Who's made a mark on art 161016?

I'd like to say a very sincere "Thank YOU" to all the people who wrote lovely comments on my Retirement post and on Facebook and especially to those who sent me personal messages via email. (You can write to me any time - my email is in the right hand column. However I'm afraid I can't help at all with some queries - and I do get some weird ones - and consequently I now typically only reply to those I can help.)

I'd also like to remind people that I'm not disappearing off the face of the earth and am just going to be blogging less on Making A Mark in future as I do rather more of what I particularly like doing!

So what happened in my first week?

I visited six museums/galleries and went to five exhibitions - and I haven't done that in a LONG time!

Sunday 2nd October - South Bank - Tate Modern and Bankside Galleries

We visited Bankside on Sunday and went up the Switch House for the first time to see what the fuss was about the Viewing Gallery. One nearby resident made it very clear what the problem was (see below). Frankly given there is no view on that corner - except into people's flats - I don't understand why they can't install opaque glass on that corner which causes the problems

One resident's perspective on The Switch House Viewing Gallery!

Tuesday 4th October - my official Birthday Treat Day!

On Tuesday morning I went to see Georgia O'Keeffe at Tate Modern - which I'd been saving up for a treat. I definitely recommend this and I'm going to be going back at least once before it finishes on 30th October.

This is the Georgia O'Keeffe: Room Guide for those who have missed it (it's not obvious!)

• The early years and '291'
• Abstraction and the senses
• O'Keeffe, Stieglitz and their circle
• New York cityscapes
• Lake George
• Flowers and still lifes
• New Mexico: Taos and Alcalde
• From the faraway, nearby: Skull Paintings
• Ghost Ranch
• The black place and the white place
• The series: Abiquiú Patios, pelvis bones and cottonwood trees
• The Southwest
• Late abstracts and skyscapes

You can also Download the large print guide [PDF, 822Kb] - which provides details of all the paintings on display.

Note to self: I must remember to take advantage of the members hours (on 15 Oct 2016, 16 Oct 2016, 22 Oct 2016, 23 Oct 2016, 29 Oct 2016, 30 Oct 2016) when it opens before it's open to the public.  I didn't get there early enough and it was swamped with school children on trips - all sat or stood around drawing - which is great but it makes it very difficult to navigate between paintings! I almost wish they would have a day each week when it's just school children....

We then had lunch at the Club Gascon in Smithfields. I drew all my courses but have still to finish colouring them. Here's one of the courses...

Marbled Duck, Figs, Maury & Pickled Mirabelle
pen and ink and coloured pencils

On Tuesday afternoon I found the Early Physic Garden I'd been searching for at the back of the Barber-Surgeon's Hall in the City of London and then went to see the earliest painting of the City of London in oil (i.e. pre-Great Fire) at the Museum of London which I'll post about later.

Wednesday 5th October - Picasso Portrait at the National Portrait Gallery

Wednesday morning  was the Press View for Picasso Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery. Here's a taster and I'll be writing more about this soon. Reviews include:

• Financial Times: Jackie Wullschlager on Picasso at London’s National Portrait Gallery - A show that recapitulates how the artist revived portraiture
• Sunday Times: Exhibition: Picasso Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery
• The Telegraph: Picasso Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is a must see - review
• The Guardian: Picasso Portraits review – tame exhibition sells his radical genius short

Portrait prints and a painting by Picasso at the National Portrait Gallery

I then went down to the Mall Galleries for lunch and to view the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists at the Mall Galleries (see Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition 2016) - which celebrated their 50th anniversary of their Royal Charter. It was nice to see an art society filling all three galleries again as they used to do when I first started visiting the Mall Galleries. So much more to see and appreciate!

Friday 7th October - Maria Merian's Butterflies at the Queen's Gallery

I then took a breather on Thursday before visiting the Maria Merian Butterflies exhibition at the Queen's Gallery on Friday. You can read my REVIEW: Maria Merian's Butterflies and what I learned about Merian's techniques in terms of collecting her natural history and botanical specimens and how she created a luxury version of both paintings and book for a select audience. Maria Sibylla Merian  was a very smart woman when it came to marketing her artwork!

