There are no accidental masterpieces in painting, but there are accidental masterpieces in photography.
TED Talks: Inspirational work from Viz Muniz
One for fans of Jan Vermeer’s work. BBC4 (UK) are showing an episode on Andrew Graham-Dixon’s The Secret Lives of Artists tonight, titled The Madness of Vermeer followed by Peter Webber’s film A Girl with a Pearl Earring.
![City of Leeds “Rock Dodging”. Walker Bay, SA. 1973
Acrylic on Canvas, 55 x 40cm [2010]
I did this painting as a Christmas present for my dad after him telling me a story of his early days at sea.
“After a spot of leave I joined a ship called the City of Leeds which had originally been named the City of Ottowa. This is probably the ship that I had the fondest memories of. We sailed from Liverpool to South Africa via Angola. Calling at: Lobito (Angola) Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and then returned via Capetown to Avonmouth. The Captain was a smashing chap called Maurice Hartley and the ship was an old (built 1950) steam turbine which made it very quiet but she was very comfortable in rough seas having also been designed to carry 12 passengers. Since she no longer carried them when I was on board the officers were able to use the passenger lounge / bar which was great.
Off the South East Coast of South Africa there is a strong current called the Agulhas current that sets south thus slowing down ships bound North. By keeping very close inshore you can reduce the effects and occasionally in the bays get a bit of counter current that speeds you up. I can recall the Captain doing this “rock dodging” on a beautifully sunny day. These days he would be arrested and charged with dangerous navigation but he had been trading in those waters for years so knew exactly what he was doing. I recall that he insisted doing the watch himself so that if anything went wrong only he would be blamed. He had us apprentices on the bridge with the 3rd Officer to teach us coastal navigation techniques. A rare pleasure.
Coming into the Bristol Channel from the Atlantic was on a gorgeous June morning. The sea was calm and the air was really clear and filled with land smells of cut grass, pollen hay etc. The senses are enhanced when coming from clear Atlantic air with no other smells so it’s really noticeable. The pilot came out to us on an old Bristol Channel sailing cutter and transferred in the traditional manner by small rowing punt. A great end to the voyage.”](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_le8v4nPxrv1qevfilo1_500.jpg)
City of Leeds “Rock Dodging”. Walker Bay, SA. 1973
Acrylic on Canvas, 55 x 40cm [2010]
I did this painting as a Christmas present for my dad after him telling me a story of his early days at sea.
“After a spot of leave I joined a ship called the City of Leeds which had originally been named the City of Ottowa. This is probably the ship that I had the fondest memories of. We sailed from Liverpool to South Africa via Angola. Calling at: Lobito (Angola) Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and then returned via Capetown to Avonmouth. The Captain was a smashing chap called Maurice Hartley and the ship was an old (built 1950) steam turbine which made it very quiet but she was very comfortable in rough seas having also been designed to carry 12 passengers. Since she no longer carried them when I was on board the officers were able to use the passenger lounge / bar which was great.
Off the South East Coast of South Africa there is a strong current called the Agulhas current that sets south thus slowing down ships bound North. By keeping very close inshore you can reduce the effects and occasionally in the bays get a bit of counter current that speeds you up. I can recall the Captain doing this “rock dodging” on a beautifully sunny day. These days he would be arrested and charged with dangerous navigation but he had been trading in those waters for years so knew exactly what he was doing. I recall that he insisted doing the watch himself so that if anything went wrong only he would be blamed. He had us apprentices on the bridge with the 3rd Officer to teach us coastal navigation techniques. A rare pleasure.
Coming into the Bristol Channel from the Atlantic was on a gorgeous June morning. The sea was calm and the air was really clear and filled with land smells of cut grass, pollen hay etc. The senses are enhanced when coming from clear Atlantic air with no other smells so it’s really noticeable. The pilot came out to us on an old Bristol Channel sailing cutter and transferred in the traditional manner by small rowing punt. A great end to the voyage.”
You have, I believe; particularly artists. You have to know the past and know what has been done in the past. In order to accept, reject, complain about, hate, love, whatever
Drawing is like making an expressive gesture with the advantage of permanence.
Art and Inspiration on (UK) TV: 06 Dev 2010
My apologies for being a little late this week with my pick of the week for Art and Inspiration on TV, a hectic Monday. That being said there is little in the way of new programmes this week.
Let me know if I have missed anything.
