Streetwise

Diana and Angel

Blek le Rat was the first street artist to use the life-sized stencil and is considered the Godfather of Graffiti. 

In his unauthorised biography Banksy said: "Every time I think I've painted something slightly original, I find out that Blek le Rat has done it as well, only 20 years earlier."

Today a new exhibition of the French artist's work opens in London. 

You can read about Blek le Rat and his rivalry with Banksy in this article from the Independent here.

Or check out his other work in our collection. 

A Touch of Frost

Colour on the Side

“Just to think in terms of colour is enough to set the soul alight. Shapes are known to people by words, but colour can make its own shape and exists in its own right.”

Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003) was one of Britain’s most respected and passionate abstract artists, championing the autonomy of colour and its highly emotive power.

Colour is central to his work...as is evident in Colour on the Side. Those signature rounded forms reoccur in many of his prints but somehow manage to explore a new dynamic each time, delighting and surprising us in ways that are not always easy to describe.  

Black and Mauve on Grey

Red, Blue, Orange on Yellow

Frost himself stated: 

"I am convinced that people who look for words to describe art completely miss what is in a good work, for words describe the known image, good art is indescribable and that is why it is usually an irritant."

So, no more words. Let these prints from our collection here do the talking.

Stock Character

The character of Robert Macaire is renowned in French culture as that of the archetypal villain. Originally the protagonist in a book and on stage, Monsieur Macaire later featured in a series of Daumier caricatures that appeared in the daily satirical newspaper, Le Charivari and which portrayed him as a morally bankrupt businessman. It was the first newspaper to be illustrated with lithographs such as those in our Daumier collection (dated 1840). They show the unscrupulous Macaire in a number of different guises: a bible salesman, an artist…a qualified eye specialist. But ultimately, always as a swindling crook. 

Sir the Shareholders

The caption underneath this picture translates as follows:

My Dear Stockholders,
The founder of the firm, Mr. Macaire, has resigned from his post of director. The position in which he has left the business is as follows: Share capital, 800'000 Fr. Expenditure on posters, classified advertisements, handbills and newspaper articles, 400'000 Fr. Purchases of economy furnaces, matches, saucepans and top quality carrots, 400'000 Fr. Remaining in hand, 400'000 zeros. In other words, our funds have been cooked, we've consumed them all. Rather than putting Paris in the stew, we have eaten our own soup and if we don't put some spice in the eating, the pot will boil over. (a new investment of ... is then voted with unanimity...)

More captions are available on the Daumier Register site.

Bible Salesman

A Qualified Eye Specialist

 

The subtitle for the British satirical magazine, Punch, was actually The London Charivari – a clear hommage to the French version. As for Robert Macaire, his persona is such that you could easily imagine his counterpart across the channel and, from where we stand today, across the centuries too.

Take a look (but don’t be taken in) here.