Gauguin Portraits - National Gallery, London

Vahine no te vi (Woman with a Mango)
Paul Gauguin 1892© The Baltimore Museum of Art / Photo: Mitro Hood

Paul Gauguin (1848 – 1903) painted people throughout his career – from his own family to the Polynesian beauties he found in the South Pacific. This sweeping exhibition brings together more than fifty works from museums and private collections throughout the world, showing how the French artist revolutionised the portrait with his intense use of colour, unconventional symbolism, and lack of flattery or marks of social standing.

Mette in Evening Dress
Paul Gauguin 1884 © National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo

As a young man with a lucrative job as a stock broker he collected art, got to know the Impressionists, began painting and was invited to exhibit with them. His early portraits were mostly of family and friends – we see his wife, Mette, in an evening dress, surrounded by the trappings of a comfortable life. When the Paris stock market crashed in 1882 he lost his position and decided to paint full time. Having largely abandoned Mette and their five children, he began exploring his own, highly original ideas about art. Part of his childhood had been spent in Peru, the home of some of his mother’s relatives, and this left him with a fascination with societies that to him seemed close to nature. In the years that followed he was constantly in search of such cultures. The exhibition starts with a room of self-portraits.

Christ in the Garden of Olives
Paul Gauguin 1889 ©Norton Museum of Art

One of his favourite subjects was himself, usually showing the aquiline nose of which he was very proud. (He claimed it was a sign of Inca blood through his mother’s side, though in fact her grandfather was not Peruvian, but a Spanish colonial.) We see him in various guises, even as Christ (above), mostly reflecting his feelings of isolation as an outsider, and the way his lack of commercial success made him a misunderstood martyr to his art.

Bonjour, Monsieur Gauguin
Paul Gauguin 1889 ©Hammer Museum, Los Angeles

In 1886 in search of a more ‘primitive’ and ‘pure’ society, he moved to Brittany on France’s north-west coast (above). However all was not as it seemed – fast trains had made the area popular with artists and the ‘peasants’ were happy to dress up in traditional costumes and perform dances in return for cash. Eventually he moved to the more remote village of Le Pouldu where he formed a close circle of fellow artists, including the Dutch artist, Meijer de Haan, whom he portrayed many times. He also met Theo van Gogh, who in 1988 persuaded him to move to Provence in an attempt to found another artists’ community there with his brother, Vincent.

L'arlésienne, Mme Ginoux
Paul Gauguin 1888 ©Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California

In Arles, the two artists worked intensely, often side by side with the same subjects. Gauguin gave this sketch of Marie Ginoux to Van Gogh, who later used it for a series of portraits. But after three months the experiment ended badly and Gauguin returned north. Still in search of an ‘unspoiled’ culture, his next move, in 1891, was to the French colony of Tahiti. The trip was funded by the French government, for whom he was supposed to be recording local customs. There’s little evidence of this, apart from an invented scene where he painted the recently-deceased king as a trophy head.

Arii Matamoe (The Royal End)
Paul Gauguin 1892 ©Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

He did, however, enter into relationships with young teenage girls, marrying two of them and fathering children. One 'wife', Tehamana a Tahura, may have been 13 when they met. Christian missionaries had been at work there for decades, compelling the women to wear ‘modest’ dresses based on European models. Gauguin was outraged at this, but featured them in several portraits, including this one of Tahura, which mixes the colonial present with a background of a mythic past.

The Ancestors of Tehamana or Tehamana Has Many Parents (Merahi metua no Tehamana)
Paul Gauguin 1893 ©The Art Institute of Chicago

In 1893 he went back to France with a trunkful of exotic clothes and full of his experiences. He painted his studio bright yellow to evoke the atmosphere of the South Seas, and on a return visit to Brittany portrayed a peasant girl at prayer, wearing a brilliant yellow ‘missionary’ dress. But his paintings were not a success, and in 1895 he returned to Tahiti. By this time he was in poor health and had financial worries. In 1901 he moved to Hiva Oa in the Marquesan Islands, where life was cheaper. Here he painted what the exhibition terms ‘Surrogate Portraits’, evoking the memory of  friends such as Van Gogh with a still life of sunflowers, and de Haan as a grotesque devil-like figure beside a serene Polynesian couple.

Contes barbares
Paul Gauguin 1902 ©Museum Folkwang Essen / ARTOTHEK

Gauguin died in 1903 at the age of 54. His last self portrait is very different from his earlier creations – simple, without symbolic objects or inscriptions.

Self-Portrait
Paul Gauguin 1903©Kunstmuseum Basel

His legacy is complicated. He seems to have been a difficult person – self-obsessed, restless, short-tempered, and quick to exploit his position as a privileged Westerner to make the most of the sexual freedom available to him in Polynesia. The exhibition doesn't ignore this, but puts it in context, and invites you to enjoy the explosion of colour he brought to portraiture.

