Degas and the Ballet

Now in its final week at The Royal Academy in London, Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement, exceeded my expectations this week, handsomely. It is a comprehensive exploration of Degas's interest in capturing and depicting movement through dance. The curators, Ann Dumas, Jill DeVonyar and Richard Kendall, have done a superb job in putting together a well structured and beautifully hung exhibition.

The visitor can follow Degas's process of investigation from his quick charcoal sketches through to fully resolved paintings. But he also adopted the techniques of sculpture, and the latest photographic innovations to help him capture and depict the ballet dancers' poses and movement in the practice studio and on stage. As a sculptor myself I could well appreciate the series of preparatory sketches from life he did for his famous metre tall bronze sculpture, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The displays helpfully displayed how each drawing fitted into his scheme in addressing the figure from 360 degrees, with the bronze itself as centre-piece.

The exhibition has so many points of interest but I would also highlight; the panoramic format paintings of the dancers in their Green Room preparing for performance, and the later bolder and larger charcoal drawings matched with the paintings such as the Blue Dancers which embody the poses from the charcoal drawing. The smaller 1/3rd life size sketches, originally done in wax but cast after his death in bronze, of ballet dancers in specific poses have a real charm. But the curators have kept the best almost to last; the wonderful vibrant pastel paintings of his late years such as the Russian Dancers and Dancers in Blue are visually stunning. The irridescent colours and imaginative compositions almost worth going to see for this room alone.

I spent a good four hours at this exhibition resting periodically to absorb the richness of material on offer. From my vantage point on the banquette in the first room opposite Degas's painting, Ballet Scene from Meyerbeer's Opera 'Robert le Diable' I sat sketching the steady stream of visitors as they filed past. There was I, trying to capture movement, I in my little Moleskine sketchbook, much as Degas had been doing over 100 years ago. The artistic challenge in "picturing movement" is still the same.

Art and Mammon

I took this photograph over the City of London on my phone last week from the terrace at Tate Modern where I was enjoying my second visit to see Gerhard Richter: Panorama prior to attending a private view at the Corporation of Lloyds.

For those of you who are used, like me, to see Richter's work mainly in reproduction the scale of some of the abstract work is breathtaking. But for me the most successful of the abstract work is the smaller, almost domestic scale paintings. There is a series of 8 small paintings in Room 10, Abstract Painting 858 1999 series, which I found particularly engaging.

Room 11 also contains some interesting experimental work including monotypes and photographs worked over with paint, which I found especially interesting as they provide an insight into Gerard Richter's process. But it is a big exhibition covering 50 years of the Artist's work and there are many aspects to be discovered. So will I be back for another look? Probably!

After a couple of hours I took a break for coffee on the Tate members' terrace. It was a beautifully mild November afternoon with the setting sun creating some spectacular Canaletto like vistas over the City of London. And even though my phone only has a VGA camera I thought it was worth trying to capture the panoramic views over the Thames towards St. Paul's Cathedral and The Square Mile.

But by the time I left and walked across The Millenium Bridge towards St. Paul's the sun had set to leave a quite magical darkling sky. I was on my way to the Corporation of Lloyd's, where some of my sculpture was on display as part of the Lloyd's Art Group collective's Autumn Exhibition. At the private view I am delighted to report that I was presented with the Miller Prize for "Best Artist in the Show" by Michael Papworth, Head of Facultative Reinsurance at  Miller Insurance, the exclusive sponsors of the event this year. Very much a fund raiser for the Coombe Trust, Lloyd's recognised charity, the exhibition raised  £2,400 this year for this very good cause. Definitely an event where Art sits comfortably with Mammon.