February: A month for lovers - and art lovers!

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This is the month of St Valentine and it might be an idea to take a loved one to an art gallery. Forget the hushed reverential tones of the older-style traditional galleries; the two of you could go for the more friendly atmosphere of one of the smaller, newer venues whose ethos is intimacy not intimidation. The owners of these new galleries recognize that a growing market exists among people who do not wish to be excluded. This new market is composed of intelligent people who reject the older-style establishments. This is also the ethos of Cassone. We wish to bring art to as many people as possible, through our accessible, enjoyable and informative content. We often feature announcements of shows in small, innovative London galleries - remember to check our Art News through the month for details.

An embracing, democratic view  is also seen in the writing of Charlotte and Peter Fiell, who co-write books on design that the general public buy and enjoy. In their interview with Cassone this month, they state , ‘we don’t see the point of publishing books unless they are accessible and can be enjoyed by a general readership’, a sound guiding principle and one that has also made them very successful, writing over 40 titles together.

Following the theme of romance appropriate to a February issue, Jenny Kingsley has written us a Perspectives piece on a relatively unknown National Trust house in Buckinghamshire – Ascott House, where successive Rothschild owners have created lasting romantic features for their loved ones within the house and its gardens.

Some exhibitions to visit and enjoy include ‘Bill Woodrow’at the Royal Academy, which according to David Ecclestone is an exhibition that puts ‘Woodrow above the ordinary’ but be quick as it closes this month. ‘Body Language' at the Saatchi Gallery is the gallery's latest exhibition (on display until 23 March 2014). Here 19 artists focus on the human body; 13 are American, the others are from Europe, Russia and Japan. As Ros Ormiston says, it is always a pleasure to visit the light and airy Saatchi gallery.

Jenny Kingsley explores the history of women artists of the Renaissance, when ‘economic, political and legal inequality between the sexes, sustained by prevailing cultural norms, served to thwart women from pursuing artistic careers’. This was to be a state of affairs for some time and many feel it is still representative today as seen in the price of works by famous female artists never ever reaching the heights commanded by their male colleagues.

For centuries, women have had a recognised role in supporting the arts, and one modern-day patron was Isabella Blow, who gave many fashion designers their start. Frances Follin visited the ‘Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore’ exhibition at Somerset House and was impressed by how much this larger-than-life character managed to fit into her sadly shortened lifetime. Blow was a true champion of the British fashion industry, and surely deserves some of the credit for its current high standing in the world.

Ileana Sonnabend was another woman who had a key role in promoting the work of other artists. Stephen Bury has been to see ‘Ileana Sonnabend: Ambassador for the New’, the exhibition at MoMA in New York, which looks at 40 artists and their relationship with this important art dealer. See his review in our Around the Galleries section

Robert Radford reviews the catalogue on the Austrian-born photographer Edith Tudor Hart, whose remarkable images can be seen if you visit the Das Verbogene Museum, Berlin, 13 March–29 June  2014. It is a great pity that she destroyed much of her work when under surveillance in Britain as a suspected communist.

You can also read Robert’s review of a beautiful book on chromolithography, which at last permitted the cheap colour printing that so enlivens our environment today. There are also reviews of books on the designs of Abram Games and John Piper, and one on Cornelia Parker that is ‘a first class introduction to her work’ and the next best thing to seeing her work in a gallery. It will in fact be on show at the Frith Street Gallery later in the year.

A new book on the neglected sculptor, William Reid Dick is the result of the author’s curiosity and enthusiasm for  his work and draws on a great deal of previously unpublished material, including press cuttings and photographs in the Tate Archive, as well as letters and photographs held by Reid Dick's family. Reid Dick created statues of President Roosevelt and King George V, among others in central London.

Were the West Coast artists of the 1950s and '60s as good as their better-known contemporaries of the New York School? Janet Stiles  Tyson supports the claims of the Bay Area School. Read her review to find out why.

In our Perspectives section John Varoli writes on the US art fair, Art Basel Miami.This was his first visit and he was ‘not prepared for or the incredible amount of socializing at dinners, receptions, and parties of all kinds’ at what is much more than just an art fair and attracts some 50,000 visitors. You may feel tempted to go to the next one – or perhaps prefer to read about it from a safe distance! After reading John's article you may well agree with him about the 'genius' of the artists concerned.

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