Wednesday 10 September 2014

Visit to Pat Elmore's studio - Swindon Open Studios 2014


I really enjoyed my visit to Pat Elmore’s studio and landscaped sculpture garden. The weather was good and Pat took the time to talk around the gallery, the garden and the workshop. It was a real privilege.




Pat started sculpting in 1980, is a member of the Royal Society of British Artists and has exhibited around the world. She kindly allowed me to take photographs, so that you can enjoy a virtual visit, if you cannot make the trip to Oxfordshire.

Pat takes part is different Open Studios events and Art Weeks and this is a good way to discover her studio and see the sculptures in the garden. If you miss these, Pat receives visitors by Appointment throughout the year (contact her through her website http://www.patelmore.co.uk/).

Pat also runs sculpture courses at Nutford Lodge on Tuesdays from 10am until 2pm.

















Sculpture in progress






































Practical details

Nutford Lodge
Longcot
Faringdon
Oxon SN7 7TW
England

Nutford Lodge is next to King & Queen pub. http://longcotkingandqueen.com/



Related resources

Pat Elmore’s biography on the site of the Royal Society of British Artists 

A video of Pat Elmore at Swindon ViewPoint 

An interview of Pat Elmore for the Swindon Open Studios 2009 


Swindon Open Studios 2014

Swindon Open Studios will continue next week-end, 13th/14th of September 2014.

If you live in Swindon or the South West of England, you have a chance to see great artists and discuss their art with them. See the list of venues and opening times on the website of the Swindon Open Studios.

Friday 5 September 2014

Swindon Open Studios 2014 starting this week-end

The Swindon Open Studios 2014 are starting this week-end 6th/7th of September and next week-end,13th/14th of September.



This year, I am not taking part, but I will enjoy visiting some of the studios.

Below is a short promotional video for the event:



If you cannot see the embedded video, you can watch it on YouTube.

For more information on venues in and around Swindon, visit the Swindon Open Studios website: http://swindonopenstudios.yolasite.com/

Thursday 4 September 2014

Impressionist paintings in the Ashmolean Museum



Landscape at Pontoise (oil on canvas - 46 x 55 cm) by Camille Pissarro (dated 1872)

This painting was owned originally by Edgar Degas. Pissarro moved to Pontoise in 1866 and created many paintings there. The style is reminiscent of some of Monet’s paintings, who influenced him.


Brick Kiln at Éragny - oil on canvas (38 x 46 cm) by Camille Pissarro (dated: 1885)

Pissarro moved to Éragny-sur-Epte in 1884. The brick kiln was close to the Pissarro's home.


The Village of Éragny - oil on canvas; 55 x 35 cm Camille Pissarro (1885)


Bath Road, London - oil on canvas (54 x 65 cm) by Camille Pissarro 

Lucien Pissarro, one of Camille Pissarro’s children, settled in London in 1893. They lived 62 Bath Road in Bedford Park. Camille and his wife visited their son after he had a stroke and stayed in London between 7 May and 20 July 1897.


Sunset at Éragny-sur-Epte, Autumn - oil on canvas (73 x 92 cm) by Camille Pissarro (1902) 

This painting is a view from Pissarro’s studio window at Éragny.


A Mill near Zaandam - oil on canvas (42 x 73.5 cm) by Claude Monet 

Monet painted this view near Zaandam during a visit to Holland in 1871.


La toilette (Celle qui se peigne) oil on board (58 x 46 cm) by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (dated 1891) 

The theme of this painting reminds of Degas’ pastel. Toulouse-Lautrec painted in oil, with turpentine diluted colours and no texture. This gives the appearance of a work executed in pastel (but with more defined outlines).


Portrait of Mademoiselle Claus - Oil on canvas (111 x 70 cm) by Édouard Manet
 This oil painting sketch was painted by Manet in the autumn of 1868. Fanny Claus, the model, was a concert violinist and friend of Manet’s wife. A similar setting, with the same green shutters, was used for The Balcony (Le Balcon), a larger work that Edouard Manet painted after this sketch and is in the collections of the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. In The Balcony, the artist Berthe Morisot is seated in the foreground and Fanny Claus is standing on the right.

Restaurant de la Sirène, Asnières - oil on canvas (52 x 64.4 cm) by Vincent van Gogh


Van Gogh painted this restaurant in 1887 (he had moved to Paris one year earlier). Asnières is in the outskirt of Paris. 

Ashmolean Museum

Ashmolean Museum
Beaumont St
Oxford
OX1 2PH
England
FREE admission to permanent collections

Related resources and articles

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Monday 1 September 2014

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (ca. 1797 – 1861)

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) was a very prolific Japanese print artist from the Edo era. The Asholean museum in Oxford (England) has on show a few of his prints from a series titled Heroes of the Great Peace (太平記英勇傳- Taiheiki eiyuden), published by Yamamotoya Heikichi (山本屋平吉).

Utagawa Kuniyoshi  studied with Utagawa Toyokuni. He was one of the three principal 'Ukiyo-e' artists of the late Edo period, together with Hiroshige and Kunisada (Toyokuni III).

Although better known as Utagawa Kuniyoshi,the artist used a number of aliases. He is also known as: Ichiyusai (一勇彩); Saihosha (採芳舎); Chooro (朝櫻楼); Sekkoku (雪谷); Senshin (仙真); Ryuen (柳燕); Ichimyokai Hodoyoshi (一妙開程芳); Ikusa (井草); Magosaburo (孫三郎); Yoshisaburo (芳三郎).
These prints are woodblock prints on paper. For Japanese prints, the term 'woodblock' is used instead of 'woodcut'. In Japan cherry wood is used for woodblock printing, where as in the West pear or lime wood are usual woods for woodcut printing.


Orio Mosuke Yasaharu (the historical Horio Yoshiharu) wrestling a boar. (35.7 cm x 25.4 cm)- Date: 1848-1850.



The warrior Inaue Daikurō discharging a cannon (36.2 x 25 cm). Date: 1847 - 1850

Larger image (from the British Museum online database).

Read the story of Inaue Daikurō, the warrior on this print, at the site of the Jameel Centre.



The warrior-monk Negoro no Komizucha defending himself with a pole (36.2 x 25 cm). Date: 1847 - 1850

Larger image (from the British Museum online database).

Read the story of ‘Negoro no Komizucha’, the brave warrior-monk of Negoro-ji on this print, at the site of the Jameel Centre.

Related articles and resources

Book on Japanese print from the Edo period