SUMMER 2023
It has been a long time since I wrote a post.
The main reason is that I have been primarily concentrating on making paintings. I find more and more that I want to use words less and less. They are only an approximation of what I want to say. Even the word ‘say’ is wrong. I suppose I mean what I want to communicate. Perhaps what I can’t help needing to.
What I’m leading up to saying is that I don’t intend to write about my paintings in this blog. Even though I’m including an image of one of my new pieces with this, you should consider it merely as a taster for my next exhibition. Probably 2025!
I’m going to write about the newly re-opened National Portrait Gallery. I went on Friday with friends who suggested going there instead of our original intention of a visit to Tate Britain.
The place was packed. I think partly due to the persistent rain but mostly due to the hyperbole with which the gallery has been bombarding us. In fact it has changed little. The same portraits are hung in a different order and different groupings and there are a few pieces that were new to me. There seems to be more emphasis on portraits of non-white faces in the earlier periods and even more so in the contemporary galleries. In fact the contemporary gallery showed some, what could only be described as down-right-awful paintings. Also, in general, there was more work displayed by non-male artists. I hesitate to use the term female or women painters. The written material is extensive and very enlightening. So, unusually for me, I have praise for the curators. One of the friends I was with said that it was a great history lesson. He is an historian and an academic and enjoys the written documentation, while I prefer to look at the paintings.
The portrait of William Shakespeare and the one of Wellington are probably the best paintings in the gallery. The Wellington is unfinished, and better for that than if it had been overly finished. No doubt, that’s because of my modern eye. The Shakespeare is simply a good painting and the first piece collected by the National Portrait Gallery. Something new that I learnt from reading the screed is that it is the only known portrait of Shakespeare probably painted from life.
It’s a shame about the gallery’s new tearoom. Chaotic and uncomfortable furniture is the best description. I especially disliked being ordered to stand in a particular place, on the red line, while queuing for the tea. There was no reason since we were in no one’s way. It’s all about control of the masses.
It seems that I have ended on a sour note. However, I do urge you to visit the NPG when next you’re nearby. It’s free and you don’t have to see everything. Just look at a couple of pieces and find somewhere else to get a cup of tea.
New Stuff #6
As always interesting comments and thoughtful observations. We await your next exhibition with anticipation.
Dear Sheila and Leonard,
Thanks for your message. I’ll let you know the date of my next show as soon as I know.
Best wishes, Andrew
HI Andrew
Really good to hear from you . Very excited to see your new paintings and look forward to seeing more. We have had a very difficult
2022 and so sadly were not able to get to your exhibition .
Sending our love to you and Paula.
Helaine and Yorick
Hi Andrew, your new piece is very interesting when compared to the three earlier pieces from 2022. There is more space in that whitish background creating a calmness of expanse that tends to bring out a greater clarity with clearly defined angles, form , colour and impact of each individual shape. I am no Art critic or indeed have any Art training or expertise, but my eyes and mind can find relaxation, tranquillity and peace. Each and every one will have our own individual thoughts and our own senses tickled and touched by the stroke of your brushes and the words we the audience, onlookers, observers, will find to bring a dialogue within ourselves and once shared with others a silent conversation of explanation! Great to see you creating Andrew, thank you. Take care and it maybe sometimes less is MORE and SPACE is inspiring. As ever wishing you and Paula well, kind of you to share with me, much appreciated and valued. Shalom Stanford
Hi Andrew, my first comments did not seem to be sent. So I will begin again. Firstly, great to see you creating again and thanks for sharing it dear friend. I will let you know how your latest creation was received by my eyes and thoughts. I enjoy the space that is inviting me into the framework of your painting. The whitish background provides a stage that allows the shapes, colours, angles and textures to find their own mobility and interaction with each other, creating a clarity of individuality and the opportunity for a collective blend and interaction. I am no Art expert, no critic and certainly no one use to sharing my opinion. But in your latest creation for me there is tranquillity and peace, a place for SPACE and for visual mobility of each and all the shapes from my own perspective. I guess in relation to your other three examples from 2022 I find a greater sense of freedom to have the SPACE in my own observations to be involved with your creation!! I guess for me it is a sense of less is MORE and SPACE is inviting and interactive. Thank you for sharing it Andrew, as ever, wishing you and Paula well and continued creativity. Shalom Stanford
Glad to know you’re still going strong! Best wishes from Minneapolis, Sandy & Peter Smith
New Stuff #6 put me in mind of a late Beethoven string quartet – as artists mature they often simplify down to the bare bones or core of what they want to express. (This assumes #6 is typical of the new stuff).
I also wonder if you are really ‘trying to communicate’ as you suggest in the blog. As an artist, aren’t you just expressing yourself – it’s then up to others whether or not they can relate to it or gain anything from it.
Adrian
You’re quite right Adrian. I’m not sure that anything I do is typical. It’s just new and subsequent work will no doubt change.