Frank Auerbach Self-portraits in London until 14 July

‘I didn’t find actual formal components of my head all that interesting when I was younger, smoother and less frazzled. Now that I’ve got bags under my eyes, things are sagging and so on, there’s more material to work with.’ - Frank Auerbach

There’s a unique show of 20 self-portraits by Frank Auerbach currently on at Hazlitt Holland-Hibbert gallery in St.James’ London until 14 July.

If you like scratches, scribbles, dry brush marks, colour, erasing and layered gestural brushstrokes then this is for you. For me this is no disappointment and as ever seeing it in reality exceeds anything in a photograph.

Manifestations of life. “Sensations…congealed…cohered…out of the battle into being…”

#auerbach #frankauerbach #selfportraits #painting #vilarrubi #julianvilarrubi #inspiration

Soutine | Kossoff in Hastings

In the top rank of my all time favourite painters is Chaim Soutine who died in 1943, aged 50. Amazingly, Hastings Contemporary in East Sussex have curated a show of Soutine paintings paired up with work by Leon Kossoff on right now and running to September 2023.

I would never have predicted this could happen outside London but it has and it is colossal. If you are turned on by the possibilities of oil paint in portraiture and landscape painting then this is a must see.

This show has quite rightly been gathering some excellent reviews in the quality papers and journals. Waldemar Januszczak | The Sunday Times review | 30.04.23 wrote Soutine “was to painting what Lionel Messi is to football or Mohammed Ali was to boxing: a high speed perfectionist of remarkable dexterity.”

I remember the first time I saw a Soutine. It was a a visual punch 🤛 in the gut similar to the first time I saw a Frank Auerbach painting used as the artwork for the cover of Japan’s Oil on Canvas album (which someone had casually left lying around in the studios where I did an art foundation course in 1983).

The first Soutine I saw was in the Tate Gallery collection (as it was known then) on a visit in the early 80’s. It was Landscape at Céret, oil on canvas 56 x 84 cm 1920-21. The Tate have 3 great paintings by Soutine.

The tate.org.uk site writes…

‘Soutine’s handling of paint conveys an agitated, frenetic quality, suggesting a confrontation with the earthy forces of nature.’

‘Inspired by classic painting in the European tradition, exemplified by the works of Rembrandt, Chardin and Courbet, Soutine developed an individual style more concerned with shape, color, and texture than representation, which served as a bridge between more traditional approaches and the developing form of Abstract Expressionism.’

I went on to write my final year dissertation on Soutine at university for my fine art degree. As part of my research I went to the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris to absorb their collection of his work and then visited and stayed in Céret itself on a soak up the vibe and follow in the footsteps mission.

I have never seen so many quality paintings by Soutine gathered in one place. This, I am sure will not happen again for a very long time. Feast your eyes and senses.

The show runs to 24 September 2023. Read the reviews 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ (The Financial Times, The Sunday Times, Studio International) and see, probably a once in a lifetime outstanding show.

Soutine (1893-1943)

Leon Kossoff (1926-2019)

@_art_on_sea

#soutine #chaimsoutine #ceret #landscapepainting #dekooning #auerbach #rembrandt #goya #chardin #bacon #painting #landscapepainter #painter #inspiration @tate @museeorangerie #oiloncanvas #japan #courbet #gustavecourbet #leonkossoff #hastingscontemporary #soutinekossoff

Soutine

Groupe d’arbes. Oil on canvas 1922 Le petit pâtissier Oil on canvas C 1927

Leon Kossoff

Sally in an Armchair No.1 oil on board Christ Church, Spitalfields 1989

Pass the peas

Josh Lilley Gallery in central London has, until today been showing an exhibition devoted to Patrick Caulfield called ‘Pass the Peas’.

I am a long time fan of Caulfield’s work. I have always loved the seemingly simplistic detachment and matter of factness of his images, the compositions, colour choices, the editing of content and the meticulous process in the execution.

Pass the Peas “comprises works on paper, paintings and sketchbooks from his archive, together with a selection of significant paintings loaned from important collections within the UK. The presentation considers the shaping of an artist whose work so often played with reality and illusion, and for whom restraint, conceptually and formally, was fundamental to practice. As an artist with a renowned ability to reconcile society and solitude, this intimate reappraisal reflects on how Caulfield’s philosophy and approach guided his creative methodology and output; providing a deeper understanding of Caulfield’s subconscious, his energy, and his sense of humour as a painter of modernity.”

“The exhibition’s title, Pass the Peas, comes from a 1968 Western film The Stalking Moon where Gregory Peck’s character considers how the mundane can simultaneously be extraordinary, and how seemingly insignificant details function to punctuate our existence. In Caulfield’s work, we see tools or vessels to elicit a certain feeling – a vase, a wine glass, a room as a site of comfort or of containment. Whilst posing as simple, functional devices, they are much more than the sum of their parts – details which open up worlds of aspiration and inspiration. It is these details, motifs and symbols which are highlighted in the remarkable archival works.” Josh Lilley website

Patrick Caulfield 1936- 2005

Images below by Caulfield

Top: Home (design for Formica mural) ink on paper and collage 96.5 x 93 cm

Bottom: Untitled (pint of Guiness) 22.8 x 30 cm

L’arbe de Vence France

I was curious to see what might have become of Soutine’s L’arbe de Vence, an oil painting he made in 1929. It’s one of my favourite Soutine paintings. It was only when I saw it at the exhibition Soutine|Kossoff recently at Hastings Contemporary that I wondered how the actual tree was faring these days.

“According to legend, this ash tree was planted in 1538 on the orders of Francis I of France, to thank the citizens of Vence for hosting his delegation during negotiations for the Treaty of Nice with Charles V of Spain. A tourist attraction in Soutine's day as now, the venerable ash has … a strikingly individual character. As with his portraits of this period, he shows us an immediately recognizable likeness, the branches dark against vivid blue. Painterly experiment is mostly confined to the trunk of the tree, across which we see a play of blue, yellow and red, while the circular bench below is a lustrous Soutine green.” Notes from Hastings Contemporary wall panel at the exhibition Soutine|Kossoff. The painting comes from a private collection.

Looks like it’s doing very well. The bench has gone though.

Photo on left courtesy of ©️Google 2023