Helene Schjerfbeck, Finnish, 1862 - 1946
A very interesting exhibition, a collection of beautiful paintings, mostly portraits and self-portraits, full of sensitivity. The softness of her brush strokes and the mute colours and quietness of her subjects were quite endearing.
For me the most interesting part of the exhibition was the many self-portraits she made throughout her lifetime, and the way her style evolved over the years. There was almost a deconstruction of her face as the time passed and she gradually simplified her work, a deconstruction but without losing the likeness and softness - from the very beautiful traditional self-portrait in 1895 through to the final one in 1945, the year she died.
Felix Vallotton – Painter of Disquiet, Swiss, 1865-1925
Vallotton moved to Paris at the age of 16, at a time when Paris was the capital of the art world, and became associated with the “Nabis” group of artists who advocated an anti-naturalist approach to painting and included Vuillard and Bonnard.
Vallotton was influenced by artists such as Henry Rousseau, Toulouse-Lautrec and Manet, and because I wasn’t familiar with his work my first impression when I entered this colourful exhibition was that these were paintings from several different artists. It’s normal for artist’s style to change over time, and for the works on show to vary, but there is generally a certain something that enables you to recognise that a collection of paintings is by a single artist. Vallotton however produced paintings in a variety of different styles at more less the same time.
For instance, his Self-Portrait, 1897, is in a very realistic style, whereas The Lie, 1898, is not realistic at all, more in the style of an illustration -
And this is the case with two other examples, The Coffee Service, 1887, which is almost hyperrealistic, and quite unlike Bathing on a Summer Evening, 1893 - which once again looks a bit like an illustration, but this time with a playful Japanese influence.
I was puzzled by the different styles but admire his work very much and enjoyed the exhibition, his use of colours and his compositions.
Antony Gormley, English, 1950 -
Before going to the exhibition my knowledge of Antony Gormley’s work was limited to the Angel of the North, which I have seen many times on my trips to Newcastle and find very interesting, especially knowing the relationship of the work with the industrial past of the area. The exhibition presented a variety of Gormley works, some of them massive and in extremely unusual mediums, of which –
Mother’s Pride V, 2019, made in bread and wax –
Blanket Drawing V, 1983 done in clay and blanket -
Clearing, 2019, structure in steel bars -
Subject II, 2019 -
Lost Horizon I, 2008, 24 cast iron body forms which were actually self-portraits
Host 2019, an entire room full of clay and Atlantic seawater which seems to me a statement on climate change -
There were also Gormley sketches done in blood, which I couldn’t bring myself to photograph.
This was a mind-blowing exhibition which was enhanced by the opportunity to engage and interact with some of the installation works, some of which gave me an unsettling feeling.
Reference for RA Exhibitions – Exhibition Guide for Friends