Life, Legend, Landscape: Victorian drawings and watercolours.
At the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK from 17th February to 15 May 2011. See www.VisitMuseums.com for further details. By Larissa Woolf, VisitMuseums.com Arts Editorial Contributor
The Courtauld Gallery in London is currently showing a small, eclectic and impressive exhibition of Victorian drawings and watercolours. Selected from its own extensive collection, it is important to know that many of these works have never been exhibited before – until now! These watercolours, informal sketches and preliminary drawings span the reign of Victoria from 1837 – 1901 and reveal fascinating insights into the creative process of the artist as well as highlighting the vitality of draughtmanship that was so distinctive of the era. Nude sketches by artists like Frederic Leighton and Rossetti teem with watercolours by heavyweight landscape artists such as J.M.W Turner, Ruskin and Whistler.
One of the highlights of the show is a work by the famous Pre-Raphaelite painter, Dante Rossetti. His study for the preparation of his grand painting, ‘Venus Verticordio’ is astonishing. One cannot fail to admire the sensual and striking features of his muse, inspired in part by Venetian High Renaissance Art, and how delicately he renders her beauty onto paper. Throughout the exhibition we are given titbits of historical and biographical information which makes admiring the works all the more interesting. For instance we learn that Rossetti in his graphite drawing of “Elizabeth Siddal seated at an easel” first spotted his muse in a milliner’s shop in Leicester Square. Not only did he cast Siddal as the Pre-Raphaelite ideal for female beauty but she also became an artist in her own right, under his training, and later on his wife. We see, perhaps more poignantly in these preparatory drawings, how these artists were influenced by the cultural influences of the Renaissance and Greek and Roman literature. John Millais’ “The Parting of Ulysees”, for example, depicts a scene from the Odyssey and his drawings appeared once a week in a periodical. In this miniature but richly painted drawing we see the sorceress Circe waving goodbye to a Greek hero. His ability to draw so evocatively and beautifully and yet on such a small scale testifies to his artistic ability.
Oddly – as I am rather a Rossetti fan – my favourite picture in the exhibition was by a the British painter, Frederick Walker, born in 1840, entitled “The Old Farm Garden”. It is a watercolour and gouache of an amazingly detailed and rich country scene. In it we rather voyeuristically watch a solitary lady in her own country garden absorbed in her knitting, not realising that there is a cat behind her about to pounce on her ball of yarn. There is both a sense of stillness and anticipation in the watercolour and we learn that the woman is in fact modelled by Walker’s own sister. It is both a narrative landscape and an elegant and poetic portrait of a solitary lady.
The exhibition moreover is a good incentive to come and visit the rest of the collection; the Courtauld gallery having one of the most important and varied collections of art in London.
Life, Legend, Landscape: Victorian drawings and watercolours, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK from 17th February to 15 May 2011. See www.VisitMuseums.com for further details.
Thursday 17 March 2011
Saturday 5 March 2011
Afghanistan: Surviving Treasures Exhibition at The British Museum, London
Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World – Surviving Treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan. At the British Museum, London from 3 March to 3 July 2011. See www.VisitMuseums.com for further details. By Larissa Woolf, VisitMuseums.com Arts Editorial Contributor
The British museum in London is hosting an unforgettable and unparalleled collection of priceless art and artefacts from Afghanistan. The exhibition, called “Crossroads of the Ancient World” which runs until the 3rd July 2011 reveals how a country that has been eclipsed by 30 years of chaos nonetheless holds a vast collection of art treasures that dates as far back as 4000 BC. Such a collection has only survived because of the heroic actions of the Afghan people themselves, who hid many of the precious artefacts during the war. Dynamic influences of Greek art and a huge mix of trends ranging from India, Rome, China and Persia combine together to create a cultural history that is teeming with priceless statues, objects of art and artefacts.
Beginning with an important sculpture of Ai Khanum, which dates back to 145 BC, and is a beautiful limestone sculpture of a young man we see how Afghanistan was conquered by the Greeks even though it was a full year’s march away. The exhibition is loosely divided into four sites presenting each archaeological excavation and the treasures that were found. In Al Khanum, an unearthed Greek frontier city, we see the strong effects of Hellenism on the local culture. Video footage gives a compelling picture of the temple and life recreated in Greek times.
