Don't diss pastels - Jean-Etienne Liotard at the RA

I am not naturally a pastel fan - the texture and the inevitable mess I'll make has always made me steer clear and stick with my inks and paints. Consequently I am in complete awe of those who produce stunning works of art with this often overlooked medium, and Jean-Etienne Liotard (1702-1789) is right up there with them. As one of the most highly regarded portraitists of eighteenth-century Europe, it comes as a surprise to learn that the current expedition at the Royal Academy is the first ever devoted to his work in the UK. Consequently this gathering together of over 70 works by the eminent Swiss artist, many of which have rarely been seen in public, opens our eyes to his incredible talent.

Born in Geneva, Liotard was a cosmopolitan artist who travelled extensively and was particularly intrigued by Constantinople where he lived for 4 years. The trip was facilitated by the Hon. William Ponsonby (the future Lord Bessborough) who asked Liotard to accompany him to the city in 1738 in order to record with drawings his travels, especially ‘the dresses of every country’. It seems incredible today, in a world where people record every minute detail of their lives on their phones, that such an appointment existed - and for 4 years! They sailed from Naples, accompanied by John Monatgu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, and en route to Turkey they stopped at Sicily, Malta and Greece, where they explored classical antiquities such as the Acropolis. How amazing it must have been for Liotard to embark on such an exotic trip, and in the company of such aristocracy. 

Being a naturally inquisitive and gregarious person, Liotard quickly familiarised himself with the various cultures in Constantinople, including Muslims, Jews, Greeks and Armenians. It was here, and in Moldavia, that he adopted the exotic ethnic dress and long beard that we often see in his self-portraits. 

Elements of Turkey and Orientalism are evident in much of his work, and his artistic records of the indigenous dress and customs are of great historical value as well as fascinating to observe - they certainly gave Liotard an air of mystique for the many patrons who clamoured for him to paint their portraits.

Having build up an important client base in Constantinople, Liotard was able to build a hugely successful career as a portrait painter. The works on show in this exhibition reveal sitters with splendid grandeur and opulence, and yet Liotard has avoided any stuffiness and gives a subtle insight into his subjects. Apparently they appreciated the detail he put into the fabric of a robe or a fur trim, but in later years we also appreciate his incredible talent at capturing facial expressions. We feel we are witnessing a fleeting moment of their true character - a sideways glance, a wry smile, a casual pose that all give a sense of intimacy. 

Jean-Etienne Liotard, Self-portrait Laughing, c. 1770, Musée d’art et d’histoire, Geneva, inv. 1893-9

Liotard’s preferred medium was pastel, but he also painted in oil, made wonderful mezzotints and explored with trompe-l‘oeil - all of which illustrates his inquisitive mind and complete artistic confidence. Fortunately for us, the dry medium of pastel and its richness of colour have stood the test of time exceptionally well and the works on show at the RA are in stunning condition.

My favourite work of all has to be a wonderful self-portrait of the lovely Liotard himself, dressed in his mustard coloured hat and a long blue coat, he glances sideways to the viewer with a broad grin as if sharing some private joke. A man who saw the world through vibrant eyes, and happily took the time to record it with his great artistic skill and now shares it with us over 250 years later.

Jean-Etienne Liotard is at the Royal Academy, London until January 31, 2016. 

Visit: www.royalacademy.org.uk

King Charles lll comes to Guildford

As part of its national tour, Mike Bartlett's King Charles III is playing at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre this week and the first night was a sell out. This interesting speculation of the future of the UK monarchy mixes Shakespearean style verse with modern drama to great effect and a strong cast bring to life the Royal Family and ‘The Crown in Parliament’ with slight tongue-in-cheek humour, but also with affection. The story is thus told: the Queen has passed away and Robert Powell plays Prince Charles as he prepares to ascend to the throne as King Charles lll. Bringing this to our attention makes we, the audience, pause to consider just how long Charles has been waiting for this momentous change of monarch. What is it like to be waiting in the wings for so long, wondering when to fill those much loved shoes? And we are a country where most of us have lived under only one monarch; our much loved Queen is a hard act to follow.

Powell plays a confident, accomplished Charles. In a very wordy first act (which he plays without pause or hiccup) he is at logger heads with the government over the passing of a bill. It is difficult to say much more without giving the plot away but believe me when I say that life is made surprisingly difficult for Charles, a good natured fellow who should cruise into the role of King without any problem - goodness knows, he’s had years to plan this one! But out of the woodwork come forces against him, and despite the support of the strong and loyal Camilla (played by Penelope Beaumont) he begins to doubt his own reasoning. The second act pulls out all the punches, literally.

