Thursday, June 28, 2018

Euan Uglow - a slideshow and radio essay with Martin Gayford

This is for when you have a spare 20 minutes and want some eye candy for your eyes and literate commentary about art for your ears.


Watch and listen this BBC Radio 3 The Essay Finish the Bottle Euan Uglow by Martin Gayford which provides
  • a great monograph about the practice of the artist Euan Uglow (1932-2000) and the context of his artwork
  • plus a splendid and amazingly relevant slideshow to accompany the words
It's sublime....

One of those to save up and revisit when you need a jump start...



I do not have a clue who Raphael Hynes is who created the YouTube video - other than that he is an obvious fan of Euan Uglow.

Reference:

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

The Art of Collecting at the Mall Galleries

'The Art of Collecting' at the Mall Galleries
The Art of Collecting opens at the Mall Galleries tomorrow (until 6th July). It comprises displays of selected works from four different and important private art collections in the UK - plus it has a room devoted to paintings by important women artists in those four collections.

The Fleming Collection 

This year the Fleming Collection is celebrating 50 years of collecting Scottish art from the seventeenth century to the present day; including many of the greatest names in Scottish art. The collection is now owned by the Fleming-Wyfold Art Foundation which pursues a "museum without walls" strategy
  • to initiate exhibitions of Scottish art outside Scotland
  • to promote and understanding and awareness of Scottish art through various activities
Part of the Fleming Collection on display - including a painting by Joan Eardley

The Jerwood Collection 

The Jerwood Collection is currently celebrating 25 years since the purchase of its first work. It promotes the public display of this private collection of British Art from the 20th and 21st centuries through a number of initiatives including exhibitions

The Ingram Collection 

The Ingram Collection is the youngest Collection. It was begun in 2002 by Chris Ingram, a serial entrepreneur and philanthropist.  The Collection has over 600 works of Modern British Art and aims to provide opportunities to be inspired by art. It's generally recognised as the biggest privately owned publicly accessible collection of Modern British Art in the country.

part of the Ingram Collection of Modern British Art on display

(left) paintings by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham
(right) Ingram Collection - including paintings by Maggie Hambling and Cedric Morris

The Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Trust 


This is a trust related to just one artist, who was a leading member of the St Ives Group, and was established in 1987. The Trust was set up to maintain her legacy and promote her achievements after her death.

On Friday 29th June, there is also an event An Introduction to Artist Legacy Planning
Art lawyers, tax lawyers, artist estate representatives and others discussing everything from artist resale rights, copyright, collection inventories, will making to different models of artist trusts and foundations

Importantly, the exhibition also forms part of the Mayfair Art Weekend (29 June – 1 July 2018) which embraces all the major independent art galleries and institutions in the Mayfair area which has a Facebook Page, Instagram account and Twitter account

I attended a preview last night and took a few photographs. It was fascinating to see some of the galleries used in different ways and containing the type of artwork not normally seen in the galleries. It's also an opportunity to see amazing paintings by some artists who are not often seen in London.

Big paintings in the North Galleries looked extremely good
- part of the Jerwood Collection of paintings by past prizewinners

Women Artists in the Threadneedle Space

This part of the exhibition contains paintings by women from all four collections - including Rose Wylie, Aleah Chapin, Alison Watt, Chantal Joffe and Anne Redpath plus smaller paintings by Wilhelmina Barns-Graham.

It was great to see a painting by Aleah Chapin again (see my interview with Aleah Chapin). You can see an interview between Chris ingram and Aleah Chapin after her first exhibition at the Flowers Gallery in London below.

(Left) The Tempest by Aleah Chapin - painted the year after she won the BP Portrait Award 2012
(right) a work by Rose Wylie

I also adore paintings by Alison Watt and was pleased to be introduced to the paintings of Anne Redpath.

(left) Window in Menton by Anne Redpath RSA ARA (right) The Bathers by Alison Watt OBE FRSE RSA 

The collector interviews the artist




The exhibition is in all three galleries of the Mall Galleries until 6 July 2018. Admission is free.  The bookshop has a number of relevant publications related to both collections and the artists in them.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Heats of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018

I'm toying with the idea of driving down to Broadstairs on the east cost of Kent tomorrow. All in order to watch a Heat of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 being filmed!

