Walk to the Western Gap

I walked to the Western Gap this afternoon. 

 It's a slip of water below Little Norway Park on Toronto's Harbourfront.

I enjoyed the breeze off the lake.

On my way home I picked up some pine cones.

At the Courtauld, London

 Bill and I love London's Courtauld Gallery.

It belongs on the short list of galleries of even the most time-pressed art lovers.

It is situated in the elegant Georgian Somerset House which was built in the 1770s.

 The first room you enter is filled with precious early Renaissance paintings like this Bernardo Daddi from 1348.

Photography is allowed so we had fun taking pictures of art we wanted to remember.

Like these two panels by Borghese di Piero Borghese from The Story of Saints Julitta and Quiricus,1448

Bill and I went with our friend Shelley Savor. This is The Assasination of Saint Peter Martyr, 1509, from the workshop of Giovanni Bellini.

We had all the time in the world. It was fun to plop myself down and just gaze at that Rubens over the fireplace.

The Courtauld is famous for its outstanding Impressionist and Post-Impressionist pieces. This unfinished work is Lady with a Parasol by Edgar Degas, c. 1870.

We're always pleased to see a Chaim Soutine. This is his Young Woman in a White Blouse, 1923.

Shelley and I looked for a long time at one of the gallery's highlights

Manet's The Bar at the Folies-Bergere, 1881-82.

Do you find that the people in galleries are often as interesting as the art?

Bill and Shelley scamper up to the third floor galleries.

Shelley and I between two exquisite Paul Cézannes.

The paintings on the right are Cézanne's The Card Players and Man with a Pipe.

Detail of Man with a Pipe.

Vincent Van Gogh's stunning Self-Portrait with a Bandaged Ear, 1889.

I loved Paul Gauguin's opulent odalisque,  

Nevermore, O Tahiti, 1897.

If you need any more convincing to visit the Courtauld we'll leave you with these two little George Seurat studies: Man Painting a Boat

and The Angler, both 1894. 

Estorick Collection, London

John and I visited The Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art for the first time in May. The permanent collection emphasizes the works of Italian Futurists and the gallery.

That's Massimo Campigli's Il Belvedere, 1930, on the left.

 We loved Ottone Rossi's Man Waiting, 1919. Perfect for our collection!

 This is Renato Guttuso's Landscape with Lovers.

 Futurist Carlo Carrà's The Boxer, 1913.

 Carrà's Atmospheric Swirls: A Bursting Shell, 1914.

Carlo Carrà's Synthesis of a Cafe Concert, 1910-12 

 Umberto Boccinioni's The Farewell, 1912.

 We also saw a special exhibition of the collages of Pablo Echauren, son of Chilean Surrealist, Roberto Matta.

 The gallery was also hosting a special exhibition of paparazzi photographs by Marcello Geppetti and Arturo Zavattini. I couldn't resist buying the catalogue featuring Brigitte Bardot on its cover.

The Years of La Dolce Vita showcased images from the late 50's and early 60's of celebrities on Via Veneto in Rome and candid shots from Frederico Fellini's filming of La Dolce Vita at Cinecitta.

 My favourite was a series of pictures of Anita Ekberg holding off photographers with a bow and arrow outside her home in Rome.

 The collection is housed in an elegant former residence

and is entered through the courtyard.

 When we left the gallery, John lingered to take a close-up

of a Geppetti photo of Robert Wagner. 

while I slipped out into Canonbury Square to catch a shot of the front of the building.

Anna Blewchamp at the TOAE

Bill and I are excited that our friend Anna Blewchamp will be showing some new assemblages this weekend at the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (TOAE).

We bought this piece from Blewchamp years ago and have enjoyed looking at it every day since. It is one of a series of assemblages based on Tarot cards. This is Temperance.

She also did a series of boxes based on the four elements. This is Air. A friend bought this and every time I visit her I sit by it and admire it. This is one of my favourite Blewchamps. It is so airy!

Here's another beauty: By the Waters.

Phoebe: She Dreamed She Stood Where the Earth Met the Sky is from Blewchamp's Bedlam Series. Bill and I have an assemblage (not shown) from this series called, Theo: He Dreamed He Heard the Sound of the Moon. Blewchamp has a knack for titles.

La Science: for Herbert, was a birthday commission, using various bits of ephemera of the subject and using pictures of him at different ages.

For Bill's birthday a few years ago, Anna made this piece with elements from his life. The elegant young woman at the centre of this assemblage is Bill's grandmother at age 16.

For Lynne D. is from another new series: As Above, So Below.
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Find more about these and other works on Blewchamp's Tumblr. The show is this weekend only, Friday to Sunday, July 4th to 6th. Bill and I plan on being first in line Friday night!