Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious at Dulwich Picture Gallery – a very talented lady

Dulwich Gallery as done it again... yet another excellent exhibition .This is the first major exhibition of Tirzah Garwood's work, ever, since her death in1951. 

98% of Tirzah's work is today in private collections. As such, most of this show is comprised of artworks that have never before been available to the public. A multi-talented artist, she was already producing wonderfully-detailled woodcuts in her teens, well before she met and married Eric Ravilious (Dulwich exhibition 2015). It can now be seen that she was the greater talent of this couple, accomplished in many additional creative techniques including oil paintings and watercolours, marbling techniques, 3D models and textural embroidery.

This excellent show is on until 26th May 2025. More info here. Form a neat crocodile and enter Tirzah's world... 

Photo of the artist as a young woman and two versions of the same subject matter employing very different techniques.

Much of Tirzah's work has a human element to it, full of wonderful little observations about our quirks and the the little details in the world around us, whether on paper or as small 3D scenes.

The little 3D worlds are a delight, capturing a time forgotten. 

An accomplished paper marbler, Tirzah also created designs for lampshades and produced gorgeous handmade marbled papers in various designs:  

These paper examples are some of my favourite pieces at the exhibition. It beggars belief how she managed to achieve these repeat patterns, let alone fulfill orders for multiples of 50, which must have taken ages to produce. However, she never was able to find a company who could produce her designs in larger formats, such as wallpaper.

A 3D house, a handmade patchwork quilt and another example of her multi-stitch embroidery.

What an amazing talent. This is an inspirational show. Since seeing Tirzah's work I have dug out some of my own creations. I can't help but think she and I are kindred spirits, what with all the various skills and techniques I have turned my own hands to over the years. 

Tirzah Garwood: she really was Beyond Ravilious

Berthe Morisot: Shaping Impressionism at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Dulwich Picture Gallery has done it again, as I don't think I have ever been to one of their shows and thought 'so what?' 

The latest show is a fabulously curated collection of Berthe Morisot's work. A female painter in a world of men, where painting in certain environments was forbidden, she made good use of her own home as studio interspersed with early morning trips to the park. A self portrait of Berthe in her mid-twenties is at middle top here:

The clever thing about this show is how it's interspersed with paintings that are said to have inspired her. Hence, you'll see Tissot, Romney, Gainsborough and quite a few Fragonards here. 

Delightful. 

It's also worth noting that there are few works from The Wallace Colllection, an institution that I understand has never before loaned out any of its collection.

Enjoy.

Until 10 September – More information here.

Reframed: The Woman In The Window at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Ooh this is a good idea, and something I hadn’t noticed or thought about until I heard about this show – the repeated motif that can be seen throughout centuries of art of a female framed in a window, whether from the perspective of her looking out, or us looking in.

Last week I joined a preview tour of the show led by its curator, Dr Jennifer Sliwka, looking fab in a grey two-piece double-breasted suit, btw. She first showed us the inspiration for the show, Dulwich Picture Gallery’s ‘Girl at a Window’ by Rembrandt, and then picked out and explained some thought-provoking works, from ancient carved pieces, through Hockney, Bell, Rossetti and Blake, to end with Sherman and Abramovitch, two female artists whose photographic self-portraits literally puts themself in the frame. 

I suppose the question(s) being asked here is, are we and the artists voyeurs, or are we being provoked/invited to look at these women? 

There’s a very clever multi-purpose piece in the mausoleum by Isa Genken, shown bottom left in my montage, that allows you to put yourself in the picture. Inspired by this, I put myself in the picture and took a 'selfie' reflected onto the Howard Hodgkin exhibut (bottom right) which also shows elements of the large photgraphic artwork on the wall opposite.

It's a really interesting and diverse collection. On until 4th September. Find out more here. 

Reminder to self: finish research for my walk/talk “Female Forms: sculptors and sculptures" 

Rembrandt's Light at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Oooh this is lovely.

Dulwich Picture Gallery have again come up with a corker of an exhibition.
Last week I went on a curators' tour of Rembrandt's Light and...
Actually, no... I am not going to say or show much here but instead keep it short and say that Rembrandt's work is so beautifully and cleverly presented at this show that you've just got to go and see it for yourself.
Each room has been cleverly designed by Peter Suschitzky , the award-winning film cinematographer, to best enhance the artworks on show. I particularly like the first and last rooms.
And it's another first for Dulwich Picture Gallery, the first purpose-designed building to showcase art and now, at this show, they are implementing specific LED lighting techniques.
Also note that, as drive to get younger adults into the gallery, £5 tickets are available for 18-30 yr olds! The sign-up for this reduced price pops up within the booking fields.
What's not to like?!
There are more/other Rembrandt paintings hanging on the walls in other gallery rooms, so do go and hunt for them.
   