Here's a tweet from somebody who decided to go and watch today's heat!  Another tweet from a hotel confirmed that they are indeed on the beach at Viking Bay (end of the High Street) in Broadstairs





This looks like the set-up yesterday (i.e tweeted yesterday)





You may have missed the final of Landscape Artist of the Year 2017 - which was repeated last night on ITV.



But if you have the Now TV app - you can watch the entire nine episodes of the 2017 Landscape Artist of the Year competition from beginning to end! :)

The Sky Landscape Artist of the Year 2018 will be televised in the Autumn - probably starting in October.

Here's the Google Map for the location - and an insight into the weather they're having.




Monday, June 25, 2018

Derwent Art Prize 2018 - Selected Artists

The artists selected for the Derwent Art Prize Exhibition at the Mall Galleries are listed below. This year's competition has had the highest ever number of entries following an international open call. This resulted in:
  • 1278 artists 
  • from 64 different countries 
  • submitted a total of 3,299 artworks 
  • and 57 selected for the exhibition.
The submissions were judged by an expert panel comprising
  • Gill Saunders, Senior Curator at the V&A; 
  • Chris Sharratt, Art Critic; and 
  • Clare Woods, Artist.
“being a selector for this year’s Derwent Art Prize was the kind of challenge that you can’t help but enjoy. The diversity of drawing practice and the energy, thought and skill displayed by so many of the artists was exciting to see and meant that some very good work didn’t make the final selection. However, in the end I think that, after an intense process of discussion and careful consideration, this year’s exhibition provides a fitting overview of contemporary drawing practice.”  Chris Sharratt
Looks like Derwent fed the Judges while they deliberated at the V&A!

Selected Artists



Overall, the judges selected 67 artworks which celebrate drawing in all its diversity.

This is the list of the 57 selected artists for the Derwent Art Prize Exhibition 2018.

Links in their names are to their websites (if these can be found).  Note this has still to be completed - but takes time! If you want the website to your name inserted please leave a comment with the correct url.
  • Jonathan Alibone (UK) - based in Northampton; Currently a resident at The Sanctuary studios. He has exhibited widely, including at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. His work features in collections throughout Europe, Russia and USA.
  • Margie Andrew-Reichelt (UK) - BA (Hons) Fine Art, Nottingham University (2013). Also selected for the Threadneedle Prize 2013, the Derwent Art Prize 2014 and the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition (2015). This is a link to an interview with her
  • Jemma Appleby (UK) -  Lives and works in London and Hampshire. 2006 - 2009 1st Class BA Hons Fine Art Painting, City and Guilds of London Art School. Selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2014, Exhibits widely. Two of her charcoal drawings selected for Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2018.
  • Malcolm Ashman (UK) -  an academician at the Royal West of England Academy (RWA). a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA), the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) and the Bath Society of Artists. Exhibits in London and the south of England, including the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Threadneedle Prize and the Royal Watercolour Society, Bankside Gallery, London.
  • Maura Barreto - past exhibitor / no details
  • Victoria Clare Bernie - Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Victoria Clare Bernie received an MA in Fine Art from Edinburgh University and Edinburgh College of Art, a Postgraduate Diploma in Printmaking from Edinburgh College of Art and a Masters in Architecture History and Theory from McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada. She has been a recipient of a number of grants and awards
  • Emma Bertin Sanabria 
  • Jean Paul Beumer 
  • France Bizot 
  • Kate Black - 
  • Su Bonfanti (UK) - completed the MA Drawing course at UAL Wimbledon in September 2017; mainly exhibits in and around south Londonand home counties at present
'Tanhurst House/Piazza Epiro' by Su Bonfanti
graphite on photo transfer
  • Martyn Burdon (UK) - Graduated from Brunel University in 2004. Lives and works in Buckinghamshire . Also selected for the BP Portrait Prize 2017 and as one of the 'Artist and Illustrator Magazine' 2018 Artists of the Year.
  • Adelina Canolli 
  • Neide Carreira 
  • Sarah Carvell  - 
  • Lewis Chamberlain (UK) - past winner of the ING Discerning Eye Prize
  • Phil Clark  - 
  • June Collier  - 
  • Catherine Creaney  - 
  • Paul Crook  - 
  • Lesley Doyle  - 
  • Sarah Duncan  - 
  • James Eagle - 
  • Edo Fuijkschot 
  • Frankie Gao  - 
  • Anna Gardiner - 


