'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.

'Sussex Modernism' at Two Temple Place

There's an interesting small exhibition on at the moment at Two Temple Place called 'Sussex Modernism: Retreat and Rebellion'. Two Temple Place is a Victorian mansion built by the Astor's and the inside is covered in carved wood decorations and some huge and detailed stained glass windows. It's a good place to host an exhibition like this, comparing the old and the new.

There's a wide range of artists in the show, many of whom I'd not heard of before, and a wide range of works - sculptures, paintings, sketches, furnishings, books and even two engraved garden rollers. It's split over two floors which helps with seeing the rest of the house. At one end of the large downstairs room is a 'Bloomsbury' section with paintings and furnishings from Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is a gorgeous painting by Duncan Grant, 'Venus and Adonis'. We see a pink, voluptuous Venus lounging on her bed looking out the window at a smaller Adonis running in the distance. The colours are marvellous (much better in real life than this reproduction) and it simply glows with life. The curves, the swag of the curtain, the fluffy clouds and the pink on pink of Venus on her red/orange bed all pulls you into a comfortable world and then you wonder why Adonis is running?

Further on from this painting is the much larger 'Bathers by the Pond' by Duncan Grant using a very different colour palette. It's a series of young men lounging around on a warm, sunny afternoon, some naked and some in colourful trunks (I couldn't help but wonder where you could get bright orange trunks these days). It's a very different painting and not as lush as 'Venus' but is quite arresting with it's large bush dabs to give a texture to the surface of the painting.

Another delightful work by Duncan Grant is a wooden chest he painted at Charleston with all four sides painted and the inside of the lid painted with the tale of 'Leda and the Duck', changing the swan to a duck. The front of the chest is painted with a joyous image of naked swimmer, with other scenes on the other sides of the chest.

There are also works by Vanessa Bell including book covers and a lampshade, but the most surprising were in the upstairs room and were two large sketches for decorating Berwick Church of 'The Nativity' and 'The Annunciation'. I hadn't expected to see religious paintings but these were delightful and hung opposite each other in an airy, light alcove that made them seem even lighter and more delicate and very early Renaissance. The sketch for 'The Nativity' compared to the finished painting in the church (below) is quite noticeable, particularly with the shepherd on the left wearing a jacket - which he doesn't have in the sketch - over his red jumper.

There are lots of other artists and crafts people included in this exhibition, include Salvador Dali's 'Mae West Lips' sofa on loan from Brighton Museum, a Henry Moore sculpture and paintings by Wadsworth (a detail of one is used on the poster above).

There's also a rather lovely 'Madonna and Child in a Landscape' by David Jones, one of the many artists I haven't come across before. I liked the muted colours and I liked the Madonna kissing her child while holding him protectively. It's a relatively small painting and is one of the few images that you can buy as a postcard in the shop. I'd like to see more of his work.

Two Temple Place was a new space for me and it's only open when there's an exhibition on. It's free to enter and have a look around so if you're in the area (it's just along from Temple tube station) then it's definitely worth popping in.