So I’ve now seen my first summer show at the Royal Academy (RA) and I’ve come away with the sense of being underwhelmed. It is not that the art on display was disappointing but rather that the show itself was a bit of a mess. Now this is not surprising as there is not real curatorial vision guiding the selection of the work but rather an open call and the judges having to make the best that was presented to them. It was bound to be hit and miss. Now it is unfair for me to judge this show too harshly as I’ve never been to one of these things before. Perhaps this was a good example of the summer show compared to other real stinkers in the past. Perhaps.
Having been so negative what exactly did work for me? Well the architecture room was really good. In the interest of full disclosure my brother is an architect and I grew up with his models and drawings cluttering the house so maybe this is why I’m drawn to the models on display. The print room also worked well, if a little cluttered. I’ve just realised I’ve not mentioned any names of works/artists and there is a reason for this. Being a newbie at the summer show I didn’t pick up the list of works booklet until afterwards so I can’t name the works because I can’t remember their numbers. This does have the advantage of making you appreciate the work rather than the reputation – which isn’t such a bad thing. Overall a mixed bag of bolts, some great, some not so but something I will try and make an annual feature.
The second exhibition I saw was the final day of the George Bellows retrospective at the RA. Bellows was an American artist from the first half of the 20th century when America was becoming the world economic super power we know today. It was a really fascinating show that not only had Bellows most famous work Stag at Sharkey’s but a great selection. I could try and give you a thumbnail bio of Bellows but it would be far easier to watch the two videos made to accompany the show when it was at the National Gallery of Art at Washington D.C.:
Video Part 1
Video Part 2
As for the works themselves I would say that Bellows was at his best when painting what he knew and had experienced. The early works, of which the stags is perhaps his most famous, were vibrant and alive with the energy the early 20th century. After this his paintings go down hill rapidly, but strangely enough not his print work. There are three paintings he made of German atrocities from the first world war which, I felt, had no real insight and felt like poor propaganda paintings by someone who never went anywhere near Europe, let alone the front line during this time. To underline this you only have to see the power of The Law is Too Slow, about a vigilant killing in southern USA to realise that the war paintings were poor. In fact the final collection of Bellows work, from the latter end of his short life, all show signs of an artist really going off the boil. They mainly consisted of portraits of his wife, family and a boxing painting of Jack Dempsey being knocked out of the ring which is really boring compared to the vibrance of the Stag series. I got the feeling at the end that he had become just another boring painter with no real passion for what he was doing. I suspect I’m being very unfair and I will change my views when the book of the show arrives but that is how I feel as I write this.
In complete contrast later on the day a Hindu festival was being celebrated on Piccadilly right outside the RA. This was full of life and vigour and was strangely very English in execution when compared to what you might se in India. There the crowds go wild and throw caution to the wind, here it was a lot more civilised with wonderfully polite marshalls wearing their best H&S high vis jackets over their saris trying to ensure that no one was run over by the London traffic. The celebrations consisted of several very large carts, now I was once told the significance of each of the carts and I won’t try to explain what they signified because I don’t recall and so I won’t offend any Hindu how might read this . All I can say was that there was awful lot of the human spirt flowing along Piccadilly this afternoon and I would like the celebrants and marshalls for the joy of it all.
One final thing which really did make this whole thing very very english. At the end of the parade there was a small fleet of council street cleaners clearing up the mess as the parade passed. Wonderful. The whole thing made me really pleased to be living in a country where such things are celebrated freely. Long may it last.
Simon Marchini
Web: http://WWW.simonmarchini.co.uk
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