Places to go, things to see in July...

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I recently attended an art fair in Norwich. The art, I have to admit, was patchy in quality but what was impressive was the number of people attending. Art continues to fascinate people from all walks of life and I think the eclectic collection of art exhibitions, events, books and articles that appear every month on Cassone reflects this breadth of interest. Do be sure to have a browse through our archive, where we have a huge variety of articles and reviews from Cassone’s four years of publication.

There are now around a thousand articles and reviews in Cassone, most containing hyperlinks to other related items. Just click on the word ‘Archive’ to the left of the ‘Log in/subscribe’ tab at top right of the screen – clicking on the year and then the month that interests you will bring up the contents list for that month. Alternatively, use the Search facility towards the top right of the screen, immediately above the black bar that gives access to the various sections of the magazine. It allows you to find articles on any of the artists, movements, works of art or places of interest mentioned anywhere in the magazine – just type in the relevant word or words and press ‘Return’ on your computer keyboard.

Fashion is now very much seen as an art form and you can read Gilly Turney’s review of the Alexander McQueen ‘Savage Beauty’ exhibition at the V&A (closing August 2nd). Gilly describes this exhibition as ‘amazing’ and ‘catch it if you can’.

Frances Follin went to Bexhill to see in the De La Warr Pavilion’s ‘Bridget Riley: The Curve Paintings’.  Here you can have a lovely day out in this  attractive grade one modernist listed building overlooking the sea while enjoying Bridget Riley’s paintings. Riley has  said that she wants her work both to attract the eye and ‘to reward’ the viewer for looking. Frances points out visiting the De La Warr will be a reward in itself while this exhibition is running. It is on until 6 September so you can go any time over the summer.

 Victoria Keller went to the Frick Collection in New York to see the exhibition on Lord Leighton’s painting Flaming June. She tells the story of how the painting was discovered behind a false panel above a fireplace in an English home. Now that has to be better than winning the lottery on many levels! Victoria also visited the  Met’s roof garden exhibition of Pierre Huyghe, an artist she says has been for ‘25 years, incorporating living animals, plants and insects into his projects, ostensibly to examine the complex and often contradictory ways in which human beings relate to the natural world’. You have until 1 November  (weather permitting) to view this exhibition, but you can also see his film, Human Mask  in the contemporary wing of the Met if driven in by the elements.

Jenny Kingsley has been to Cairo, visiting various museums. Despite Egypt’s current problems she never felt as if she had entered an area of conflict as she was struck by the kindness and warmth of the people. Read her article and consider visiting this fascinating city. Jenny also attended the London showing of  a film, Mirrors to Windows  and states that ‘Each of the ten women portrayed in Susan Steinberg’s documentary, Mirrors to Windows, has a unique story to tell about her emergence and establishment as an artist’. Mirrors to Windows will be available as a DVD later this year. It is available for screening: contact [email protected]

Robert Radford reviews a book on Eileen Cooper.  It includes more than 300 colour reproductions, which will do much to assert her importance in contemporary British art.  This title is published by the Royal Academy and is published to coincide with their exhibition ‘Hide & Seek: drawings by Eileen Cooper’,which is on until 23 August.

Claire Finn went to see ‘The Art of Bedlam: Richard Dadd’exhibition at the Watts Gallery, Compton, near Guildford, Surrey, on until 1 November. She points out that Dadd’s notoriety did not really develop in his lifetime. After the murder of his father and incarceration in Bedlam and then Broadmoor he disappeared from public view and was not part of the art world. Popular interest in him really grew from the late 1960s and 1970 coloured by Romantic ideas of creativity and madness.

‘Paul Durand-Ruel  is credited with  having invented the modern way of dealing in art. Not only that, “the invention of Impressionism” itself was his work’ writes Adrian Lewis. ‘These are the radical claims that have been made for him, the latter claim being the title of the exhibition that showed at London’s National Gallery this spring’ which (with the different title ‘Discovering the Impressionists’) travelled to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in June and is there until 13 September this summer’. Read Adrian’s review on the exhibition catalogue and book on this fascinating man.

Julian Freeman writes on David Tress, an artist whom he admires. He states ‘Andrew Lambirth’s full-scale biography is a lovely production with a text that stays on the right side of bias, yet declares its author’s total absorption with his subject’.  The book is the most complete assessment of this artist’s career in print and it is hoped will introduce a new audience to his work.