Inspired by Nature's bounty
Alan Reynolds: Summer: Young September's Cornfield (image from here)
This morning I went into our local museum to see an exhibition: Angie Lewin - A Printmaker's Journey. An exhibition of Angie Lewin's work alone would have been interesting enough, but this is so much better: a collection of pieces which the catalogue describes as an introspective exhibition: one which gathered together major influences, affinities and works of importance to her own visual journey, past and present.
I enjoy seeing Angie Lewin's work. I so admire her compositions, her collections of evidence, memories of being in the landscape. My favourites, however are the images which capture the shape of the landscape such as Skye to Harris (below)
and especially Black Island - both in the show.
The piece of hers which I loved the most in the exhibition is a watercolour: Wooden Dish with Uist Pebbles (image below from here).
One delightful surprise was a painting, Brimham Rock, Yorkshire by Graham Sutherland which I had not seen before. What a powerful image. The painting, a gouache on paper is the original from the Shell poster shown below (image from here). The frame and lettering diminishes the power of the original. At first I thought that it was a tree, but no - the rocks exist.
Astonishing, the painting is representational, but moves, pulls in the viewer, enticingly looking like a tree in wind, then contributing to the otherworldliness of rocks and their surroundings. (image below from here)
Another delight, another discovery for me was Monica Poole's wood engraving Under Water (image below from here).
And yet another new artist to me, and attractive, unusual work is Paul Scott's Scott's Cumbrian Blue(s), The Garden Series, Willow Cuttings (image below from here).
All in all this morning reinforced my general feeling that I get more of substance these days from small specialist exhibitions rather than the huge blockbusters, not least because I encountered only two other visitors this morning (and they soon left, leaving me alone) rather than crowds. I now have lots to savour.
A wonderful collection of works. I like the Alan Reynolds, the Angie Lewins, and the Paul Scott - I am a great fan of his work.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I prefer the small, specialist exhibitions these days, but still persist in visiting the blockbusters where I get annoyed by the crowds. Oh well....
Yes, Angie Lewin's choices and the ability to have the works displayed is wondrous indeed. I was especially delighted to find Paul Scott's work, and am enjoying looking at his website.
DeleteI have always been leary of crowds, and this aversion has become acute over the years. I am thankful that I managed so see so much of great beauty and interest in the days when the crowds had not yet arrived.