Vanessa Bell at Dulwich Picture Gallery and Sussex Modernism at Two Temple Place

The Dulwich Picture Gallery is always worth a detour. Not only does it have a diverse and perfectly sized permanent display, but the curators are very good at putting on interesting additional exhibitions, often by artists who are not that well known.
At the moment you can see works by Vanessa Bell, prolifically creative and sister of Virginia Woolf the author.
 

A woman after my own heart – from age eight I was obsessed with making repetitive patterns on graph paper

More of Vanessa's work can be seen at Two Temple Place as part of their current exhibition Sussex Modernism which includes some truly gorgeous sculptures by Eric Gill and David Jones.
Even if this kind of art isn't your thing, do go inside this free exhibition because the interior is marvellous – it was originally built the as the Astor's London office and is only ever open during exhibitions – all wood panelling, stained glass and carved details – here's a post about a previous visit. 

Winifred Knights at Dulwich Picture Gallery

This lovely exhibition in a lovely location displays of the work of the marvelously talented Winifred Knights; an artist, until, last week I had never known about.

All works by MK except bottom left which is a portrait of her by another artist

Well worth a visit.
More info here.
Enjoy

The Amazing World of M. C. Escher at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Most of us had an Escher on our wall when we were in our teens. But we moved on to what we thought were better things.
But now is the time to revisit the work of this mostly underrated yet hugely accomplished 20th Century artist at this exhibition which shows his work in chronological order.
Known for his tessellated animals and birds and impossible buildings, Escher was also mischievous, as can be seen by the clever tricks and meanings in almost every work.
Runs until 17th January.

It's not all black and white... there are colour pieces too!

The drawings for the long piece are even more fascinating than the finished item

Seeing Escher's hexagons in perspective reminded me of a piece I struggled with when doing A-Level art. The title we were given to work with was "The Terrace" and I had an idea for a sunbathing scene with bathers on Giants Causeway-esque rocks. Try as I might I couldn't get the formula/geometry exactly right. Had I studied Escher back then it might have helped.
Bottom right shows a preliminary sketch of the final painting.  

Find the fake at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Become an art sleuth.

One of the 270 paintings in the permanent collection is a Chinese replica that has been commissioned by the gallery in conjunction with Doug Fishbone at a staggeringly cheap price of $126 inc shipping.I know which one I think it is. But I could be wrong.
Go and see if you can find the fake and don't forget to add your own choice into the one of the ipad stations within the gallery for a chance to win a prize.
The answer will be revealed on 28th April.
More details here

From the Forest to the Sea – Emily Carr in British Columbia

This intriguing exhibition about one of Canada's best-loved artists has just opened at the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Emily Carr spent a great part of her life in British Columbia, in particular Haida Gwaii, documenting the things she found around her such as totem poles, trees and skyscapes.
I was lucky to be able to attend the press launch which started with a traditional welcome by the Haida Hereditary Chief and Master Carver, James Hart, accompanied by some of his people. It was rather strange, standing there in our modern garb, watching people in tribal dress perform songs and dances that were centuries old in surroundings that were also old but completely different in style.

The exhibition shows how Emily's work evolved over time. It highlights especially how her style changed and became bolder after her time spent in Paris where she honed her painting skills. Returning to Canada she continued to develop, and devised mixes of different types of paint which she used on cheap paper so that she could paint with speed outdoors. Sadly that paper has since discoloured, but what the heck, the paintings still look great; white space has just become pale brown space.
The exhibition begins and ends with display cabinets containing relevant tribal artefacts from various museums including two of my favourites, The Horniman and Pitt Rivers.
The exhibition runs until 8th March. More information here.

Ian Dejardin leading our guided tour, some reflected heads, Haida indigenous objects.

Emily Carr self portrait, and some of her totems and trees

David Hockney's prints at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Blimey he's talented and prolific, as these snaps I took there clearly show.
The show is almost a how-to of print-making techniques and really inspirational.
More here – on until 11th May and well worth a visit.