Maria Merian's Butterflies and
a rare counterproof edition of Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium
(the Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname)

......and that was the first week!

Exhibitions

Below are more current and upcoming exhibition I've highlighted previously or intend to see in the near future - or would like to go to!

Current Exhibitions

Museums and Art Galleries

• "Beyond Caravaggio" opened to the public at the National Gallery last week. Beyond Caravaggio review: a masterpiece of surprise gives it s 5* review
• The Philippe Parreno’s New Turbine Hall Installation "Anywhen" has opened at Tate Modern to rave reviews.

Artists

• Last Sunday afternoon, Irish botanical artist Yanny Petters sold 9 of her 12 Verre Églomisé paintings at the Private View for her new solo show at The Olivier Cornet Gallery in Dublin. 
• You can see more of her glass paintings on her website. 
• You can also find out more about Reverse Glass Painting (also known as Verre Églomisé or 'hinterglasmalerei') on a website I developed.

Art Society Exhibitions

"River Thames towards Kew Bridge" by Angus McEwen EWS

• I'm intending to visit the current exhibition by the Royal Watercolour Society at the Bankside Gallery.  "London - a Sense of Place" is a members only exhibition by the Royal Watercolour Society at the Bankside Gallery at Bankside and is open until 5th November. You can see one painting by each exhibiting artist online. I particularly like the one by Angus McEwen RWS. A comment on my Facebook Page suggests it's one of the best exhibitions by the RWS in recent times!

Went to the PV. I thought the exhibition was the strongest at RWS for a long time.

• The 164th Annual Open Exhibition of the Royal West of England Academy opened in Bristol last week and continues until 27 November
• A major triennial event is taking place in Pittsburgh right now - the 15th Hunt International Exhibition of Botanical Art and Illustration - and I should have been at it but decided not to go when I damaged my knee. Top botanical artists by country is about  - and how it represents a pinnacle of achievement for top botanical artists. The post also comments on which countries produce the top botanical artists - and the NEW page about the Hunt ​International Exhibitions of ​Botanical Art & Illustration

Upcoming Exhibitions

• I shall definitely be going to a new exhibition about Portrait of the Artist at The Queen's Gallery. It opens on 4th November and continues until 17 April 2017. I'm expecting it to be very good.

The first exhibition to focus on images of artists from within the Royal Collection, Portrait of the Artist not only show-cases self-portraits by world-renowned artists including Rembrandt, Rubens, Artemisia Gentileschi, Lucian Freud and David Hockney but also features images of artists by their friends, relatives and pupils, including the most reliable surviving likeness of Leonardo da Vinci by his student, Francesco Melzi. Well-known self-portraits intended to advertise the artist's talents will be shown alongside more intimate and personal works. The exhibition will examine a range of themes played out within these objects, from the 'cult' of the artist to the symbolism evoked through images of the artist’s studio.

• These are the Sotheby's catalogues for the three seperate auction of David Bowie's Art Collection. The collection will be exhibited at Sotheby’s New Bond Street galleries in London between 1-11 November
• Bowie/Collector – Part I: Modern and Contemporary Art, Evening Auction (10 November - evening)
• Bowie/Collector – Part II: Modern and Contemporary Art, Day Auction (11 November)
  Bowie/Collector – Part III: Design: Ettore Sottsass and the Memphis Group (11 November 4pm)

View digital images of the collection on the Sotheby's website 

Art Competitions

• The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2016 moves to the Parabola Arts Centre, Cheltenham from 24 - 29 October 2016. 
• Below is a video, made by the exhibitions organisers Parker Harris, of how the exhibition was hung on its first outing at the Mall Galleries.

Art Society Exhibitions

At the Mall Galleries, in the next month, you can see:

• Over 600 miniature paintings and sculptures in the Annual Exhibition 2016 of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers which opens tomorrow at the Mall Galleries and continues until 22 October 2016
• the very best of art inspired by the natural world in The Natural Eye 2016 - the Annual Exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists. It starts on 26 October and runs until to 6 November 2016. This is always a favourite exhibition of mine. 

