It has certainly been a busy time for me over the past few weeks, rushing around trying to get to see as much as possible of a variety of arty events, both indoors and outside, with the lengthening days and burgeoning Spring bringing much joy!
To Come:
• Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300 to 1350 at National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
• Goya to Impressionism at The Courtauld, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN
• Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious at Dulwich Picture Gallery, Gallery Road, Dulwich, London SE21 7AD
• Osterley House and Park, Jersey Road, Isleworth TW7 4RB
• Tina the Musical at Aldwych Theatre, 49 Aldwych, London WC2B 4DF
• St Patrick’s Day Parade, from Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square, held on Sunday 16 March
• Collecting Modernism: Pablo Picasso to Winifred Nicholson at Charleston in Lewes, Southover Road, Lewes, Sussex BN7 1FB (finished Sunday 2 March 2025)
• Charleston in Firle, East Sussex BN8 6LL
Finishing with some “If you happen to be passing and have some time …”
Siena: The Rise of Painting 1300 to 1350 at National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN
(This exhibition is staged on the ground floor in Galleries B to G, so six or seven rooms, and it takes a bit of finding as you go through the Espresso Bar café to reach the start.)
I visited the National on the off-chance, having heard that queues for this five-star exhibition are long. As a Member or Friend I was directed straight through to follow the signs, yet still managed to get a little lost before finding the entrance.
And goodness gracious what a fascinating, illuminating and illuminated exhibition it is, with more gilding and gold paint than I have ever seen in one place. Over one hundred exhibits include altarpieces, diptychs, triptychs, sculptures in marble, wood and ivory, icons, paintings, a tiny but stunning Book of Hours and a miniature triptych in gilded silver with translucent enamel believed to be by an English goldsmith. The four major artists are Duccio di Buoninsegna, Simone Martini and the brothers Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti whose works brim with beauty, immediacy, expressiveness and intimacy beyond anything previously seen in Europe. Several altarpieces that had been dismantled, even sawn into pieces, have been reassembled for the first time in many years. Many diptychs and triptychs stand in display cases allowing a full 360-degree view. They usually show the Madonna and Child on one panel and the Crucifixion on the other, with the infant Christ’s cheek often touching his mother’s.
To think that in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when virtually all art was religious or devotional, Siena rather than Florence led in producing such beautiful, advanced and expressive work really underscores how little the general public knows. Huge credit is due to the National Gallery and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, their curators and experts, plus the logistics teams who have worked miracles in securing and installing such fragile loans. Highly recommended, but allow at least ninety to one hundred minutes. I plan two more visits soon.
Runs until Sunday 22 June 2025. Timed-entry booking is recommended. Open 10.00 am to 6.00 pm daily and until 9.00 pm on Fridays. Entry is £20 permanent collection free. Members enter free to paid exhibitions without booking though entry may be staggered at busy times. Note increased security no bags larger than A5 in the Siena rooms.
Website www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/siena-the-rise-of-painting
Goya to Impressionism Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection at The Courtauld Somerset House Strand London WC2R 0RN
In the Denise Coates Exhibition Galleries on the third floor, where Monet and London was 2024’s highlight, this is the first time Oskar Reinhart’s Winterthur collection has been shown outside Switzerland while his home Am Römerholz undergoes restoration.
Reinhart, born into a wealthy trading family, abandoned business in his forties to collect full time until his death in 1965. Among twenty-five works are two Van Goghs of the Hospital at Arles, a lovely Corot portrait, a moving Géricault, a chilling Monet, pieces by Renoir, Manet, Courbet and Cézanne, a twenty-year-old Picasso at the start of his Blue Period and the Toulouse-Lautrec poster portrait. The opener by Goya depicts three oversized salmon steaks and is startlingly visceral. Reinhart regarded Goya (1746 to 1828) as the first modern artist and a major influence on Manet and Picasso.
I have seen this twice and plan more visits. The choice of works often surprises, Corot as portraitist or Renoir’s Lily and Greenhouse Plants painted at twenty-three, prompting reflection on Reinhart’s vision. After an hour I returned to the Courtauld’s Impressionists with fresh eyes. Legend has it Reinhart and Samuel Courtauld met perhaps agreeing not to bid against each other. Both left their collections for public benefit, bravo philanthropy.
Runs until Thursday 26 May 2025. Open 10.00 am to 6.00 pm daily last entry 5.15 pm. Entry £14 to £16 includes permanent collection. Members free with 10 percent shop and café discount.
Website www.courtauld.ac.uk/whats-on/exh-goya-to-impressionism-masterpieces-from-the-oskar-reinhart-collection
Also at The Courtauld I have not yet seen:
• With Graphic Intent highlights from the Courtauld’s collection of German and Austrian modernist works on paper by Kandinsky, Klee and Kokoschka until Sunday 22 June 2025
• Henri Michaux the Mescaline Drawings works produced under the influence of mescaline until Wednesday 4 June 2025
Both included in the entry price.
Osterley House and Park Jersey Road Isleworth TW7 4RB
A friend took me to this Georgian house and estate. Originally Tudor in the late eighteenth century the Child banking family had Robert Adam transform it into a fashionable party house. The piano nobile features a grand entrance hall, a Long Gallery still furnished with original pieces, paintings removed by a later owner and replaced with copies, a bright white library, state apartments and an eight-poster bed with double-lined curtains for insulation. The upper floor is closed but Wedgwood pieces peek through as you tour. Knowledgeable volunteers answer questions in each room.
Given to the National Trust in 1991 the house and gardens are under restoration but remain well worth a visit. The park feels miles from central London.
