Fashion/art review: The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014 (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, SW7)

Fashion/art review: The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945-2014
5 April – 27 July 2014
Victoria and Albert Museum – map
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Viewing date: Friday 6 June 2014
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: ***** (out of 5)

For those who would like to learn about how Italian fashion evolved after World War II, then this is a great exhibition and you will learn a lot. Italy was destroyed and poor after the ravages of World War II, one of their attempts to restore their country and their economy was through glamorising, marketing and exporting their ingenious designs and high quality goods (including clothing of fine cloth, innovative styles and also various leather pieces) to the world – imparticular, the American high society, celebrities and Hollywood. Italy was a little successful with this economically but even more successful at deriving a strong reputation for fine outfits and accessories.

This exhibition looks at a range of designers, trends and the history of Italy’s fashion industry after World War II. It also explains the “Made in Italy” national campaign to promote their fashions. Italy had very little money but a lot of clothes and accessory-making skills. They had to do “a lot with a little”.  This exhibition does a good job of conveying how Italy struggled and had some economic success, but also how some designers are now world famous celebrities in their own right – Prada, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace are all on display.

I am glad that I came to the exhibition as I have learned I prefer mainly French, UK and American designers. However I do like some of the modern Italian fashion designers/houses. My favourite highlights were (in this order):

• everything by famous 1950s-60s designer Emilio Pucci (1914-92), who is known for his abstract geometric patterns on clothes (Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, Sophia Lauren were fans)
• a pair of red, yellow, black flame detail stiletto high heels by Prada (2012)
• a silver, metal handbag by Versace (2207)
• a stunning pair of diamante-studded stiletto boots by Dolce & Gabbana (2001)
• a beautiful hand-painted 1950s-looking flowered dress by Dolce & Gabbana
• a pair of silver, glitter, lace-up boots by Miu Miu (2005)

 

Worth going if you like learning about fashion or are a big fan of Italian fashion. I could have lived without going but that is just because I am not a huge fan of Italian fashion from the 1940s until when Pucci starts designing. I loved the Pucci pieces and the last room with 21st century pieces, but these were only two parts of the exhibition – not the majority of it.

This exhibition is still excellent and gets 5 stars because it is has good, representative pieces on display, is a good size and has excellent information about its subject.

Further information:
Victoria and Albert Museum (official site)
Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 (2014) review (The London Reviewer)

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Fashion/art review: Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, SW7)

Fashion/art review: Wedding Dresses 1775-2014
3 May 2014 – 15 March 2015
Victoria and Albert Museum – map
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Viewing date: Friday 6 June 2014
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: ***** (out of 5)

For hundreds of years now, British (and American) weddings – and the dresses that women have worn to them – have become more and more extravagant and are now a culture, and for some an obsession, unto themselves. Weddings in both of these cultures tend to cost thousands, hundred of thousands, and even millions. I

In this exhibition, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has embraced the fun and lavish detail, the beauty and elegance of a well-made wedding dress. If you love, heavy silk, and sometimes organza, tulle or satin dresses, and your pieces in ivories and champagnes, with pearls, velvet, lace and more, then you will love this exhibition – especially for girly girls and historians.

Just like the name of the exhibition states, it takes a chronological look at how wedding dresses transformed and what the trends were from (mainly in Britain) from 1775 to the present. Most of the dresses are beautiful if you love a big, detailed dress, in silk, and with a train and intricate detail. Some of the creations are also shockingly tacky! Both the beautiful and the bawdy make a grand mix and it’s intriguing to learn the things that “high society” has embraced since 1775.

Besides the lovely and breathtaking Victorian and Edwardian silk creations that you will see on display, there is also British fashion model Kate Moss‘ John Galliano dress from 2011 that took 701 hours to make and had 2800 pearl beads on it and 270,000 sequins, Jenny Packham‘s high waisted, chiffon Rapunzel dress with many Swarovski crystals on the bodice, and both numberous Vera Wang creations and also a strapless, laced-bodice silk dress by Catherine Rayner that both captured the 1990s.

This exhibition is the perfect size and easy to understand and navigate around. A fun outing worth your time and money.

