A Star is Born

Not only is Rembrandt recognised as one of the greatest painters of all time, his skills as an etcher are arguably unmatched.

The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds

The example here is a scene in the New Testament: The Angel Appearing to the Shepherds. It is Rembrandt’s first etched nocturne and displays his astonishing ability to depict contrasts of light and dark.

Christopher White discusses this early etching in his book ‘Rembrandt as an Etcher’*

"He achieved the richness of tone for which he sought, and gave the plate a quality which is essentially that of etching and not a mere approximation of a painting. In doing so Rembrandt had abandoned traditional methods, and the procedure he evolved in this print was to colour his work for some years hence."

To see more of that work, including other bible scenes and his famous self-portraits, click here.

*Rembrandt as an Etcher, Christoper White, Yale University Press, 1999, p37

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.

Great Dane

 
We’re delighted to be exhibiting Anne Mette Hjortshøj's first solo ceramics show at the gallery, opening this Saturday 31 March.

Anne Mette lives and works on the small Danish island of Bornholm located in the Baltic Sea. We travelled to the island back in snowy February to make this short documentary about Anne Mette, looking at her influences both within and outside of the great Danish potting tradition and the beautiful nature of the island which permeates her pieces. 

click here to view more pots

Spring Forward

As the clocks have now gone forward it's time to greet the extra daylight with a spring in your step.

David Kirk's Spring does just that; its two country walkers striding in opposite directions, but with equal purpose, while the horizon curves into a gentle smile. 


This visual playfulness features in much of David Kirk's work...cast your eyes on these.

Glass Jubilee

John Reyntiens at the gallery

Those of you who came to our Patrick Reyntiens exhibition opening in December will remember the fantastic talk and demonstration given by Patrick’s son – John Reyntiens. (Unfortunately Patrick broke his hip the day before so was unable to join us.) 

I've Slipped, I've Slipped!

John has been in the news this week as his new stained glass window was unveiled in the Palace of Westminster, commissioned to commemorate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
 
The window, designed and made of around 1,500 separate pieces, will be installed in its permanent position later this year.

Put it Up! Put it Up!

Read the BBC article here.
 

Or take a peek at the colourful stained glass in our Patrick Reyntiens collection, to which these two panels here belong.

Love In the Time of Intolerance

Two Boys Aged 23 or 24

C. P. Cavafy was a Greek poet who was born in Alexandria in 1863. He was one of the earliest modern authors to address homosexuality in his writing and was discovered by Hockney when the latter was a student at the Royal College of Art in the early 1960s.  
In 1966 Hockney began work on a series of etchings based on a selection of Cavafy's work – each print corresponding to a poem. The illustrations were etched directly onto copper plates (you can see this in the video below) using a simple, spare style which matched the unadorned yet powerful language of the poetry.
Though a number of the prints display direct reference to the middle eastern world of Cavafy’s poems (To remain, set outside a dry cleaning shop and The shop window of a tobacco store both have Arabic shop signs), other illustrations are based on drawings of Hockney’s friends in his bedroom in Notting Hill. 

The prints are not literal translations of a narrative, but rather Hockney’s interpretation of the sentiments explored in the poems: the passion of chance encounters, the familiarity between lovers. 

Portrait of Cavafy in Alexandria

The suite was published in 1967, the same year in which legislation to decriminalise homosexuality in England and Wales was passed. Therefore, this set of prints represents an important public statement: one which is told through the most intimate and personal aspects of love.

To view the prints alongside the poems which inspired them, click here and flick through our online catalogue.  

The Arts Council made a film about the creation of the engravings entitled Love’s Presentation. Watch an extract in the video below or view it here:

Motherly Moments

Mother's Day is around the corner. Click play to see some moving pics...

1) Mother and Children in Holland Park - Dora Holzhandler

2) The Parrot - Ethel Gabain

3) Maternita' e Arancia – Picasso

4) Let's Straighten your Tie - Patrick Reyntiens 

5) 'Look up, speak nicely...' - Sir John Tenniel

6) Berçeuse - Ethel Gabain 

7) Mother and Child - Eric Gill

8) Jess in the Rain with the Twins - Colin Self

9) Il Pasto - Picasso

10) Mother and Children in St Ives- Dora Holzhandler

11) Sake Bottle & Cup - Lisa Hammond

12) Standing Mother and Child - Josef Herman

13) Mother and Child Standing - Ethel Gabain 

14) Les Premières Roses - J. Gose

15) Still Life with Landscape II - Alan Tinley