Robert Powell might not physically be twinned with HRH Charles, but Ben Righton, Richard Glaves and Jennifer Bryden, playing respectively William, Harry and Kate, bear incredible resemblance to their on stage personas. Bryden is fabulous as Kate, confident and assured and as real match for all the males in her political circle. Harry is slightly rougish and perhaps unkindly portrayed as not very bright, while Will is calm, cool and surprisingly reformist.

Lucy Phelps and Richard Glaves

The production has exciting touches of uber-modern drama with masks, stamping feet, a fleeting ghost, Gregorian chants and the odd strobe effect, but it is essentially a very steady play with an intriguing theme. Directed by the Almeida Theatre’s artistic director Rupert Goold and Whitney Mosery, the production’s designer is Tom Scutt and the wonderful music is composed by Jocelyn Pook. From the enthusiastic reaction of the Guildford audience, King Charles lll has the pedigree to enjoy a cracking good nationwide tour - if it’s heading your way, book early.

King Charles lll is at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford until Saturday November 14th. Box office 01483 440000. www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester.

Three men, one bare stage and a very wordy script, there is no doubt that Someone Who'll Watch Over Me presents a real challenge for even the most experienced of directors. But with a fine trio playing the lead roles, Chichester Festival Theatre’s current production effectively transports us to a small, dank cell in Beirut where the hostages struggle against their captivity and the intensity of living together.

Inspired by the experiences of Brian Keenan and John McCarthy who were held captive by associates of Hezbollah in Lebanon in the 80s, Frank McGuinness began writing the play while John McCarthy was still kept hostage. But at a reading of the play in Galway, he promised the then free Brian Keenan that it would not be staged until McCarthy was also released. In July 1992, the year after McCarthy was freed, it took the theatre world by storm at Hampstead Theatre and, on seeing the play, Brian Keenan said, “Frank McGuiness, with his words and imaginative power, walked into a place where ‘angels fear to tread’ and came out dazzling.”

In Michael Attenborough’s production, a fine cast play US doctor Adam ( Adam Rayner), Irish journalist Edward (Rory Keenan) and an English academic Michael (David Haig). Adam and Edward open the play, attached to a concrete floor by heavy chains at the ankle, and confined in a small, square set. We quickly get the idea that although the pressure often gets to them, they have grown accustomed to each often and share a certain fondness. The pace ranks up a notch with the arrival of David Haig as Michael. Every bone, muscle and breath in Haig’s body reveals his devastation, angst, fear and vulnerability at being taken captive. His life with his two resigned cell mates is not easy, though over time and through sharing a common fear, the three men reach some kind of friendship. I am in awe of Haig’s acting, having seen him wring madness out of George lll and war time tension in Pressure, his sense of hopelessness really touched me in this production.

David Haig: Photo credit Manuel Harlan.

I would have liked more of a sense of the solitude and despair of the men being confined to that soul destroying cell with no idea of when or if they would be freed. The play opens with the song ‘Someone to Watch Over Me”, but to repeat the tune again seemed to make too light of a terrible situation. In moments of complete darkness I yearned for more solemn music, the dripping of water or the sounds of Lebanon to bring alive the location. At times, when the banter was flying, I felt they could have been mates at the squash club, or stuck in a lift, but perhaps the intention was to psychologically transport them, and us, elsewhere?

Naturally there is a lot of angst in the play, but there are some lighter moments as the men reflect on their pasts. The power of our imagination and how it can lift us out of despair is illustrated with great hilarity as the three men re-enact the 1977 Wimbledon women’s final. Again Haig is at his most endearing, digging deep to add incredible sadness to what is superficially a very funny scene. But after hilarity comes reality and the men come crashing back down to earth  and we, the audience, join them in their despair. 

Someone Who'll Watch Over Me is at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester until Saturday, October 10th.  Box Office 01243 781312 or via website www.cft.org.uk

Lord of the Flies - raw and honest.

Lord of the Flies is one of those school books that stays with you forever. William Golding's brutal narrative about a group of schoolboys stranded on an island was very different to the more genteel curriculum novels that were handed out at my own school, and we lapped it up with that slight fascination teenagers have for shock and gore. Published in 1954, it was seen as a shockingly honest portrayal of human nature. The schoolboys are stranded on a tropical island after their plane is shot down during war time and the story is said to reflect Golding's own experience of the violence and horror of the Second World War. The savage hunger of Jack and the plight of poor Piggy have never left me, and Peter's Brook's 1963 film, made in black and white, stamped the images even more firmly in my mind.

