London Retrospective 2: National Portrait Gallery and St. Martin-in-the-Fields

Saturday 8 March 

An afternoon in the National Portrait Gallery and an evening of candlelit Gershwin, Price, Copland and Shostakovich at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, accompanied in the latter by my London-based friend, Bev Murray.

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1 Queen Mary, 1544, attributed to ‘Master John’

2 Queen Elizabeth 1, 1575, unknown artist

3 Queen Elizabeth 1, about 1600, unknown artist

4 Katherine Parr, about 1545, unknown artist

5 Jane Seymour, mid-16th century, Studio of Hans Holbein the Younger

6 Anne Boleyn, about 1500-36, unknown artist

7-8 The Phoenix Portrait, Queen Elizabeth 1, about 1575, Nicholas Hilliard

9 Queen Elizabeth 1, 1572, Nicholas Hilliard

10 Sir Walter Raleigh, about 1585, Nicholas Hilliard

11  Self-portrait with model Ella Louise Naper, 1913, Dame Laura Knight

12 Virginia Woolf, 1912, Vanessa Bell

13 Vanessa Bell, about 1913, Duncan Grant

14 Gwen John, about 1900, Self-portrait

15 Germaine Greer, 1995, Paula Rego

16 Gluck, Self-portrait, 1942

17 Portrait, Eyes Lowered, 2019, Celia Paul

18-20  St. Martin-in-the Fields with Bev Murray 

Vale Richard Harding

Dearest Richard Harding, I’m still trying to fathom a world without you in it - and failing miserably.

These photos (the most recent ones I could find) are from the blog post I published on Tuesday, 13 December 2016. The following text is an edited extract from the same post. 

On Friday evening, 9 December, the Australian Print Workshop held an artist party to thank the artists who contributed to its biennial fundraiser, IMPRESSIONS 2016.

Like many of the people I spoke to that night, Shane and I look forward to the event as a rare opportunity to catch up with old friends from whom we are increasingly separated by time (or rather, lack thereof) and distance.

Pictured top, L-R are: Richard Harding, Shane Jones, Lesley Duxbury and Catherine Pilgrim. Richard and Lesley are former colleagues from my teaching days in the Printmaking Department at RMIT University - and very happy days they were too. 

Pictured above, L-R: a slight regrouping, comprising myself, Richard, Lesley, Raymond Carter and Catherine. (Photo credit: Shane Jones).

Fortunately I’ve occasionally seen Richard since 2016, but not nearly often enough. Awhile back, we spoke about getting together for a coffee, but somehow never got around to it.

You will be sorely missed, Richard. My heart goes out to Tad, Lyn and all your family. 

London Retrospective 1: Picasso Printmaker

Tuesday 4 March

Directly following are selected highlights of the recent exhibition PICASSO PRINTMAKER at the British Museum. (Apologies for the lack of individual captions, which will be added shortly). 

This was one of several stunning exhibitions that happily coincided with a recent three-week trip to London. Owing to technical issues, I was unable to report on any of them directly from London. Instead, over the next few weeks, I will intermittently publish a series of retrospective posts on some of the galleries, museums and special exhibitions I visited during my all too brief stay.

PICASSO PRINTMAKER ran from 24 November 2024 - 30 March 2025.

FIREBRAND acquired by the State Library of Queensland

This just in from our sister blog, Moth Woman Press:

Firebrand, 2017, my one-of-a-kind concertina book, has just been acquired for the permanent collection of the State Library of Queensland, together with selected MWP zines. For further information, visit Moth Woman Press HERE.

Pictured above: Firebrand, 2017, unique artist book, pigmented drawing ink and acrylic paint on Khadi paper, cloth cover with debossed text, 15.5 x 16.5 cm (closed). Collection: State Library of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD.

Looking to the future

The closing day of CODA, at Stephen McLaughlan Gallery, Melbourne on Saturday, February 8 couldn’t have ended on a happier note. 

Pictured above, L-R: Spring Growth and Acanthus, both 2024, acrylic on canvas panel, 30.5 x 30.5 cm.

CODA also featured works by Helen McInnis, Peter Brook, Robert Colvin, Nicholas Elliott and Warren Nichols. 

A big thank you to Stephen for having us. 

CODA and WAYS OF BEING, my solo exhibition that immediately preceded it, marked the first stage of a new beginning. 

Now to move on to the next phase with an open mind, a stout heart, a free spirit, and as little baggage as possible, remembering always the importance of play and experimentation, of trusting in the process and myself. It will require stepping back for awhile and working in my own good time, free from the constraints of external deadlines. I’m excited (and not a little nervous) to see where it will take me.

Photo credit for top image: Shane Jones.

CODA - Last Day

 

All good things, as they say, must come to an end, and so it is with CODA, Stephen McLaughlan Gallery’s opening exhibition for 2025.

Please join the artists for closing drinks on Saturday February 8 from 2-4 pm. We’d love to see you there.

Image on invitation: A book by its cover l, 2024, acrylic on canvas board, 10.5 x 10.5 cm. Like the majority of my works in the exhibition, the face decoration draws elements from the work of British Arts and Crafts designer, artisan and educator, May Morris, in this instance, a book cover, c. 1888-91, she designed and hand-embroidered for the book Love is Enough, 1873, by her father, William Morris.

CODA was curated by Stephen McLaughlan. Pictured below are my works that were selected for the exhibition.

Above, L-R: Spring Growth, 2024, Acanthus, 2024, and Climber ll, 2024, all acrylic on canvas board, 30.5 x 30.5 cm.

Above, L-R: Secret Garden, 2024, Orange Tree ll , 2024, and Tender Grapes ll, 2024, all acrylic on canvas board, 30.5 x 30.5 cm.

Above, L-R: Hand Embroidery, 2024, Climber l, 2024, and A book by its cover l, 2024, all acrylic on canvas board, 10.5 x 10.5 cm. 

Above, L-R: Sunflower and Other, both 2024, linocuts, 15 x 20 cm, ed. 40.

More Magritte

Part of me is still back in Sydney at the MAGRITTE retrospective at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, so with your kind indulgence, here are some more Magrittes. 

The artist’s singular persona has even infiltrated the gallery’s cloakroom.

MAGRITTE runs to February 9, and  if it’s geographically possible, you should run to see it.