Happy New Year from your Committee to all our Members, friends and families. We do hope that 2025 will be an extremely healthy, prosperous and art-filled year for everyone!
Due to unforeseen circumstances, your reviewer has been somewhat hors de combat since the middle of December, but I did manage to raise my spirits considerably by making return visits to Monet and London and Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers. At the time of writing I am already feeling real withdrawal symptoms at the thought of these two glorious exhibitions ending later this week, and am heartbroken that we will never again see these absolute triumphs of organisation, logistics, goodwill and expert planning, not to mention of course the sheer genius and beauty of the actual exhibits — in a word, perfection!
However, life goes on, and we can and must enjoy the many other wonderful exhibitions currently on show, including
• Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael at The Royal Academy (on until 16 February 2025)
• Drawing the Italian Renaissance at The Queen’s Gallery (on until 9 March 2025)
• Various exhibitions at Portland Gallery, 3 Bennet Street, St James’s, London SW1A 1RP
To Come:
• Orchid Festival at Kew Gardens (1 February to 2 March 2025), along with Expressions in Blue by Felicity Aylieff in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery (on until 23 March 2025)
Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael at Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
(This exhibition is staged in the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries, at the back of the RA on the Burlington Street side, so it is not too overwhelming in scale.)
This exhibition is a collaboration between the Royal Academy, the Royal Collection Trust and the National Gallery. They have gathered a wonderful collection of stunning items, including drawings by all three masters from the Royal Collection Trust. His Majesty the King appears to be as enthusiastic as his late mother was in lending items to varied exhibitions. The RA’s own Taddei Tondo, the only Michelangelo sculpture in the UK, is on show — a beautifully carved but unfinished work whose figures almost seem to breathe. The ‘ghost’ of the goldfinch in the child John the Baptist’s hand is simply sublime. Also included is Leonardo’s Burlington House Cartoon from the National Gallery’s permanent collection.
These items evoke the early Sixteenth Century in Florence, when Leonardo, Michelangelo and the young Raphael briefly crossed paths. Leonardo in his fifties and Michelangelo in his mid-twenties were already famous when Raphael arrived as decisions were being made about Michelangelo’s David. They vied for the patronage of Florence’s wealthy families, producing studies and sketches for high-profile commissions that were not always completed. Raphael was clearly influenced by the two elders, and one wonders what more he might have created had he lived beyond the age of thirty-seven.
I visited on the same day as a Courtauld return trip and was thrilled to see this beautifully presented show in an intimate setting.
Runs until Sunday 16 February 2025. Entry £19 to £21 including donation. Members enter free and receive 10 per cent discount in the shop. Closed Mondays; open 10.00 am to 6.00 pm Tuesday to Sunday, with late opening to 9.00 pm on Fridays.
Drawing the Italian Renaissance at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA
(The Gallery is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays; open 10.00 am to 5.30 pm Thursday to Monday.)
The Queen’s Gallery’s compact layout — three large rooms with smaller nooks — suits exhibitions perfectly. This survey of some 160 drawings from the finest Renaissance collection outside Italy covers 1400 to 1600. Stunning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian, the Carraccis, Tintoretto, Veronese, Filippino Lippi and many others are hung closely together, sometimes thirty to forty on a single wall. Their freshness and detail, despite being over 400 years old, is astounding. Subjects range from human anatomy to animals, plants and architectural studies, reflecting the apprenticeship system of the studios and the reduction in paper and utensil costs that fueled an artistic revolution.
Runs until Sunday 9 March 2025. Entry £19, with a same-year return pass on stamping.
A personal note from your reviewer: I continue to call it The Queen’s Gallery, not The King’s Gallery. It was conceived by Her late Majesty and in my view should retain its original name.
Portland Gallery, 3 Bennet Street, St James’s, London SW1A 1RP
This gallery represents living and deceased British artists including Mary Fedden, Edward Seago, Ken Howard, Elisabeth Frink, Bill Jacklin, Philip Jackson and the Scottish Colourists. Exhibitions change every two to four weeks. I missed the Mary Fedden show but saw Daisy Sims Hilditch’s work, which showcased a young artist on the rise. Ken Howard’s exhibition follows soon. Nearly all works are available for sale.
Website www.portlandgallery.com
Particular highlights that have finished
Christmas Lights in the West End and beyond
December 2024’s displays did not quite match 2023’s extravaganza but were still thrilling. I toured The Strand, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Waterloo Place, Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Burlington Arcade, Bond Street, Berkeley Square, Oxford Street, Carnaby Street and back to Green Park and Kensington High Street. Each location offered its own sparkle without the overwhelming crowds of peak evenings.
Christmas at Kew, Kew Gardens, TW9 3AE
I visited twice in December. Despite Storms, which closed Kew one weekend and a Saturday, the Light Field, The Hive and the fire garden shone. Some installations were less impressive than in past years, but the overall experience remained magical. Let us hope Christmas at Kew 2025 brings fresh inspiration, stable weather and smooth transport.
Victoria’s Childhood Christmas at Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, W8 4PX
This one-month display (ending 5 January 2025) formed part of the Kensington Palace tour. Highlights included Princess Victoria’s travelling bed, Christmas decorations, period toys, model houses and the court theatre. Entries from household diaries added delightful context.
This month has been quieter for exhibitions, but in the next issue I hope to review:
• Goya to Impressionism: Masterpieces from the Oskar Reinhart Collection at The Courtauld
• Collecting Modernism: Pablo Picasso to Winifred Nicholson at Charleston, Lewes
• Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious at Dulwich Picture Gallery
• The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence at the V&A
Look out also for Grayson Perry’s Delusions of Grandeur at the Wallace Collection from late March, and Barbara Hepworth’s Strings at Piano Nobile in Notting Hill from 6 February to 2 May 2025.
Finally, a reminder for orchid lovers: Kew’s Orchid Festival runs through February (ends 2 March). Members have priority access daily at 10.00 am. Timed booking is essential. Admission is included in garden entry.
Website www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/kew-orchid-festival
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