Further information:
Victoria and Albert Museum (official site)
Wedding Dresses 1775-2014 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2014, review (The London Reviewer)

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Art review: Henri Matisse – The Cut Outs (Tate Modern, London)

Art Review: Henri Matisse – The Cut Outs
Tate Modern, Bankside
London SE1 9TG
Tate Modern – map
Review date: Friday 25 April 2014
Exhibition run dates: 17 April 2014 – 7 September 2014
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: ***** (out of 5)

Most people have heard of Henri Matisse. He was a wonderful, abstract Fauvist who lived from 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954 and his use of vibrant colour and curvy shapes is unique, amazing, inspiring and filled with so much passion – all this just on a canvas! Matisse also spent time in Tahiti which seems like it had an influence on him (Shapes are more simple. Colour is strong. Figures come across as solid.) Matisse  is interesting, to me as he worked across two centuries! He had a good 30 years of the 18oos and then a good 54 years of the 1900s. Art trends changed so much during these years and centuries!

So, here’s the scoop on the 14 fantastic rooms that make up this simple, colourful, ingenious and delightful exhibition. During the last 17 years of his life, due to health and mobility issues, Matisse created his paintings by cutting shapes from painted paper. These were called “Cut Outs” and this exhibition explores and brings them together. Matisse did this work and as he got older he would then plan the works and choose the colours of the paintings and then have his assistants do the work of cutting, painting and laying out the pieces to his specifications.

The exhibition, again, spans 14 rooms and you will see much vivacious, colourful, simple and abstract cut-out paintings on display that take you through the 17 years of this process. A lot of Matisse’s works are huge and take up entire walls, such as Oceania and The Sky – which are both simple conglomerations of ocean and sky scenes with birds, coral, fish and seaweed-like plants.

There are so many things to love in this exhibtion as they are all so Matisse – again, simple, curvy, abstract and generally warm, bright-toned colours. I loved Room 6, which showed all of the cut outs and also prints for his book, Jazz (which was a book of his abstract drawings and paintings). Room 9 was also filled with Matisse’s famous Blue Nudes – curvy figures of women done in royal blue. They were wonderful to see as they are unique and simple to understand.

I also loved the last few rooms of the exhibition that housed large pieces by Matisse – all of which again, were just so ‘his style’ you either thought it was genious and loved it or not. Room 10 was The Parakeet and The Mermaid (again large, brightly-coloured tropical figures including nude females, leaves, fruit and birds), Room 11 of “Three Large Compositions,” Large Decoration with Masks, Woman with a Parrot and Pomegranates and Woman with Amphora and Pomegranates, Room 12 which is The Snail and Memory of Oceania, Room 13  Acanthuses and The Sheaf and finally Room 14 which is called Christmas Eve – an amazing design in medium blues and bright yellows for a stained-glass window. All of the works in these rooms (and throughout the exhibtion) were very uplifting and I came away from the exhibition having learned a lot about Matisse and appreciating his style so much. By the end of the exhibition, I did feel he was a master of abstraction who knows how to use colours expertly to create such a feeling of happiness and that captures the sunnyside of life.

The Tate has done a wonderful job with this exhibition and I am happy that I went. All of the information was written in plain, understandable English, it was laid out well in a chronological order and there was a good amount of rooms. You were not overwhelmed or underwhelmed by what you were taking in and, to further this last sentiment, there was just enough paintings in each room.

If you love Matisse or just want to learn something new. This exhibition is worth seeing! You will be pleasantly surprised. I was not expecting this exhibition to be as exciting as it was, it definitely suprised me and I am now a big fan of Matisse! Again, kudos to the Tate for an excellent choice of pieces, layout and understandable information to accompany it!

Further information:
Henri Matisse (Wikipedia)
Tate Modern (official site)

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Art review: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting 700-1900 (Victoria and Albert Museum, London)

Art review: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting 700-1900
26 October 2013 – 19 January 2014
Victoria and Albert Museum – map
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
Viewing date: 18 January 2014
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: **** (out of 5)

Nutshell review: A lovely show that had some amazing examples of the love, precision and labourious efforts that were put into painting in China from 700-1900. This exhibit showed how detailed and ephemeral Chinese painting has been over the dynasties and centuries, including many natural settings and also palace scenes. The painters of China are not well known in the West but they are indeed masters of their work. Painting in China is poetic but also based on nature and, generally, real day-to-day life. Lovely stuff that was well presented and had huge queues to see the long scrolled works! A well done journey into painting from the past and from a foreign land!

Further information:
Victoria and Albert Museum (official site)

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Art review: Becoming Picasso: Paris, 1901 (The Courtauld Gallery, London, WC2)

Art review: Becoming Picasso: Paris, 1901
Exhibition run: 14 February – 27 May 2013
The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN
The Courtauld Gallery – map
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Viewing date: 4 April 2013
Rating: ***** (out of 5)

Pablo Picasso was a master artist. People love him because whether he decides to do a more realistic painting or something extremely simple, cubist, abstract or just “wild” he does it passionately and uniquely – and most of the time in a way that is beautiful and breathtaking. It also helped that he lived in a time of much artistic creation and movement in Europe and elsewhere.

