#PaintingOfTheWeekNo3

Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Diego Velázquez

This is one of those paintings that you stand before and wonder at just how an artist achieved such mastery of paint.  This might seem a conventional state portrait of a Pope but take your time to look more carefully – and prepare to be amazed.  The artist – from a middle-class family in Seville, southern Spain – was just over 50 when he was commissioned for this work.  Velázquez had risen to be the court painter in Philip IV’s Madrid and was an obvious choice for the Papal portrait when he came to Rome.  

Velázquez turns the Pope away from us to emphasize the gap between us ordinary mortals and this representative of God yet at the same time the frown and quizzical, almost self-conscious, look in his eyes affirm his human nature.  The Pope was an impatient 76-year-old when this was painted and you can almost sense his preference to be back at his desk reading the letter in his left hand.  

When Pamphili saw the painting he remarked ‘troppo vero’ (too true) and it has remained in his family ever since (in their wonderful gallery in Rome that I thoroughly recommend).  There is more to appreciate than just biography.  Francis Bacon called this ‘one of the greatest paintings ever made’ and it is the artist’s extraordinary skill with paint that impressed him.  

Not without good reason this has been called a symphony in red.  As so often with Velázquez there is a limited palette: black and hints of white create a thick velvet background, smoother strokes of white create a hat and cape of sensual satin, and a thinner grey and white ground deliver the illusion of the pope’s alb (a long white dress worn under other clothing).  Look up close and everything becomes a blur but from a short distance everything comes into focus and almost 5 centuries dissolve away and we are in the presence of one of the most powerful men alive at that time.  Pigment, canvas, wood, nails, oil…in the hands of a master like Velázquez come together in a stunning work of art – that I, for one, could stare at for hours.

Watch this space!

#PaintingOfTheWeekNo2

Gustave Caillebotte, The Floor Scrapers, 1875

I have always loved this painting and a nice copy of it hangs above my desk at work. Caillebotte is less well-known than many of the other impressionsts/realists of the late 19^th century but he is personally one of my favourites.  It is strange really how an artist who exhibited at a good number of the famous ‘impressionist’ exhibitions has fallen slightly out of public awareness – even more so when one learns that his own art collection eventually (after much drama) formed a key part of the Musée d’Orsay’s own.  

This particular painting is fascinating in a number of ways – the perspective, the lighting, the repeated motif of the curl are but three things to look at. Plus it is one of the first representations of an urban working class.  Paintings are open to interpretation and one argument states that a Parisian working man scraping down wooden floors would never be topless and that Caillebotte is alluding to his own sexual preferences by painting them as such. On the other hand, anyone who has been in Paris in the summer knows how hot it can be and perhaps they had just taken their shirts off.  You decide. Mind you, almost nothing an artist does is an accident.  Certainly when he submitted this to the 1875 Salon it was rejected for its ‘vulgarity’.  A year later, Caillebotte placed it in the more welcoming arms of the 1876 exhibition of those we now call the impressionists.  

Caillebotte was lucky – his father, who died the previous year (1874), was wealthy and left Caillebotte very well off. The family home in which this painting is thought to have been set was clearly very comfortable.  Being well off allowed for a freedom of subject choice and workmen were as good a subject as the more traditional history or genre paintings. Caillebotte’s younger brother, who lived in the family home too, could also follow his interests and one of those was photography. One can sense the influence that this relatively new invention is having on an artist like Gustave Caillebotte.  He was fascinated by it and sought both to incorporate and respond to this new medium.  

I love the painting personally for a few reasons: it feels like a genuine snapshot of ordinary workers, I find the craft of the workers and the craft of the artist equally impressive, and – frankly – because it reminds me of my own living room floor which I really must re-wax one of these days!

#PaintingOfTheWeekNo1

The Orchestra at the Opera, c.1870, Degas, Edgar, Musee d'Orsay, Paris, Bridgeman Images

This is a painting that contains many elements that I love.  Music, ballet, opera, real-life characters, mid-19^th century France, theatre and, of course, art.  I was reminded of this painting recently when involved in the edit of our next film – DEGAS: PASSION FOR PERFECTION.  Degas has always been the impressionist that intrigued me the most. Somehow he is the most mysterious and a passing awareness of him would suggest he's a man that likes ballerinas or racehorses but, as ever, there is so much more to any artist than the subject matter they may choose. Actually a large proportion of his work is portraiture. This painting is in some ways no exception. The bassoonist at the art of the work is Désiré Dihau and indeed the majority of the musicians are actual friends and musicians. The configuration of the instrumentation makes little sense but the feeling of energy and confined space overrides that. You can sense the energy going into the music and what great fun it must have been to be in the audience.  Degas has brought the orchestra almost to the level of the stage. He hasn’t portrayed them as they would normally be – almost hidden below stage. He’s not interested in reality he’s interested in what his painting suggests.

