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I’ve been familiar with the photography of Julia Margaret Cameron for some time but the work of Francesca Woodman was new to me. I can see why the curators of this new show at the National Portrait Gallery decided to set up a joint exhibition because there’s a lot of symmetry and synergy between the two. Both have a very dreamy, other-worldly approach to photography but, as curator Magdalene Keaney told us at the press preview, all the works on show were produced by the photographer’s hand. And seeing the process, and understanding that the creator of the image decided on the nature of the print, does add a more satisfying edge to the viewing of the photographs.

There’s something very compelling about black and white too. I remember discussing dreams of a morning and quite often the question was: did you dream that in colour or black and white? Maybe that comes from a time before everything was in colour, but there’s a mystery to a black and white image, a greater opportunity for depth of field and use of strong shadows. Photos taken by both women were often staged and quite self-conscious. You can see why Julia Margaret Cameron in the 1870s battled to keep her subjects to stay still because of the newness of the medium when the slightest move would cause the image to blur. But Woodman (most of whose work comes from the 1970s) appears to deliberately use the shutter speed of her camera to create blurs and double exposure.

Above is a trio of fascinating photographs of Alice Liddell posing as the goddess Pomona. She was famously the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and a family friend of Julia Margaret Cameron. It’s hard to know whether her fixed expression comes from boredom, concentration or indifference. But they are very compelling.

Portraits to Dream In is on show at the National Portrait Gallery until 16th June 2024. It’s part of the Pay What You Wish campaign which enables you to see a show for as little as £1 on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings. Great for the strapped students of photography or anyone on a serious budget to enjoy this fascinating show.

I’ve unashamedly posted lots of images here of objects which caught my eye and apologies for not noting every maker or gallery. What’s so interesting about Collect is the variety of materials used to create unusual things. Below are some images of a fascinating collection of sculptures made by Jo Fairfax. I chatted to Jo who told me that the pieces were made through 3D printing of his designs which were then smoothed out with addition of a special putty and then painted. The sculptures represent the 12 human archetypes as defined by Jung.

I was also very taken by the work of Alison Rees who has created a range of porcelain ‘pages’ which reference the properties of paper. Just my thing!

I was intrigued by the work of Simone Pheulpin, below, a textile sculptor, who creates astonishing works out of closely folded and pinned cotton.

Collect is organised by the Crafts Council at Somerset House and open to the public from tomorrow until end of Sunday. Tickets are £27 with some concessions.

This portrait of Dame Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth is quite a showstopper. But then the whole show is full sensational portraits by John Singer Sargent and I adored them all. Sargent clearly had an eye for the theatrical and this really comes through in his approach to clothing, styling and presenting his subjects. He was not remotely squeamish about clothes. He would not be bullied by any of his sitters and, in some cases, insisted that they pose for their portrait in clothes of his choice rather than the fancy gowns they might have had in mind.

Above is a double portrait of Mrs Fiske Warren and her daughter Rachel, 1903. Apparently Mrs Fiske Warren presented herself to Sargent in a green gown. He immediately asked her to source a white frock. So she borrowed a dress from her sister in law which didn’t really fit. And her daughter is draped in some kind of pink cloth. Sargent painted the portraits in their home which was full of dark and lustrous objects. He wanted the subjects of the painting to glow in that environment and show off their complexions. He was more interested in getting the right effect for the painting than pleasing the vanity of the sitter. The result is glorious. Interestingly, there are some photographs of the painting process next to the picture which shows just how cluttered and intense the background was.

Sargent was a master of expression. Yes, his subjects look beautiful but he can cleverly convey character and personality. Although they are wearing sumptuous dresses, the pose gives us an immediate connection with their lives and environment. On the left is Madame Ramon Subercaseaux who played the piano and on the right is Mrs Edward Darley Boit whose lively personality is very apparent.

What’s especially fabulous about this show is that the curators have managed to display many of the actual dresses and costumes which feature in the paintings. It was great to see the magnificent portrait of La Carmencita (Carmen Dauset Moreno) an acclaimed dancer in the 1890s and the magnificent costume she danced in. Sargent saw her perform in New York and managed to paint her in a very statuesque pose while the swirly brushwork on the costume leaves us in no doubt that she has just finished whirling around in her routine.

Many of the subjects of the portraits talk about the length of time it took Sargent to complete the painting. He was meticulous and very assured in his technique for achieving impressions of texture, light on fabric, fine, filigree lacework and solid, woollen fitted suits. However, there’s one portrait he made which, we are told, took less than an hour. Below, is his portrait of Vernon Lee, 1881. Born Violet Paget, Vernon Lee chose to give herself a genderless name. Apparently she was satisfied with the swift and accurate depiction which Sargent achieved.

This impressive and extensive show – many of the paintings come directly from the Tate’s own collection as well as the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston – really captures Sargent’s ability to direct his subjects and choose fitting outfits. He also made no concessions to any self-conscious demands of the subjects and painted works which are both accurate in likeness and painterly in style. The show is on until 7th July 2024. Wonderful.

We’ve all heard of Yoko Ono. My earliest awareness of her was as a schoolgirl and Beatles fan. We would see pictures of her, sitting quietly in the recording studio while her husband, John Lennon, composed, rehearsed and recorded songs with The Beatles. We resented her. We blamed her for breaking up our favourite pop group. We never gave her artistic life or creative contribution to the world a second thought. But, by the time she met John, she had already established herself as a leading light in conceptual and performative art. Connecting herself with one of the most famous humans on the planet could be construed as an extension of her art.

Well, now we have the chance to see exactly what she had been up to prior to her Beatles ‘coupling’ and much of the work she did subsequently. Yoko Ono was at the vanguard of conceptual and participatory and performance art. I’m impressed that she embraced the thought-processes of this difficult form of art when she was so young. It takes tremendous confidence and sense of self-worth to bravely set up events in major world cities, become friends with fellow artists and carve a very individual niche in the contemporary art world.

It was fascinating to see her early work. The exhibition opens with her film entitled Match when she films the striking of a match close up and watches it burn down. I think we all share in the fascnation of this little task but few think to record it in such a serious way. She presents the film as an indication of how time passes.

Below, is a photo of gathering of contemporary artists in a tatty-looking loft in New York where she initiated artistic ‘happenings’. She was in her early twenties when she navigated her way into that art world and established herself as a powerful practitioner.

I was unfamiliar with her work full of ‘instructions’. She invites the viewer to become the artist rather than a passive observer of someone else’s work. Above is my photo of an artwork on the floor. Yes, you might observe, but that’s just a painted circle. It is, yet a bottle of water has been positioned above it and every now and then a little drip falls onto the painted circle creating dots and changing its character. It is an artwork. But it’s taken several decades of conceptual art for something as abstract as this to be understood.

Yoko Ono’s film called Bottoms was the film which both enhanced her reputation as an artist and caused a shudder through the spines of the establishment. No one could be quite sure whether she was being rude and subversive or genuinely celebrating the human figure. The British Board of Film Censors banned Film No 4 (BOTTOMS). In protest, Ono staged a protest with this poster, above, and gave reporters daffodils.

Of course, it’s her relationship with John Lennon, who was clearly captivated by her creativity and energy, which still fascinates us most. There are films of the famous ‘Bed Ins’ and their peace campaigning. This exhibition is entertaining, thought-provoking and strangely moving too. As Yoko Ono enters her 90th decade it’s absolutely right that she should be celebrated at one of our major galleries.

The show is on at Tate Modern until 1st September.