I almost missed Picasso & Modern British Art at the Tate;I'd been put off by the lukewarm reviews.
It was a strange exhibition. The strand that traced Picasso's work as it made its way to Britain was fascinating ...
But there was another strand examining Picasso's influence on a motley collection of British artists.
Duncan Grant's firescreen, forsooth ... Duncan Grant's firescreen is only fit for firewood. His name should not be mentioned in the same breath as Picasso.
(A friend who went a few weeks ago said to me, "Didn't it make you ashamed to be British!")
The Picassos took my breath away ...
Monumentally powerful, sexy and tender, paintings to make you weep. As I walked around, I wondered why there has never been a great woman artist. When I was younger, I'd have blamed it all on men ... but I don't think you can. There always seems to be something lacking in women's art.
10 comments:
I know very little about art but I am fond of Picasso. The Weeping Woman is such a powerful painting and oddly I find it positive rather than depressing. Enjoyed your Picasso post.
I know what you mean, Nicola ... there's so much humanity and compassion in it as well as pain. You can see why there were so many women in his life.
The Renaissance era alone produced some very famous (females) painters such as Caterina van Hemessen 1528 – 1587, Catherine de Vigri 1413 - 1463, Lavina Teerlinc 1510 – 1576 Mary, for a start! No worries, women made a name for themselves EVERYWHERE!
I'm certainly not denying that there's some very good female painters, Noelle ... just struggling to think of a great one. But have to confess that I don't know much about the Renaissance.
Of course you're right, none of the British painters came near him...In their defence the Tate showed some absolute stunners like the portraits of Marie Therese, which not even Matisse could better.
Herts
To be fair, the Tate wasn't trying to compare them, just trace his influence. It's just that everything else looks so feeble beside him.
Those Marie Thérèse portraits are ravishing, I agree.
Well, I disagree with your estimation of Duncan Grant, but I still love these images!
It would have looked very charming at Charleston, Simon! BTW, enjoyed your Virginia Woolf post the other day - alas, yours is one of the blogs I can't seem to comment on.
True, perhaps everything in its proper place, etc.!
Sorry about my blog and its commenting issues... embedded comments seem to confuse some browsers, etc. But thank you!
Is that what it is? There's several that don't work for me at the moment, and now I think of it, they all have embedded comments. Which are neater, of course.
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