Fine Art Blog

Category: Art Exhibitions

  • Spanish Realism revisited with Gustave Courbet exhibition in Barcelona

    Spain’s Realist movement is currently being revisited with some of Courbet’s Original Artwork in Barcelona’s Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya* (MNAC)


    ‘La Source’ by France’s Gustave Courbet in situ at the Exhibition

    Spain’s National Art Museum of Catalonia* (MNAC) is exhibiting over 80 pieces by the French artist Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) until the 10th July 2011, as well as other Spainish artists strongly influenced by his work including Bartolome Murillo & Pere Borrell.


    ‘Self portrait’ by Spain’s Bartolome Murillo (1617-1682)

    This will be the first time some of Courbet’s pieces have ever been seen in Spain.

    It reveals Courbet’s sway on the Catalonian artists of the era, in particular you will see the work of Ramon Martí Alsina, a man very much at the forefront of the birth of the Realism movement in Spain.


    ‘Fugint De La Critica’ by Spain’s Pere Borrell (1835-1910)

    Links:

    Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC)
    www.gustavecourbet.org
    THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF SPANISH REALISM

  • The Unilever Series: artist Ai Weiwei at the Tate Modern in London

    So the full title is ‘The Unilver Series: Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds 2010’

    Phew! Underneath the cumbersome title is a work of great artistic merit & simply unbelievable human achievement, read on…

    It may appear that the Turbine Hall has been scattered with tonnes of Sunflowers Seeds but in fact each seed is a unique hand-crafted replica of a sunflower seed husk and has been hand made by small teams of artists in Jingdezhen, China to be exact.

    What also is breathtaking is that there are supposed to be 100 million of them!

    Artist Ai Weiwei invites us to look more closely at the cheap mass production the west may associate with China & the social, cultural & political implications of such mass marketed goods over the years.

    Finally it seems things are paying off now with China’s expanding wealth, will that effect your visit to the exhibition and how you reflect on it?

    These 100 million unique porcelain pieces form Ai’s latest sculptural masterpiece.

    Admission is free & runs from 12 October 2010 – 02 May 2011

    Links
    The Tate
    The Daily Telegraph
    www.visitlondon.com

  • National Portrait Gallery – ‘ideath’ Painting of a girl on her iPod wins BP Visitor’s Choice Award 2010

    A picture of a girl on her iPod has become the annual winner of this prestigious prize sponsored by BP. The piece was taken from the ‘Visitor’s Choice’ exhibition that has been on display in the gallery.


    ‘ideath’ painting by Michal Ozibko

    Interestingly this was voted on by people actually visiting the museum, not by some ‘panel of experts’ as so often is the case & visitors where able to vote via a touch screen monitor outside the exhibition – new for the 2010 competition.

    Michal Ozibko, a Czechoslovakian born painter, produced a major piece measuring 65 inches across by 86 inches height & called ‘ideath.’ Nearly 26,000 visitors to the National Portrait Gallery voted & ‘ideath’ received over 15% of those, scooping the BP sponsored Portrait Award for 2010.

    You can see the voting results on the Gallery’s website on the links section

    Thank you

    Jessica

    Links:
    National Portrait Gallery

    Daily Telegraph’s coverage

    The Guardian’s coverage

  • Nigel Hemming & Steven Townsend appearance – 5 days left to go

    Picture of artists Nigel Hemming & Steven Townsend

    The excitement is now building as we are only 5 days away from one of the biggest Dog Art events of the year.

    For the first time ever UK artists Nigel Hemming and Steven Townsend will be appearing together in the same venue for a 2 man exhibition and appearance.

    ‘Picture Perfect Gallery’ of London are organising the event in Birmingham UK and is being held at: Claire Galleries, 7 The Orb, Tenby Street, The Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, B1 3EL

    On Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd December 2007
    From 10.00 am to 5.00 pm, both days

    Nigel Hemming’s very latest release: Just Dogs – Brown Roan Italian Spinone 2

    Just Dogs - Brown Roan Italian Spinone 2 by Nigel Hemming

    I will personally be at the event and will publish a report soon after. Although I have been lucky enough to be in the company of Nigel Hemming several times, I have never met Steven Townsend and am very much looking forward to it.

    Steven Townsend’s very latest release: Striding Stones – Porth Nanven, Cornwall

    Striding Stones - Porth Nanven, Cornwall by Steven Townsend

    I’m sure this event will prove hugely successful, Nigel Hemming and Steven Townsend are arguably the most famous published canine artists in the UK and possibly the world.

    Out of interest, Nigel has become best known for his gun dog Limited Edition prints and Steven for both his border collie and wildlife Limited Edition prints. As you can see by the image in this blog post, Steven is also an accomplished landscape and seascape artist.

    The Exhibition is free to attend.

    thank you

    Russell

    Links:

    Full details: Nigel Hemming & Steven Townsend exhibition
    Free Invitation Front – View or Download
    Free Invitation Reverse – View or Download
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