Leonardo da Vinci Painter at the Court of Milan

23rd November 2011

Less than 48 hours after seeing the Degas exhibition, I was standing in Trafalgar Square awaiting the opening of the National Gallery, my ticket in my hand.  I was surprised by the long queue formed by people without tickets -they had a very long, cold wait ahead of them.

Whilst the Degas exhibition had been full of surprises, this exhibition simply filled me with the joy of seeing these great works for myself. An added delight was found in all the drawings, diagrams and sketches which were preparatory works for the completed paintings. I had seen some of them before in an exhibition at Windsor Castle but found them far more valuable when placed on display so close to the works themselves. They acquired a new level of fascination and greatly enhanced the experience and awareness upon studying the paintings.
I have included some postcards in my Learning Log.

Degas and the Ballet: Picturing Movement

21st November 2011

I visited the exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts expecting to see paintings and statues of ballet and ballet dancers. I have enjoyed seeing examples of his work in many galleries over the years.

Whilst I was not in any way disappointed by the works on show, I was truly amazed to find how important photography had been to Degas and his contemporaries. The opening quotation "People call me the painter of dancers, but I really wish to capture movement itself, " perhaps should have given me a clue.

I read about his interest and use of early photography but was particularly interested in the included work of Eadweard Muybridge (1830 -1904) and Etienne-Jules Marey (1830 -1904) and their influence on the work of Degas.

Once again, my awareness has been raised by this experience. Since I started the OCA course, I have learned so much more about the things I thought I already knew quite a lot about. This exhibition did not merely display works by Degas - which was really all I had gone for - but it taught me so much about the man and his driving passions. Thank you!

OCA Study Day

On Saturday 3rd September, I attended an OCA Study Day at The Whitechapel Gallery.
After an early start, I arrived in London to find my planned underground  route to the Gallery from Euston blocked by line closures. I found the alternative route by bus and was surprised by the number of Police on duty at street corners, waiting in groups with motor bikes etc. I had not realised that a demonstration was planned to take place in the area of the Gallery!
I met other students outside the Gallery and went inside for the tour of Thomas Struth's exhibition. I had read that his photographs were large, but was unprepared for the actual sizes on display. The quality of such huge works was stunning and, at first, that was all I could think about. I returned to this part of the exhibition by myself later, when there were fewer people present. I was then more able to look at the work, which I found fascinating.  There was a huge disparity between the size of the people and the size of the environment around them.The frame was full of intriguing images, of people and place. In all the large photographs, there were small details to capture the attention - a huge oil rig, a small man fixing a bicycle.


The black and white street scenes had very central perspectives - not always an easy position to place oneself to take such photographs.


I really enjoyed the Paradise photographs - I identified with, feeling a familiarity with the exotic views portrayed. I then realised that they were taken in The Daintree River area which I had visited some years ago.


An overriding impression, apart from the size, was the simplicity of the way in which all the different subjects were framed and mounted. The picture said everything, there was no need to embellish with exotic mounts or complex frames.


I left the gallery only to walk into the demonstration where tensions simmered between opposing factions and the police trying to keep the peace. After the recent riots, I was somewhat afraid and rushed away down back streets to avoid trouble. I found myself in Brick Lane for the first time, and promised myself a return visit on a quieter day.