New York, New York

My London dealer, Kathryn Bell from Fine Art Consultancy, had told me she was going to show two of my works at Verge Art Fair in New York.
During the recent holiday I was away and could not reach her, so I wasn't sure if in the end she had managed to ship my works there and was going to show them.
I googled the fair to see if I could find any info and came across this YouTube video... there they were !!
( second 0.31). I am really excited to have works across the pond for the first time !

Catalogue

Just a quick post: I have been putting together a catalogue for iPad and iPhone with all the works from my latest show that opened yesterday in Palermo, Italy. It also includes an excerpt from an essay on my work by poet and critic Prof. Aldo Gerbino
If you are reading this blog from your portable device, you can click on the link below and the booklet should download directly onto your iBooks shelf.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/21892961/Catalogo%20mostra%20Palermo%202012.epub

Chardin at Waddesdon Manor

Today I went to Waddesdon Manor for a day trip. The beautiful residence is at about one hour from London and it was built by the Rothschild family as a place to entertain their guests and to house their collection of precious objects.
Indeed the house it's worth a visit to see the collection and the beautiful grounds, but until the 15th of July even more so as there is a small but stunning show of Chardin's paintings.

Charlotte Rothschild, from the french branch of the family, was a great collector of Chardin, having bought about twenty paintings on the period from 1870 to 1899, and her collection was further enriched by her heirs. Unfortunately most of the paintings were destroyed by german bombs while in storage in UK and others were sold.

 " The House of Cards" was bought by the Rothschild's estate in 2007 and now they have reunited four paintings with the same subject together with other Chardin's masterpieces.
The paintings are all slightly different, one is more of a portrait, the others are more genre scenes, one portrays an older and more dishevelled teen ager, one acknowledges the existence of a world outside the window, all are incredibly intense and beautiful, Chardin at his best.

The Girl with a Shuttlecock is also on display, belonging to the Rothschild family as well, after having been owned by Catherine II, Empress of Russia.

Another "old friend" I had never met in real life was the "Lady Taking Tea", on loan from the Hunterian Art Gallery" in Glasgow.

This painting was the direct source for my two recent still life works of boxes on red cabinets from the Wrap series on show next week in Galleria Elle Arte, Palermo and Chardin's open drawer often makes its appearance in my works. 

   He is one of my favourite painters, and I look very often at his work, still lifes that are extraordinary and relevant. Seeing these pictures in real life, in the intimate room and subdued light of the red ante-room in Waddesdon was an intense emotion.

    Chardin is featured again in Waddesdon in the form of a large etching by Lucien Freud from the painting " The School Mistress"in the National Gallery. Freud painted an intense copy from Chardin and etched this large plate now on display. Freud of course was a friend of the Rothchilds and the collection includes one of his self portraits and a portrait of baron Rothschild, as well as a small sensitive portrait of Serena Rothschild by painter Michael Andrews.

A detailed catalogue of the show, titled "Taking Time", is available here. It seems a very interesting read: while I was looking at the show ( it's all in one small room) the curator was showing a french gentleman round. I obviously eavesdropped and she was mentioning many interesting details and information always reassuring him that they were included in the catalogue.

I cannot recommend visiting Waddesdon enough, but get there before the end of the show ! ( and don't forget to book online as even in today's stormy weather it was very crowded and they have entry time slots) 

Show

Thirteen paintings have left my house headed for Italy.
Works from the "Wrap" series, on which I have been working for the last months, will go on display in a show titled Interiors at Ellearte, a gallery in Palermo, Sicily.
This series of works feature objects that are hidden in boxes or wrapped in brown paper. Some of the boxes have been open, but what was in them is not revealed.
I have looked at and examined these boxes and packets, arranged them, piled them up, aligned them, introduced a narrative element, set them onto and inside furniture. They took the stage, caught my studio's southern light and just "sat" for me providing a real presence to work with. A tension must be created as the point of departure of a painting.
The show opens on the 2nd of May and will go on until the 28th of May. My works are paired up with watercolours by Barbara Arrigo.
Galleria Ellearte, via Ricasoli 45, Palermo.

I Wish I Could Go

Every summer, not that I can complain as I am probably in Italy seaside or poolside, I wish I could actually take a couple of weeks "off" from my long vacation to go on a painting course !
If this summer I could disappear without upsetting my family life though, I'd just jump into a car and get myself to Civita Castellana.
Two years ago I had the chance to visit the Italian Summer Program of the Jerusalem Studio School, as they were holding it very close to Siena. I was there during a very interesting critique session where I witnessed the extremely high standard of the teaching.
This summer the program will be held at Civita Castellana, a town close to Viterbo, about one hour from Rome. Not only Civita is a beautiful town, it's also at the center of an area that was a mecca for "grand-tourists" of the XIX century.
I cannot recommend this course enough! Although I wasn't yet able to take part I have seen the works produced and met several faculty members and I believe it would be an amazing experience to work under their tuition.

One of the teachers this year will be my friend Emil Robinson, who will be teaching the first two weeks of August.
Emil's course will be focussing on landscape motifs, and students will be working in paint and pastels.
His work in paint is mysterious and minimalistic, but not everyone knows about his amazing pastels, where he displays great skills in rendering form in the light.

My sons are growing fast and then I too will be able to attend !

Celebrating a friend

I am writing this short post to congratulate my friend Roni Taharlev for being selected for the BP Portrait Award 2012 with her Self Portrait.

I wrote here about how I met Roni two years ago in Tuscany. Since then we stayed in touch and she went on to show a series of marvellous head studies and self portraits at Gallery Livia in Jerusalem at the end of last year.

I am a great fan of Roni's work, and I had the privilege of handling this self portrait. The work is terribly strong and the tactile and ragged surface the painting has when seen in real life is a delight for the eyes.
The image of the head is remote, coming out through layers and layers of paint. At the same time the tension of the slow movements, the concentration in making the deliberate and sensitive gestures that reveal the form are evident and mesmerizing.  The head is barely contained in the board, almost squeezed in the space and this compression adds intensity to the work.
Well done Roni and well done to the judges for highlighting this gem.

 Roni's work is deep and serious and engages with the past and the work of the old masters in a very intelligent way;  she is a fascinating and engaging woman. I am lucky to be one of her friends and I am looking forward to see her at the show in London !

PAINTERS I DON'T GET

I can fill endless lists with artist who inspire me, artists I would want to squat into like the alien from Men in Black, even artists I like although they don't really inspire me. There is another category, though, artists whose works leave me completely cold.
I know, there are so many painters I initially overlooked and I then came to worship.
I have worked hard at painters on this list, looked at their pictures in galleries and books, read about them, particularly when they are important reference for artists I do like.
Despite my good will these are the ones I just can't get excited about, actually they almost annoy me.

Leonardo ( as painter)
Claude
Poussin
Gainsborough
Goya- big gasp
De Chirico
Renoir