A post which went lost and missing earlier this year!
April was a lovely month for visits from far-flung friends. One of my
very dearest friends was in London on a lap of honour the last couple of weeks before a significant milestone. It was fantastic spending time with her and catching up. We had excellent, sociable meals
here and
here. She was whisked away to a country spa for a few days, but was back in Londres for an afternoon of hitting the Tates.
I had not seen any of the temporary exhibitions, so it seemed like a plan. We decided to start at
Tate Modern and take the
Tate-to-Tate boat upstream to
Tate Britain.
Arshile Gorky: A Retrospective
To be honest I couldn’t really remember much about
Arshile Gorky from my Art History studies – other than he seemed to be a second-ranking Abstract Expressionist. This show bears that impression out – it contains copious quantities of rather dull and derivative surrealism-based abstraction – all bar one room, which is by far the most impressive.
Poor Gorky had a desperately unhappy and tragic life – his father left Turkey for America when the future artist was little more than a baby; he and his remaining family had to flee Turkey during the Armenian Genocide and in the aftermath his mother died of starvation in Russia while Gorky was still a teenager.
Many years later he came across a photograph of himself and his mother from this time and used it as the basis for a series of portraits and paintings: without doubt masterpieces all. Tender, sombre and tragic – a supreme memorial. I responded to these so much more than to the abstracts – several of which were beautiful, but mostly just seemed professional and competent. One wonders if Gorky was in the wrong place at the wrong time – he was a brilliant figurative artist in a New York art world in thrall exclusively to Abstraction. And it turns out my half-memory was wrong – it was Gorky apparently who lit that Abstract Impressionist fuse. But in retrospect his artistic heirs overshadow him.
Arshile Gorky Tate Modern
10 February - 3 May 2010
Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New WorldVan Doesburg was a founder member of the Avant-Garde and crossed swords with the Bauhaus (before the Bauhaus succumbed to his vision). The title of the show definitely describes it well - his ambition was definitely to construct a new world. The exhibition contains examples of his typographic work, furniture design and architecture as well as painting. The typography still looks modern. This show is hugely fun and very absorbing.
Van Doesburg and the International Avant-Garde: Constructing a New World Tate Modern
4 February - 16 May 2010
Chris OfilliBoth of us are Chris Ofili fans and were looking forward to this one with anticipation. A retrospective, especially a first one, is a tricky event for an artist - can the body of work sustain the hype?
Ofili is undoubtedly the real thing - stunning paintings and ambitious ensembles; very sensitive drawings too.
Chris Ofilli Tate Britain
27 January - 16 May 2010
Henry MooreThis show looks very handsome - the sculptures are arranged against beautiful coloured walls. It’s very refreshing to see Moore’s more intimate pieces.
Henry Moore Tate Britain
24 February - 8 August 2010
It would almost be more original going back to basics and doing an Idomeneo with authentic 18th-century costumes. The original Idomeneo Anton Graaf had a fantastic rococo fantasy of a costume. Can you imagine the sea monster? It can’t be right to do a production where the traditional (and let’s face it, scripted) sea monster does not appear. But alas, exact mid-century modern equivalents for sea monsters were not available to the designers, and the monster was cut (the interval crowd at the ice cream stall was highly indignant). In mitigation, the ENO does a truly memorable storm scene.
Grace Kelly’s film career ended when she was 27 upon her marriage to Prince Ranier of Monaco, and thereafter she lived the life of a European Princess – atoning for her privilege by doing good works while dressed in haute couture. But not acting. A rumoured comeback in 1962 was quickly denied. And thereafter one of the most notable film actresses of her generation did not act in films. Like Garbo before her, she absented herself at the peak of her career: unlike Garbo Grace remained centre stage for life.
