Joseph Wright of Derby at the National Gallery

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734 – 1797) is undoubtedly one of the great English painters of the eighteenth century. He was tutored in London by Thomas Hudson, the master of Sir Joshua Reynolds. As with most artists of that period he was accomplished in portrait painting, to make his living, and landscape where he made…

George Seurat, Radical Harmony and The National Gallery.

Georges Seurat was a giant in the modern history of European Art. A superb draughtsman, he was instrumental in bringing the curtain down on Impressionism and introducing new ways of thinking about painting using scientific calculation. He studied colour and instead of combining paint to produce different hues and tones he used pure colour and…

Confluence by Nick Andrews in Salisbury

Salisbury as you will know from previous posts is a favourite city of mine. I am normally drawn to the great medieval buildings such as the Cathedral or the Church of St Thomas a Becket. However on a recent visit I found Fisherton Mill, a local arts centre and a delicious exhibition of Nick Andrews…

Irish Road Bowling at GOMA, Waterford

The Gallery of Modern Art at Waterford sprung me a surprise on my visit this week. Every now and again something appears in my travels around the world of art which is completely new and unexpected. In this case it was a multi-disciplinary work by the Dublin artist James L. Hayes on the subject of…

The Spirit of Water at Salisbury Cathedral

Salisbury Cathedral has been the subject of a few posts on this site over the years including the works of John Constable and John Mallord William Turner. On the occasion of my most recent visit the subject was not paintings but flowers though. An unusual subject for me. In a very ambitious project the cathedral…