A programme I missed but available on iPlayer that looks excellent:
In a documentary based on his book Operation Mincemeat, Ben Macintyre presents the story of how Britain deceived Hitler into thinking the Allies were planning to invade Greece in 1943, allowing them to land in Sicily - their real target - with minimal resistance. The brainchild of James Bond author Ian Fleming, the deception had been shrouded in secrecy for 60 years, but is thought to have saved thousands of lives
Monday
Art of Germany // 9pm, BBC4, BBC HD Season 1 Episode 2 of 3 Dream and Machine Andrew Graham-Dixon explores how the desire to forge a single nation of Germany found artistic expression in the Romantic movement. He travels to the coastal town of Greifswald to explore how the Baltic coast influenced Caspar David Friedrich’s landscape paintings. In Berlin, he observes the art of the Prussian state that was a driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871, and there is a look at the efforts of Franz Marc and Otto Dix to rationalise the experiences of the First World War. Part of the Germany season
Wednesday
Masterpieces of Vienna // 8pm, BBC 4 Season 1 Episode 2 of 6 Freud’s Couch The story of the iconic piece of furniture on which Freud treated countless neurotic patients. Its arrival to his Vienna apartment sparked a revolution in twentieth-century thought, so much so that it has become an emblem of modern psychoanalysis
**Atlantis: The Evidence - A Timewatch Special* // 8pm, BBC HD* Historian Bettany Hughes presents a Timewatch special in which she investigates the latest geological, archaeological and historical evidence regarding the continent of Atlantis, and learns that the cause of its disappearance might have been a massive natural disaster
Thursday
The Beauty of Diagrams // 8:30pm, BBC4 Season 1 Episode 4 of 6 Florence Nightingale A look at Florence Nightingale’s use of statistical graphics as a call to action following her experience of caring for soldiers during the Crimean War of 1854-1856. She compiled her findings into a report featuring the Rose Diagram, which explained how 16,000 of the conflict’s 18,000 deaths were a result of infectious diseases found in hospitals, and was used to persuade the British government to improve sanitation. Part of the Tools of Science season
All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone.. the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.
Art and Inspiration on (UK) TV: 29 Nov 2010
Monday
Art of Germany // 9pm, BBC4, BBC HD Season 1 Episode 1 of 3 A Divided Land New series. Andrew Graham-Dixon explores the history of German art, visiting places of significance and looking at paintings, sculptures and other works. He begins his journey by travelling to the large cathedral in Cologne, which he believes encapsulates the varied character of the country’s creative output. He also looks at the earliest paintings of the Northern Renaissance in Munich, a city that is home to the woodcuts of Albrecht Durer and the cosmic visions of Albrecht Altdorfer. Part of the Germany season
Tuesday
Frederick the Great and the Enigma of Prussia // 9pm, BBC4 Historian Christopher Clark examines the life and achievements of the 18th century Prussian king Frederick the Great, who gained respect as a military figure and was lauded as a philosopher. Despite being referred to at times as the `Prince of the Enlightenment’, Frederick and his nation’s reputations were to be tarnished by their association with Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime
Imagine // 10:35pm, BBC1, BBC1 HD The Weird World of Eadweard Muybridge Alan Yentob marks the unveiling of a major Tate Britain exhibition focusing on the work of Eadweard Muybridge, the English migrant who re-invented himself as a photographer in America in 1852, and went on to pioneer techniques that would become the precursors to modern cinema. The presenter also examines Muybridge’s controversial private life, revealing how he was arrested for shooting his wife’s lover dead in 1874, with the subsequent trial causing a sensation when the jury acquitted him on grounds of justifiable homicide
Wednesday
Masterpieces of Vienna // 8pm, BBC 4 The Tempest: Kokoschka The stories behind works of art. Oskar Kokoschka’s The Tempest, an expressionist painting depicting the passionate love affair between the impoverished artist and his wealthy, older lover. The film explores the relationship’s effect on Kokoschka, and his subsequent eccentric behaviour which led to doctors condemning him as being `mentally unstable’ (subtitles)
Thursday
The Culture Show // 7pm, BBC2 Mark Kermode meets director Danny Boyle to discuss his latest film 127 Hours, LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy talks about his work, and Andrew Graham-Dixon previews the inaugural World Book Night in March next year, explaining how viewers can get involved in the event. Plus, Michael Smith investigates the lure of the shopping mall as the busy Christmas period gets under way
Art of Cornwall // 9pm, BBC4 An insight into the lives and work of eight artists, including Kit Wood, Alfred Wallis, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, who helped the art colony of St Ives in Cornwall become as important as Paris and London in the history of modernism. The programme offers an alternative perspective of the art world in the 20th century, alongside a portrayal of the history and landscapes of Cornwall itself
Business art is the step that comes after Art. I started as a commercial artist, and I want to finish as a business artist.
