Two exhibitions in a week!
After not having set foot in London since before Christmas we went up twice this week. The first visit was to see Durer's Journeys: Travels of a Renaissance Artist at the National Gallery.
More behind the cut.
What the exhibition really showcased was Durer's amazing versatility in almost every artistic medium. There was an awful lot to see so just some highlights.
- A gorgeous watercolour of Trento with beautiful reflections in the water.
- A copy of the damaged Feast of the Rosary with a self portrait of Durer himself in the background.
- A letter from Durer to a friend where he complains of finding a grey hair and talks about trying to buy his friend a carpet.
- The painting of Christ among the Doctors with a golden haired Christ encircled by elderly men. The caption said the painting could be considered anti-semitic as the old men appeared to be Jewish caricatures but the main focus of the painting was on the disputing hands in the centre. It's a stunning picture if somewhat uncomfortable now.
- The many depictions of St Jerome and his lion. This seemed to be one of Durer's favourite subjects. There was a beautiful oil painting of St Jerome in the wilderness complete with guardian lion who was far more heraldic than realistic. The lion got his own painting, which I loved, as he pranced above the ground in a way no real lion would do. A stunning engraving of St Jerome in his study lit by bottle glass windows full of incredible detail. Finally an older Durer painted a 93-year-old man as St Jerome with his hand resting on a skull and no place for a sprightly lion.
- Extracts from a copy of Durer's travel diary of his trip to the Low Countries detailing lots of varied events from meeting Margaret of Austria (who didn't like his portrait of her father Emperor Maximilian so his hopes of her patronage were scuppered) to a visit to the Royal Zoo where he saw and drew some beautiful sketches of actual lions.
- A fabulous small series of studies of St Christopher and the Christ Child where you could see Durer trying to work out the best composition and how to capture the growing weight of the Child.
- A note in Durer's diary about seeing the illustrations of 18-year-old Susanna Horenbout and his surprise at how good the work of a woman could be. He was so impressed he bought one from her.
- Durer's sketch of Bernhard van Reesen who looked as if he could have stepped straight out of the pages of The Three Musketeers with his curls and tilted hat.
- The portrait of an actual soldier The Imperial Captain Felix Hungersperg showing his splendid moustache and damaged eye along with a note about his excellent musicianship.
- Durer's etching of St Eustace alongside Jan Gossaert's magnificent Adoration of the Magi showing how Durer's drawing of a greyhound had influenced Gossaert
It was an intense exhibition and there was a lot to see and take in but my main impression was Durer was interested in drawing everything, the extraordinary genius of his engravings and the way artists influenced each other.
On Saturday we went to Faberge in London: Romance to Revolution exhibition at the V&A. This was courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law who had booked tickets before realising that it clashed with Crystal Palace playing Hartlepool in the FA Cup!
Again this was another very detailed exhibition so more behind the cut.
Moving around the first room in the exhibition was a bit of a slow shuffle, which I normally hate, but this time it couldn't be avoided. The objects on display were often tiny and the detail was amazing. Again just some highlights.
- A match striker in the shape of a toad made of green nephrite
- Cigarette boxes galore though the most beautiful was the blue enamelled box with an ouroborous snake twining round it given by Alice Keppel to Edward VII as a symbol of her undying love.
- The hardstone models of cossacks.
- A beautiful desk clock belonging to the Empress Alexandra.
- Exquisitely realistic model flowers
- The ice crystal brooches and ice crystal pendant designed by Alma Pohil, one of Faberge's female designers.
- The Sandringham animals. Copies of the farm animals on the Sandringham estate made for Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in hardstone. They included Edward VII's beloved pet dog Caesar but also a bull, horses, turkeys and a wonderful cart horse.
- The focus of the exhibition was both on Faberge and the work of the London branch which opened thanks to the popularity of Faberge's work amongs the super rich in London but the outbreak of the First World War meant that Faberge's workshop in Russia changed to making war materials and the London branch closed in 1917. When it had shut a model wild rose was found complete with tiny depictions of decay along the edges of its petals. As a metaphor it was pretty much perfect for the end of a period of imperial decadence and conspicuous consumption, which had created such beautiful, fragile, costly things.
And finally, of course, there were the eggs. There were fifteen of them on display, the most ever seen in London. We had seen Faberge eggs before as the Queen owns some and they were on display in the Queen's Gallery a couple of years ago but I had never seen a display like this. Collectively and individually they took my breath away at the craftsmanship on show. Each one was perfect in its own way but my favourites were the largest, which was a model of the Dormition monastery in Moscow, complete in every detail, and one of the smaller ones the Winter Egg complete patterned with snowflakes and a bouquet of spring flowers as the "surprise" inside. The last egg on display was the Red Cross egg of 1915 complete with portraits of the Tsar's daughters as nurses, which was a sad detail.
I think my concentration muscle needs rebuilding! Both exhibitions were all tickets and we were all masked up so they both felt quite comfortable and everyone was amazingly polite, with not pushing in and everyone waiting their turn to look. It was wonderful to be back in London and going to exhibitions again but we were absolutely shattered at the end of it.
