Galleries - October 2015

and overdue contribution to bringing a dozen unjustly sidelined women artists and sculptors out of the shadows. In contrast to the immediate post- war period dominated by gloomy existentialist agonising, there is a celebratory feeling in this selection, dating mainly from the 1950s and 1960s. Valentine Prax’s ‘Le Paysan au Bord de la Mer’ is fundamentally Cubist, but her rainbow colours are closer to Chagall. Nina Negri, Huguette Arthur Bertrand, Dora Maar, Marcelle Cahn, Marie Raymond (a member of the Abstraction Lyrique group) and Jaqueline Pavlowsky in their individual way embrace the dynamics of colour and form. The quality is high and the subject absolutely intriguing. CL It took a war to get Canaletto to come to London – Venice’s problems becoming England’s huge gain, artistically at least, as he followed his Grand Tour patrons back home. He stayed nine years (until 1755) and not only revolutionised English ‘view’ painting but also gave us a rich picture of what London looked like between burgeoning Georgian prosperity and the huge wave of business, industry and expansion brought about by the Industrial Revolution. With its crystal clear skies and limpid light, it is still an idealised OCTOBER 2015 GALLERIES 13 Neagu’s intentions, the start of the exhibition encompasses and draws you in with works that interact with all five senses, altering the perception of the traditional definition of sculpture. With over 120 works to see and absorb, there is an overwhelming sense of inclusion in every piece; each must be studied with care. In the largest room (though perhaps oddly curated) is a display of marble sculpture. What strikes you here is that beyond the circular rendering of the sculpture, are the plans and almost mathem- atical sketches for each piece. In many ways the sketches of the sculpture have more to say than the pieces themselves. Next is an entirely different definition of sculpture: moving pictures and film. Focusing on a few main pieces, ‘Gradually Going Tornado’, ‘Cake Man’ and ‘Hyphen Ramp’, the thoughts and mind of Neagu as he created each one are revealed, capturing the viewer and questioning what is being portrayed. One to visit, observe and form your own opinion on – seemingly just what Neagu intended. GH Contributors: Nicholas Usherwood Corinna Lotz, Grace Hooper vision of London as an Italian city but at the same time, Canaletto showed, not just to English artists but to many who were to follow (eg the Impressionists), that London’s miraculous light came, like Venice’s, from its proximity to the sea. All of which makes a journey to Abbot Hall in Cumbria between now and next February something of a necessity, (unless you have already been to Compton Verney this summer). Their new show, ‘Canaletto: Celebrating Britain’, brings together for the first time, most of the works he produced over that period. With their astonishing attention to detail and their sweeping, exhilarating panoramas, the pictures convey a paradoxically touching sense of another London, long gone under a sea of ‘Cheesegraters’ and ‘Walkie-Talkies’. NU Recognised as a world centre for study, research into and exhibitions of sculpture in the UK, it is no surprise to find that the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds is hosting the largest and most comprehensive retrospective of Paul Neagu’s work to date. Similar to Moore, Neagu’s main aim and passion was empowering visitors to become involved in the art works, and experience them more than just as a spectator. In keeping with from left: I sabelle van Zeijl ‘Supermodel III’, Sphinx Fine Art Lynn Chadwick ‘Study for Sculpture’, Gallery Pangolin. Canaletto ‘London the Thames’, Abbot Hall. Huguette Arthur-Bertrand ‘Composition II’ Hanina Fine Arts. Terry Frost ‘Hearts’, Belgrave St Ives. Paul Neagu ‘Tactile Object (Hand)’, Henry Moore Institute Paul Neagu Canaletto