Courses Abroad
‘Every day I awake with the idea,
today I must teach myself to
draw’: if Leon Kossoff chides
himself thus, what hope for those
of us in the occasional student
category? And are short art
courses in picturesque locations
really any help? Well, they’re
certainly popular. The
combination of a professional on
hand to guide and advise and a
group of like-minded people can
be just the stimulus required.
Throw in an interesting setting,
whether a Scottish island, a
Welsh mountain or a workshop in
central Italy, and the result can
be a great learning experience.
However, quizzing various
friends, it seems the crucial thing
they take from these breaks is an
understanding of how
demanding the creative life is.
Marijke Tress went to the South
of France 25 years ago for a
painting course ‘just for fun’,
followed it up with a day-a-week
at art college and now paints full-
time. ‘One of the things that I
learnt was that you need 10%
inspiration and 90% perspiration.
Going on a painting holiday is
very pleasant, but if you really
want to paint you have to work
hard. Now, I am more or less
addicted to it.’
Another friend admitted that
her painting holidays produced
really hopeless results at the
time, the real benefits coming
later when attempting to put into
practice what had been taught.
She particularly enjoyed being
with Ken Howard in Santorini.
‘The main thing I realised is that
professional artists work far
harder than the rest of us put
together. Ken was up painting at
dawn and finished at dusk – we
were all loitering over breakfast
and hanging around the
swimming pool etc so no wonder
at the results. It makes you
realise that hard work is required
wherever you are!’ Art, like old
age, isn’t for softies.
Sarah Drury
JUNE 2014 GALLERIES
13
from left: S
ir
Jacob Epstein ‘Sunita’ at Modern
Art Auctions. Qin Yuhai photography from Ebb
and Flow at the Saatchi Gallery. Sir Stanley
Spencer ‘Unveiling Cookham War Memorial’
(detail) at Stanley Spencer Gallery.
below: Elizabeth Taylor wears Bulgari jewellery
from the The Glamour of Italian Fashion 1945 -
2014 at the V&A Museum
Identifying Fashion
M
elanie Abrams
Fashion and identity have always been inexorably linked as what we
wear reflects how we want to be seen. It has, for example, always been
a big part of Italian identity. Take the sumptuously dressed Gonzagas,
da Portos and other 16th C. Renaissance aristocrats painted by
Veronese at the National Gallery (to 15 June 2014). They showed off
their power with sable furs, fine silks and more.
The Victoria & Albert Museum (to 27 July) examines how Italian
fashion has become synonymous with glamour since 1945, from
regulated dowdy wartime suits to modern day favourites like Giorgio
Armani’s shimmering crystal, silk lamé couture gown or dip dye Prada
dress. Hollywood proved the turning point as stars like Elizabeth Taylor
and Audrey Hepburn flocked to film at Rome’s legendary Cinecittà
studios in the 1950s. Taylor’s gleaming Bulgari diamond and emerald
bling gave Italian design, jewellery – and herself – superstar status and
still outshines everything around it.
Jean Paul Gaultier’s retrospective which has landed at the Barbican
Art Gallery (until 25 August) on its blockbusting world tour explores
other types of identity too. His iconic pink satin conical bra for
Madonna’s 1990 ‘Blonde Ambition’ tour irrevocably defined the singer’s
provocative personae, symbolised a new female power and
transformed the garment’s identity from underwear to outerwear. The
skirts for men blurred gender identities, whereas his wedding dresses in
latex or with a fierce shield motif turned these demurest of looks
subversive. Compare the elegant 1775-2014 wedding dresses at the
Victoria & Albert Museum’s fashion gallery (to 15 May 2015).
