Galleries - October 2014

OCTOBER 2014 GALLERIES 55 Gallery, along with other images ofthe Tudors. And sometimes there is playful and purposeful reframing. Earlier this year, for example, the Art Fund made liberal use ofthe term ‘selfie’ to keep Antony van Dyck’s final self portrait in England, comparing the distinctly contemporary, instantaneous digital medium to the 373-year-old oil on canvas. Use ofthe term was gently ironic, the marketing strategy took and the campaign was successful. So, whatever the reasons for their various reimaginings, portraits rarely stay frozen in time. With all these new looks at old faces, it’s a perfect year for Colnaghi Gallery’s upcoming exhibition, The Artist: Observations + Reflections. In this show, opening 8 October, Colnaghi will bring together a collection ofportraits that spans Portraits, in one way or another, are subject to constant reinterpretation by those who neither painted nor sat for them, and 2014 has been a particularly good year for offering new ideas on well-known faces. Often the new interpretations simply provide answers (sometimes temporary) to long- running debates over attribution. The National Trust announced in March, for example, that its Rembrandt portrait, previously believed to have been painted by one ofhis students, is in fact a selfportrait. Other times, accidental misunderstandings ofthe sitter are put to rights. A recent pigment analysis ofthe Darnley Portrait proved Queen Elizabeth I to have been rosier cheeked and less severe looking than previously imagined. The results ofthis analysis are currently on display at the National Portrait the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries and includes several media. Held with Emanuel von Baeyer, this exhibition, like the two galleries’ earlier collaboration, The Artist in Art (2007-08), promises to offer a beautiful sampling of images. To say any more ofthe works to be shown at Colnaghi might be to risk redefining them myself, and in 2014, this job should be left to the viewer. CODA HORST P HORST Frances Allitt beforetheart@gmail.com his addition ofsurrealist influence, subtle erotic overtones and a love ofbeauty create a dream world ofglamour. Arguably his most famous photograph, Mainbocher’s Corset of1939 is studied in the V&A show – its conception (he sketched out many ofhis layouts) along with its touching up (pre photoshop), the admiring reaction to it and many years later, the homage paid by Madonna who recreated it – all add to the understanding ofthis most dedicated ofphotographic technicians. Not all his work was fashion led – War intervened and he joined up, becoming a naturalised American and the army’s official photographer. His later male nudes are glorious subtle studies ofskin and form, his travel photography and his images of natural patterns and, by the 1940’s, his extraordinary eye for colour are all included and the whole leaves you awestruck and inspired. Horst worked all his life until his sight made it impossible; he died in 1993 aged 93. CM Two exhibitions toast the master of photographic glamour this month: a large and exhaustive retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum and a delightful addition from Hamiltons Gallery . Both pay tribute to Horst P Horst, one of America’s best loved fashion photographers. Born in Germany in 1906 he studied design before arriving in Paris in 1930, working as an apprentice to Le Corbusier prior to befriending George Hyningen- Huene, the Vogue photographer. By 1935 Horst had also established himself with Vogue working not only with leading fashion designers but Hollywood and society stars. His innovative use of dramatic lighting and elaborate set dressing (many self-built in the early days) along with his quirky sense of humour, Horst P Horst Jean Pratchett, 1950’s at Hamiltons Gallery © Horst Estate Peter Fendi (1796-1842) ‘Printmaker Johann Nepomuk Passini at work’ at Colnaghi Gallery