  • Paul Gladstone  
  • Duncan Godfrey  
  • Laura Guoke - Winner of BP Travel Award 2016
  • Barton Hargreaves 
  • Martyn Hill 
  • Hipkiss (artist duo Alpha & Chris Mason) (UK/France) - Hipkiss is a pseudonym used for a British artist duo - Alpha and Chris Mason - based in Gers, Midi-Pyrénées, France since 2001.  



  • Jennifer Ho 
  • Philip Hood
  • Maree Hughes 
  • Sunghun Jung 
  • Hooi San Koh 
  • Aleksei Kosarev
  • Kin Choi Lam - an artist based in Hong Kong. He graduated in 2012 from the School of Creative Media, the City University of Hong Kong. His art mainly focuses on the intimate aspects of daily life, while seeking elements of mystery.
  • Andrew Lansley   
  • Debbie Lee  
  • Ron Logan  
  • Alex Maczkowski - based in the West Midlands


  • Lee Madgwick (UK) - b. King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England, 1980. Graduated in Graphic Design from Norwich University College of the Arts, 2003. Tecently elected as a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA The drawing selected is ‘Shroud’ - see below and Twitter would suggest this is a return to drawing after a long break.

  • Rachel McDonnell 
  • Liana Moran 
  • Simon Parish 
  • Elizaveta Poluyanskaya
  • Julie Rafalski 
  • Ian Robinson 
  • Iona Rowland 
  • Leo Santos-Shaw  
  • Casper Scarth  
  • Emma Seach 
  • Jovanka Stanojevic
  • Aishan Yu

Exhibition and Awards


The Derwent Art Prize Exhibition will be held in the Threadneedle Space at the Mall Galleries from 18 – 23 September 2018 from 10am – 5pm daily. Admission is FREE.
The Derwent Art Prize aims to reward excellence by showcasing the very best 2D & 3D artworks created in pencil or coloured pencil as well as water-soluble, pastel, graphite and charcoal by British and International artists.
Prizes prizes totalling £12,500 will be awarded in a private awards ceremony on 20 September 2018. These include 
  • First Prize of £6,000, 
  • Second Prize of £3,000, 
  • Third Prize of £1,500 and 
  • the Young Artist Award of £750 for an artist under 25 years of age. 
There is also a People’s Choice Award of £750, which gives the general public an opportunity to vote for their favourite shortlisted work. The poll will launch on the Derwent Art Prize Facebook page on 25 June 2018.  ‘Likes’ of respective shortlisted artworks will be utilised as votes. Thus the poll is not anonymous, so if you place a vote, the poll administrator and other voters will be able to view your selection. (see terms and conditions)

More about the Derwent Art Prize


These are my previous blog posts about this award.

Derwent Art Prize 2018

Derwent Art Prize 2016

Derwent Art Prize 2014

Derwent Art Prize 2013

Saturday, June 23, 2018

Prizewinners: John Moores Painting Prize 2018

This is about the five artists who have all won prizes in The John Moores Painting Prize 2018.  The artist who has won the £25,000 First Prize will be announced on Thursday 12 July at The John Moores Painting Prize 2018 Exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool. Each of the other artists will win a £2,500 runner-up prize.