More behind the cut.
What the exhibition really showcased was Durer's amazing versatility in almost every artistic medium. There was an awful lot to see so just some highlights.
- A gorgeous watercolour of Trento with beautiful reflections in the water.
- A copy of the damaged Feast of the Rosary with a self portrait of Durer himself in the background.
- A letter from Durer to a friend where he complains of finding a grey hair and talks about trying to buy his friend a carpet.
- The painting of Christ among the Doctors with a golden haired Christ encircled by elderly men. The caption said the painting could be considered anti-semitic as the old men appeared to be Jewish caricatures but the main focus of the painting was on the disputing hands in the centre. It's a stunning picture if somewhat uncomfortable now.
- The many depictions of St Jerome and his lion. This seemed to be one of Durer's favourite subjects. There was a beautiful oil painting of St Jerome in the wilderness complete with guardian lion who was far more heraldic than realistic. The lion got his own painting, which I loved, as he pranced above the ground in a way no real lion would do. A stunning engraving of St Jerome in his study lit by bottle glass windows full of incredible detail. Finally an older Durer painted a 93-year-old man as St Jerome with his hand resting on a skull and no place for a sprightly lion.
- Extracts from a copy of Durer's travel diary of his trip to the Low Countries detailing lots of varied events from meeting Margaret of Austria (who didn't like his portrait of her father Emperor Maximilian so his hopes of her patronage were scuppered) to a visit to the Royal Zoo where he saw and drew some beautiful sketches of actual lions.
- A fabulous small series of studies of St Christopher and the Christ Child where you could see Durer trying to work out the best composition and how to capture the growing weight of the Child.
- A note in Durer's diary about seeing the illustrations of 18-year-old Susanna Horenbout and his surprise at how good the work of a woman could be. He was so impressed he bought one from her.
- Durer's sketch of Bernhard van Reesen who looked as if he could have stepped straight out of the pages of The Three Musketeers with his curls and tilted hat.
- The portrait of an actual soldier The Imperial Captain Felix Hungersperg showing his splendid moustache and damaged eye along with a note about his excellent musicianship.
- Durer's etching of St Eustace alongside Jan Gossaert's magnificent Adoration of the Magi showing how Durer's drawing of a greyhound had influenced Gossaert
It was an intense exhibition and there was a lot to see and take in but my main impression was Durer was interested in drawing everything, the extraordinary genius of his engravings and the way artists influenced each other.
On Saturday we went to Faberge in London: Romance to Revolution exhibition at the V&A. This was courtesy of my brother and sister-in-law who had booked tickets before realising that it clashed with Crystal Palace playing Hartlepool in the FA Cup!
Again this was another very detailed exhibition so more behind the cut.
Moving around the first room in the exhibition was a bit of a slow shuffle, which I normally hate, but this time it couldn't be avoided. The objects on display were often tiny and the detail was amazing. Again just some highlights.
- A match striker in the shape of a toad made of green nephrite
- Cigarette boxes galore though the most beautiful was the blue enamelled box with an ouroborous snake twining round it given by Alice Keppel to Edward VII as a symbol of her undying love.
- The hardstone models of cossacks.
- A beautiful desk clock belonging to the Empress Alexandra.
- Exquisitely realistic model flowers
- The ice crystal brooches and ice crystal pendant designed by Alma Pohil, one of Faberge's female designers.
- The Sandringham animals. Copies of the farm animals on the Sandringham estate made for Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in hardstone. They included Edward VII's beloved pet dog Caesar but also a bull, horses, turkeys and a wonderful cart horse.
- The focus of the exhibition was both on Faberge and the work of the London branch which opened thanks to the popularity of Faberge's work amongs the super rich in London but the outbreak of the First World War meant that Faberge's workshop in Russia changed to making war materials and the London branch closed in 1917. When it had shut a model wild rose was found complete with tiny depictions of decay along the edges of its petals. As a metaphor it was pretty much perfect for the end of a period of imperial decadence and conspicuous consumption, which had created such beautiful, fragile, costly things.
And finally, of course, there were the eggs. There were fifteen of them on display, the most ever seen in London. We had seen Faberge eggs before as the Queen owns some and they were on display in the Queen's Gallery a couple of years ago but I had never seen a display like this. Collectively and individually they took my breath away at the craftsmanship on show. Each one was perfect in its own way but my favourites were the largest, which was a model of the Dormition monastery in Moscow, complete in every detail, and one of the smaller ones the Winter Egg complete patterned with snowflakes and a bouquet of spring flowers as the "surprise" inside. The last egg on display was the Red Cross egg of 1915 complete with portraits of the Tsar's daughters as nurses, which was a sad detail.
I think my concentration muscle needs rebuilding! Both exhibitions were all tickets and we were all masked up so they both felt quite comfortable and everyone was amazingly polite, with not pushing in and everyone waiting their turn to look. It was wonderful to be back in London and going to exhibitions again but we were absolutely shattered at the end of it.