Royal Academy of ArtsRezensionen

Book of the Royal Academy exhibition

shelved at: 93 ROG : Architects - Richard Rogers

Sensation is the first definitive survey of work by the younger generation of British artists that has captivated the international art world with its vitality and inventiveness. As a constant and prodigious collector and patron of young British artists, Charles Saatchi has been unique in his commitment to British art as it is now being produced. His support extends far beyond those such as Damien Hirst and Rachel Whiteread, whose work has acquired wide notoriety, to dozens of others at the cutting edge of the current art scene. Sensation features the work of forty-two of the most exciting and radical artists working in Britain today. Many of them--such as Jenny Saville, Rachel Whiteread, or Jake & Dinos Chapman--are already internationally acclaimed; others are destined to be. The book's original and penetrating essays include the critical context of their work and trace the phenomenon of the British art scene since "Freeze," the 1988 exhibition that is now recognized as a defining moment in the story of British art. Cutting through tabloid headlines, controversial press coverage, and art-world debate, Sensation reveals the achievements of young British artists and the role played by courageous and imaginative patronage.

This is a catalogue of an exhibition by the Royal Academy of Arts in London. It features the arts of the Edo Period in Japan. In the preface, the President of the Japan Foundation says that an Exhibition on this scale of Japanese Art has never been held anywhere in the world, even in Japan. So it is rather special. The exhibition includes: painting, calligraphy, wood-block prints, lacquer, ceramics, armour, sword blades, sword mounts, sculpture, netsuke and textiles. So it is very comprehensive. Most of the pictures are in black and white but there is a large section with coloured photos...and for the time (1981) that is probably as much as one could expect.
I did attend another exhibition of Edo art in Tokyo ...about 5 years ago and it was also a bit overwhelming in quantity (and quality). Probably a larger exhibition than this London version. I recall being a bit overwhelmed by all the screen paintings. And there is now an entire museum in Tokyo dedicated to the Edo era. But I was fascinated to notice with the current book that the cover features a style of painting (by Watanabe Shiko...1683-1755) that seems to be resurrected by some of the modern Japanese painters ( I recall a number in the Shizuoka Art Museum, for example).
There are a number of essays on the history of the Edo period and on most of the arts represented. These are scholarly works and interesting in their own right. All in all this is a nice introduction to the art of the Edo period. I give it 3.5 stars.½

shelved at: 999 : Art

shelved at: 999 : Art

shelved at: 999 : Art

shelved at: 999 : Art

This is the catalogue from an exhibition of the same name at the Royal Academy of Arts in 2005/2006. It has good illustrations of the objects that were exhibited and a series of interesting essays to introduce the historical period & put the objects into perspective. My read through is written up in four parts:
http://ninecats.org/margaret/blog/2013/05/09/china-three-emperors-1662-1795-ed-e...
http://ninecats.org/margaret/blog/2013/05/29/china-three-emperors-1662-1795-ed-e...
http://ninecats.org/margaret/blog/2013/06/09/china-three-emperors-1662-1795-ed-e...
http://ninecats.org/margaret/blog/2013/06/16/china-three-emperors-1662-1795-ed-e...

Color photographs of artwork, sculpture, carving, jewelry and other relics from 330-1453

Published on the occasion of The Great Japan Exhibition, Art of the Edo Period 1600-1868 exhibition at The Royal Academy of Art London 24 October 1981 - 21 February 1982

Catalogue of an exhibition held at the] Royal Academy of Arts, 9 January - 7 March 1971

[catalogue of an exhibition held at the Royal Academy], 4 September to 14 November [1976]

This catalogue from an exhibition of Chinese artefacts that was held in the 1970's is a fascinating insight into the early culture of China. It covers items and history from the Palaeolithic until the 14th Century AD. There is a chronology, bibliography and map. All of the described objects are pictured, mainly in black and white with some colour plates. All of the objects were excavated in the twenty years prior to the exhibition and thus also provides an insight into the efforts of Chinese archaeologists to uncover and share their past. Overall this was a glimpse into the past that seems well researched and leads me wanting to know more about this part of the world and its history.

Use with Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell if done as a book club.

This is the catalogue of the exhibition of the works of Vilhelm Hammershoi held at the Royal Academy of Arts, London in the summer of 2008. Hammershoi is, perhaps, the most important painter to come out of Denmark. He was highly regarded, if controversial, during his working life but fell into international obscurity after his death. His reputation revived with the development of interest in symbolism in the 1950s. The majority of his paintings are in public collections in Denmark or in private hands so this exhibition was a rare opportunity to see a representative selection of his work.

The overwhelming impression given by these monochromatic pictures is of northern gloom, isolation and depression. His characteristic interiors, mostly painted in his own apartment in Christianhavn, show almost empty rooms, doors variously open and closed with pale light filtering through uncurtained windows. The dark-clad female figures are mostly painted from the rear, not from any lack of portraiture skill, but rather to emphasise their anonymity. In the same way as the rooms are largely devoid of evidence of human existence his grey landscapes, even in cities, lack any human figures.

Hammershoi's technique is skilful, if unvarying, but his subject matter and the limited palette - influenced by Whistler - left me longing for Provencal light. These pictures could be seen as representations of seasonal affective disorder and one wonders what he painted in the long northern summer days.

In Art at the Crossroads the dimension of art at the turn of the century is discussed in depth ans satisfactorily. "Die Lebensreform (publ. 2001)" is congrent with this volume regarding art matters, but it covers a much wider range of changes in the human mind and in human society around 1900.

I've only browsed this book rather than examining it straight through, but it starts out with an overview essay, then follows up with eye candy from the late 1800's and early 1900's. Despite the cover, the volume does not limit itself to impressionism but includes all genres of painting as well as sculpture. If you like this time period, you will enjoy thumbing through this book.

Shelved at: 013:PIA

Published on the occasion of Painting in Naples 1606 - 1705 From Caravaggio to Giordano at The Royal Academy 2 October - 12 December 1982

Illustrated catalogue to accompany Goya: Paintings, drawings and litographs by Francisco Goya selected from the exhibition Goya and His Times exhibition at The Royal Academy London Winter 1963 - 1964

Illustrated catalogue of the 1994 annual exhibition

An exhibition of archaeological finds of the People's Republic of China held at the Royal Academy, London, by permission of the ... from 29 September 1973 to 23 January 1974

150.00

BR/A/W/ 003