Being the utter romantic I am, I treated my better half to a day of enlightening culture a couple of Saturdays ago, by taking her up to London as a treat for her birthday .
The trip involved a spectrum of creative visits including the awe-inspiring Applestore in Regent Street, Libertys (and other out of our price range retail venues), sandwiches in Trafalgar Square, an afternoon visit to the National Portrait Gallery, a nostalgic visit to our one time favourite restaurant in Soho when we were courting called Ketners (previously owned by Ronnie Scott's but now sadly a Pizza Express), and then finally to see the stage play of Rosemary's favourite book "Birdsong".
"The highlight of the day you ask?"
The National Portrait Gallery.
It wasn't just the fact that there was, in one place, an amazing collection of portraits from the early Tudor times right to up to the modern day, or the wide range of medium used (there was oils, watercolors, silk screen printing, photography, etching, pencil and ink amongst many others), but it was the sheer brilliance of how all the artists manage to capture the personality of each of their subject matter, so much so that when I actually looked into the eyes of some of them, I was overwhelmed with a sense of actually recognizing their character and sprit. Frightening.
Looking into the eyes of William Pitt, I was immediately aware of his arrogance, his autocratic (management) style , his sense of power, where as with Sir Francis Bacon I instantly recognized a vulnerable, helpless but belligerent soul. I almost felt sorry for him.
The power of pictures, the power of art, I'm so proud to be part of an industry where this is so important!
If you love "people watching", take a visit to the NPG, you will undoubtably be mesmerized for hours on end.
I agree that pictures have an energy about them, but I'm unsure whether you can actually diagnose someone's character from an image. And if you could would it be fair?
ReplyDeleteIf you were having your portrait painted on a bad day it would capture the tension and discomfort you are feeling, revealing your 'bad' self as apposed to your 'best' self. Also art direction plays a huge part in the end product. Maybe you were told to convey an image of power and style by the painter for whatever reason, but really you are completely dependent on others.
Interpreting art, in my opinion is a gift. Some people have great intuition and some do not.
Ah Ketners - famously not just any old Pizze Express but the first ever in the UK. Does it still have a piano?
ReplyDeleteDave - I totally love your observations about Bacon's belligerence conveyed in that painting, I totally feel it too.
ReplyDeleteI reckon that the renaissance artists were given a brief to show power and strength and godliness and would probably have their heads cut off if they portrayed their subjects in any other way. Nowadays though the artist has so much more power to capture the souls of its subject. I believe that truly great artists can look into the souls of their sitters and capture the 'real' them regardless of what sort of mood the sitter was in. Countering that, all media is biased and there's nothing to stop an artist painting an expression into their subject to suit their own agenda.
it does have piano and it's white!!!
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