Dulwich Picture Library – arty gem of the south

There is a part of South London where time seems to have stood still. One imagines that Jane Austen might walk past any minute, or Charles Dickens might doff his hat, or Beau Brummel might alight from a carriage.
That place is Dulwich Village. It's like a clash between Hampstead, Windsor and The Cotswolds, but with a London postcode.
In the midst of all this sits the lovely Dulwich Picture Library, designed with skylights by Sir John Soanes so as to achieve the maximum level of natural light indoors – check out his own house in Lincoln's Inn Fields to see the same idea applied in more colourful ways.
The Dulwich Picture Gallery, England's first purpose-built public art gallery, has recently had a re-hang (er... has recently re-hung its paintings in a different configuration.... has recently had moved about the art what's inside).
Rooms have been redecorated and rearranged to further enhance the pieces contained within them. Less is more. A lot of thought has been put into comparative pieces, and larger canvases have been moved down to eye level so that the visitor can best see the artistry.
Of special note is a watercolour by James Stephanoff (c.1788-74) showing the gallery as it was in that era. This new acquisition has been placed in a position where you can best see and compare the difference in the gallery then and now.
When you visit be sure to sit and absorb the simple yet beautiful mausoleum at the back of the building. This is where the gallery's founders are buried.

Until 22nd September.... "Nash, Nevinson, Spencer, Gertler, Carrington, Bomberg: A Crisis of Brilliance, 1908–1922".
This fascinating exhibition compares and contrasts the work created by a group of art school friends who all attended Slade School of Art. They were not a 'group' in the sense of 'the Cubists', 'the Pre-Raphaelites' etc; just a group of talented contemporaries.
It is set out in chronological order and I was especially intrigued how WW1 affected each of the artists differently.
There are also various education and creative workshops to get involved with, including painting and poetry – see the gallery's website for more.

Stik in Dulwich

Four years ago I was walking along Dalston Lane and I turned to see a fresh mural depicting six white female stick figures, with one carrying a baby (see top left within the montage below.)
I took a couple of photographs. A fella standing next to me on the pavement asked me if I liked it and I said, 'yes, of course', so he told me that he was the artist and had just finished it. I think at the time I just assumed this was a commissioned piece, so I thought nothing of it and wandered off. I didn't stop to chat, and as friends will tell you, that's rather out of character for me!
Within weeks I realised that I had been in the presence of genius as I started to spot Stik's shy, lonely, furtive figures throughout north and central London, peeking out from windows, or sleeping or smoking in backstreets. People were starting to 'collect' his work on Flickr.
Stik spotting?  Spot Stik?
Some of my own collection is shown below, many of which have now been sadly overpainted, including the ladies and the bookshop. But such is the way with street art. And that's how it ought to be.
The news is that Stik has recently invaded South London and, in conjunction with last week's Dulwich Festival and the Dulwich Picture Gallery, he has created some street art based on classical paintings hanging within the gallery. His reinterpretation of Franceschini's Guardian Angel is near Push Studios in Blackwater Street, and more re-workings can be found in the surrounding streets on walls and garage doors. 
I am kicking myself for a second time... last weekend Stik led a (sold out) tour of these works but I found out about it too late. Grr!

The London Transport Museum

I finally managed to get to the London Transport Museum last month.

For years I have had it on my list of places to visit*. How on earth I have left it as long as this is beyond me.

Last year someone contacted me through this site and sent me a complimentary 'admits two' ticket. I now cannot recall who that was, so if it was you, please do get in touch.

I stuck the ticket on the pinboard and kept saying I would "go next week". I recently noticed the expiry date on the ticket read '31st August 2011' ... there's nothing like deadline to make me get my arse into gear!

So I called Mr Edwards and, knowing he likes shiny things and transport, asked him to be my plus one.

All I can say is we should have gone in earlier because we ran out of time. There is so much to see... old tube trains, buses, trams to compare with a prototype of the new Routemaster (not really sure what I think of that until I see it in action), plus lots of info everywhere including a looking-to-the-future section where there are some truly bizarre ideas. I loved all the posters and leaflets and timetables especially from the first half of last century and could have spent a day alone just looking at those.

And it's a really great museum for children. Many of them had cards that they could 'punch' in the special machines dotted around the museum. My inner child was envious that I didn't have one of my own, so when I found one on the floor my afternoon was complete.

Thanks to Malcolm for the photos.

*The Imperial War Museum is still on that list, as is Dulwich Picture Gallery and Chiswick House and they are just the first 3 that pop into my head... oh dear, what a terrible admission!