Gauguin Portraits is at the National Gallery, London until 26 January 2020. Admission charge.
https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/the-credit-suisse-exhibition-gauguin-portraits

Made in Greenwich - a treasure-trove of local art and crafts

London’s fascinating and historic district of Greenwich has a brand new attraction that showcases the talents of local artists and craftspeople. Made in Greenwich is a shop/community hub just around the corner from the Docklands Light Railway Cutty Sark station, and is packed with locally-made and exclusive goods that reflect the area.

You can find anything from a piece of beautiful jewellery to a colourful scarf, unusual lampshade, eye-catching cushion, flattering headpiece or even a macramé plant hanger.

There are beauty products, candles, pictures and bunting, while foodies can browse the local produce, safe in the knowledge that no air miles have been involved in their creation. And for those seeking a little souvenir of their visit, there are Made in Greenwich mugs and a range of beautiful cards.

The shop is the brainchild of GCDA – the Greenwich Co-Operative Development Agency – which aims to support people and enterprises in the area. The stock changes all the time. The shop’s curator, designer and writer Mary Jane Baxter, has a creative background that includes two craft books and being a judge on the popular BBCs daytime series Paul Martin’s Handmade Revolution, so is always on the lookout for new talent.

She has created a delightful interior that makes the most of upcycled material including surplus paint from The Forest Recycling Project and wallpaper remnants used in collages (donated by Pickwick Papers in Greenwich) to cover the doors. At the rear is a creative space that can be hired for workshops, pop-up events or training (above).

Some of the goods are created by Mary Jane herself, including these imaginative artificial flowers that feature re-used knitting needles and old maps. There will be a pre-Christmas celebration in December, but if you are already on the lookout for festive gifts, my advice is to get along there now, before the crowds descend.

Made in Greenwich, 324 Creek Rd, SE10 9SW. Open Thursday to Saturday 1000 – 1700, Sunday 1100 – 1700

Contact: maryjane@gcda.org.uk

Ph: 020 8269 4880

William Blake exhibition - Tate Britain

Portrait of William Blake 1802.Collection Robert N. Essick

When William Blake mounted his one and only independent exhibition of his paintings in 1809, in a room above his family’s hosiery shop in Soho, the critic Robert Hunt (brother of the more famous Leigh) wrote that the works were “the ebullitions of a distempered brain” and that Blake himself was “an unfortunate lunatic”. Not a single one was sold.

What a contrast with this new, sweeping show at Tate Britain which takes more than 300 of his images, lent from all over the world, and illustrates how he was a product of his tumultuous times, surrounded by revolution, war and radical politics. His artistic career began fairly conventionally, with drawing lessons, an apprenticeship as an engraver and enrolment as a student at the Royal Academy of Arts, where he was encouraged to copy antique sculptures and seek inspiration from Renaissance artists such as Michaelangelo and Raphael. But as the exhibition shows he soon rejected the rigid ideas being taught at the time and pursued a more personal vision.

William Blake Albion Rose c. 1793 Courtesy of the Huntington Art Collections

 It opens with his Albion Rose, c 1793, a visualisation of the founding of Britain, created in contrast to the commercialisation and austerity of the times, then follows his career through to his death in 1827, at the age of 69. He never earned much, but his engraving provided a basic income, and around 1788 he invented a new form of printmaking, ‘relief etching’. His exact methods are still unknown, but the process allowed him to print in colour and combine texts and images. He created a succession of visionary books which took in the most pressing moral and political questions of the day.  The exhibition curators point out that luckily few people saw these books, and the symbolism in them was obscure – if they’d come to the notice of the authorities, Blake might have been arrested because of their radical sentiments.

Some of these volumes – including Songs of Innocence and Experience – are displayed in cases, enabling visitors to get a close look at the intricate detail surrounding what are now among his best-known works, including The Tyger (above) and its sister poem, The Lamb. Throughout his life Blake depended on the support of family and friends, including his wife, Catherine, who hand-coloured some of the engravings. He had an ocasionally fractious relationship with his few loyal patrons. They admired his unconventional character and independent spirit but he resented being their employee and the advice they sometimes offered. The gallery shows the range of his work, including watercolour illustrations of the Bible, Shakespeare and John Milton.

William Blake The Ghost of a Flea c.1819 Private Collection

Everywhere you are confronted with images which sprang from his vivid imagination – who else could have conjured up the Ghost of a Flea (inspired by a séance-induced vision) or Nebuchadnezzar, crawling along with terrified eyes? 

There’s also a recreation of that first exhibition (above), which was in a small, bare, dimly lit room. Blake, understandably, was bitterly disappointed at its failure, and withdrew from the public gaze for several years. But in 1818, encouraged by some younger and more business-savvy artists, he experienced a late burst of creativity. This produced his illustrations for Pilgrim’s Progress and the poem that has become almost a national anthem, Jerusalem.