Artists

• Today is the 34th anniversary of the tragically early and sad death Rory McEwen (age 50). Learn more about the man, his artistic practice, the timeline of his life and the botanical paintings he produced
• I have a new webpage about Basilius Besler and the Hortus Eystettensis
• Grayson Perry vs Jonathan Jones is about a very odd article in The Guardian which stimulated some debate on Facebook and elsewhere online. READ Quote me on this, Grayson: you're not a true artist at all

Jonathan Jones lets himself down. Let me be very clear - if I ever had to choose between Jonathan Jones and Grayson Perry, I'd choose Grayson every time for bringing some genuine original thought into commentary on contemporary art and society.

Art Business and Marketing

• This is my checklist for how to get the best publicity for juried exhibitions - and how to avoid letting down the exhibition, organisation and the artists.
• There's a highly skilled forger of old master paintings out there somewhere! I wonder what the professional indemnity insurance premiums are like for auction houses which get hoodwinked - or simply don't do due diligence properly. Read: 
• How Sotheby’s Got Hoodwinked: The Art World’s $20m Forgery Scandal on The Daily Beast.  
• Even the Financial Times has a startling headline Old Master market reels from Sotheby's fake assessment
• What We Know About the Old Masters Forgery Scandal artnet News‎
  
• There are concerns in the art market about Brexit. The Art Newspaper's article Fears grow that hard Brexit will damage UK trade suggests that as short-term worries fade, attention shifts to the future of import VAT, freedom of movement and artists’ royalties
• Cory Huff had a 45 minute broadcast about five problems with fine art marketing on his Facebook Page - but I can't share is it has no URL!

Art Education

• For those interested in the relationship between children and art. This is How to Teach Your Children to Care about Art by Casey Lesser for Artsy

: end of A level art history - a big dull axe wielded by cultural pigmies

— Simon Schama (@simon_schama) 12 October 2016

Art History in schools will no longer exist at "A" level in the UK after 2018. This is progress? READ these articles:

• The Art Newspaper | UK professors condemn axing of art history A-level - Students sitting the subject in 2018 will be the last of their kind
• BBC | History of art teachers devastated as A-level axed - History of art teachers say they are "devastated" after the last exam board to offer the subject 
• The Guardian | Goodbye art history A-level, you served the elite well - Jonathan Jones reveals his cultural chip on his shoulder yet again and suggests that "History of Art" only really flourished in private schools - however Simon Schama has another perspective...

It's the new class war, as in classroom war: classics and art history OK for private school students but state school kids, hey why bother?

— Simon Schama (@simon_schama) 13 October 2016

• The Telegraph | Decision to scrap A-level art history labelled a 'disgrace' by critics

Art Materials and Media

Soft Pastels

• Michael Chesley Johnson (blog) provides a video of a lecture "The Fine Art of Pastel" about using soft pastels which is worth a viewing for those interested in dry media

• Deborah Secor is a a well established tutor of landscapes using pastels. She has written an excellent book and she's giving it away for FREE! It's available as a pdf or as an ebook. Please note this may be downloaded for PERSONAL USE ONLY; users are forbidden to reproduce, republish, redistribute, or resell any materials from this weblog in either machine­readable form or any other form without specific written permission of the author.

and finally.....

London Urban Sketchers in West Smithfield Park - Smithfields in the background

Yesterday I did my first trip out with Urban Sketchers London since I tore the meniscus in my knee! I've been in training for the last couple of months - gradually increasing trips out with my other half as my knee began to recover.

Yesterday UskLondon went to Smithfield all day. You can see the sketches in the Urban Sketchers London Facebook Group. You can also find information about future trips in upcoming blog posts on the blog:

• 12th November - MI6 Building, Vauxhall Bridge and Tate Britain
• 10th December - Christmas in Covent Garden: Covent Garden / London Transport
• Museum/ Royal Opera House Terrace - views down on to Covent Garden