Favourite Paintings: John Martin 'The Bard'

One of the first paintings I ever saw in a gallery was 'The Bard' by John Martin in the Laing Gallery in Newcastle, probably in 1976. Back then it hung on the wall high above the stairs where they made a final turn to the first floor. I don't think anything's been hung there for years and it's just a blank wall these days.

John Martin was a local boy made good. He was born in Northumberland not far from Newcastle in 1789 and he became one of the most famous painters of his day. He painted huge paintings and went on tour with the paintings around the country. There was an excellent exhibition of his work at Tate Britain in 2011, the first major exhibition of his work for many years. 'The Bard' is quite large but is dwarfed by his huge canvases with their vast, panoramic scenes. It is, however, a typical Martin painting with it's intense romantic subject matter.

The painting tells the tale of the last Bard in Wales, hunted down by Edward I's army and who throws himself off the cliff to certain death to avoid being captured. It's a mythical tale and typically romantic, being featured in a poem by Thomas Gray, but Martin takes the tale and runs with it to make it dramatic and bold, a brave Bard, the last of his kind cursing and defying the king, trusting his body to the river below rather than to the soldiers. Martin chooses the moment before he plunges to his death in the foaming river below. Wild eyed, his cloak billowing in the wind, the Bard holds his harp and raises his hand to lay his curse on the English king and his army. And, of course, we know he jumps shortly afterwards, giving his life to make sure the curse works.

Of course, the mountains of Wales are nothing like those in the painting and it's thought that these are based on prints of the Alps that Martin would have seen. Does that matter? Of course not. In the world of the painting this is an impossibly romantic scene and needs a suitable backdrop.

The huge army winding along and down the mountain on the left-hand side is huge, winding up and around the mountain passes and valleys. It's an impossibly huge army to put into rough mountains and it would be very foolish to have so many men chasing down one old man, particularly on those magnificent horses. But that's not the point. What matters is the tale the story Martin is telling.

The army shows the power of the king, with all this might pitted against an old man with a harp but we know that old man has power too and he doesn't need an army to back him up. His powers are ancient and mystical and come from the land he stands on.

This is a painting to awaken the imagination of anyone who is open to it, who starts to wonder about what's going on in the painting in front of them and immerse themselves in the tale. John Martin didn't paint pretty pictures, he painted tales and flights of the imagination, taking the viewer on a journey to who knows where. Is it any surprise that this painting has stuck with me over the years?

I try to visit the Laing Gallery whenever I visit Newcastle. It has an interesting collection and changes its displays quite regularly so I'm almost always guaranteed to see some paintings I've never seen before. John Martin's great works are always on display. Take a look the next time you're in Newcastle, entry to see the collection is free and it's a great way to get some peace from the people and traffic outside on the streets.

'Thomas Cole: Eden to Empire' at the National Gallery

Last week I popped in to the new Thomas Cole exhibition at the National Gallery. I've never heard of Thomas Cole (although the exhibition tells us he is or was a big influence in America) so I had no preconceptions other than the poster for the exhibition. He worked in the early-mid 1800s, a period I don't know much about really, and was influenced by Turner and Constable in his landscape paintings. The painter I'd most associate him with is John Martin who was a bit older than Cole and there is one Martin painting included in the exhibition.

I quite liked what I saw, especially the series of 'The Course of Empire' paintings that showed the same landscape over a millennia or so as it turned from a sylvan paradise into an empire and ending with the destruction of that empire. It's quite a grand idea to present empire as here today but gone tomorrow as America was growing up and moving to begin to take its place on the world stage, a sort of warning of what was inevitable. Empires rise and fall and that's the nature of the beast.

The large paintings are presented chronologically from left to right ('The Savage State', 'The Arcadian or Pastoral State', The Consummation of Empire', 'Destruction', 'Desolation') with 'Destruction immediately above where the population is annihilated by barbarians. It's very odd but seems quite modern in their own way, a sort of early political theory of the rise and fall of nations.

A painting I was quite struck by was his 'View of Florence from San Miniato' form 1837, five years after he left Florence and so painted from sketches and memory. I was in Florence quite recently and have been to San Miniato in the past so this painting made me smile. It's a lovely view of Florence, not altogether accurate and these days there are more bridges across the green Arno, but I liked it.

