Passacaglia and Fugue

We went to Oxford on Saturday to see the exhibition of America's Cool Modernism at the Ashmolean. For the most part I enjoyed it, though one or two of the more abstract pieces didn't really appeal; it was interesting to observe a variety of influences from other places, including Soviet constructivism. My favourite pieces were the architectural (such as Edward Hopper's Manhattan Bridge Loop), the industrial (Charles Sheeler's Water), Martin Lewis' spectral Which Way?, and the almost Escher-esque perspectives of Samuel Margolies' Man's Canyon and William McNulty's New York in the Fifties.

We were fortunate to time our visit to coincide with a tour of the cast collection basement, usually not open to the public. About 1000 items are stored here, even of themselves now museum pieces, as the casts no longer have the significant academic function they once did. But it was interesting to appreciate the value of the casts in allowing, for example, exercises in re-combining statues that are now in different locations but may once have been presented together.

Book Review: Poster to Poster - Railway Journeys in Art - Vol 2 Yorkshire and the North East, by Richard Furness
The book sale at work spoils me as to the price and value of books; but we also have a bonus scheme, and though it doesn't compare to that of a banker, it allows me to indulge in things I probably wouldn't have bought otherwise, such as this book. I can't really remember when I developed a liking for vintage travel posters; but most probably during the mid to late 1980s when the BBC adaptation of Miss Marple with Joan Hickson, and Granada's Poirot were in full flow. I find it interesting how many travel posters today, both for national rail services and TfL on the tube, clearly take inspiration from the "Golden Age".

Of course, I chose this volume in particular because it's the area where I grew up. The balance of posters isn't necessarily what I would have chosen, with only one chapter being devoted to Northumberland, but it is probably a more objective choice. Most of the posters are from the LNER period mid-1920s through to 1948, and the first 10-15 years of BR, although Furness highlights the GNR, and NER in particular, as also producing attractive poster art in the period before that of the "big four" operators, and includes more experimental examples and modern posters too. The text is a bit idiosyncratic in places, being a mix of commentary about the posters, the places, the artists, and the author's personal opinions, variously as art critic, art dealer, and contemporary social commentator, and could perhaps have benefitted from more stringent editing, but really, this book is about the pictures, so here are some highlights from the book that also appear on Teh Interweb.

Bamburgh Castle and the Northumberland Coast, by Jack Merriott

St Mary's Lighthouse, Whitley Bay, by F Donald Blake

- Fnarr fnarr! Who knew?

Durham Cathedral, by Fred Taylor

Teesdaye, by Ernest William Haslehurst

Scarborough, by Arthur C Michael

Scarborough, by W Smithson Broadhead

Low Petergate, York, by Claude Buckle

We'd known the Hokusai exhibition at the British Museum would be popular and we'd booked in advance; just as well, as advance tickets have now sold out, and day tickets had also sold out when we arrived. There were long queues for the museum as a whole now that the bag search has become ubiquitous - having a pre-booked ticket allows you to fast-track through some elements of this, but it's still hassle. Sadly it's an arms race of security theatre - if one place does it, they all have to do it for fear of being left behind, a softer target. It's job creation all right, but I rather doubt these are quality jobs.

We had allowed plenty of time and wandered through the free, smaller exhibitions of British Watercolours, which was a mixed bag but had some interesting pieces by Paul Nash, his brother John Nash, Ravilious and others, and Pacific North America, marking the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Canada in a possibly rather awkward way, but at least acknowledging the indigenous culture.

The Hokusai exhibition itself was very busy, essentially a slow-moving queue from end to end, which didn't make for the best experience, but it was worth it to see the range of works, starting with the summoning of a dragon, proceeding through many views of Mount Fuji (including the Great Wave itself), but also flower and bird paintings, a few portraits, and two unusual aerial views of Japan and China. It was interesting to compare with Hiroshige's slightly later paintings of Mount Fuji; on the whole, Hokusai was more monochromatic, frequently using (the then novel) Prussian Blue for his main colour scheme. At the end of the exhibition there are also one or two works by his daughter; sometimes these were passed off as by Hokusia himself in order to increase their value.