Before visiting this exhibition I had no idea that the Mughal dynasty was founded by a Central Asian ruler, Babur, in 1526 and lasted a hundred years. And in that time there was a spectacular flowering of artistry and creative excellence. The Mughal empire spanned India, Iran (Persia), Afghanistan, Gudjerat and Bangladesh. It’s so interesting to see how the art forms from these different countries and cultures merged. We regard them so separately these days but they all combined to create a beautiful Mughal aesthetic.
I did enjoy the narrative quality of the very intricate drawings and paintings. You get a terrific sense of life from these images – crowded with drama and people expressing politics, emotion and events.
Such delicacy to the painting of this goshawk, made about 1650-1700. Falconry was a familiar sport right across Asia. These birds were a luxury item, often given by merchants to the emperor as gifts.
There were many examples of traditional carpet weaving, fabrics and hangings such as this poppy floorspread (celebrating the opium trade), made for a palace.
Very attractive and interesting exhibition which is open at the V&A until 5th May 2025
The Hay Wain is such a familiar image and conjures thoughts of ‘Merrie England’, the countryside fantasy of rural beauty, a simple life and the contented relationship between people who till the earth and the beauty of the fields where they work. At the press preview, listening to curator Christine Riding, it was fascinating to hear the context of the Hay Wain explained and then illustrated by a charming selection of complementary paintings, drawings, sketches and cartoons.
Took a couple of close-ups of the Hay Wain. It’s one of John Constable’s ‘six-footers’, a very large painting which was started in 1819 with the intention of grabbing the attention of collectors and fellow artists. Size does matter when you’re competing with other people to gain a reputation in the art work; this was an epic work, produced in his studio, but very much based on sketches and paintings made ‘en plein air’ in the Suffolk countryside Constable knew so well.
This is a large-scale (6ft) dry run which Constable painted. I love the liveliness and free painting. He does not become bogged down in detail yet all the elements of the composition are there.
On the left is a work by Constable entitled The Wheat Field. It makes rural life look very clean, romantic and relaxed. On the right is Golding Constable’s Kitchen Garden (his father) which was very personal to Constable and he kept it for himself and it was never sold in his lifetime.
This painting is by Thomas Gainsborough (1748) Like Constable, he was born and brought up in Suffolk and was familiar with the same landscape. This work depicts Cornard Wood, common land at the time. The painting belonged to Constable’s uncle, David Pike Watts and would have been familiar to the young artist as he was developing his interest in landscape painting and admiring Gainsborough’s technique.
Always wonderful to see an artist’s sketch book and this shows how Constable studied field-workers and rural activity. On the right is a tiny oil sketch showing the composition of the Hay Wain. We learned that the house on the left, known as Willy Lott’s Cottage was, in fact, owned by Mr William Lott and it was a house, and a substantial dwelling. Perhaps Constable is guilty of loading his seminal work with a dose of sentimentality in order to appeal to the ideal of the rural idyll?
This is very charming set of tiny models depicting the best singers in the East Bergholt church choir. It has been attributed to the young John Constable as creator but we can’t be sure. They are very enchanting, tiny carved and painted wooden figures.
The show is just wonderful. It’s part of the National Gallery’s 200th year celebration and well worth a visit.
In this fabulous self-portrait, Angelica Kauffman represents herself ‘At the Crossroads between the Arts of Music and Painting’. She was a talented singer and musician and torn between the two art forms. But, thank goodness, she decided to dedicate her life to painting. For forty years of her working career (born 1741 and died November 1807) she produced hundreds of remarkable paintings. She was especially enjoyed creating historical, narrative paintings but putting the female character or heroine at the centre of the action. In fact, she was a consummate feminist and celebrated the achievements of women in her work.
Painted by Richard Samuel, here is Angelica, seated in front of the easel, in the company of illustrious women of the day who are all depicted as ‘Characters of the Muses in the Temple of Apollo’. A group portrait of some of the best-known, intellectual and creative women of late 18th century Britain. She is the only artist in the group.
She made several exquisite self-portraits. All of them show her direct, intelligent gaze and are painted with such poise and incorporate classical references in the pose.
According to the curator of the show, Bettina Bamgärtel who spoke at the press preview I attended, Kauffman regarded commissioned portraits as a necessary money-making aspect of her practice, and not her main focus. However, she was extremely good at them. I liked these two portraits. On the left is Joshua Reynolds, who became a close friend. Reynolds introduced her to his royal patron, Queen Charlotte and gave her an entree into London society. On the right is the actor David Garrick. He pose is very unstuffy and shows how very comfortable he felt engaging her gaze and, one imagines, having lively conversations while the painting was being made.