Pablo Picasso moved to Paris in 1901 and was painting up to 3 paintings per day for his art exhibition at Ambroise Vollard‘s gallery that year and to make money. Becoming Picasso: Paris, 1901 covers paintings done only in the year 1901. And, because of the volume with which he produced them this year, there were many paintings the curators of this exhibition could choose from.

Becoming Picasso: Paris, 1901 is fairly small but an exhibition where you learn a lot about Picasso, the time period he lived in, his influences and the people he knew. On the top floor of The Courtauld Gallery, lodged behind a cascade of Degas and other turn-of-the-century European paintings, you are in for a delight as you view and learn about some of his most famous works in the two rooms that exhibit these works, again, interestingly, only from 1901. In Room 1, you can find beautiful Impressionist/Fauvist pieces such as French Can-Can and Spanish Dancer and in Room 2 there are two self-portraits of Picasso, a large and a small mirror of that, entitled Self-Portrait (Yo, Picasso) [also signed on the canvas, “Yo/Picasso”] and Self-portrait (Yo)[ signed just “Picasso”]. Room 2 is the larger of the two rooms and also houses Blue Period paintings The Blue Room (The Tub), Child with a Dove, Seated Harlequin, and Harlequin and Companion, as well as two of Picasso’s tributes to his friend Carles Casagemas who committed suicide, these are Casagemas in his Coffin and Evocation (Burial of Casagemas).

Picasso lived in an amazing time and was part of this but also influenced by artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, El Greco, Edgar Degas, Vincent Van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, plus older Spanish court painters such as Diego Velazquez and Francisco de Goya.

The well-written information for the exhibition not only details Picasso’s work, ambitions, goals and inspirations of this time, but also highlights which artists he was influenced by in 1901 (that is obvious in some pieces) and gives a good history in plain English of each piece.

This exhibition is enthralling and beautiful, overall, and the colours and styles are amazing. It is much fun and wonderful to learn so much with such a small selection of works. Highly recommended!

Further information:
Becoming Picasso Exhibition (The Cortauld Gallery – official site)
Pablo Picasso (Wikipedia)
The Courtauld Gallery (official site)

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Art/photography review: Man Ray Portraits (National Potrait Gallery, London, WC2)

Art review: Man Ray Portraits
7 February – 27 May 2013
St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE
National Portrait Gallery – map
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Rating: ***** (out of 5)

Usually when one goes to a gallery, it may be beautiful and you learn alot, however you still feel like you are in your present location and in you present (ie moment and time period), and it is rare that a gallery can create an actual feel of an artist’s life, era and place that he lived in. However, the National Portrait Gallery, through the fantastic works on display, words, lighting and curation of the exhibition is able to bring back the feel of 1920s and 1930s Paris for this show – and it is amazing to feel like you are in Man Ray’s actual, shadowy, lyrical, surrealist and literary/artsy world.

Most of us are not familiar with Man Ray, but after visiting the exhibition you are glad that you met him. In my opinion, his best and most inspiring works are indeed those created in 1920s and 1930s Paris where his photographs bring us in to close contact with the following artists, writers, composers and high society and fashion figures (to name only a few): Jean Cocteau, Aldous Huxley, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Henri Matisse, Marcel Duchamp, George Braque, Yves Tanguy and Le Corbusier.  Those are just some of the men, but there are also the women: Peggy Guggenheim, fashion designer Coco Chanel, and numerous photos of Lee Miller (his lover for several years, and his student who he made the photographic technique of “solarisation” with), plus a photographic portrait, done in London, of Virginia Woolf.

Besides photographing various famous artists and even doing things like creating a “Surrealist chessboard” with 16 photos of  different male surrealist artists (1934), you come to love Man Ray’s style and photographs as they are noir beauty – shadowy, dark and silhouetted. They are also – at least in his 1920s and 1930s Parisian period – mainly in black and white, which in the 21st century has come to be unique and rare. Plus, Man Ray’s photographs have a simple attractiveness. There are many close-up head and shoulders photographs that are simple subjects of who he is photographing – not busy or overly complex subjects. If Man Ray’s work comes across as mysterious and breathtaking it is because of his work with light and shadow and the way in which he photographs his subjects. Unlike some modern photographers, Man Ray does not create puzzling or bizarre scenes to intrigue the viewer. He capture your attention through the simple ingenuity and beauty of how and what/who he photographs.

