos that were leftover from the ones I shared last week, when I visited the Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge.

The museum had an exhibit of the work of neo-Romantic painter John Craxton. I know nothing about art, but I appreciated his use of bright colour and geometric shapes in his portraits. 

Galatas (sorry only painting I remembered to get the name of)

days fall like leaves

source

Whilst having a stroll around the internet I stumbled across Justin Rowe, a very talented sculptor who makes art out of books and paper. His work is beautiful, take a peek at his website, blog  and shop.

Meeting Mr Tumnus, Narnia book sculpture 

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Wind in the Willows

still no soul appeared upon her deck

Sylvia Pankhurst at the Tate Britain

The Tate Britain- it's undergoing a bit of a facelift at the moment. 

I am a proudly proclaimed feminist, but I wasn't aware that as well as being a major campaigner for women's rights, Sylvia Pankhurst was also an artist. Running until March 2014, the Tate Britain has a free exhibition on Sylvia Pankhurst's work.

Pankhurst's art mainly focused on the lives of working-class women, and was a usefully propaganda tool in arguing that women's working conditions and pay should be improved.

Sylvia Pankhurst- domestic servants 

 Pankhurst also designed badges, banners and flyers for the WSPU, often incorporating the 'angel of freedom'. Also on display is the various badges that would be awarded to suffragettes, for membership or for stays in the notorious Holloway prison.

suffragette tea set,  with the 'angel of freedom' in the WSPU colours of green and purple  

If you do pop in to have a look around the gallery and the exhibition, I also recommend you have a walk down by the river when your done, London really is the best place just to stroll around.

Vauxhall bridge and MI6 headquarters 

Leon Bakst - Sleeping Beauty

My enthusiasm for fairy-tales continues, more art from Waddesdon Manor; Leon Bakst, Sleeping Beauty.

curse of the wicked witch

princess pricking her finger on a spinning wheel

enchanted sleep

the princess awakes  

There are seven panels telling the story of Sleeping Beauty on display at Waddesdon. My pictures don't quite do them justice, the colours are more vivid in the real. All the people and animals are modelled on Rothschild family members, friends and pets, apart from the wicked queen!

Waddesdon Manor (interior)

Following from this post, here's a sneaky peak at the inside of Waddesdon Manor:-

As Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild built the manor to house his art collection, there's a lot going on. Priceless art and furniture fill every room, the affect can be a bit chaotic at times.

drawing room where ladies would sew and gossip 

The writing desk at the foreground of this picture belonged to Marie Antoinette, which to be honest, I overlooked when I first went in the room. The Baron bought many items that belonged to the former French royal family, throughout the house you can see the emblem of the sun king.

The Rothschild foundation are still very much involved in the running and upkeep of Waddesdon manor. Personally, I think that this is lovely, the family are obviously keen to share their collections with the nation and that is very commendable. Alice de Rothschild had very strict house rules, as she was determined to preserve the art and house for future generations.  

chandelier in the dinning room at Waddesdon Manor 

 The Rothschild family are keen to promote contemporary artists. One of the current exhibitions is 'folded beauty' by  Joan Sallas. Elaborately folded napkins and linen appear around the manor. There is also some light installations by Bruce Munroe in the former Coach House.  

This dragon is entirely made of folded napkins, which is actually rather impressive 

 

more pictures (and some risqué art) after the cut:-