Tag Archives: London

MARATHON LEGS - EMMANUEL MUTAI
Aug 8 2011

EXHIBITION LONDON LIVES AT BANKSIDE GALLERY


THE BANKSIDE GALLERY, SOUTH BANK, LONDON will have an exhibition showing my painting.

The exhibition runs from 9 to 18 September 2011.

There will be 100 works from 100 different artists. The theme of the LONDON LIVES exhibition is ‘Travel’.

This is the second year of the competition. Last year I showed my painting of the Smithfield Nocturne cycle race.

This year my oil painting is Marathon Legs – Emmanuel Mutai.

The winning entry in this competition will have their work transferred to a display near Blackfriars Station.

MARATHON LEGS - EMMANUEL MUTAI

Jul 15 2011

URBAN SKETCHES IN LONDON


I have made several drawings in London, the last ones at the Trafalgar Square screening of Cinderella, the opera by Massenet. The previous week I sketched while waiting for the performance of Madame Butterfly. We were lucky to have seats, our friends had to sit down on the paving stones. But it is OK if you have bottles of wine to enjoy during the performance. Some people bring picnics too. This year no rain, thank goodness.

Cinderella Opera, Trafalgar Square, BP Big Screen

AUDIENCE AT CINDERALLA OPERA, MASSENET, TRAFALGAR SQUARE, OPEN AIR

Apr 28 2011

EDWARD BEALE – ARTIST – EXHIBITION AT PETLEYS, MAYFAIR


PETLEYS – 6 CORK STREET, MAYFAIR, W1S 3LL – EDWARD BEALE EXHIBITION

At the private view we were greeted by the gallery owners, Roy Petley and his son Jason Petley, and assistant Zara, who were very welcoming.

My overall impression was that the work of the artist Edward Beale owes a lot to its manipulated  texture and some paintings are three dimensional because of this, particularly the townscapes.

Edward lives near the Thames, in Lambeth and some works are of Lambeth houses and views near the river, Very successful are works of Thames barges and boats, and cranes near the docks.

I spoke to Edward about the paint he uses since there is a remarkable the link between his work and that of Frank Auerbach.  He said that he uses the same paint, made by Stokes in Sheffield and supplied in tins.

Otherwise he pointed out that he works en plein air, outside or from a van which he hires.  He said that he chooses to paint an area that he can cover in that day.
Frank Auerbach works in the studio.

The thickness of the paint must be a nightmare for those who have to keep the paintings clean and in good condition.  I could not imagine how one would dust them, for instance.

There was one gouache – a river scene done which I particularly liked.  Other smaller paintings also I noted down as having fresh, vibrant paint – not very thick, for instance Dutch ship being unloaded  9 x 14 inches, on panel.
Also I admired Sunny afternoon at Trinity Buoy Wharf, 12 x 14 inches , where there was a fine atmosphere of sunshine.

The total number of art work was 48, all paintings except for one drawing of a nude, and the various subjects included (very roughly):
small boat scenes; buildings in London, the docks and cranes, landscapes with mountains in the distance; flowers and fruit, abstract ‘landscapes’.
All the work was titled, thank goodness.  I cannot stand exhibitions where the works are ‘untitled’!
One landscape, View of the Pyrenees in May, 12 x 14 inches, I noted had delicious fresh greens, with a sky of blue, pink and white.
Overall, the exhibition is very well worth visiting.  It is on until 20 May 2011.
It was interesting to meet the artist  – a Londoner,  a very tall man, who might find working on a painting in a van quite constricting!

Mar 30 2011

BEACH VOLLEYBALL LONDON – HORSE GUARDS PARADE


There will be beach volleyball for the women’s team this year at Pre-Olympics Test matches.
Dates are 9 – 14 August

It will be at the famous Horse Guards Parade, where The Colours will be Trooped and inspected by Her Majesty the Queen in June.

Iinformation on the design of the stadium in 2012 here

and see BBC website for information on dates etc

Dates for Beach Volleyball 2011

Horse Guards Parade is at the end of The Mall, not far from Trafalgar Square and St James’s Park.

Mar 29 2011

EXHIBITION OF WATTEAU DRAWINGS AT ROYAL ACADEMY


JEAN ANTOINE WATTEAU EXHIBITION OF DRAWINGS

AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY PICCADILLY LONDON

In the small galleries at the top of Royal Academy building, is a collection of drawings in conté crayon by Jean Antoine Watteau, French artist working mainly in Paris in 18th Century.

Drawings are small, of course, and  were used as working sources by the artist who apparently kept them in bound volumes.  Interesting to read that he worked on the drawings ‘without any specific painting in mind’.   In another part of the galleries I read ‘he rarely made compositional studies’.

There are no paintings in the exhibition but you can see them at the Wallace Collection in London, and of course if you can travel, in other collections in cities such as Paris and Berlin.

Particularly compelling and engaging are the drawings of young women and girls.  Heads predominate but there are quite a few full length.

I read that Watteau ‘rarely used drawing to sketch compositional ideas for paintings’ .  I tend to believe that most artists do so (sketch a painting out first, I mean, if it is a representational painting).

Also he grouped the figures ‘so as to accord with a landscape background that he had already conceived or prepared”;  this suggests that he worked up the background of his painting and then used figures from his drawing collection to people the landscape.

He is renowned for fetes champetres, where the courtly collection of ladies and gentlemen, in silks and satins,  desport themselves pleasurably in idyllic surroundings.