BBC Four Goes Abstract in September

This autumn there's going to be a series of programmes about abstract art on BBC4.  The programmes are:

The Rules Of Abstraction with Matthew Collings, BBC Four 
(90 minutes) Mon 8 Sep 2014 22:00 BBC Four
The programme examines the development and rise of abstract art and how it became prominent in the art world. The primary argument put forward by Collings is that abstraction is the key

POLL: Photography in Art Galleries and Museums

There's been a lot of discussion about the photography of art in art galleries of late. However today you've got an opportunity to express your views.



Tourists photographing the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, in Paris

This is a POLL to identify what people think about photography in art galleries.

You can vote up to three times to express your views (but be sure to choose all three options at the

Who painted this? #61

"Who painted this?" returns following the break while I wrote my book!   

This week we'll start with a painting which is both seasonal and is a painting I've never seen before. However I could tell who the painter was straight away due to a particular attribute of the painting. I'm thinking a fair few will also make the connection - identify the artist - and go hunting for the title.



Who

Sophie Ploeg and The Lace Trail - BP Travel Award exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery

Sophie Ploeg's BP Travel Award exhibition 'The Lace Trail" can currently be seen at the National Portrait Gallery in London - until 21 September 2014.  It then tours to Sunderland and Edinburgh in 2014-15.



Sophie Ploeg with part of The Lace Trail
the exhibition for the BP Travel Award 2013
at the National Portrait Gallery - 26 June - 21 September 2014


The exhibition follows on from Sophie

The Secret of Drawing

In 2005, the history of drawing was explored by Andrew Graham Dixon in a four part series called The Secret of Drawing.





That series of programmes are now on YouTube.  I'm not sure how they got there - but they're certainly worth taking a look at. It's just such a pity that the website for the series does not include links to the videos within its archive of the programmes - because it should

Bruegel to Freud - Prints from the Courtauld Gallery

Dr Rachel Sloan, the Curator of the Bruegel to Freud - Prints from the Courtauld Gallery - the summer showcase exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery is giving a talk tonight which I'm not going to be able to attend. However here she is introducing the exhibition which spans 500 years of printmaking and including works by Mantegna, Bruegel, Canaletto, Picasso, Matisse and Freud.

I've got to put

A video interview with Thomas Ganter, Winner of the BP Portrait Award 2014

Thomas Ganter, winner of the BP Portrait Award 2014
with his winning portrait "Man with a Plaid Blanket"
oil on vanvas 1600mm x 600mm

Thomas Ganter kindly gave me a video interview about winning the BP Portrait Award 2014, the morning after the Awards Ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery

I'm very grateful to Thomas for giving me an interview when English is not his first language - and

The Mac after the Fire - an Archive, an Appeal and guess WHO!

News about "what happened next" following the fire at the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA)



The Macintosh Appeal
New Trustees are Peter Capaldi and Brad Pitt
Graduation and Degree Show 2014




The Macintosh Appeal

Last week The Glasgow School of Art formerly launched The Mackintosh Appeal. The aim is to raise something like £20m to allow the GSA to commission the work

Making Colour and painting with poison

I highly recommend the new "Making Colour" exhibition at the National Gallery and will be giving it a full review very shortly - once I've finished work for the layouts for my book.



Making Colour - The Yellow and Orange Room
Find out more about the paintings in the Yellow and Orange Room in the exhibition on the exhibition website 

Those interested in the history of the development of

Who made a mark in May 2014?

I'm still trying to develop a new way of doing "Who's made a mark". I'm now thinking along the lines of a once a month round-up complemented by more frequent posts of new things to look at via my Facebook Page. This seems to work better for me as it spaces out the effort involved.

That said I still need to work on timing - this was supposed to be published last Sunday - but I ran out of steam

OASC for Metropolitan Museum of Art Images

I do like to look at images in high resolution - there's an amazing difference between high resolution images online and those you see in books or low resolution images online.

You can now access some 400,000 high resolution images belonging to the Metropolitan Museum of Art through their Open Access for Scholarly Content (OASC) initiative.

That basically means they are for educational use.

Women and Art

Here's a compendium of links to the current wealth of television and articles online about Women and Art.


BBC - The Story of Women in Art

This is a three part series featuring Professor Amanda Vickery, Professor in Early Modern History at Queen Mary College, University of London.

Her programmes explore how there is an absence of female artists on the walls of art galleries and museums. She

"Mr Turner" - a new film about JMW Turner

'Turner on Vanishing Day' by William Parrott

See a trailer and watch a review of Mike Leigh's new film "Mr Turner" - about the life and career of JMW Turner - and see some small excerpts. It's getting rave reviews:

The Guardian Cannes 2014: Mr Turner review – Timothy Spall dazzles as JMW Turner
The Telegraph: Mr Turner, review: 'supremely enjoyable' (you need to scroll down fast and stop the

4 May 2014 - Who's made a mark?

Society of Botanical Artists Exhibition Invitation


I'm back "on the book" this month - we're now at the editing / design / layout stage and refinement re images.  For those involved I may be getting back to you!

As before this post is a recap of:

recent posts on this blog
things I've seen and highlighted on my Facebook Page. Many thanks to all those who have 'liked' my Facebook Page in the

Van Dyck self portrait saved for the nation by most successful fundraising campaign ever

The Save Van Dyck's Self Portrait  fundraising campaign jointly run by the National Portrait Gallery and the Art Fund has proved to be the most successful campaign run in the last 100 years. A substantial Heritage Lottery Grant supplements funds already raised and the iconic Van Dyck self portrait will now stay in Britain.

It will also be made much more accessible to people around the country