Monet at York Art Gallery

Claude Monet - The Water-Lily Pond - 1899

 

As part of the celebrations of the National Gallery's 200th year, a number of its famous works have been loaned, from London, to regional galleries.  The Water-Lily Pond, painted in 1899, by Claude Monet (1840-1926) came north and was central to an exhibition at York Art Gallery from May to September 2024.

The picture, which is a cropped view with loads of texture from the thick brush strokes, depicts Monet's much loved water garden at his house in Giverny in France.  Monet was a founder of Impressionism, a 19th Century art movement concerned with painting ordinary subjects, often outdoors, accurately depicting light to create a picture that caught the essence of a scene rather than an accurate depiction.

Having imagined I had plenty of time to see this exhibition, I only managed to get there on the final day.  I don't think I was the only one who was in that position, as all the online tickets had sold out and there was a queue to get in!

Claude Monet - The Water-Lily Pond
Details showing texture

There was a short film of Monet painting in his garden at Giverny.  What struck me most about this was the fact he was smoking while painting and his cigarette had an very long end of ash which I kept expecting to see fall onto his paint palette.  Added texture - who knows?

Camille Corot
The Convent of Sant'onofrio on the Janiculum, Rome
1826

To accompany the exhibition there were works by artists who led the way in painting in the open air, as Monet did and also artists who were influenced by Monet's work and then new work by contemporary artist Michaela Yearwood-Dan, who was inspired by both Monet's The Water-Lily Pond and by the Japanese woodblock prints of which he was so fond.

Narcisse-Virgilio Diaz de la Pena
The Feast at Fontainebleau - 1865-70

Diaz (1807-1876) not only painted outdoors but was a core member of the Barbizon School, who were a group of painters who gathered near the village of Barbizon to paint the Forest of Fontainebleau.

Monet had a fondness for Japanese woodblock prints.  This one is by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858)...

Utagawa Hiroshige
Shimotsuke Province: Mount Nikko, Urami Waterfall - 1853 

Ethel Walker (1861-1951) was inspired by the Impressionist Exhibitions she visited in Paris and this influenced her style...

Ethel Walker - Landscape at Robin Hood's Bay - 1942-48

It was also interesting to see that the canvas had been stitched together...

Ethel Walker - Landscape at Robin Hood's Bay detail

Leticia Marion Hamilton (1878-1964) was also influenced by the Impressionists, evidenced by this unusual view of Ouse Bridge and her painted textures ...

Leticia Marion Hamilton - Ouse Bridge, York - 1925-31

The Michaela Yearwood-Dan: Una Sinfonia series of paintings were alive with colour and texture incorporating ceramic petals and beads.  She took the seasons as her starting point and Monet's fascination with the changing quality of light.

I loved these large colourful canvases...

Michaela Yearwood-Dan
When the green turns to gold, I settle in your nook

Michaela Yearwood-Dan - Ready, Steady, GO!

Her paintings included ceramic flower petals...

Michaela Yearwood-Dan
Ready, Steady, GO! - detail

and beads...

Michaela Yearwood-Dan
Will you still love me tomorrow?

We are told that Michaela Yearwood-Dan's work draws on a range of influences: Blackness, queerness, femininity healing rituals and carnival culture and that she endeavours to build spaces of community, abundance and joy.  I certainly found her work very joyful.

There was lots more to see at the York Art Gallery including some particularly fine work by women artists.  In addition there is a large selection of British Studio Ceramics in the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) which is on the first floor.  I particularly liked this chap (see above) but I didn't catch his name.

Gillian Lowndes: On the Edge at CoCA, York Art Gallery

Gillian Lowndes - Collage With Bathroom Tile

Gillian Lowndes exhibition "On the Edge" at the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) at York Art Gallery is on until May 2020.  Lowndes (1936-2010) is considered to be the most radical ceramicist of the 20th Century.

Gillian Lowndes - Brick Bag With Pot Shards

From the 1970s she developed mixed media 3D "collages" using discarded man-made objects and natural materials combined with latex, fibreglass and clay which were then fired in a kiln.  The resulting elements were then glued or wired together to create her compositions...

Gillian Lowndes - Corrugated Composition (Bird)

Gillian Lowndes - Collage With Tomato Root

Gillian Lowndes - Hooks

If you like interesting assemblages, this is the exhibition for you!

York Art Gallery Reopened

Clare Twomey - Manifest:10,000 Hours

York Art Gallery reopened in August after being closed for 2 years for a £8 million refurbishment.  The gallery is now 60 percent bigger with a new gallery on the first floor which is light and open.  There's an entrance at the rear which leads from a first floor terrace down to an open piazza and on to Museum Gardens.  The gallery has expanded into what was the City Archives next door and with a new larger cafe, new lifts, toilets, shops, it looks altogether better, lighter and more inviting.

First Floor Terrace

Views of the City Walls from the Terrace

Stairs from the Terrace (a lift is also available)

Rear Piazza linking to Museum Gardens

A special artwork by Clare Twomey was commissioned to celebrate the reopening of the gallery.  Manifest:10,000 hours is an impressive quantity of pots!  It is Clare's response to York's collection of ceramics.  There are 10,000 pots which take an hour each to make and are a comment on the amount of time it takes to master a skill.  They have been individually handmade by people from across the UK.

Clare Twomey - Manifest:10,000 Hours (detail)

York Art Gallery now houses CoCA which is the Centre of Ceramic Art and forms the most representative public collection of British studio ceramics in the UK.  It also has an impressive collection of artworks including Old Masters, Victorian to contemprary paintings & sculptures and pictures of York itself.  The Upper North Gallery is hosting an exhibition curated by local artist, Mark Hearld, "The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures" - a room of miscellaneous stored objects and artefacts including new work from Mark himself.  This alone is a good enough reason to visit the York Art Gallery.

There has been a lot of controversy about admission charges to the Gallery but with a York Card (available to York Residents for £5) you can purchase a York Museums Trust Card for £11 which gives you free entry for a year to York Art Gallery, the Yorkshire Museum and the Castle Museum which seemes like quite a good deal to me.

Worth a look (or several)!