House open 11.00 am to 3.30 pm closed Monday and Tuesday. Gardens 10.00 am to 5.00 pm daily. Admission by date garden only £9.50 to £10.50 house and garden £17.00 to £18.70. National Trust members free with free parking.
Website www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/london/osterley-park-and-house#place-prices
Tirzah Garwood Beyond Ravilious at Dulwich Picture Gallery College Road Dulwich London SE21 7AD
Following our March lecture by curator James Russell this exhibition of eighty Garwood works and select Ravilious pieces reveals her talent 1908 to 1951. Third daughter of a middle-class family she met Eric Ravilious at Eastbourne School of Art. Marriage and motherhood paused her promising career in wood engraving drawing and painting. She outshone Ravilious in engraving and on discovering paper marbling became a one-woman industry for interior-design firms and the V&A. Exhibits range from large marbled sheets to marbled lampshades and book covers.
Two needlework pieces a woodcut reproduction titled The Yawn and a quilt showcase her skill. Her sketch scrapbook is displayed and digitised on the Bloomberg Connects app.
After a mastectomy and Ravilious’s disappearance as a war artist she supported three children fought for a pension remarried Henry Swanzy and wrote her autobiography Long Live Great Bardfield and Love to You All published posthumously when her cancer returned and she died at forty-two. Excerpts read by Tamsin Greig reveal her sharp wit.
The marbled papers and wood engravings remain awe-inspiring. Her offbeat painting angles, giant kittens looming over gardens or miniature toy scenes, delight the eye. One wonders what more she might have achieved.
Note building works affect access and routes. Allow extra time.
Runs until Monday 26 May 2025. Tickets £20 including donation. Open Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 am to 5.00 pm closed Mondays except Bank Holidays. Permanent collection entry £14.
Website www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2024/november/tirzah-garwood-beyond-ravilious
Tina The Musical at Aldwych Theatre 49 Aldwych London WC2B 4DF
A friend and I saw a Thursday matinee of this jukebox musical about Tina Turner’s life. From her superstardom chant to her roots as Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush Tennessee her years with Ike Turner, her escape and rise to superstardom and an audience singalong this show celebrates her music, dance and resilience. Zoe Birkett shared the lead brilliantly. A joy to watch I’d happily return.
Matinees at 2.30 pm Thursday and Saturday. Evenings at 7.00 pm Monday to Wednesday and 7.30 pm Thursday to Saturday no Sundays. Running time approx 165 minutes with one 20-minute interval. Tickets £20 to £225 our Dress Circle seats at £50 offered legroom and clear sightlines.
Collecting Modernism Pablo Picasso to Winifred Nicholson at Charleston in Lewes Southover Road Lewes Sussex BN7 1FB finished 2 March 2025
Over eighty paintings and a few sculptures from the Radev Collection begun by Eddie Sackville-West extended by Eardley Knollys and Mattei Radev were on display. Artists included Modigliani Sutherland Morris Fry Vanessa Bell Duncan Grant Maggi Hambling Pissarro Boudin Le Bas Hitchens and Ben Nicholson. Norman Coates Radev’s partner has pledged a Vanessa Bell to Charleston’s “50 for 50” campaign. I hope to see more from this collection soon. Ticket prices vary upcoming Vanessa Bell exhibition tickets £14.
Charleston in Firle East Sussex BN8 6LL
Expecting the modernism show my sister and I explored the Bloomsbury retreat’s small rooms apart from a vast studio adorned wall to wall with murals ceramics and hand-painted features. The kitchen garden once vital for wartime food became a flower garden with mosaics box hedges and statuary. Volunteers bring the house and gardens to life. Tickets house £24 Art Pass holders 25 percent discount galleries £11 Art Pass holders 50 percent discount. Open Wednesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 10.00 am to 5.00 pm.
St Patrick’s Day Parade in central London from Hyde Park Corner Piccadilly to Trafalgar Square
This Irish festival of bands dancers singers and Guinness took place on Sunday 16 March. Despite a delayed start and a cold breeze spirits remained high. We watched colourful floats and performers on Piccadilly towards Trafalgar Square’s concert but left before the crush shouting “Céad Míle Fáilte”
If you happen to be passing and have some time
The Onion Garden 5 Seaforth Place London SW1E 6AB
A hidden gem amid Victoria’s bustle a café organic garden and community hub offering calm. Pots of daffodils onions and herbs create quiet nooks with witty quotes. Jens Jacobsen the Chief Onion has grand plans. Support welcome
Website www.theoniongarden.org
Victoria Embankment Gardens Villiers Street Westminster London WC2N 6NJ
A peaceful haven east of Embankment station with flowerbeds statues and memorials. I shall return to explore its history
Temple Gardens 4 Temple Place Temple London WC2R 2PH
Just east of Temple station another tranquil spot worth a visit
Postman’s Park King Edward Street London EC1A 7BT
Near St Paul’s this park houses Watts’s Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice. On a sunny afternoon I sat among tiles commemorating everyday heroes. Restoration work is vital
Spring is finally with us and in Kensington many magnolias camellias and early cherries are in full bloom. Daffodils scillas and hyacinths have been superb. Last Friday I visited Battersea Park’s Spring Trees Walk for cherry trees before the weekend crowds. I have also been to Kew twice in ten days magnolias and camellias are out a few Yoshino cherries flowered but the main Spring Blossom trail awaits tulips. I will return to Kew Kensington Gardens Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park and perhaps Regent’s and St James’s Parks. Happy days!
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