E_Meeting

I had a really great day yesterday in the V&A, my first e-meeting.

I had the privilege to meet two of the best bloggers in English.

My camera does not like the lighting in dark museums and so my pictures were very disappointing. I do hope that soon our technology will overcome this difficulty of long exposures, camera shake and noise. The beautiful works from Japan, India, Persia, China and Europe that I took are not good enough to show here. Camera shake is the main problem when flash is not favoured; but I have a few to share that show a record of the day.

I have to admit I got off to a bad start. Apart from being late I got them the wrong way round, I took Conrad for Gawain, once that was sorted, things could only get better! From their blogs I had imagined them to be much older. (I hope they will see that as a complement.)

Gawain is a mine of information. I stated that I was happy to tag along and listen. This was a wise suggestion on my part as an unstoppable flow of knowledge proceeded from him for the following five hours. Regardless of origin he talked effortlessly on objects of great beauty, much of it in depth. Only Conrad was his equal, tripping him into further elaborate justifications of technique, skills, origins and relevant history.

The Victoria and Albert Museum is substantial and you need a week or so to just get round to see it all. If you were to do it in the depth we went to yesterday, you would need treble that time.

Meeting Conrad and Gawain was a great treat and one I would happily repeat.

We struck up a disscussion with an equally bright person.

This wine cup was quite amazing.


Two beautiful little portrait heads in wood.

This plate would have inspired another short story from Saki! (H.H.Munro)

I am an admirer of terra cotta and the female form, clothed

or otherwise!

One specially for Simon Holloway in Australia.

http://deba.wordpress.com/


May I finish with a funny story at my expense! I predicted I would be late so I sent a message by text as follows.

" late, as predicted eta 10 30 vanda coffee restaurant robert"

After half an hour spent in interpretation I had completely foxed them!

Lady Godiva

In my continuing search for works by Sir William Reid Dick I found this one of Lady Godiva who's story has intrigued me since I first heard it as a school boy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Godiva_statue.jpg


Also at the RA we can fine a Christ Child and Mother here:

http://www.racollection.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?submit-button=SUMMARY&$03/1711%20index%20mus_obj_parts=.&_IXMAXHITS_=1&_IXSPFX_=full/t

Droit de Suite

If you write a book and it is published and does well you get royalties, same with a film, play, music etc. But as a painter or sculptor once you have sold your work of art for £500; that’s it. When the buyer sells it on for £50,000 a couple of years later the painter/ sculptor gets zero. Is that fair?
The basic idea of Droit de Suite is that an artist should get a share of any increase in value that occurs after the sale of an artwork.
This is discussed here:
http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/2007/05/unfair-in-end.html

and in great depth here: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/documents/publications/325.pdf

Any comments?

Sir William Reid Dick's Kelpie

Marly is right in some respects on the subject of "Kelpie" on my English Sculpture blog. Here is a bronze version of the same sculpture. The plaster would have been made as a "master" and kept by the foundry or the sculptor in case of accident and for the record. Smaller or larger versions could be made from this "master". "Artprice" mentions a sale of this work with details but you have to pay to see a photo of it. So for the time being I will still have to hope I got it right!

http://englishsculpture.blogspot.com/2007/06/sir-william-reid-dick.html

More on relief

For my e-friends across the water I post these that Chris Miller missed out of the Reingold sale catalogue.

Relief

I wait with bated breath for the next instalment of Amanda Sisk’s post on sculptural relief and drawing. As Chris has also picked up this subject in a very positive way I felt somewhat bound to add my bit.

It is necessary sometimes to resort to relief for reasons of space in particular. I do not however warm to it as a an Art in its own right. I feel that far from being the best of both worlds it instead lacks more that it gains. Sculpture has the advantage of presence; it exists, where as a painting and to some extent therefore a relief, is only an image. There are however some excellent examples of good relief work which have much to commend them.

(I have not included the negative (concave) relief but will deal with it under another topic one day.)

Here are just a few I found at random from the 19th C ranging from “the almost flat” to the almost 360 degrees.

“Life’s Circle” by Alfred Turner is a bit idealistic so I will have to admit I like it.

The painter Eva Roos Vedder by Goscombe John

The American Augustus Saints-Gaudens did an early experiment with another painter’s portrait Bastien-Lepage.


In silver, “Dancing" by Frampton

“Peace” by Harry Bates

“Ignis Fatuus” by Henry Pegram

Albert Bartholome's “Monument aux Morts” seems to incorporate both worlds!!

Henry Chapu memorial is deep and

Daniel Chester French has moved it on a bit more to deep relief with his Milmore Memorial.

Erik has also introduced me to a Master of Relief who has really inspired this post. Pier Pander's work can be found at

http://www.pierpander.nl/

Swallows has a good post on relief see here:

http://100swallows.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/relief-as-a-skillful-lie/

Women in Art (paintings)

I found this rather wonderful u tube. Apart from being clever, it is beautiful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUDIoN-_Hxs