The John Moores Painting Prize 2018 - Prizewinners
Prizewinners - John Moores Painting Prize 2018

The artists whose paintings have won a prize - AND been shortlisted for the First Prize in the John Moores Painting Prize 2018 are - in alphabetical order:
  • Billy Crosby
  • Jacqui Hallum
  • Tom Howse
  • Joseph O'Rourke
  • Shanti Panchal
They come from the:
  • 60 artists whose work was selected for exhibition - for the 60th year of this competition - from a total of
  • 258 paintings which were anonymously shortlisted for stage 2 judging from the
  • 2,700 paintings entered for the John Moore Painting Prize 2018.
The winner of the First Prize will receive £25,000 PLUS an additional award (to mark the 60th year):
  • a three month fellowship at Liverpool John Moores University 
  • an in-focus solo display at the Walker Art Gallery in 2019.
  • In addition, the prize is NOT a purchase prize, but the Walker Art Gallery may also purchase the painting which means another 'win' for the First Prizewinner.
The other shortlisted artists will receive a prize of £2,500.

BELOW are images of the paintings and more information about the artist. Links in their names are to their websites or sites where you can find out more about the artist.

Friday, June 22, 2018

Call for Entries: 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition has issued a Call for Entries and this post summarises
  • the aim and scope of the exhibition
  • the scope and eligibility criteria for who can enter what
  • how to enter.

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2019



The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery invites artists to submit one portrait in any media for consideration in the fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition.

Aim and Scope


The aim of the Outwin Boochever Competition is to
showcase excellence and innovation with a strong focus on the variety of portrait media used by artists today.
The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is currently held every three years - 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016 to date. The next one is in 2019.

"The Outwin 2019: American Portraiture Today" is a major exhibition of portraits selected as finalists and will be on view at the Portrait Gallery from 2nd November 2019 until 7th September 2020.

There are also plans for a nationwide tour between October 2020 and January 2022

Prizes: what's on offer?


The awards on offer total $42,000 (£31,600) and are as follows:
  • First Prize: $25,000 cash prize and a commission to create a portrait of a remarkable living American for the National Portrait Gallery’s permanent collection
  • Second Prize: $7,500 cash prize
  • Third Prize: $5,000 cash prize
  • Commended Artists (up to four individuals): $1,000 cash prize(s)
  • People’s Choice Award (announced around May 2020): $500 cash prize
Below are the images of the Prizewinners in 2016

Outwin Boochever Prizewinners in 2016

Jurors: Who are the jurors for the 2019 competition?


...and how does the jury process work?

Thursday, June 21, 2018

Review: New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2018 #1

I'm very late with my review of the Annual Exhibition of the New English Art Club this year due to its juxtaposition with the opening of the RA Summer Exhibition and the BP Portrait Award exhibition plus various other personal matters.

However I visited on Tuesday (and again today) and found a good-looking and more colourful exhibition and lots of red dots.  

I will say however that this remains overwhelmingly an exhibition by members of NEAC.

View of walls in the Main Gallery

View the exhibition online too!


NEAC's Annual Exhibition 2018 continues at the Mall Galleries continues until Saturday 23rd June (10am - 5pm).

You can also view it online, although I'd much prefer a way to navigate via pages tabbed with the start letter of the surname. Having to tab all the way through the entire exhibition to get to a non-member who has a surname starting with a letter towards the end of the alphabet is tedious in the extreme.

At present you cannot buy online via the NEAC website (although I'm guessing you can after the actual exhibition closes) - but you can make enquiries about works you are interested in right now via the Mall Galleries website - where the exhibition is also online.

You can also read the e-catalogue released via Issuu online

The end wall of the Main Gallery
I'm not sure the NEAC Annual Exhibition still has that "thing" that says "This is a NEAC exhibition" when I walk in.  While good looking on first impressions, it didn't make me go WOW!
The New English Art Club is a group of around ninety professional painters whose work is based principally upon direct observation of nature and the human figure
About the New English Art Club
For a long time the NEAC Exhibition had a very distinct identity - as expressed above - and I think maybe it's lost that.
  • I'm inclined to think it's maybe because the styles of members seem to have diversified over time. Not all to my taste I must confess!
  • There again it could be the hang....
Some of the paintings hanging in the Threadneedle Space
Below you can find images of the exhibition and some observations. I went back to see it again this afternoon as my SD card ran out of space on Tuesday.  I find reviewing the exhibition again when I get home from the photos I take enables me to see things I sometimes miss while in the exhibition - notwithstanding the fact I scribble lots of notes!