![November Figs
My work for #twitterartexhibit that opens Wednesday
Acrylic on Postcard [2010]
Entry for #twitterartexhibit, a exhibition of international artists on Twitter, being held in Moss, Norway on the 1st December 2010. The event is being organised by David Sandum (@DavidSandumArt).](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lchnhe4kBK1qevfilo1_500.jpg)
November Figs
My work for #twitterartexhibit that opens Wednesday
Acrylic on Postcard [2010]
Entry for #twitterartexhibit, a exhibition of international artists on Twitter, being held in Moss, Norway on the 1st December 2010. The event is being organised by David Sandum (@DavidSandumArt).
![Fisherman off Deal beach
The fisherman pull in their catch, just off the Deal shoreline in Kent.
Acrylic on Paper [2010]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lchn025qGt1qevfilo1_500.jpg)
Fisherman off Deal beach
The fisherman pull in their catch, just off the Deal shoreline in Kent.
Acrylic on Paper [2010]
Images also help me find and realise ideas. I look at hundreds of very different, contrasting images and I pinch details from them, rather like people who eat from other people’s plates.
Art and Inspiration on (UK) TV: 22 Nov 2010
A few good programmes on this week, in particular The Madness of Peter Howson looks good (Thursday, 9pm BBC4)
Art
Monday 22nd
BBC1 (BBC1 HD) // 10:35pm, Imagine: Smash His Camera Director Leon Gast explores the work of American photojournalist Ron Galella, who has taken more than three million photographs of celebrities over the past four decades, and is considered by many to be the world’s first paparazzo. The film examines the photographer’s career, which saw him famously provoke the ire of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as well as Marlon Brando, and assesses the complex relationship between privacy and fame in an increasingly celebrity-obsessed age. Includes contributions by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter and artist Chuck Close.
Thursday 25th
BBC2 // 7pm, The Culture Show Andrew Graham-Dixon talks to artist Bridget Riley about her new exhibition at the National Gallery, Alan Yentob chats to Family guy creator Seth MacFarlane, and Tim Samuels investigates an educational scheme to help children in India. Clemency Burton-Hill visits the Old Vic where actors, directors and writers join forces to make six short in plays in just 24 hours and Mark Kermode examines Gareth Edwards’ low-budget film Monsters. Alastair Sooke views a home-grown art collection on the Isle of Arran, and singer-songwriter KT Tunstall selects her favourite musical moments from the BBC archive.
BBC4 // 8:30pm, The Beauty of Diagrams Season 1 Episode 2 of 6 Copernicus An insight into the issues Polish priest and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus faced when he developed his theory of a sun-centred universe - a concept that risked derision and accusations of heresy at a time when Earth was perceived as being at the heart of the cosmos. Following decades of fear over whether to bring his findings to light, his book and its diagram of the heliocentric universe were published in 1543 as he approached the end of his life. Part of the Tools of Science season
BBC4 // 9pm, The Madness of Peter Howson Documentary charting the efforts of the artist as he worked on the biggest commission of his career - painting the largest crowd scene in the history of British art, at the request of the Archdiocese of Glasgow as part of the restoration of St Andrew’s Cathedral. The programme follows Peter Howson as he endures funding difficulties throughout the two-year project, which threatened the completion of the eight-metre-high depiction of the martyrdom of Saint John Ogilvie, and pushed him to the edge of sanity
Inspiration
Monday 22nd
BBC4 // 9pm, Delphi: The Bellybutton of the Ancient World Cambridge University’s Michael Scott examines what happened at the ancient Greek oracle at Delphi, and how it developed a reputation for being a gateway into the supernatural and a source of political conflict. Now popular with tourists, the site served as a strong force throughout history
BBC4 // 10pm, Imagine: Fantastic Mr Dahl Alan Yentob reveals how Roald Dahl’s storytelling ability evolved, earning him a place as one of Britain’s most original and popular writers. Featuring contributions by his widow Felicity, first wife and actress Patricia Neal, his children Tessa, Theo and Ophelia, grand-daughter Sophie Dahl and illustrator Quentin Blake. Part of The Art of Arts TV week
An idea, like a ghost, must be spoken to a little before it will explain itself.