The ballerinas behind are almost an afterthought but they are especially significant as they were the first picture of ballerinas that Degas did. Nowadays if he is known for anything it is that very subject matter and many paintings, pastels and indeed sculptures he did of ballerinas – not least behind stage in rehearsal rooms overseen by tutors and mothers. I admire this painting for all the tricks Degas is using : look at those lines that force your eye from one character to the next. The line of the harp takes you down the shoulder of the bassoonist then up we go along the bassoon along the bassists’ shoulder to his instrument and its neck takes us to the headless ballerinas. A little head on the left stops us drifting out of frame and instead that head’s eyes bounce us back along the stage and round we go again.  The multicoloured tutus clash and contrast with the black of the orchestra and the brown furnishing of the opera itself. Degas was in his mid thirties when he made this work and was a single, dedicated, complex man with an absolute passion. For him the painting was unfinished but the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian was what prevented him from finishing it. I don’t see what he needed to change – it’s fabulous, brash, noisy and fun just the way it is. 

Great Art ITV returned to screens!

"Remarkable, educational and hugely enjoyable" The Times

“Illuminating and valuable” The Observer 

“Accessible and entertaining” The Telegraph

Our latest TV series Great Art returned to ITV screens on Thursday 10th May, 2018 for a second series which featured five new 50-minute episodes delving into the lives of iconic artists including Hockey, Bosch and Manet. After Series One aired in January this year, marking ITV’s return to arts programming, we were determined to increase our audience with the second series and further encourage ITV audiences to fully embrace our art films on television. Something that stuck with us from Series One, and encouraged us to work tirelessly on Series Two, was Mark Hudson (Art Critic) of The Telegraph's comment on the series:

"There’s nothing like a product name that tells you exactly what you’re going to get. With its resolutely uncomplicated two-word title, ITV’s new art series has a ring of back-to-basics bluntness. Produced by Phil Grabsky, whose Exhibition on Screen films have taken blockbuster exhibitions to cinemas around Britain – and the world – in the form of easily comprehensible, immersive documentaries, Great Art, which starts tonight, is out to bring “serious art” back to mainstream TV from the ghettoes of BBC 4 and Sky Arts" 

We knew that cementing our place on a commercial TV channel was going to be an arduous task, especially as ITV arts programming has been scarce of recent years but after a fantastic response from Series One - from press and public, we were delighted to see the second series sparked even more interest and appreciation. Series Two received over 50 previews and reviews.

 
We've been making art films for TV and cinema for over twenty years now. Our Great Art series for ITV has been a real highlight and pleasure. It's wonderful to work on a project that sheds new light on some of the world's renowned artists, and bring these new perspectives to a mainstream audience. With this experience comes the knowledge that we cannot just rely on the press to encourage audiences, we need to be speaking directly to them at home. So, we need to ask ourselves 'what excites your imagination?' and 'what will make you stay up until (the rather late slot of) 10:45pm every Thursday to watch the series?'. With a limited budget and no commercial ad coverage, we took to social media, our newsletters, contributors, regional art groups, universities and galleries we know to help spread the word. 

Social media was certainly vital: we were overwhelmed to see how people took to social media to express their appreciation and share information. We were naturally delighted with how many viewers contacted us via email and Facebook to tell us they enjoyed the films. That's what makes it all worthwhile. If you enjoyed the series, please do contact us and ITV at this address and share your thoughts:

ITV Studios

2 Waterhouse Square

140 Holborn London EC1N 2AE  

And, finally, some good news to end on: a new season is on the way in 2019. 

#GreatArtITV

EOS TOUR AUSTRALIA – NEW ZEALAND: 14 days – 12 cities – 41 interviews – 16 Q&As

EXHIBITION ON SCREEN tour of Australia and New Zealand.  14 days – 12 cities – 41 interviews – 16 Q&As – and not enough sleep. That just about sums up a trip I have just completed to the other side of the world to help launch the new season of EOS films – commencing with DAVID HOCKNEY AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY.  