And yet I was still not quite prepared for the rawness of the live version, adapted for the stage by Nigel William's and now showing at Regents Park Open Air Theatre. The open air setting is disturbingly realistic - Jon Bausor's design, which includes half a broken aeroplane, a mountain of crumpled suitcases and personal items strewn across a mound of sand, is very effective amongst the huge trees of Regent's Park and the black September sky. 

The young cast, many of whom make their stage debut in this production, appear genuinely naive and innocent, making their demise into savagery all the more poignant. Timothy Sheader's direction draws from the boys a frantic energy and nervous tension, using the slanting wing of the plane and the upturned tail as platforms for confrontation and cleverly choreographed 'fight' scenes. Despite being a memorable story line, there are not many twists and turns in the plot so the pace of the boys' decline needs to maintain momentum and energy - this the cast achieve admirably and each character is developed well. 

Luke Ward-Wilkinson is endearingly trusting as Ralph, and Anthony Roberts as the keen-to-please, bumbling Piggy will pull on every parent's heart string. Bullying was rife in the '50s and is much the same today, and this raw topic is not watered down or smoothed over in the Regent's Park Theatre Ltd production - Piggy is taunted, shoved and made a scape goat very early on. Indeed, I found myself dreading the second act where I knew Piggy's glasses would be pinched, and that worse was still to come.

If you want to get your head around the savagery of human beings when thrown together in dire situations, the programme includes an essay on The Nature of Being Human by Professor Tanya Byron. For decades Lord of the Flies has prompted discussion in the classroom - themes of order versus disorder, and good versus bad, and with further exploration, the Freudian theory of conflict between the id, the superego and the ego which is delivered in this novel by the spade-full. Byron also explores how, as humans, we feel the need to manage conflicting instincts to live by the rules versus an instinct to act against one's will, in order to gain supremacy. She has also explored how violence in children is often perceived to come from a certain upbringing or background, and yet here we have Jack - the school choir prefect no less - who seizes the opportunity to act in completely the opposite way expected of him. There is plenty to discuss and ponder on the tube ride home after seeing this play, and for many weeks after.

Regarding the play as a visual experience, it is absolutely gripping throughout. The boys are endearing yet their rapid descent is frightening. They are innocent yet violent beyond their years, bound by duty and order yet quick to abandon both. It is a fascinating but disturbing study of how quickly we, as humans, can tumble into animal behaviour, and how fear can transform the steady path long trodden by one individual.

It will be interesting to see how Bausor's fantastic set transforms to the indoor stage, and I hope the young cast are quick to adapt to new surroundings as they tour the country. As they stood in line to take their bows at the end of a physically demanding evening, they looked genuinely exhausted by the sheer emotion of the journey they had taken. They have seized this production with their frantic, sandy hands and I am sure will continue to wring the very best out of Golding's bold and gripping tale. 

Lord of the Flies is at Regents Park Open Air Theatre until September 12. Then touring, beginning with New Victoria Woking from September 16th to 19th. Box office: www.atgtickets.com/new-victoria-theatre

Mexico's Filarmónica wow GLive!

The audience at GLive rose to their feet in raptuous applause last night as the Orquesta Filarmónica de México concluded the 2nd night of their first ever UK tour with a rousing rendition of Moncayo's riotous Huapango.
With a programme that included a vibrant mix of Mexican/Spanish compositions intermingled with more traditional classical favourites, the orchestra's enormous dexterity and talent were shown at their very best. Jan Latham-Koenig conducted this passionate group of musicians whose string section in particular played with incredible precision and confidence.

Two compositions by Arturo Marquez were particularly rousing, indeed I found it hard to stay in my seat during Danzón No 2, one of the orchestra's signature works. Márquez is perhaps Mexico's best-known contemporary composer and his lively pieces draw on Creole dance traditions of Cuba as well as complex rhythms. In Danzón No 2, some surprising staccato sections for the violins combine with sliding brass and jazzy percussion to create wonderful, almost hypnotic, mix of pulse and melody.
In complete contrast, The Lark Ascending brought absolute quiet to GLive. Not a pin dropped as Tasmin Little drew the sweetest of notes from her violin; we were effortlessly swept away to blue skies and the innocence of summer as she connected completely with her beautiful Guadagnini violin, but equally important, never forgot the importance of her fellow musicians. Tasmin has won many awards, received an OBE and achieved international fame with her fine playing - it was an absolute honour to see her play at GLive.
It was also a privilege to see painist Jorge Federico Osorio, who opened the second half of the concert with an incredible rendition of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. With the grand piano moved to the front of the stage, we had a fine view of his hands as they flew across the keyboards, backed by a tremendously rousing sound from the orchestra and perfectly timed percussion, so important to this popular and uplifting jazzy number.
Also in the hot seat was Rodrigo Garibay, a fine saxophonist and clarinettist from Mexico City, who played alto sax in tonight's rendition of Adiòs Nonino, composed by Argentine-born Astor Piazzolla.

