My French Easel: July 2014

Saturday, 19 July 2014

Beautiful symmetries – Islamic art at the V&A

There is something about symmetry... The neuro-scientist Ramachandran suggests that “symmetry is a marker, or flag, for good health, which in turn is an indicator of desirability”. (See my article Ramachandran’s nine laws of aesthetics http://myfrencheasel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/ramachandrans-nine-laws-of-aesthetics.html).

And when it comes to inventive symmetry, Islamic art has no match.

I took the photographs below at the V&A in London, in the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Middle East art.

Lustre tiles

This panel of 15 star and cross tiles from the shrine of Imamzadeh Yahya in Varamin (south of Tehran), fritware with lustre decoration, made by the potter Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Tahir in Kashan, Iran, 1262, Museum no. 1837-1876.

The Screens below are made carved and pierced sandstone. They came from Agra and are 19^th century copies from late 16^th century models

Practical information
The Victoria & Albert museum (V&A)
Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL
England
Admission: free
Website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/

Related resources and articles

Sunday, 13 July 2014

Family Fun Day in Queen's Park - Swindon (England)

One of my daughters (with help from one of her younger sisters) is taking part in the Family Fun Day in Queen's Park - Swindon today (until 4:30 pm).

She put a lot of hard work in making many different pieces of jewellery, presenting them nicely and putting her booth together. If you leave in Swindon or nearby, make sure you pop-in. The cafe is open, the ice-cream van is there as well as a candy floss shop...

Family Fun Day

12 July 2014 - 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Queen's Park

Drove Rd

Swindon SN1

Thursday, 10 July 2014

The Colourful World of Kaffe Fassett - American Museum in Bath

If you like colours, you will like Keffe Fassett. This is the second exhibition of his works we went to see at the American Museum in Bath. It is also a more ambitious one, taking over the house itself. Here is a mini guided tour, in pictures.

The pavilion hosting the main part of the exhibition

The entrance of the exhibition

Reproduction of his workshop

Kaffe Fassett's paintings

Persian Blue Star Quilt - by Kaffe Fassett

Strip City Quilt 2011 - by Kaffe Fassett

Needlepoint waistcoat by Kaffe Fassett

Vegetable Needlepoint Rug by Kaffe Fassett

Hollyhock (Needlepoint) by Kaffe Fassett

Pennant Knitted Jackets by Kaffe Fassett

The same subject in needlepoint - once as a canvas, once as a cushion

4 quilts by Kaffe Fassett hung in the atrium of the main house

The quote below is a good summary of his approach of colours:

The exhibition

KAFFE 2014 – The Colourful World of Kaffe Fassett
22 March – 2 November 2014

The American Museum in Britain

Claverton Manor
Bath

BA2 7BD

England

Website: http://www.americanmuseum.org

Sunday, 6 July 2014

The American Museum in Bath

If you are an American reader of this blog, I hope you had a wonderful 4th July.

On Saturday, we went to the American Museum in Bath. It is a great museum to visit if you come to the South West of England.

As part of the 4th July week-end, they hosted on the ground a mini re-enactment with a squadron of British soldiers.

We wanted to see the Kaffe Fassett exhibition (but you will have to wait for another post on this). As a preview, here are a few pictures of knitted decorations outside the house.

A very cosy lamp post

Tree warmer...

Strange fruits growing on this tree...

The George Washington's garden was in full glory. The plaque indicates that this garden is a reproduction of Washington's garden was reproduced from his home in Mount Vermont, Virginia.

The collection of the museum is mainly pieces of furniture and objects throughout the history of America. They have a significant collection of historical quilts. There are a few interesting work of art.

The Prospector - Watercolour

Portrait of Nancy Burns (1800 – 1849) - Portrait by Ferdinand Thomas Lee Boyle

A room is dedicated to American Folk Art.

Emma Thompson

The American Museum in Britain

Claverton Manor
Bath

BA2 7BD

England

Website: http://www.americanmuseum.org

Thursday, 3 July 2014

Constable’s full scale studies

The two full scale oil painting studies by Constable exhibited at the V&A are remarkable by their size and execution. The important word here is “and”, because we are used to small field or studio studies executed with broad strokes, but I did not expect so much freedom and force in studies of this size.

These studies, in particular the one for the Leaping Horse, feel like Constable was pouring all his creative energy onto the canvas because he knew the Royal Academy would expect more finished and polished works.

Look at the brushwork for the tree in front of the house. The treatment reminds me of some of Monet’s paintings — but this is 1821. The main difference with later Impressionist works is that Constable’s palette is still fairly conventional with brown, grey and green colours.