The treasures found in concealed storerooms in Begram by French archaeologists are multifold. Goods from China, India, the Roman Empire and the Kushan royal family have been unearthed there. One such find were the intact ivory figures of sensuous women embodying the Indian river Goddess, Ganga, dating back to 1st century AD. The enigmatic women are depicted in detailed Indian dress and stand on mythical creatures called Makara: an imaginary animal made up of a fish, crocodile and elephant. Numerous artefacts were unearthed including extraordinary glass vessel crafted in the shape of fish which, we are told, resemble no other fish in the Roman world but are made of ancient Egyptian roman glass. Porphyry, alabaster, rock crystal, ivory, gold and lapis lazuli are but a few of the materials that have been discovered; many in perfect condition. In the six tombs from a nomad cemetery there are an array of 20,000 items of gold ranging from intricate daggers and headpieces to coins and jewellery.
One of the highlights of the show is a magnificent folding gold crown excavated from the Tillya Tepe site and is from 1st century AD. A crown that can be dismantled and packed flat it was ideal for a nomadic people and perhaps belonged to a wealthy ruler of a Kushan province. In fact walking through the exhibition to a backdrop of huge, majestic mountain ranges on the walls which, combined with the sound of Afghan music, really gives one the sense of being in a frontier land, vibrant and rich, steeped in living history.
The British Museum in London has worked closely with the National museum of Afghanistan in Kabul and has created an awe inspiring, stunning and interesting show – it is not to be missed. Afghanistan – Crossroads of the Ancient World – Surviving Treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan, British Museum, London from 3 March to 3 July 2011, see www.visitmuseums.com for further details.
The British museum in London is hosting an unforgettable and unparalleled collection of priceless art and artefacts from Afghanistan. The exhibition, called “Crossroads of the Ancient World” which runs until the 3rd July 2011 reveals how a country that has been eclipsed by 30 years of chaos nonetheless holds a vast collection of art treasures that dates as far back as 4000 BC. Such a collection has only survived because of the heroic actions of the Afghan people themselves, who hid many of the precious artefacts during the war. Dynamic influences of Greek art and a huge mix of trends ranging from India, Rome, China and Persia combine together to create a cultural history that is teeming with priceless statues, objects of art and artefacts.
Beginning with an important sculpture of Ai Khanum, which dates back to 145 BC, and is a beautiful limestone sculpture of a young man we see how Afghanistan was conquered by the Greeks even though it was a full year’s march away. The exhibition is loosely divided into four sites presenting each archaeological excavation and the treasures that were found. In Al Khanum, an unearthed Greek frontier city, we see the strong effects of Hellenism on the local culture. Video footage gives a compelling picture of the temple and life recreated in Greek times.
The treasures found in concealed storerooms in Begram by French archaeologists are multifold. Goods from China, India, the Roman Empire and the Kushan royal family have been unearthed there. One such find were the intact ivory figures of sensuous women embodying the Indian river Goddess, Ganga, dating back to 1st century AD. The enigmatic women are depicted in detailed Indian dress and stand on mythical creatures called Makara: an imaginary animal made up of a fish, crocodile and elephant. Numerous artefacts were unearthed including extraordinary glass vessel crafted in the shape of fish which, we are told, resemble no other fish in the Roman world but are made of ancient Egyptian roman glass. Porphyry, alabaster, rock crystal, ivory, gold and lapis lazuli are but a few of the materials that have been discovered; many in perfect condition. In the six tombs from a nomad cemetery there are an array of 20,000 items of gold ranging from intricate daggers and headpieces to coins and jewellery.
One of the highlights of the show is a magnificent folding gold crown excavated from the Tillya Tepe site and is from 1st century AD. A crown that can be dismantled and packed flat it was ideal for a nomadic people and perhaps belonged to a wealthy ruler of a Kushan province. In fact walking through the exhibition to a backdrop of huge, majestic mountain ranges on the walls which, combined with the sound of Afghan music, really gives one the sense of being in a frontier land, vibrant and rich, steeped in living history.
The British Museum in London has worked closely with the National museum of Afghanistan in Kabul and has created an awe inspiring, stunning and interesting show – it is not to be missed. Afghanistan – Crossroads of the Ancient World – Surviving Treasures from the National Museum of Afghanistan, British Museum, London from 3 March to 3 July 2011, see www.visitmuseums.com for further details.
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