None of the other works on show made me go 'wow', however. Cole was self-taught until he went to Florence and took some anatomy lessons and his paintings are good but they don't have that extra something that makes them belong to a master. It was relatively easy to recognise the other paintings in the exhibition by Turner, Constable. Lorrain and Martin as belonging to different and more experienced hands. It seems like Cole has a fan somewhere in the hierarchy of the National Gallery to get this exhibition. He reminded me so much of John Martin whose paintings are so much bigger in size and scale and who's works Cole probably saw at some point since they went on tour in America as well as around Great Britain. On the other hand, you've got to say well done to a Bolton lad who went to America when he was 17 and made it big time there. It's an interesting rather than an essential exhibition.

'Celts: Art & Identity' at the British Museum

After work I scampered along to the bus stop to jump on the 24 bus up to Tottenham Court Road and the British Museum to see the exhibition about Celtic art that finishes this weekend. I'm a member of the British Museum so why am I waiting until the last weekend to see an exhibition? Answers on a postcard...

As the signs rather insistently tell you, Celts are not a homogenous group unified by a particular DNA trait, rather it's a form of identity that different groups have held at different times. The first use of the word was by the Greeks 2,500 years ago when they referred to the 'keltoi' as the people north and west of their civilisation, so it started as a way of saying 'non-Greek'. Celts lived in what is now Germany and France and up into Scandanavia but increasingly we, on our little island, treated Celts as being west and north of England, the Celtic nations of Ireland, Wales and Scotland. And who, exactly decided this? The Romantics and the Victorians - is there anything those Victorians aren't responsible for?

The exhibition moves chronologically through the years with artefacts and notes to explain what's happening and when. We see all sorts of stuff, from early sculptures, metalwork like helmets and work implements and swords, to things made from animal horns. There's all sorts of stuff and increasingly it turns from plain to incredibly intricate and detailed. We see the influence of the Romans as the Empire spreads across Europe (but never subdued the Celts on the fringes of the Empire) and then the influence of Christianity as time moves on. 

We see display cabinets full of torcs, bracelets and anklets - those Celts loved adornment and complex patterns - all in different styles signifying different tribes and times, but spread across the Celtic nations showing good trade routes and shared cultures. There were some giant standing stones and crosses (some were reproductions from the orgininals) and a lovely series of cloak pins/broaches that I'd happily wear on my jackets today.

I think my favourite piece was the Gundestrup Cauldron from Denmark with its intricate sides, inside and out, and it drew the crowds. Faces of ancient gods whose names we no longer know but can guess their attributes from the images surrounding them. When did these gods awake and when did they go to sleep? Did they go hunting through the ancient dark forests of the north or did they wait to be worshipped? What were their rituals and how did they welcome their worshippers into the after-life? We'll never know since there's nothing written about them but the cauldron is lovely. I want it but I'm not sure I'd want it in my home... who would come with it? The deep and dark past of the Celts is alluring and pulls you into the glamour and magik.

The exhibition moved into more modern times with John Grey's epic poem of 'The Bard', telling the story of the last bard in Wales being hunted down by troops of the English king Edward II, with the words on the wall:

"With joy I see
The different dooms our Fates assign.
Be thine Despair, and sceptred Care;
To triumph, and to die, are mine.
He spoke, and headlong from the mountain's height
Deep in the roaring tide he plunged to endless night"

'To triumph and to die' is such an evocative phrase and inspired paintings and other art works over the years - my favourite is a panoramic scene by John Martin in the Laing Gallery in Newcastle with the bard about to leap to his triumphant end. It would've been fab if that painting was included in this exhibition rather than the lesser paintings on display.

The exhibition wound on to the Victorians and their discovery of the designs for broaches and clothes, images of  heroic Celts like Caractacus and the influences on the arts in general There were a few paintings of imaginery druids in ancient ceremonies we can't imagine and a lovely painting of the Sidhe riding out to war (in a very Pre-Raphaelite style). It closed with a video wall showing peoples from the Celtic nations around Europe in tartans and playing pipes, demonstrating that the Celts are alive and well today since peoples still identify with their heritage.

It's a fascinating exhibition that takes you time travelling through the ages as the Celts evolve and grow but keep their spirit alive. The mystery of the Celts, our lack of real knowledge of the peoples and their ways, made this quite an intriguing exhibition with the selection of exhibits and the story it tries to tell.  It's only on for a couple more days so make your way there quickly otherwise you'll miss it.