ZURBARÁN’S CRUCIFIED CHRIST WITH A PAINTER
October 12th 2024
“The Crucified Christ with a Painter”, Francisco de Zurbarán, c.1650, Prado, Madrid. A painter looks at Christ as he hangs on the cross. But there is nothing in the painting to suggest a particular time or place. At the bottom
ZURBARÁN’S ST SERAPION
October 5th 2024
“St Serapion”, Francisco de Zurbarán, 1628, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartfort. A strong light reveals a man suspended in darkness. The man is dead. He hangs by his wrists which have been tied to wooden poles. The white habit of a friar
STANLEY SPENCER’S ST FRANCIS AND THE BIRDS
September 21st 2024
“St Francis and the Birds”, Stanley Spencer 1935, Tate, London. Yes, there are birds of the air, flowers of the field and a man in a robe, but this is image is a far cry from most paintings of
Stanley Spencer’s Scarecrow
September 14th 2024
“The Scarecrow, Cookham”, Stanley Spencer 1934, Private Collection. Once seen, this painting will not be forgotten. I saw it years ago at the Stanley Spencer Gallery in his native Cookham. Recently, I read that when it was there,
David Jones: Sanctus Christus de Capel-y-ffin
September 7th 2024
“Sanctus Christus de Capel y ffin”, David Jones 1925, Gouache on paper, ( 19.3cm X 13.3cm) Tate Collection. This reproduction is just a bit smaller than the original. Although half their size, to my eye it is reminiscent of the
David Jones’ The Lancers
August 31st 2024
“The Lancers “ (later “Ponies on a Welsh Hill-slope”), David Jones 1926, Private Collection. In the summer of 1926, David Jones was in the Black Mountains at Capel-y-ffin and it was there that he began to engrave on copper.
WINIFRED NICHOLSON’S CYCLAMEN AND PRIMULA
August 24th 2024
“Cyclamen and Primula”, Winifred Nicholson, c.1923, Kettle’s Yard. In the early 1920’s Winifred Nicholson created a series of works which she later described as “sunlight in white paper”. In each, flowers wrapped in tissue paper sit in sunlight on a
David Jones’ Mass of 1917
August 17th 2024
“Mass”, David Jones, 1917, Llanfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – National Library of Wales. In 1916 David Jones was badly wounded during the Battle of the Somme and was sent whom to recover. Convalescence gave him the leisure to draw and
David Jones’ Our Lady of the Hills
August 10th 2024
“Our Lady of the Hills”, David Jones, 1921, Ditchling Museum. In May 1921 Jones spent three days walking the old pilgrim road from Orpington to Canterbury. On the way he made a sketch of the Kentish hills which he later
David Jones St Dominic from Ditchling
August 3rd 2024
“St Dominic”, David Jones, 1922, National Museum, Cardiff. In the years after the end of the first world war, the artist David Jones felt increasingly drawn to Catholicism and the Mass. He became a Catholic in September 1921. By then
