ART – a feast for your eyes during lockdown
Although galleries, museums, and art fairs have had to close their doors as part of nationwide lockdowns to support amazing front line health workers across the world, the art world thankfully remains vibrant behind the scenes. In fact, as this wonderful quote from Pablo Picasso suggests, art and its appreciation is especially vital at times like this as its power of creativity inspires and its beauty lifts spirits. Picasso himself was deeply affected by the Spanish flu of 1918-1920, as he the best man from his first marriage, French poet Apollinaire, died from the devastating pandemic. He managed to find solace through his work. He painted the ‘Three Musicians’ in 1921, featuring a harlequin, pierrot and a monk, and the pierrot was thought to have been an homage to his close friend Apollinaire. One of my favourite paintings Picasso paintings.
Thanks to modern technology, the art world’s finest creations, old and new, are accessible to anyone with a phone, tablet or computer. There are virtual galleries popping up all over allowing visual access to some of the world’s greatest collections of art, whilst art exhibitions that were due to take place have now moved online. These developments keep our world enriched with art and culture, whilst also supporting living artists, who very much rely on their shows to sell and promote their art.
Below are a few suggestions of where to browse for art and feast your eyes:
- Google Arts and Culture – Google’s platform of 1,200 museums globally is immense and frankly one could spend all day just browsing the rich content they have. My favourite virtual tour thus far is of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam but so much superb functionality and imagery to savour www.googleartsandculture.com
- Picasso and Paper exhibition, Royal Academy – for those of you who missed this exhibition, which was described by Tabish Khan of the Londonist as having “brilliance at every corner”, the RA have now added a video montage https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibition/picasso-and-paper
- Vatican museums 7 tours including Sistine Chapel – usually visited by over 5 million people every year, one can now virtually visit these majestic rooms through their online viewing galleries, and if that wasn’t enough to quench your appetite, the official @vaticamuseums Instagram account provides images of Vatican Museums’ masterpieces accompanied by short captions that explain the history and the meaning behind the selectedworks. http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita.html
- Andy Warhol at the Tate Modern – This exhibition would have been the first major retrospective of his work in 20 years at the Tate Modern. Thankfully, the curators have pulled together this brilliant video montage showcasing the show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjgAd6Z-dd0
As well as those rich offerings, two artists, with whom Artfully Sorted is pleased to be working with, have their own shows either currently running or just recently closed and can be viewed online
- Andrew McIntosh ‘Splendid Isolation’ with James Freeman Gallery
Andrew, who has exhibited with the Royal Academy a number of times, sees his latest solo exhibition featuring paintings of lonesome caravans, something he has painted for many years. He considers their curious appeal as a miniature world within a world: a vessel for the intrepid, a means of escape, and a place for the cocooned. Seminal artwork for current times https://www.jamesfreemangallery.com/exhibitions/splendid-isolation
- Jo Holdsworth ‘Royal Arts Prize Visitors Choice Award 2019’ at the Royal Opera Arcade Gallery
Award winning London-based artist Jo, who works primarily in oil, takes inspiration from London’s ever-changing landscape and urban city scenes. Her beautiful, uplifting and unique paintings often include reflected figures and combine a subtle colour palette with loose, spontaneous brush work. Her compelling paintings have a vibrancy and cinematic appeal as well as a strong message of hope.
https://joholdsworthstudio.com/royal-arts-prize-paintings/
For a brilliant artsy read, look no further than artist Katharine Rowe’s newsletter. Katherine, who exhibited with Artfully Sorted at the Affordable Art Fair this year, has an informative monthly on all things art. A lovely read and always come away learning something new. If you would like to receive Katharine’s newsletter, contact her on katharine@katharinerowe.com.
Artfully Sorted is extremely thankful to have exhibited at this year’s Affordable Art Fair, the last of its kind before the lockdowns. In fact, the Affordable Art Fair’s next scheduled fair is not until August in Hong Kong. We are pleased to be able to offer through the AAF online marketplace some of our artist’s work from the show, as well as others. Browse our selection here. https://affordableartfair.com/galleries/artfully-sorted
If you require any assistance in sourcing any art for your homes, we would love to hear from you. Contact: charissa@artfullysorted.com
Happy art browsing!