This was the type of orchestra and performance that fully confirms the importance of GLive as a great concert venue. The audience were fully appreciative of the distance travelled by this large group of fine musicians who make up OFUNAM. One of the most significant and exciting projects initiated by the National University of Mexico, over 100 wonderful musicians took command of the venue and it was an absolute pleasure to welcome them to Surrey as part of their UK tour.

Further dates:
July 8th Basingstoke, The Anvil
July 9th London, Cadogan Hall
www.ofunam.unam.mx

RA Summer Exhibition - a celebration of colour

Viewing the Summer Exhibition normally starts once you enter the magnificent doors into the first room, the Central Hall. Not so this year; in his desire to involve the actual building itself and not just the walls, curator Michael Craig-Martin decided to include the stairs. Hence those wide wooden stairs, so familiar to all RA devotees as the first foray into every exhibition, have been painted in vibrant stripes by Jim Lambie. It felt almost sacrilegious to walk on them to reach the main show.

Colour was also on Craig-Martin’s mind when he curated this year’s Summer Exhibition. But not just on the canvases and sculptures - a few of the rooms have been drenched in a rich colour and the walls of the main gallery have been painted a vibrant pink. But won’t that detract from the colours of the actual artworks? - I hear you ask, but strangely it doesn’t, it somehow works with many of the canvases and the colours sing out more. Mississippi River Blues, a white ink and black wash painting by Richard Long, looks incredibly striking as the anchor point of Room ll and Craig-Martin’s own massive painting of a watch on turquoise positively leaps off the wall.

Thankfully, not every room is violent pink though - the Central Hall is turquoise and most rooms are conventionally white which is more restful on the eye. I noticed this year how wonderfully bright the Royal Academy galleries are, light floods in from ceiling windows and the hanging is far from over-crowded. In fact, there are some vast empty spaces which may be slightly irksome for those artists who were short-listed but didn’t make the final ‘hang’.

We were reminded at the start of the curator’s tour that the whole point of the Summer Exhibition is to raise money to fund the RA schools that are hidden in the depths below the main galleries, and this is the only graduate art school in England that does not charge fees. Now in its 247th year, the Summer Exhibition is the longest standing exhibition in the world and every year is wonderfully different.

This year’s hanging committee includes Royal Academicians: Norman Ackroyd, Olwyn Bowey, Gus Cummins, Jock McFayden - all familiar names whose own works are included and - what I love about this show - just casually mixed in with work by unknown artists and yet all hanging so together like old friends.

This year’s show deliberately includes artists of an ‘older’ generation, many of whom were acclaimed in their day but have slightly slipped under the radar. Good news for we the spectators, for these artists were creating in the hey day of abstract painting, experimenting with different styles and forms, and producing some wonderful work. 

The print room is particularly exciting this year - and Norman Ackroyd, who has overseen the room said he enjoyed the ‘astonishing level of work submitted, and the fascinating range of print methods.’ Printmakers are undoubtably on a roll right now, employing all sort of materials to create their images and enjoying mixing traditional techniques with new.

Most rooms have what Craig-martin calls an ‘anchor point’. In Room Vlll a huge, bluey painting of two ladies by the late Bill Bowyer dominates, in the friendliest of ways, the whole vast space. In Room lV, a mirrored work by Paul Hosking is deliciously opulent, take time to go right up to it and study the amazing refections of the room behind you. And be prepared for the joy of Grayson Perry’s fabulous, massive tapestry, ‘Julie and Rob’ in Room l - it will lift your heart with its sheer colour and Perry’s amazing devotion to his craft. 

Each time I visit the Summer Exhibition, I feel incredibly excited by the vast range of work. I seek out my own favourites - Ken Howard, Gus Cummings, Quentin Blake, Anita Klein, and I look for those less well known for their art - Una Stubbs does some wonderful watercolours. And every year I discover someone new who I hope will be there again the following year, such as Simon Wright or Mike Jones.

Apparently the average visitor to the Summer Exhibition spends 3 hours there - I warn you, that is not enough. Take your time, or simply go again another day - a different mood, different shoes - each time will offer a different, and very worthwhile, experience.