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Who pays? Liability when exhibited items are damaged

This is about the LEARNING POINTS arising from the £99,000 claim for damages that a couple in Kansas were presented with - after their five year old broke a sculpture.

the aftermath and the start of the inquest
footage from the community centre's surveillance camera
Yesterday, I posed the following question on Facebook
On the one hand, the parents are "outraged" by the prospect of a bill £99,000 ($132,000) for their child pulling at / knocking off and breaking a sculpture.

On the other hand, what about the artist who has just had an unsupervised child deprive them of the prospect of the proceeds from selling the artwork?

So should children be allowed anywhere near artworks which are valuable?
Or should galleries do better at protecting valuable art?
Are bills for damages the solution? Would your insurance cover you?

P.S. Who says the artwork is worth £99,000?
As you might expect lots of people had lots of opinions - and there were lots of useful learning points which I said I'd summarise in a blog post.

However first here's the unexpurgated Surveillance Video of the incident at the Tomahawk Ridge Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas.



My take on this, based on comments made elsewhere by the mother and others is that:

  • THIS IS NOT AN ART GALLERY - it's a Community Centre
  • the boy who toppled the sculpture is five years old.
  • the children were attending a wedding reception at the centre with their parents
    • the parents were saying goodbye to the happy couple when their children decided to take a wander
    • the children were very clearly not being actively supervised by a parent - and were in effect doing what they fancied
    • the adults present were also not supervising their behaviour in the absence of the parents
  • the women sitting down are unrelated to the children - as in we don't normally see ladies in shorts at wedding receptions! I think the woman walked over because the child started to cry

The Issues this incident raises


So what are the issues raised by this incident. The ones we identified yesterday include the following. You may have other suggestions and do feel free to comment
  1. Value - Who can say what an item is worth for the purposes of reimbursement?
  2. Health and Safety - Do all venues owe a vicarious liability for the health and safety of third parties visiting the venue?
  3. Parental Responsibility - what is a parent liable for if their children are not properly supervised?  Is it an accident when parents have been negligent in their duties?
  4. Insurance - Who is liable? Who pays at the end of the day?
  5. Consignment paperwork - What does paperwork need to make clear?
So I'll expand on each of these points below. Please note I'm not a lawyer and this is based on reading around and experience and does not constitute legal advice.

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

VIDEO Interview with Miriam Escofet, BP Portrait Award Winner 2018

This is about a video interview I did with Miriam Escofet, the winner of the BP Portrait Award 2018 (See Miriam Escofet wins BP Portrait Award 2018)

BP Portrait Award Winner 2018
Miriam Escofet with the portrait of her mother "An Angel at my Table"

photograph: Katherine Tyrrell

It's been my habit for the past few years to interview the winners of the BP Portrait Award on video - in front of their portrait in the National Portrait Gallery.  Background noise in the gallery has always been a bit of a problem, however this year, the exhibition has changed galleries and, as a result, the acoustics meant that the noise levels were too loud for my equipment (my trusty iPhone!) and an interview in the gallery was impossible.

Instead we went up to the Portrait Restaurant at the top of the building (where I was booked in for lunch) and did the interview there. We still had background noise as you will hear - but it's very easy to hear Miriam in the interview.

The video has been uploaded to my Making A Mark Video Channel on YouTube - (where you can also see past videos relating to BP Portrait Award Winners - see also below)

  • You can view it full size on YouTube. 
  • You were going to get the large HD version - but YouTube decided it couldn't work out the audio file 
  • so it's the same size as in previous years - which means it can be viewed on mobile devices (I've tested on my iPhone!)