This beautiful portrait of is Emma Hamilton as Muse of Comedy. Emma (who was famously the lover of Lord Nelson) was well known for her ‘attitudes’ – recreating the poses of classical figures as an entertainment. She was invited to country houses and palaces on the promise that she would perform these stylised dances in diaphanous drapes.
This is a portrait of the first Royal Academicians painted by Johan Zoffany gathered in the life drawing room of new Academy. This was not deemed a suitable environment for women so Angelica Kauffman and and Mary Moser, the two female Academicians, are represented in portraits on wall. Kauffman is on the left, looking directly out of her portrait at us.
It’s a wonderful exhibition which is well worth a visit. It opens on 1st March and is on until 30th June 2024.
Above is a painting by Titus Kaphar (2018) entitled Seeing Through Time which mingles the depiction of a Black page in an 18th century painting and a contemporary portrait.
Above: Vanishing Point (Mignard) by Barbara Walker which depicts the black subject in an historical painting, done in graphite, while the rest of the picture is outlined in imprint. Middle: also by Barbara Walker called Marking the Moment, which highlights the presence of the black figure over the rest of the image in a period painting. And on the right is a dramatic painting by Kimathi Donkor who creates narrative paintings reimagining historical female characters from Africa and its diasporas. We see Harriet Tubman en route to Canada.
Above: The Captain and Mate by Lubaina Himid, The Adventuress Club Est. 1922 by Toyin Ojih Odutola and She was Learning to love moments, to love moments for themselves by Amy Sherald.
At the press preview it was very interesting to hear Ekow Eshun talk about the five years he has spent developing and curating this exhibition. He has assembled an impressive selection of leading African diasporic artists mainly working in the UK and USA. It’s high time that art depicting the Black experience is celebrated in a major gallery and the National Portrait Gallery has used its space in an imaginative and accessible way. They’re also making tickets available for just £5 to visitors under the age of 25.
I was very drawn to this wonderfully layered painting by Njideka Akunyili Crosby which uses transfers, colour pencil, collage on paper and acrylic paint.
The Time Is Always Now will be at the National Portrait Gallery until 19th May 2024.
Starting with the late 1700s, the first gallery is filled with charming and sensitive portraits of black sitters. Above, I’ve selected a Portrait of a man in a Red Suit by an unknown artist and a wonderful portrait of Ignatius Sancho, the first man of African descent to vote in a British election. He was a musician, shopkeeper, man of letters and friend of artists. Apparently this portrait by Thomas Gainsborough was completed in one sitting in 1768.
This painting is quite familiar because the subjects, Dido Elizabeth Belle and Lady Elizabeth Murray were bought up together at Kenwood House in London and have been the subject of a film. Painted by David Martin in 1779 this painting is beguiling because Lady Elizabeth appears in a conventional pose, with her book, but she’s affectionately connected to her second cousin, Dido (the illegitimate child of an enslaved woman and a Royal Navy officer) who is depicted in a rather mischievous pose as if she’s about to dart away with her collection of fruit and flowers. Lord Mansfield, who owned Kenwood House was Lord Chief Justice in England and instrumental in the abolition of slavery.
This magnificent bust by Francis Harwood, made in 1758, is placed at the centre of the first gallery and gives a wonderful gravitas and graciousness which sets the tone of the the exhibition.
Inevitably we see the role of the black servant in aristocratic homes. And this painting by Joshua Reynolds shows George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV) by Joshua Reynolds. The pose of the attendant – who is intimately arranging the prince’s clothing, caused a stir amongst audiences who first saw it at the RA Annual exhibition in 1787. No identity is given to the attendant but he is described as ‘Black’ by Reynolds.
The shadow of slavery continues with Edwin Longsden Long’s The Balylonian Marriage Market. Young women are selected by male spectators for marriage. I get the feeling he used the same model for most of the young women but darkened their skin colour.
The later galleries leave the iniquities of slavery behind but still reference the engagement of the British Empire with indigenous peoples and leave us a bit troubled by the lack of respect which travelled with the expansive ideas of British Imperialists. For example, the found wood and metal sculpture by El Anatsui called Akua’s Surviving Children is very powerful. Primitive Matters: Huts (2010) depicts the plain, sparse slave huts which contrast with the dwellings enjoyed by Europeans in Trinidad.
It’s good to see females well represented in the show. On the left you can see a work by The Singh Twins which references the ‘triangular trade’: goods were shipped from Europe to Africa, enslaved people were shipped to the Americas, plantation produce was shipped to Europe. The model featured is Fanny Eaton and you can see a sketch of her by Frederick Sandys on the right.
The show runs at the Royal Academy form 3rd February until 28th April 2024.
This fabulous sculpture placed in the courtyard of the Royal Academy is by Tavares Strachan. Made of bronze, black and gold leaf it’s called The First Supper (Galaxy Black) made in 2023.
Paper Places 