The exhibition is about six rooms including a room with his work in New York, New York before he went to Paris, his work in Paris in the 1920s (two rooms if I remember correctly), his work in Paris in the 1930s (again another two rooms), his work in Hollywood in the 1940s (where he went to avoid World War II and married model and artist Juliet Browner) and his work after he goes back to Paris after World War II. In the last room, we also see photographs of Man Ray in Paris, plus bold photos of Picasso and a UK Sunday Times photoshoot with french actress Catherine Deneuve in it.

Man Ray’s work is strong, solid, elegant and memorable. Much worth the visit to learn who he is, what avant-garde, pre-World War 2 Paris was like and to see a well-conceived exhibition. The NPG’s well-written, concise and informative Plain English about the exhibition, as well as its staging, are some of the elements that make it an educational, alluring and altogether enjoyable journey.

Official information about the exhibit (found in the exhibition):
(highlighting it as a it is a perfect nutshell of what NPG is doing/displaying in the exhibition)
“This exhibition traces Man Ray’s life and work from early photos taken in New York between 1916-20, his time in Hollywood during the 1940s to his final post-war years in Paris. Man Ray’s most prolific period was at the centre of the avant-garde and literary circles of 1920s-30s Paris.

Born Michael Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia, 1890, Man Ray initially taught himself photography in order to reproduce his own works of art. In 1912, he began to change his signature on his paintings from ER to Man Ray and the Radnitzky family adopted his shorter surname.”

Further information:
Man Ray Exhibition (National Portrait Gallery – official site)
National Portrait Gallery (official site)
Man Ray (Wikipedia)

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Art heads-up: National Portrait Gallery – free exhibitions worth checking out… George Catlin; King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon

Art heads-up: National Portrait Gallery – two free exhibitions worth checking out
St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE
National Portrait Gallery – map
By: Alexa Williamson

George Catlin’s Native American portraits and paintings
7 March to 23 June 2013
Admission: free
NPG official information: George Catlin exhibition

Commentary: NPG has brought together some beautiful portraits and paintings by the 19th century American artist George Catlin, with the exhibition being a good-size – ie a few small rooms. Worth a wander through to learn about Catlin and also get a feel for what Native American people and their lives were like during the time period within which Catlin painted. Lots of reds and earth tones used in the exhibition. Catlin’s style and pictures are not exceptionally as much of a “realism” but more for telling stories about the people he is portraying. They also have many bright colours, earth tones and soft lines that lend well to a story-telling type of art/portraiture.

Official information (NPG website):
“During the 1830s Pennsylvanian-born artist George Catlin (1796-1872) made five trips to the western United States to document the Native American peoples and their way of life. The resulting portraits have become one of the most extensive, evocative and important records of indigenous peoples ever made.

Catlin was also an entrepreneur and a showman and, inspired by his encounters, he created an ‘Indian Gallery’ that toured America and Europe during the next ten years. This exhibition of over fifty portraits will be the first time that they have been seen together outside America since returning there in the 1850s. They will be displayed to suggest the sense of spectacle created by Catlin and demonstrate how he constructed a particular image of American Indians in the minds of his audience.”

King Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon, both c 1520, artists are unknown – two amazing Tudor paintings seen together for the first time
25 January to 1 September 20113
Admission: free
NPG official information: King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon portraits

Commentary: Both of these paintings are beautiful, easy to locate within the gallery and worth going to go see. The painting skill, colours used, detail and way the subjects are captured is amazing. The colours and fine detail are what make them so amazing, despite them being straightforward paintings. Currently part of the first Tudor Room (ie Room 1 on the second floor), they are great partners together.

Interesting research on the two’s relationship (in terms of who Catherine was/her position in English History) – from Catherine of Aragon’s entry at Wikipedia: Catherine of Aragon (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was the first wife of Henry VIII, who she married in 1509. [However, she was originally the wife of Henry VIII’s brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, who she married in 1501, but he died five months after this.]

“By 1525, Henry VIII was infatuated with Anne Boleyn and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter, the future Mary I of England, as heiress presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the throne. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England’s break with the Roman Catholic Church.

When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters. In 1533 their marriage was declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgment of clergy in England, without reference to the Pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England and considered herself the King’s rightful wife and queen, attracting much popular sympathy.

Despite this, she was acknowledged only as Dowager Princess of Wales by Henry. After being banished from court, she lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle, and died there on 7 January 1536. Catherine’s English subjects held her in high esteem, thus her death set off tremendous mourning among the English people.”