In this 15 minute interview, Miriam talks about:
  • learning about art from her father who was a painter (Jose Escofet)
  • the reasons for choosing the art school she attended
  • how she moved slowly from still life, via paintings of architecture to portraiture
  • her history with the BP Portrait Award
  • her process for painting portraits - including pastel studies and maquettes - and commissions
  • the portrait itself - and what the levitating angel and the moving dish are all about
  • how she plans to spend her prize money
  • the best bit of winning this award
This is Miriam's website http://www.miriamescofet.com/

Below you have
  • more about how you can see this year's exhibition in London and on tour
  • articles about Miriam in the newspapers
  • FOR THE SERIOUS FANS: more about BP Portrait Award Winners from previous years

See the BP Portrait Award Exhibition

The BP Portrait Award Exhibition and the prizewinning portraits are on display during 2018/19 at the following venues:
I've also got another video to share with for those of you who can't get to see the exhibition - it includes my quick trot around the exhibition on Awards night. That'll be coming up later this week or next.


Articles about Miriam Escofet winning the BP Portrait Award


Interviews with other BP Portrait Award prizewinners

For those wanting to know more about the artists who win prizes at the BP Portrait Award. 

There are two choices:
  • A Profile of Aleah Chapin - includes her video interview which has now received over 142,000 views on YouTube. Aleah Chapin paints her aunties, cousins, mother and friends; old and new.
Prior to this, these were my blog posts about the BP Portrait Award winners (I was on holiday in 2011)

2010
2008 - the first year I attended the awards ceremony

Monday, June 18, 2018

VIDEO: An Appreciation of Glasgow School of Art

There have been a number of responses on social media to the tragic and devastating fire at the Glasgow School of Art.

Christopher Pitbladdo has put together a wonderful video of film about the Glasgow School of Art - in the past and during the recent renovation. It's probably the most coherent footage about the design, structure and interior of the GSA that exists - and it needs to be shared

As he says (on Saturday 16th June 2018)
I've been talking today with people who didn't know the #GSA very well, particularly the inside of the library. So I've thrown together a quick sequence of Mackintosh's building at its very best.
and
A short while ago, I was lucky enough to edit a documentary about Charles Rennie Mackintosh. When news filtered through of another fire in his masterpiece - the GSA - I quickly edited this collection of shots together as a memory of the building.

An Appreciation of Glasgow School of Art from Christopher Pitbladdo on Vimeo.

The documentary which he references was highlighted in yesterday's post Lachlan Goudie on Charles Rennie Mackintosh - on iPlayer.







Further comments on the fire

A spokesperson for the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association said it was understood that automatic fire sprinklers had not been fully fitted as the building was still undergoing refurbishment from the 2014 fire.“However, it should be realised that sprinklers can be fitted in buildings throughout construction on a temporary basis, as there is a considerable risk from fire during this period,” the association added.
This all makes it sound like it is a real person who has died, and in a strange way that’s not far off. The sheer idiosyncrasy of the building, Mackintosh’s care and attention to detail, and its rich intellectual subtexts and simple vital presence gave it more personality – its own and its creator’s – than almost any building I’ve ever experienced.

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Lachlan Goudie on Charles Rennie Mackintosh - on iPlayer

On 5th June 2018, BBC Scotland broadcast a programme on Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928) - Mackintosh - Glasgow's Neglected Genius.

The three ages of Charles Rennie Mackintosh
This is because 2018 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of the celebrated Glasgow architect, designer and artist - who was born on 7 June 1868.

On 16th June 2018, his iconic 'work of art' - the Mackintosh Building at Glasgow School of Art  - which comprised both the architecture of the building and its internal fixtures and fittings and helped give him an international reputation - was completely gutted in a massive fire (see yesterday post ANOTHER Major Fire at Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art)

However, let's not forget that Charles Rennie Mackintosh made a lot of art in his lifetime and most of it is celebrated in this programme.

You can view the programme on BBC iPlayer for the next 18 days.  Below you can find my short summary and review  of what the programme covers.

