A trip to London for a couple of exhibitions...
It's been an interesting day weather-wise - I was blown around by the wind, rained on, there was sunshine and hail stones and then it started raining again! I was back in my winter coat with my gloves!
After catching the train to Charing Cross I walked to The Royal Academy for their Angelica Kauffman exhibition. It wasn't a very large exhibition, but some things caught my eye and these are under the cut (picture heavy!):
Angelica Kaufman was born in Switzerland in 1741. She first visited Italy in 1754 and initially performed as a singer alongside painting portraits and copying the Old Masters.
By 1762 she had decided to concentrate on her painting and she was an Honorary member of the Accademia Clementina di Bologna and had been elected a Member of Florence's Accademia delle Arti del Disengno.
Self-portrait in 1781, here she wears traditional Austrian National dress.
This portrait of David Garrick (the actor - painted in 1764) was exhibited in the Free Society of Artists in London in 1765 to great acclaim.
A lovely watercolour of Angelica Kauffmann (1764-66) is attributed to Nathaniel Dance.
She moved to London in 1766 and found support from the artist Joshua Reynolds. She painted his portrait in 1767 -
In 1768 she was one of only two women artists (the other was Mary Moser) among the 36 Founding Members of the Royal Academy. Her friendship with Reynolds and commissions from royal women including Queen Charlotte meant she was quickly accepted into English Society.
This painting of the Founding Members was painted by Johan Zoffany in 1771 and shows the Founding Members of the RA. On moral grounds, the women were excluded as this shows a life class with male models, however, their portraits are shown on the wall.
Cleopatra Adorning the Tomb of Mark Antony (1769). I love the light in this painting.
In 1778 Richard Samuel created Portraits in the Characters of the Muses in the Temple of Apollo to celebrate some of the best-known creative and intellectual women in late 18th-century Britain. Angelica Kauffman is the only artist - shown sitting at an easel on the left-hand side.
Self-portrait with bust of Minerva (1780) . Painted as she left London to return to Italy - holding a stylus and a portfolio of drawings.
Self-portrait at the Crossroads between the Arts of Music and Painting (1794). Depicting the choice Kaufmann made between becoming a singer or an artist.
I loved the detail on this costume
Portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton as the Muse of Comedy (1791)
A lovely painting of Henrietta Maria Hill (1792) dressed as the Muse of Love Poetry: Erato
The sitter's future husband Charles Brudenell-Bruce loved the portrait so much that he commissioned her to paint his own likeness wearing 17th-century dress (emulating the 'swagger portraits' of Anthony van Dyck).
Angelica Kauffman died in November 1807 after a short illness and one of her few religious works was carried at her funeral in Rome. Christ and the Samaritan Woman (1796)
Having enjoyed that exhibition I decided to get the bus to Two Temple Place which is along the River Thames near Temple Station. I visited the building before (which is fascinating) back in May 2021, but his time I was there to see their exhibition The Glass Heart. There were some lovely examples of glass production both traditional as well as more modern designs - lots of photos under the cut.
The exhibition started with some traditional stained glass from 1866. Simeon and Christ from St John The Baptist Church in Worcestershire copied the style of medieval glass and was to help restore existing windows from 1310.
Some Pre-Raphaelite designs. The Woodcutter (1863) was designed by Ford Madox Brown and Philip Webb for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Cox (later Morris and Co).
Designed for the 1st Duke of Westminster - Clement James Heaton's Reynard The Fox (1870-79). The yellow colour in this panel would have been painted using silver nitrate and fired in a kiln to produce the colour fused into the glass.
William Morris' designs - The Angel of Annunciation and The Virgin of the Annunciation - designs for stained glass windows at All Saints Church, Selsley, Gloucestershire (1849-1896)
Another Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones design for Morris Musician Angel (1865)
Christopher Whall designed this Expulsion from Paradice - Adam and Eve Before God for the manufacturer WG Saunders & Co (1880). Whall was a self-taught glass artist.