Official information (NPG website):
“A recently re-identified portrait of Catherine of Aragon, which is on long-term loan to the Gallery from Lambeth Palace, is displayed alongside a portrait of Henry VIII from the same period. The portrait of Catherine of Aragon has undergone extensive conservation treatment, which has revealed the green damask background in the painting, and the original decorative scheme on the frame. Both paintings are likely to be examples of the type of portrait of the king and queen that would have been produced in multiple versions, some of which would have been paired in this way.

Further information:
National Portrait Gallery (official site)
George Catlin (Wikipedia)
King Henry VIII (Wikipedia)
Catherine of Aragon (Wikipedia)

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Art review: John Bellany, Scottish National Gallery (2012-2013)

Art review: John Bellany
Scottish National Gallery (2012-2013 exhibition)
The Mound, Edinburgh, EH2 2EL
Scottish National Gallery – map
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Overall rating: **** (out of 5)

Nutshell review:
Overall rating: **** (out of 5)
Curation (ie organisation & layout of information and works on display): **** (out of 5)
Physical display (lighting and rooms/exhibition space chosen): ****
Works on display: ***** (out of 5)
Information about exhibition: **** (out of 5)

Commentary: Born on 18 June 1942 in Port Seton, East Lothian, John Bellany is still alive and kicking. Now living and working in Edinburgh, Cambridge and Italy, this comprehensive exhibition at the National Galleries of Scotland is shocking as some of what he has done and lived through has been dramatic and shocking – and is captured in his work. Bellany paints what he lives and he has lived through a lot of travel and personal and other people’s “stuff” whether it has to do with alcohol, mental illness, living somewhere cold, not “rich” or more. He has also been and painted beautiful places such as Italy and Mexico. His work is lively and not always pretty.  He paints what he feels and he does it with emotion and rich, bright colours. This is what makes his work attractive. He is also still one of Scotland’s best known living painters.

This solo show, that comprised several rooms at the National Gallery of Scotland had some excellent paintins of Port Seton, Scotland as well as some set in Italy. Plus he also painted his father and the two woman that were his long-term partners. This is just a brief overview of what he does.

Worth seeing his work and learning about him. His work mixes the fantastic with the day-to-day and probably why he is popular. Worth learning about, but admittedly, not an artist you would think to go out and actively seek. Yet, he is worth learning about once you are “introduced” to him (and admittedly the National Gallery of Scotland offers an excellent introduction).

Further information:
John Bellany (Royal Academy of Art)
John Bellany (Wikipedia)
The National Galleries of Scotland (official site)

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Art review: Manet: Portraying Life (Royal Academy of Arts, London, W1)

Art review: Manet: Portraying Life
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
Royal Academy of Arts – map
Review date: 8 February 2013
Exhibition run: 26 January 2013 – 14 April 2013
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Overall rating: **** (out of 5)
Works on display rating: ***** (out of 5)

Nutshell review:
Overall rating: **** (out of 5)
Curation (ie organisation & layout of information and works on display): **** (out of 5)
Physical display (lighting and rooms/exhibition space chosen): ** 1/2
Works on display: ***** (out of 5)
Information about exhibition: *** (out of 5)

Commentary: Overall, this is a great and beautiful exhibition that brings together many of this wonderful and famous French Impressionist artist’s – Edouard Manet’s (1832-1883) beautiful works. This exhibition shines because of the works chosen. The space is dark and a bit cramped, but this is not the fault of the Royal Academy of Arts. The lighting, however, could be a bit better. Information is good, but is what is to be expected. Go to see so many beautiful works in one place. Art seems to speak for itself a lot of the time: Manet’s work is amazing and strong.

Further information:
Manet: Portraying Life (Royal Academy of Arts – official site)
Royal Academy of Arts (official site)
Edouard Manet (Wikipedia)

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Art review: Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape (Royal Academy of Arts, London, W1)

Art review: Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD
Royal Academy of Arts – map
Review date: 8 February 2013
Exhibition run: 8 December 2012 – 17 February 2013
Review by: Alexa Williamson
Overall rating: **** (out of 5)
Works on display rating: **** (out of 5)

Nutshell review:
Overall rating: **** (out of 5)
Curation (ie organisation & layout of information and works on display): **** (out of 5)
Physical display (lighting and rooms/exhibition space chosen): **** (out of 5)
Works on display: **** (out of 5)
Information about exhibition: **** (out of 5)

Commentary: A beautiful exhibition of British landscapes in a small space. There have been many exhibitions on these artists, but simple and nice to see them together.

Further information:
Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape (Royal Academy of Arts – official site)
Royal Academy of Arts (official site)
John Constable (1776-1837) (Wikipedia)
Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788)
JMW Turner (1775-1851)

 

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