Somerset Garden #2, 70x50cm, oil on canvas. See on my website
Thank you to everyone who visited the Wimbledon Art Trail a couple of weeks ago. The trail was bigger than ever with more venues and more artists exhibiting. We were delighted with how many people toured the ‘galleries’; it was lovely to have more Wimbledon shops and businesses involved too.
Particular highlights were dressing the shop window as a gallery in Elys department store and being interviewed on Riverside Radio about the whole event. Thank you to all our artists who participated.
Our Elys gallery window
In other art news, there are lots and lots of excellent exhibitions opening this October. There are a few suggestions below. Including, Dappled Light which I am exhibiting in with Canopy - a tree artist collective that I belong to.
Painting the French Riviera, Royal Academy
Raoul Dufy, Golfe du Juan, 1927
I can attest, from our family holiday in July, that a lot of 20th century painters hung out in the Cote d’Azur. And who could blame them?
This exhibition brings together paintings from Monet, Braque, Picasso, Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir and Klein. It is interesting how a place can be so influential as a subject and also as a hangout. As well as paintings and sculptures there are travel posters and film exhibits. Warning: this exhibition will be colourful, joyous and uplifting! (Actual warning: it will also be really popular so definitely book a ticket before going.)
Salman Toor: Someone like you
Salman Toor, The Bar on East 13th, 2019
American Pakistani painter Salman Toor has his first big London exhibition here at the Courtauld. The 43yr old painter’s work centres on the Muslim gay scene in New York and he takes much of his inspiration by European Old Masters as well as Mughal miniatures. Toor references having been obsessed with Manet and pays tribute to A Bar at the Folie-Bergere with The Bar on East 13th. You can compare notes as the former is just outside the exhibition in the top gallery at the Courtauld.
Toor’s paintings are both interesting and appealing. Having a young-ish practising artist exhibiting for such a lengthy period is pretty hip for the Courtauld, reflecting Toor’s stature amongst the art world.
Courtauld Gallery 2 Oct - 10 Jan
Renoir and Love, National Gallery
Bal au Moulin de la Galette, 1876
This will be the most significant exhibition of Renoir’s work ever in the UK. As well as paintings, there will be drawings and letters looking at Renoir in full as the affable chap that he clearly was. The focus period is mid 1860s to mid 1880s just as Renoir perfected his Impressionist style.
The ‘Love’ theme is interpreted several ways; camaraderie, familial, romance and general jollity. Renoir isn’t my favourite of the Impressionists. That said, I do love Bal au Moulin de la Galette which you need to see in person as it is so big and beautiful (that stripy dress, swoon). This will also be a very popular exhibition so book well ahead.
National Gallery 3 Oct - 31 Jan
The 90s: Art and Fashion, Tate Britain
Jurgen Teller, Young Pink Kate, 1998
This exhibition is the Autumn blockbuster from Tate Britain and looks at British art, fashion, photography and pop culture through the 1990s. It has been curated by Edward Enninfel, former British Vogue editor so it should at least look pretty good.
I turned 13 in 1990 and feel very at home in the 90’s nostalgia that seems to be everywhere at the moment, particularly in the Tate calendar this past 18 months. I might even go in a satin slip dress over a T shirt (unless I’m going with my teens, obviously!!)
I am in Canopy, a tree artist collective, and this is our first joint show. As artists we are scattered across the south of England, so I am very lucky that this show is so close to me in Wimbledon. Do pop in if you are around.
Lost Gardens of Heligan #1, 80x100cm oil on canvas. See on my website. This painting will be in Dappled Light.