Another of Whall's designs - for a window in Dornoch Cathedral in Sutherland (1913)
I thought this Dove (Descent of the Holy Spirit) from 1906 was lovely.
Glass was not just for windows of course - glassmakers made novelty items such as walking sticks (thought to prevent evil from entering your home when stored by the front door), rolling pins, and practical items.
There were a whole series of glass ships in glass bottles which were so detailed!
Glass artists have moved into 3D modelling. This shows scenes from St Bede's life - Entering the Monastery - created in 2022 by Monster Chetwynd.
Another view - the figures were so cute!
Geoffrey Clarke designed this panel in aluminium and glass for the P&O Cruise Liner - SS Canberra in 1960.
One of my favourite designers John Piper - an Abstract Panel (1965-66) made by Patrick Reyntiens. Piper designed windows for Coventry Cathedral.
Glass vases from 1850
Gorgeous on all sides!
Cameo glass was produced in Stourbridge. Layers of different coloured glass are carved back to reveal the other colours beneath. This takes its inspiration from Roman 'Portland Vase'.
Up to 27 people would have been involved in making these.
Sinuous forms created by blowing glass created by Harvel Littleton (1986-87)
The vase on the right is made from Uranium (also known as Vaseline) glass containing uranium (1880). This glows under ultraviolet light. The vase on the left is an experiment in creating opalescent glass (1880).
Described as a 'portable stained glass window'. I loved it, but I would be terrified of knocking it over!
I have some of this glass in my studio - it's one of my favourites.
Blown glass shapes and copper
This was incredibly clever - the glass had been screen printed with glass powder and then fired to make this 'bag' with the textures of a real bad.
It even had a zip at the top! There was an area where you could feel a sample of glass like this which was really weird as it looked soft, but was of course, hard!
Two Temple Place has some wonderful glass of its own including this wonderful skylight.
It was a good morning out - I'm glad I got to see the glass especially as the exhibition ends at the weekend and then Two Temple Place closes until next year (apart from a few open days in the Summer).
After catching the train to Charing Cross I walked to The Royal Academy for their Angelica Kauffman exhibition. It wasn't a very large exhibition, but some things caught my eye and these are under the cut (picture heavy!):
Angelica Kaufman was born in Switzerland in 1741. She first visited Italy in 1754 and initially performed as a singer alongside painting portraits and copying the Old Masters.
By 1762 she had decided to concentrate on her painting and she was an Honorary member of the Accademia Clementina di Bologna and had been elected a Member of Florence's Accademia delle Arti del Disengno.
Self-portrait in 1781, here she wears traditional Austrian National dress.
This portrait of David Garrick (the actor - painted in 1764) was exhibited in the Free Society of Artists in London in 1765 to great acclaim.
A lovely watercolour of Angelica Kauffmann (1764-66) is attributed to Nathaniel Dance.
She moved to London in 1766 and found support from the artist Joshua Reynolds. She painted his portrait in 1767 -
In 1768 she was one of only two women artists (the other was Mary Moser) among the 36 Founding Members of the Royal Academy. Her friendship with Reynolds and commissions from royal women including Queen Charlotte meant she was quickly accepted into English Society.
This painting of the Founding Members was painted by Johan Zoffany in 1771 and shows the Founding Members of the RA. On moral grounds, the women were excluded as this shows a life class with male models, however, their portraits are shown on the wall.
Cleopatra Adorning the Tomb of Mark Antony (1769). I love the light in this painting.
In 1778 Richard Samuel created Portraits in the Characters of the Muses in the Temple of Apollo to celebrate some of the best-known creative and intellectual women in late 18th-century Britain. Angelica Kauffman is the only artist - shown sitting at an easel on the left-hand side.
Self-portrait with bust of Minerva (1780) . Painted as she left London to return to Italy - holding a stylus and a portfolio of drawings.