We have been in both countries since the start and have built up a loyal audience but every year something changes – not least the increased competition.  In just a few years, event cinema has grown in its offering of theatre, opera and ballet. And we too in the arts have a rival by the name of Artbeats – headed by a friend of mine based in Italy.  I’m delighted from the point of view of the ordinary person in Australia and New Zealand – indeed any country anywhere – as there is no shortage of great cultural events

and films to go see now in your local cinema.  

From the point of view of EOS alone, it’s tough as who has the time or money to go twice, three times, a week to the cinema.  So we have to fight for your attention: we have to make great films first and foremost and then we have to make them known to you – time, date and place… And encourage you to buy your seats and go see them.  Trust me, it’s not easy.  Hence my trip. It was full on until about 1am every night and up again around 5 or 6am but it was thoroughly worthwhile. I have done such tours three or four times and so have some previous contacts but still I was surprised by how much press we got and how extraordinarily positive it all was.  Even after 7 years, you still get the ‘so tell me what EXHIBITION ON SCREEN is’ questions but much more was about Hockney and our other upcoming films on CANALETTO, CEZANNE, VAN GOGH (an encore of A NEW WAY OF SEEING) and I, CLAUDE MONET.  

I also found the audiences in both countries to be extremely attentive, encouraging and supportive.  The questions after the films were sometimes pretty hard (!) but always gracious and energised by a film they had thoroughly enjoyed. In fact, I must be honest: the response to Hockney was so strong it took me by surprise.  It’s, in some ways, a relatively simple film – two exhibitions and three interviews – compared to other more complex films we make but people – you – loved it to bits.  The credit lies with Hockney of course – he and his art are so full of creativity, insight and humour.  To hear the laughter night after night in different (superb) cinemas from Perth on the west coast of Australia all the way east to Auckland in New Zealand was a great boost for me – and my team.  

And all those wonderful press reviews might have been a bit late to ensure the audiences we needed for Hockney but I hope they ripple positively for the next film in the EXHIBITION ON SCREEN schedule which is CANALETTO AND THE ART OF VENICE FROM THE QUEEN’S GALLERY, BUCKINGHAM PALACE which deserves an award for the longest title ever, if nothing else.  Enjoy!

The Sunday Times, Perth 

From New York to West Palm Beach and many stops in between...

OK, America, it has to be said that you still don’t know what good coffee is (in hotels at least) nor bacon nor apples (import them from Britain please!) and a barely audible ‘uh-huh’ is not how to respond when someone says ‘thank you’ but there are so many things I love about this wonderful country that I always enjoy my trips here. Luckily some of those things are in the worlds I inhabit on my visits – namely art museums, cinemas and, when I get the time, running.  Many countries have great galleries but no country has so many in so many cities…I have just visited a few in New York, Washington, Richmond & West Palm Beach.  But that hardly scratches the surface: think LA, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Denver, Toledo, MoMA, Met, LACMA, the Getty and so many more.  Yes, it’s largely down to historic economic power that these collections have come to be but that’s no different to anywhere else and no worse than through historic military power which helped create so many of the European collections. 

So, a few days in the USA – and visiting as many galleries as I can. Plus a few screenings of both an encore film I, CLAUDE MONET as well as a new release CÉZANNE – PORTRAITS OF A LIFE. Plus a bit of research for a film we have in production which is yet to be announced (stay tuned)! Plus various other meetings…  A busy few days indeed.  What made it great fun though was the daily visit to a different cinema to introduce a film and then take questions afterwards.  I have been visiting American independent cinemas for 15 years and they just get better and better but above all it’s the audiences I like. They are always so enthusiastic, interested and gracious. There are many Americas – just as with any country – and one has to distinguish between the rather two-dimensional America that might be presented on the nightly news from the multi-faceted one you’ll meet for yourself.  It’s a huge country and, like English churches, there are way too many cinemas for one person to ever visit in one lifetime, but the response EXHIBITION ON SCREEN has had this week has been fantastic across the board and will keep me coming back. You can’t help but be encouraged by such an enthusiastic response.

The third aspect I really enjoy in the USA, on a personal level, is a simple one: running.  On this visit I have run along the Hudson in NY, the C&O canal and Potomac in DC, the James in Richmond, the Atlantic Ocean in West Palm Beach – it’s a great way to explore. But watch out for the police guarding President Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in West Palm Beach – I am not sure what they thought a sweaty runner could do but they didn’t want to take the risk of finding out, that’s for sure.  Despite that, and although ten days is a long time to be out of the office, I look forward to coming back soon