Posts Tagged ‘Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum’

Hidden Treasures

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

Salvador DaliOur man, The Chimney, has been out and about and has come across a couple of little treasures…. 

Those of you in the Glasgow area will know that Dali’s Christ of St John of the Cross has been rehung upstairs in Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum – it now has its own space and this is one painting exhibition that works very well.  In the new space you’ll find more detailed information about the work as well as additional information and a piece of film about Dali. Have a look at our previous blogs on this work and let me know what you think of the new space.

http://www.intermezzo-arts.co.uk/blog/?p=14

Many of you probably think that you’ve seen everything upstairs in Kelvingrove.  Well here is another treasure.  Just off the French Room are three paintings, again in their own space.  They are by Arthur Melville and, if you visited the Glasgow Boys exhibition, you will remember how wonderful his watercolours can be.

You don’t have to pick the best, you don’t have to nominate a second choice, you don’t even have to list them in order of preference.  You just go along and enjoy them.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Pissarro’s Chimney – May 2011

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Sarcophagus of Pabasa 656-640BC #museumfact

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Sarcophagus of Pabasa 656-640BC

Pabasa was the most powerful male official of his day in Upper Egypt.  Pharoah Psamtek I appointed him as Great Steward to his virgin daughter Nitocris who ruled Upper Egypt on the pharaoh’s behalf.   The shape is that of the mummified Osiris, god of the dead, with whom Pabasa wishes to be identified.  Figures of the sisters of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys and the goddesses Neith and Serket are shown at the foot and head of the trough.  On the side of the trough are Thoth (the ibis-headed man who records the judgement of the heart), Imsety (the human headed son of Horus who protects the liver), Anubis (the jackal-headed man who is god of embalming, and Duamutef (the jackal-headed son of Horus who protects the stomach).

This sarcophagus was acquired by Alexander, the 10th Duke of Hamilton, who was an early Victorian collector and eccentric, and he placed it in the Egyptian Hall of Hamilton Palace.  His wish was to be mummified on his death and to this end he acquired another sarcophagus for himself which was to be placed in the family mausoleum.  Unfortunately he purchased a female sarcophagus which was not big enough for him and after his death his feet had to be broken so that he would fit inside.

You can view this sarcophagus in the Egyptian Room on the ground floor of Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum in Glasgow.

Intermezzo organise private viewings of Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum and offer assistance with income generation and sponsorship to Museums, Art Galleries and Heritage Properties. For more information contact us at info@intermezzo-arts.co.uk or on 0141 636 6929

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Glen Massan by Gustave Dore (1832-1883)

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Glen Massan by Gustave Dore (Image courtesy of Glasgow Museums)

Gustave Doré was born in Strasbourg in January 1832 and was a child prodigy who was drawing from the age of 5. It’s believed that he secured his job as an illustrator at aged 15 by walking into a publishing company with a set of drawings and was given a job straight away.  By the age of 16 he was believed to be the highest paid illustrator in France and went on to illustrate works by Dante, Edgar Allan Poe as well as the Bible.  Today he is more widely known for his engravings, particularly those which formed his book, London: A Pilgrimage, which concentrated particularly on the poverty which existed in London during the Victorian period.

He first visited the Scottish Highlands in 1873 with his friend Colonel Teesdale, who had taken him to Scotland for a salmon fishing trip.  However, he preferred to sketch rather than fish and was inspired by the Scottish landscape, returning again in 1874.  His love of Scottish scenery saw him produce many landscapes of the Highlands from his Paris studio which were often more romantic in nature than true to life.  This painting, of Glen Massan near Dunoon, is a large canvas in a romantic Victorian style.  The strong diagonal elements of the hillside are offset against the moving billowing clouds with shafts of light highlighting the work.  The lack of people in Gustave’s Highland paintings may stem from the fact that the romantic myth of the time was that few, if any, actual people had visited these scenes and the artist, or continental visitor, might consider themselves the first to set foot there. A romantic notion indeed!

 Vincent van Gogh referred to Doré as an “Artist of the People”.  He died in Paris in 1883.

 You can view this painting in first floor gallery Scottish Identity in Art at Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum.

To arrange a personal daytime tour or private evening tour please contact us at info@intermezzo-arts.co.uk or call us on 0141 636 6929

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Le Mariage de Convenance 1883 William Quiller Orchardson

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Le Mariage de Convenance - Image courtesy of Glasgow Museums

Sir William Quiller Orchardson was born in Edinburgh in 1835.  He moved to London in 1862 and among his fellow students was Thomas Faed, who painted The Last of the Clan (see previous blog).  Together with other younger artists he formed an artistic school and social circle of Scottish artists in London.  He painted portraits, everyday scenes and historical paintings and his painting Her Mother’s Voice is thought to have been the inspiration for the HMV advertising icon of the little dog listening to the gramophone known as His Master’s Voice.  This painting was produced in the 1880s during the height of his powers.  He was knighted in 1907 and has a self-portrait in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.  He died in London in 1901.

The painting portrays a discontented young wife dining with her much older husband and the colours are subtle and muted.  The lamp over the table highlights the story and is the divide between the wife, and the husband and the butler – the husband seems to have more in common with the butler.  The huge table emphasises the age gap and it appears that the marriage, as well as the meal, is over.  The French title of the piece was to detract from the risqué subject matter as the owner would not have wanted it to appear as a statement on their own marriage.  This is further underlined by the light source, which comes from the front, rather than the lamp above, as if to suggest that this is a scene from a play.  It has a companion piece in Aberdeen Art Gallery called Marriage of Convenience  – After which depicts the husband now alone with his butler.

 You can find this painting in Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum on the first floor in the Every Picture Tells a Story Gallery.

For daytime and private evening viewings of Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum contact Intermezzo on 0141 636 6929 or email us at info@intermezzo-arts.co.uk

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The Annunciation 1493 – Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
The Annunciation – Botticelli 1493 – Image Courtesy of Glasgow Museums

In this wonderfully realistic depiction of three dimensional space the Angel Gabriel hurries to tell the Virgin Mary that she is to bear God’s son Jesus.  As rays of gold representing God’s grace radiate towards her, Mary’s modest poor and humble bow indicate that she has accepted this precious mission.

 The angel in Botticelli’s Annunciation seems to float across a long arched corridor behind which can be seen a lake, trees,and a hillside.  Many Renaissance artists became skilled in creating perspective which was a new discovery based on mathematics.  The straight lines recede at carefully worked out intervals towards a fixed vanishing point in the background.  The figures and objects in the foreground were also painted larger than those in the background to help make sense of perspective.

 Botticelli was a major Florentine Renaissance artist who painted religious and mythological works.   Although he was one of the most individual painters of the Italian Renaissance,  he remained little known for centuries after his death. His work was rediscovered late in the 19th century by the Pre-Raphaelite artists

 He was born in Florence and apprenticed to a goldsmith and later he was a pupil of the painter Fra Filippo Lippi. He spent all his life in Florence except for a visit to Rome in 1481-82. There he painted wall frescoes in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican.

 In Florence, Botticelli was the protege of several members of the powerful Medici family. He painted portraits of the family and many religious pictures, including the famous The Adoration of the Magi.

 Find this painting in the Italian Art Gallery on the first floor of the East Wing in Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum

 For daytime tours and private evening tours of Kelvingrove contact Intermezzo on 0141 636 6929 or email us at info@intermezzo-arts.co.uk

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