BBC iPlayer

Lachlan Goudie does a great job of following the life of Charles Rennie Mackintosh from his studies and first job, via
  • his serious design commissions in Glasgow 
    • for the Art School - in two stages. Near the beginning of the film there is video of the 2014 fire and then of Lachlan visiting the rebuilding of the part of was destroyed in the 2014 fire. It's very poignant to realise that everything you see in the film is now gone. However it includes images of the Library as it was and the studios and the various design features on and within the building

I'd never realised before that the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art
was built in two stages - this is a drawing after the first stage

Pics of Glasgow School of Art - now (pre June 2018) and then
    • other schools and churches, 
    • houses (e.g. Windy Hill and The Hill House) and 
    • tea rooms (eg Willow Tea Rooms) while working for the practice of John Honeyman & Keppie (from 1901 Honeyman, Keppie & Mackintosh) during the Mackintosh years 1889 to 1913
  • the unique interiors, murals and furniture he created for himself and others. I had not idea how far and wide these were. I was particularly intrigued by his influence on design and interiors on continental Europe
Lachlan Goudie in one of the recreations of a Mackintosh interior - complete with furniture
  • his withdrawal from Glasgow after a nervous breakdown - and an unsuccessful start of his own independent practice
  • his stay in Walberswick - and his drawing and paintings (with Margaret) of wild flowers - for a German Client (just before the first World War) - such a pity they didn't feature more of these in the programme. You can read more about this period in his life on my web page about 20th century botanical artists and the slim but beautiful volume by Pamela Robertson. See also my 2007 blog post Flowers in Art... and Charles Rennie Mackintosh which comments in detail on his practice when drawing and painting flowers
  • to living in the South of France in Collioure and Port-Vendres - you can see his wonderful watercolours of places he visited and painted in The CRM Trail and  Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Rousillon (one of the sign boards features in the BBC film). These are some of my favourite watercolours of all time. The compositions are amazing, while the draughtsmanship is masterful and the colour palettes are true to the place and yet well co-ordinated. However I learned from the programme that Mackintosh wasn't averse to moving some of the features in the landscape if they made for a better painting - and illustrated what had happened in the painting of the watercolour below. For more about these superb watercolours I recommend you read Charles Rennie Mackintosh in France: Landscape Watercolours by Pamela Robertson and Philip Long.

The Fort (1924) by CR Mackintosh
  • and finally to living in some poverty in London - where he continued to paint flowers -prior to his death
Part of one of Mackintosh's late paintings of flowers

For those interested in his drawings you can access all his sketchbooks as part of the Hunterian Collections at the University of Glasgow

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Previous blog posts about Charles Rennie Mackintosh



About the 2014 and 2018 Fires


Saturday, June 16, 2018

ANOTHER Major Fire at Rennie Mackintosh's Glasgow School of Art

I could not believe my eyes this morning when I checked the news - and found yet more pictures of yet another fire at "The Mac" - the iconic and world-renowned Rennie Mackintosh building housing the Glasgow School of Art which was due to reopen in 2019 after the last fire in May 2014.

This post provides links to images and accounts of the fire and the extent of the damage.

(NB The GSA website has been down - probably due to the extent of interest in this fire. It's now got a link to where people can read updates on the June 2018 Fire. It seems likely that the website will be down periodically while huge numbers try to access it)

Looking up the hill to the second fire at the Glasgow School of Art
(screendump from BBCNews)

What's really terrible is that accounts suggest that this fire is even worse than the previous one. It's certainly seems so from the images of the fire.
Damage to the Glasgow School of Art after a fire is "exceptionally significant", a senior firefighter has said.
The damage looks much worse than the first fire
(screendump from BBCNews)
More than 120 firefighters and 20 appliances were called to tackle the blaze, which began at about 11.15pm on Friday and spread to a neighbouring music venue, the O2 ABC.

By 6am on Saturday, fire crews were still tackling hotspots in the grade-A listed building, which appears to have been gutted by the fire and had its roof and upper floors destroyed. (The Guardian 
Heartbreaking': fire guts Glasgow School of Art for second time )

The fire appears to cover much more of the building
(screendump from BBCNews)

Nine hours ago came this tweet from the official GSoA Twitter account
and then this one