The RA Summer Exhibition 2015 runs from June 8 - August 16. www.royalacademy.org.uk

Spanish Civil War at Pallant House Gallery

If you think that provincial art galleries live in the shadow of those in major cities, think again. Pallant House Gallery in Chichester not only has some notable works of art in its permanent collection, it also stages outstanding exhibitions. Its current show, Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War, is the first British exhibition devoted to British artists and their response to the Civil War and also examines the Spanish artists who influenced them. In this wonderful Queen Anne building, with its high ceilings and vast windows, we get space and time to see the artworks, a privilege sometimes lost in larger city galleries. We also learn about the ordinary people and the ways the Civil War affected them.

The conflict between the democratically elected Republicans and General Franco's Nationalist rebels stirred emotion across Europe. Over 2,500 recruits from Britain and Ireland joined 40,000 volunteers from 53 countries to fight in the Civil War - this was 1936-39, a precursor for the Second World War, and described by Hemingway as 'the dress rehearsal for the inevitable European War'. Romanticised by many as a 'literacy' conflict due the number of writers and poets who became involved, the war also inspired generations of artists to comment through their works of art. 
Artist Felicity Browne (1904 - 36) was the first British volunteer to die in battle. A month after arriving in Spain in August 1936, she was in a party sent to blow up a munitions train when she was fatally shot under enemy fire. It is incredibly moving to see the sketchbook found on her person showing delicate drawings of her fellow volunteers and the military. Equally poignant is a wonderfully atmospheric poster by Quentin Bell, 'May Day Procession with Banner'. Red banners held aloft by protestors sway as the crowd moves up a shaded alley into a sunlit square - the light and shade is almost menacing, quiet darkness with the possibility of hope at the end of the march. But the end result was tragic for Bell - just days after he painted the poster, his brother Julian, who had volunteered as an ambulance driver, was killed in Spain.

May Day Procession with Banner by Quentin Bell

Kauffer's Help Wounded Human Beings

Browne's untimely death prompted many artists to join the left-wing Artists International Association (AIA), which, since its founding in 1933, had attracted 600 diverse members, including Stanley Spencer, Barbara Hepworth, Alistair Morton, the Surrealists and the Bloomsbury Group. Through its exhibitions it raised money for the Republican cause. To get their message to a wider audience many artists moved to poster design and these are a wonderful part of the exhibition - striking, graphic and at times slightly disturbing - from Kauffer's gaunt El Greco face on a black background to the more delicate lithograph, For the Relief of Women and Children in Spain, by Frank Brangwyn, they bring home the despair of war.
The bombing of civilian targets in Spain was most chillingly felt in the Basque capital of Guernica, annihilated by Nationalists in 1937. The most famous artistic response to Guernica’s destruction was Picasso's Guernica. Now safely housed in Madrid's Reina Sofia and deemed too fragile to move, it has been recreated for this exhibition in a large textile banner created by a collective of artists since June 2013. Situated in the ground floor foyer of the gallery, it represents the passion felt by many groups, organisations and creative people about the Civil War.

Upstairs, this vibrant exhibition shows how every style and medium has been used to convey artists' messages against the Civil War. One moment we are struck by scarlet banners embroidered by British women and a menacing mask of Neville Chamberlain by surrealist F E McWilliam, and wowed by Picasso's actual Weeping Woman, - the next we are quietly humbled by a touching Hubert Finney illustration of a broken Spanish Prisoner of War, his eyes so touchingly conveying the suffering he has endured. 
This is a truly informative and meticulously researched exhibition curated by Simon Martin, Artistic Director at Pallant House, and many people will be surprised at the involvement of so many British artists in the Spanish Civil War. Hence it is an important date in any art diary. After a quick visit to the many other wonderful rooms at Pallant House with their various works of art, I left feeling certainly wiser and also visually richer. I will certainly make time to visit again before the exhibition ends next month.
Conscience and Conflict: British Artists and the Spanish Civil War is at Pallant House Gallery until February 15. www.pallant.org.uk @pallantgallery Tel: 01243 774557

And a bit about... Pallant House Gallery is a unique combination of an historic Queen Anne townhouse and contemporary extension, housing one of the best collections of Modern British art in the country, including important works by Auerbach, Blake, Caulfield, Freud, Hodgkin, Nicholson, Paolozzi, Piper and Sutherland. Widely acclaimed for its innovative temporary exhibitions and exemplary Learning and Community Programme, the Gallery has won numerous awards since re–opening in 2006.