Self-portrait at the Crossroads between the Arts of Music and Painting (1794). Depicting the choice Kaufmann made between becoming a singer or an artist.
I loved the detail on this costume
Portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton as the Muse of Comedy (1791)
A lovely painting of Henrietta Maria Hill (1792) dressed as the Muse of Love Poetry: Erato
The sitter's future husband Charles Brudenell-Bruce loved the portrait so much that he commissioned her to paint his own likeness wearing 17th-century dress (emulating the 'swagger portraits' of Anthony van Dyck).
Angelica Kauffman died in November 1807 after a short illness and one of her few religious works was carried at her funeral in Rome. Christ and the Samaritan Woman (1796)
Having enjoyed that exhibition I decided to get the bus to Two Temple Place which is along the River Thames near Temple Station. I visited the building before (which is fascinating) back in May 2021, but his time I was there to see their exhibition The Glass Heart. There were some lovely examples of glass production both traditional as well as more modern designs - lots of photos under the cut.
The exhibition started with some traditional stained glass from 1866. Simeon and Christ from St John The Baptist Church in Worcestershire copied the style of medieval glass and was to help restore existing windows from 1310.
Some Pre-Raphaelite designs. The Woodcutter (1863) was designed by Ford Madox Brown and Philip Webb for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Cox (later Morris and Co).
Designed for the 1st Duke of Westminster - Clement James Heaton's Reynard The Fox (1870-79). The yellow colour in this panel would have been painted using silver nitrate and fired in a kiln to produce the colour fused into the glass.
William Morris' designs - The Angel of Annunciation and The Virgin of the Annunciation - designs for stained glass windows at All Saints Church, Selsley, Gloucestershire (1849-1896)
Another Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones design for Morris Musician Angel (1865)
Christopher Whall designed this Expulsion from Paradice - Adam and Eve Before God for the manufacturer WG Saunders & Co (1880). Whall was a self-taught glass artist.
Another of Whall's designs - for a window in Dornoch Cathedral in Sutherland (1913)
I thought this Dove (Descent of the Holy Spirit) from 1906 was lovely.
Glass was not just for windows of course - glassmakers made novelty items such as walking sticks (thought to prevent evil from entering your home when stored by the front door), rolling pins, and practical items.
There were a whole series of glass ships in glass bottles which were so detailed!
Glass artists have moved into 3D modelling. This shows scenes from St Bede's life - Entering the Monastery - created in 2022 by Monster Chetwynd.
Another view - the figures were so cute!
Geoffrey Clarke designed this panel in aluminium and glass for the P&O Cruise Liner - SS Canberra in 1960.
One of my favourite designers John Piper - an Abstract Panel (1965-66) made by Patrick Reyntiens. Piper designed windows for Coventry Cathedral.
Glass vases from 1850
Gorgeous on all sides!
Cameo glass was produced in Stourbridge. Layers of different coloured glass are carved back to reveal the other colours beneath. This takes its inspiration from Roman 'Portland Vase'.
Up to 27 people would have been involved in making these.
Sinuous forms created by blowing glass created by Harvel Littleton (1986-87)
The vase on the right is made from Uranium (also known as Vaseline) glass containing uranium (1880). This glows under ultraviolet light. The vase on the left is an experiment in creating opalescent glass (1880).
Described as a 'portable stained glass window'. I loved it, but I would be terrified of knocking it over!
I have some of this glass in my studio - it's one of my favourites.
Blown glass shapes and copper
This was incredibly clever - the glass had been screen printed with glass powder and then fired to make this 'bag' with the textures of a real bad.
It even had a zip at the top! There was an area where you could feel a sample of glass like this which was really weird as it looked soft, but was of course, hard!
Two Temple Place has some wonderful glass of its own including this wonderful skylight.
It was a good morning out - I'm glad I got to see the glass especially as the exhibition ends at the weekend and then Two Temple Place closes until next year (apart from a few open days in the Summer).