{"id":13755,"date":"2024-04-03T20:04:46","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T19:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=13755"},"modified":"2024-04-05T18:36:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T17:36:44","slug":"art-blake-at-the-fitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sebpalmer.com\/blog\/?p=13755","title":{"rendered":"ART: Blake at The Fitz"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Blake does Fuseli. Amazing!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We went to The Fitz today. Not specifically to see this Blake exhibition. But just \u2018cause we love this superb museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had to have some blood tests done earlier today. And we had to wait an hour for them to get around to us. This meant less time at The Fitz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This show needs more time than we could give it today. Esp\u2019 as we also looked at various other parts of the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s the non-Blake stuff:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Early 20th C. Brit art.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Love this pic of Lytton Strachey.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I love these two\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u2026 as much for their frames as the art.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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I adore<\/em> this painting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every time I go to The Fitz, I photograph this particular little painting of Vesuvius. The artist\u2019s name? Anicet-Charles-Gabriel Lemonnier\u2026 no wonder I always forget! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gorgeous Stanley Spencer landscape.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Forgot to note who this is by.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Okay, so now to the Blake stuff. I\u2019m presenting my photos here neither in the order I took them in, nor the order they\u2019re in in the gallery. Rather they\u2019re just grouped as I fancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Astonishing stuff!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Dramatic to the point of bonkers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Self Portrait<\/em>, Caspar David Friedrich.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m quite a fan of C. D. Friedrich. And this is the first time I\u2019ve seen more than one image by him in the flesh. The next seven photos are his \u2018ages of man\u2019 allegory. They\u2019re small, monochromatic, and utterly amazing. Jewel like in their pristine execution and detail. Phenomenal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s interesting that death, our ceasing to exist, has become synonymous with various fantasies or visions of \u2018the heavens\u2019. Perhaps this inadvertently says something more profound about us than the candy-floss visions themselves suggest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My secular reading of such \u2018religious insights\u2019 – another being The Fall, or the awakening of consciousness as a curse (as opposed to a blessing) – is that our wishful thinking, as facile as it is on a surface level, reveals a deeper and more profound awareness (whether acknowledged or not) that to live is to suffer. Therefore to die is to be released from suffering. And surely that release, in itself, is heavenly?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Self Portrait<\/em>, Samuel Palmer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Presages of the Millennium<\/em>, Gillray.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m glad to see at least one Gillray in this show! I can never get enough Gillray, frankly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mindblowing stuff. Not sure what the loo-roll signifies!?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The illustrated manuscripts are really something special.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The density of word and image is overpowering.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fabulous.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Los, and his hammer, again.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Bohne!?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A chunk of the exhibition is given over to German \u2018spiritualist\u2019, Bohne. The above is from one of his crazy pop-up books. I\u2019m not at all sure what I make of the battles between spiritual and material that form such a strong theme in Blake. I only know I find it all fascinating and beguiling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Albion\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A bat-winged Pope! Nuts, but I like it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was sorely tempted to buy both the exhibition catalogue, and the Thames and Hudson Complete Illustrated Manuscripts<\/em>. But I can\u2019t afford to do so, alas. Maybe if I earmark a few extra delivery shifts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Los, with his hammer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This last image is rather naive. I like the set it comes from. Indeed, as mentioned above? I\u2019ve more than half a mind to acquire the complete printed works. The. edition they have at The Fitz is \u00a340. Amazon sell the same for just over \u00a320!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, I\u2019m just getting the snaps I took up on my blog. This superb exhibition was way too much<\/em> to take in in the 40-60 minutes we had. So another visit is required, ASAP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We went to The Fitz today. Not specifically to see this Blake exhibition. But just \u2018cause we love this superb museum. I had to have some blood tests done earlier today. And we had to wait an hour for them to get around to us. This meant less time at The Fitz. This show needs … <\/p>\n

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