'Duncan Grant: 1920' at Charleston House

The first solo show of Duncan Grant's works in the last 40 years is on at Charleston at the moment, a re-creation of his first solo show in 1920. I do find it odd that Grant isn't more prominent in exhibitions while his contemporaries seem to be exhibited. I've seen his paintings in group or thematic exhibitions many times but not an exhibition about him. The exhibition is in the new gallery at Charleston House in Sussex.

The first painting you see is 'Venus and Adonis', one of my favourite works of his that I saw at an exhibition about Sussex modernist works at Two Temple Place a few years ago. The huge pink Venus lounging lazily after what I hope was a very lusty session while the tiny Adonis runs away in the distance. You actually have to look for Adonis (if you don't know where he is).  It's an odd composition is some ways - the swag curtain taking up so much space, the contorted body of Venus and the jug in the foreground. The colours are rich and deep. There's something about it that just makes it work as an artistic statement, a very calm painting despite the subject matter.

The largest painting in the exhibition is 'Interior' set in the dining room at Charleston and features Vanessa Bell and David Garnett, both working. Vanessa is painting a still life of the fruit on the table (interestingly using a chair as an easel) and Garnett is working on a translation. A stray chair is in the immediate foreground with a highlight that draws the eye. We also don't see all of either character, both their bodies are cut off in some way. There's a lot to read and wonder about in this painting. 

There are a few flower paintings and interesting still lives and I particularly liked 'Still Life with Flowers' with the red of the poppies really popping out. It's painted from the side and the jug is overpowered by flowers (apparently he used that jug in other paintings around the time of making this painting). Wouldn't you want that jug of flowers on a table in your home? 

It's an interesting approach to an exhibition, re-creating an artist's first exhibition, and this was definitely worth seeing. I'm surprised that more exhibitions aren't curated on this kind of theme.

Literary Benches Around London

This years' theme for things to hunt down in London over the summer are benches, literary benches. Books About Town has commissioned a series of 50 benches about books with a London connection that are painted with an image associated with the book. The benches are all in the shape of an opened book and are surprisingly comfortable to sit on. The benches are dotted around open spaces (and some not so open) in four areas of London: Bloomsbury, Greenwich, City and Riverside (City Hall to the Globe). I've had an initial skirmish with the benches in the sun of a London summer and got burned and photographed the front and back of a lot of benches. I have more to collect.

I started off on the Riverside trail with the 'War Horse' bench in the shade of some young trees before discovering Alice in Wonderland and the Discworld bench with the Librarian. Walking along the river I discovered more benches, including one to Shakespeare outside the Globe Theatre. I prefer the back of this bench to the front for depicting the old London Bridge.

Over the Millennium Bridge between the Tate Modern and St Paul's Cathedral and another set of benches around the cathedral including 'Mary Poppins' and 'Peter Pan'. A bit further up in the 'Bridget Jones' bench. I couldn't find the Dickens bench and didn't have time to explore further in the City to find other benches so that's for another day

Another day passed and I went into Bloomsbury to find those benches in the grand literary squares. 'Mrs Dalloway' and (another) 'Peter Pan', Oscar Wilde and Sherlock Holmes but the best of the lot is 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' in St George's Gardens. I loved this bench with Mr Tumnus and Lucy walking away from the streetlight and into Narnia with a large painting of Aslan on the back. So far that's my favourite bench. I've yet to explore the Greenwich benches so maybe one of them will become my favourite but it'll have to be pretty spectacular.

Anyway, here are some photos of benches for you to enjoy!

The 'Through The Looking Glass' bench:

The Discworld bench with the Librarian looking very orange:

The Shakespeare bench outside The Globe Theatre, front and back:

The 'Mary Poppins' bench, front and back, with skateboarder damage on the front (between the front door and the first cherry tree):

The 'Peter Pan' bench outside St Paul's, front and back, with the addition of sparkly things embedded in the bench for that extra glimmer:

The 'Paddington Bear' bench outside Southwark Cathedral, front and back - I like this since it's the same picture really, as if the bench is see through, and you can see Mr and Mrs Brown in the distance on the back.

My favourite so far, 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' with Mr Tumnus and Lucy walking into Narnia on the front, polar bears on the side and Aslan on the back.