William Blake Jerusalem, plate 28,  1820 Yale Center for British Art (New Haven, USA)

He died while working on his final commission, illustrations for Dante’s Inferno, with Catherine, as ever, at his side. In 1957 a memorial to Blake and his wife was erected in Westminster Abbey.

William Blake Catherine Blake 1805 Tate. Bequeathed by Miss Alice G.E. Carthew 1940

The exhibition is being described as rediscovering Blake for the 21^st century, and a once-in-a-generation event. (The last major showing of his works was at Tate Britain in 2000.) It may be another 20 years before his work is again displayed in such a comprehensive way.

William Blake Newton 1795c.- 1805 Tate

William Blake is at Tate Britain until February 2, 2020. £18 (concessions available).

https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/william-blake-artist

Hambledon - the cradle of cricket

With cricket attracting so much attention this summer, it seemed right to visit the spiritual home of the game – Hambledon, in Hampshire, set in the South Downs National Park and surrounded by sweeping farmland and leafy woods. A form of cricket had been played on the Downs for many years, but in 1750 the Hambledon Cricket Club was founded and took responsibility for developing the laws of modern-day cricket, including the regulation of bat width and the addition of a third stump.

The game was initially played on the wide open space of Broadhalfpenny Down, originally the village's sheep common; we paused there to photograph the memorial stone that marks the spot. Meetings were held in the Bat and Ball pub opposite, where we had lunch, watching the many birds in the garden, including a woodpecker.

The historic building is packed with memorabilia, and worth exploring. I was intrigued by this  original bat that now graces a wall – it looks more like a hockey stick.

For aficionados, there's a set of rules printed in 1755.

A very human touch caught my eye too: in 1756 a yellow and white spaniel, named Rover, went missing during a cricket match at Broadhalfpenny Down. He belonged to the local vicar, the Rev. Mr Keats, who must have been very upset as he posted a notice offering a reward for his return of five shillings, then two days' wages for a skilled tradesman!

There's much about the pub’s landlord at the time, Richard Nyren, who was also ran the club. He went down in history for leading a team that played an All England XI on 51 occasions in the latter part of the18th c and defeated them 29 times. It's recorded he was left-handed both as a batsman and bowler. Interest in the sport grew and in 1787 the development of the game passed to a more central venue, the newly founded MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) in London. Hambledon reverted to a village club, though its success has continued: its senior team reached the 1989 final of the national village knockout cup at Lord's. Hambledon Cricket Club is now based at Ridge Meadow, an idyllic cricket ground set amongst some of Hampshire’s prettiest countryside just to the west of Broadhalfpenny Down.

Gardeners' World Live at the NEC

There's plenty to inspire visitors to the BBC Gardeners’ World Live show at the NEC in Birmingham. As well as the usual array of garden sundries, there's a series of imaginative and colourful floral displays and gardens in and around the Floral Pavilion. The show garden awards were announced on Thursday night, and two designers gained Platinum, the highest available: Alexandra Froggatt for her “Watchmakers Garden” (also named Best in Show, above) and Lucy Bravington, with Worcestershire-based landscapers DesignIt, for the “High Line Garden”. In her creation, Froggatt pays homage to the show’s host city, with the recreation of a garden typical of the back yard of a craftsman in the city’s historic Jewellery Quarter in the 19^th c.

A lovely touch is the kitchen garden, crammed with heritage vegetables. It’s surrounded by cottage garden flowers, naturalistic grasses and rustic paths and fences.

Bravington’s Platinum design (above) was inspired by New York’s High Line – a beautiful garden on a bridge over a disused railway line. She’s mixed trees, perennials and ornamental grasses with industrial steel elements to create a sense of privacy. Gold awards went to Gadd Brothers in the APL Avenue for their “Getaway Garden” (designed for a young professional couple with a small linear garden), and Hana Leonard for “Here we go Round the Mulberry Bush” a garden with a circular theme that is sheltered by an airy tree.

Several of the gardens have an international flavour, among them “A Glimpse of South East Asia” by Timotay Landscapes (above). Filled with colourful tropical planting, it’s a fusion of ideas inspired by the natural landscapes of Indochina.  It features a shallow pebble pool which has beside it a large day bed and a hammock for chilling out (rather damp when I took this photo, but perfect for when the sun finally appears).

I loved the drama of the four horses charging out of the MS Society Revelation Garden, which won a silver merit, but if, in my dreams, I could chose a garden to take home, I’d go for another Gold show garden award winner, the John Lewis Home Solutions Garden created by Waitrose Partner Shaun Beale (below).

As well as mixing soft and sculptural planting, it has plenty of space for relaxing whatever the weather, with a garden office, water feature, and an eyecatching espaliered hedge for privacy.

BBC Gardeners’ World Live runs until Sunday, June 16 at the NEC, Birmingham.

Details at www.bbcgardenersworldlive.com