Paintings/Artwork in Galleries and Museums

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks - I enjoyed bringing together my favourites. Looking at them again, I can't help thinking that the wings in The Lament for Icarus ought to be a lot more damaged than they appear to be. It's still a lovely painting though. When I read the story as a child, I imagined the wings to be only about a quarter of that size!

[Courtenay]

Looking at them again, I can't help thinking that the wings in The Lament for Icarus ought to be a lot more damaged than they appear to be.

Funny, I was just thinking the same thing, Anita! I always thought the point of the legend of Icarus was that the wax that held the wings together melted in the sun's heat and they fell apart... Actually, it looks like the artist has used the real wings of a dead bird for his model, which would explain why they don't look much like the wings I imagined from the story either. Still, having the wings so big and so finely drawn means they provide a very effective frame for the body of Icarus, making him look smaller and more vulnerable against them.

[walter raleigh]

A lovely group of paintings indeed Anita! I too like "The Lady Of Shalott" (although I couldn't have told you who the painter was), and I really like the John Singer Sargent painting too which I hadn't seen before. It's been a long time since I've been round the Tate Britain. My overriding memory is of what seemed like hundreds of Turners, which, while I like Turner, I found a little overwhelming. I'll definitely have to visit again sometime.

[Rob Houghton]

I've always loved The Lady of Shallot' - both the painting and the poem. 'The mirror cracked from side to side...'

[Courtenay]

I've always loved The Lady of Shallot' - both the painting and the poem. 'The mirror cracked from side to side...'

And there, I always thought that was Agatha Christie...

[Anita Bensoussane]

It's been a long time since I've been round the Tate Britain. My overriding memory is of what seemed like hundreds of Turners, which, while I like Turner, I found a little overwhelming.

There are still several rooms at the Tate Britain devoted to Turner. It's interesting to see how he experimented with different styles over the years. His early work has greater definition, and I prefer it to his later work where some paintings just look like a blur of dazzle and radiance.

[Anita Bensoussane]

A few days ago I went to the Courtauld Gallery in Somerset House, London. It's a beautiful, elegant building with a big courtyard, stylish staircases and painted ceilings. The collection of artwork isn't huge and there are no massive canvases as seen at the National Gallery and the Tate Britain, but it's worth going for the building itself!

My favourite painting by far in that collection is A Bar at the Folies Bergère (1881-82) by Edouard Manet. It's a puzzling but beguiling composition which makes me want to know the story behind the scene.



I also spent some time looking at Lordship Lane Station, Dulwich (1871) by Camille Pissarro, for the simple reason that Enid Blyton was born in Lordship Lane! The station was closed in 1954 and demolished soon after.

[Rob Houghton]

I also love 'A Bar at the Folies Bergère' - a painting we studied in A Level art and one that made the biggest impression on me. I love the reflection behind the girl - is it wrong? Was the slightly off-kilter reflection done like that on purpose? It gives a slightly dizzying feeling, which is appropriate, given the subject matter.

[Katharine]

Today I looked around the Sainsbury Art Collection at the UEA in Norfolk. I've come to the conclusion that my brain must work in a totally different way to the majority of other people. Most of the 'art' on display was absolute rubbish in my opinion. There were some 'blob's by Henry Moore. Some quite good figures of people, by John Davis - but why did two of them have the wooden rungs of a rope ladder embedded in their heads? And some grotesque 'portraits' by Francis Bacon. However, the biggest 'rip off' as far as I was concerned was by Eduardo Chillida. There were several framed pieces by him. The only way I can describe them is that they resembled pieces of paper with small channels carefully torn out of them, so that they resembled some kind of road map - the sort of art work a small child would bring home from Nursery school.

How on earth can any of that be 'art''?? I've probably got a whole box full of similar 'drawings' in my loft that myself and my children have produced over the years - if that's the standard that people are looking for, then I've got several millions pounds worth up there.

[Daisy]

Oh I do so agree Katharine... do the people who do this kind of thing make a name for themselves by producing what I would call "sensible" stuff and then having become famous, feel that anything goes? I sometimes feel it's a case of "The King's New Clothes" where appreciation of this type of 'art' is concerned!

[Katharine]

Yes, that's how I feel Daisy. Some art isn't to my taste, but I can appreciate that it took a lot of skill, and I can understand what it's of. For example I can't really see why The Hay Wain is so popular, it's a pleasant enough picture, but not something I'd bother to hang up in my home, but at least it's obvious that it's a rural scene. However many of the works on display I had to read the labels to see what they were supposed to be. One such painting seemed to have the very rough outlines of people on it, and what I thought were trees, but when I looked at the sign it was actually supposed to be a crowd of people under a covered walk way at London Bridge Station. Having been to that station myself, I could see no resemblance to the place I'd visited at all. As one of the people I was with commented, it looked as if the artist had done a painting, and then before it had dried, a small child had come along and smudged all the lines.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I feel the same, but some of the more absurd exhibits have at least provided me with a good laugh. I've literally fallen to the floor once or twice, with tears streaming down my face! In the late 1980s in the Tate Liverpool I remember seeing an exhibit called 'The Oak Tree', which was nothing but a glass of water on a glass shelf. Underneath was the script of an interview with the "artist", who said it had taken him years of work to see the glass of water as an oak tree! What really cracked me up was a notice which stated that 'The Oak Tree' was on loan from another gallery. I wondered whether they'd managed to transport it without spilling a single drop of water. After all, if it was different in any way it might not be an oak tree any more!

I wish they'd show that brilliant TV series from the 1990s again - Art is Dead, Long Live TV. I looked to see if there were any clips on YouTube but I couldn't find any.

[Katharine]

Well if it gave you a good laugh Anita, then it must have been worth something, but on the whole I can't help feeling things like that a definitely a big con. I hope you didn't have to pay to look at the glass of water? You are welcome to come and visit me any time, and I'll gladly fill up a tumble with water for you to gaze at for free.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I can't remember whether we had to pay to go into the Tate Liverpool but we certainly felt entertained! I went with my sister and two friends and we still talk about some of the exhibits to this day, but for all the wrong reasons! Another room (it might even have been more than one room) was full of large paintings with titles like 'Black on Maroon' and 'Red on Black'. Each painting consisted of one or two black, maroon or red rectangles on a maroon, red or black background. Again, we found it hilarious!

[Katharine]

I've been discussing 'art' with my family tonight, and someone mentioned they'd once seen a painting called something like 'white square on a white background' or something like that, which is basically a blank canvas - maybe it was by the same artist as you saw?

I suppose I shouldn't really mock people's creative genius, but I genuinely do struggle to understand how a lot of these works of art are help in such high esteem. I think I'll stick to my Eileen Soper drawings - especially her nature plates. Now those really are a work of art in my opinion.