By Amy Somensky Sep 1, 2006, 1:54 GMT
London: Here are all the upcoming events at London's National Gallery for September 2006:
The National Gallery
Exhibitions
Manet to Picasso
September 22 2006 - May 20 2007
There is a unique opportunity to re-examine the outstanding scope of the National Gallery's collection, when its late 19th- and 20th-century paintings are displayed afresh in a new Sainsbury Wing installation. From the Impressionist masterpieces of Monet and Renoir, to iconic paintings by Van Gogh and Cézanne, this display includes familiar favourites alongside important loans. New juxtapositions will challenge audiences to reconsider well-known works, at the same time as exploring the relationships between major movements. The six rooms of the display will be organised chronologically, allowing visitors to trace the dramatic changes that occurred during some of the most exciting years of artistic development. Earlier 19th-century paintings will be displayed on the ground level of the Wilkins Building.
Passion for Paint
July 20 - September 17 2006
The National Gallery together with Bristol City Museum & Art Gallery and the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne have received new funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to develop their successful touring exhibition partnership for three years. The first exhibition in this next phase of the partnership will be on the subject of 'Paint'. Featuring works by many of the great manipulators of paint, including Rubens, Constable and Monet, the exhibition will explore the different ways in which artists have exploited the substance of paint to both represent and mimic the material world. Of equal importance will be the consideration of the potential of paint as a vehicle of feeling; how we read violence, immediacy, tentativeness or pleasure into paint itself and the way it is applied.
Ludwig Mond's Bequest: A Gift to the Nation
July 14 - October 29 2006
The National Gallery has always enjoyed generous private patronage. This exhibition will celebrate Ludwig Mond (1840-1909), one of its most important benefactors, and highlight the contribution of private bequests to public art collections. A successful industrial chemist with a great passion for art, Mond assembled an outstanding collection of paintings, mainly of Italian Old Masters. On his death, he conferred 42 paintings to the National Gallery, one of the largest bequests ever made. The highlights of the Mond Bequest included in this exhibition include: Bellini's The Virgin and Child Enthroned; Raphael's The Crucified Christ with the Virgin Mary, Saints and Angels (The Mond Crucifixion) and Titian's late Virgin and Child.
ArtStart
Supported by American Express Foundation, the National Gallery's touch-screen multimedia facility allows all visitors to explore the Gallery's collection in astonishing detail. ArtStart terminals are situated in a specially designed room and at strategic positions in the Sainsbury Wing, and also in the café area of the newly opened Lower Hall. ArtStart allows visitors to zoom-in on the paintings, explore in-depth features on the 30 collection highlights, find information on artists and their works and print individual tours of the collection.
Wednesday Lates6-9pm
Enjoy art in the evening at our weekly Wednesday Lates. Come to the Sainsbury Wing Foyer for live jazz, talks and bar, and view exhibitions and the collection until 9pm.
Celebration of Dame Myra Hess
Wednesday September 13, 1pm, 4pm, 6pm
Between October 1939 and October 1944, Dame Myra Hess was responsible for organising more than 1, 300 concerts at the National Gallery, at a time when the Gallery was emptied of its paintings with the exception of one painting each month. Many thousands heard the concerts and were inspired by their message of hope. This celebratory day begins with Yonty Solomon playing Bach's Goldberg Variations at 1pm; Schumann's Carneval, performed by nine pianists, in memory of the New Year's Day concert 1940, and other works for multiple pianists are played at 4pm; at 6pm Piers Lane plays Chopin and Stephen Kovacevich is among the quartet playing Mozart's Piano Quartet No 2 K493 in Eb major. The concerts are free, and can be prebooked at the Advance Ticket Desk in the Annenberg Court. Free screenings of two films of two films of the lunchtime concerts directed by Humphrey Jennings and other clips showing Dame Myra playing will be shown in the Sainsbury Wing Theatre, at 2pm, 5pm and 7pm.
Education Events
WEDNESDAY EVENING LECTURE - An Eye for PicturesWednesday September 20, 6.30pm, Sainsbury Wing Theatre
Jack Cardiff in conversation with Ian Christie
Jack Cardiff has often told the story of how he became Technicolor's first trainee cameraman in Britain by denying all technical knowledge and talking instead about painting to the interview panel. The child of theatrical parents, he was also a regular visitor to the National Gallery. His life-long passion for art helped him become one of the most admired of all cinematographers - from such 1940s Technicolor classics as Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes, to action adventure in The African Queen and The Vikings, and filming literary masterpieces from War and Peace to Sons and Lovers. Back in his childhood haunt, Jack Cardiff will discuss what he has learned from painting and from travel to many of the world's great sights with Ian Christie, Professor of Film and Media History at Birkbeck College.
Wednesday evening lecture - History at the theatre: Paul Delaroche's Execution of Lady Jane GreyWednesday September 27 2006, 6.30pm, Sainsbury Wing Theatre
Stephen Bann CBE FBA
This year marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Paul Delaroche, whose painting of the execution of Lady Jane Grey is one of the most memorable (and popular) 19th-century works in the National Gallery's collection. Stephen Bann, who published the first illustrated monograph on Delaroche's work in 1997, has found new material on the context for the painting's first appearance at the 1834 Paris Salon. In particular, he suggests that Delaroche's close relationship with the actress Mlle Anais influenced the conception of this modern image of martyrdom. Stephen Bann CBE FBA is Professor of History of Art at Bristol University.
COURSE - City Breaks: Journeys through the History of PaintingPart 1 - Painting from the 14th to 16th centuries
'Tour' 1: Siena, Florence, Rome - 3 weeks: Saturday September 30, October 7, 14
'Tour' 2: Bruges, Antwerp, Venice - 3 weeks: Saturday October 21, 28, November 4
11am-12.30pm, Sainsbury Wing Theatre.
Course Liaison Tutor: Louise Govier
Course Tutors: Richard Stemp ('Tour' 1) and James Heard ('Tour' 2)
Why were so many innovative paintings made in Florence in the 15th century? Why did Venetian art develop in ways that weren't quite like any other Italian city-state? Join us as we go on a series of virtual city breaks, visiting some of the cultural and artistic hotspots of Europe and building up an overview of how painting developed. Each week we focus on a different destination, using that city as a starting point for exploring a particular part of the National Gallery's collection. Part 1 is divided into two different three-week 'tours' of cities that were significant from the 14th to 16th centuries; you can book for one or both of them. Part 2 (16th and 17th centuries) starts on 27 January.
COURSE - Avant-Garde? Romantics, Realists and Impressionists in the 19th CenturyTuesday September 26, October 3, 10 2.30-4pm, Sainsbury Wing Conference Room 1.
Rebecca Lyons
This three-week course will look at different artistic developments in French painting in the 19th century. At the beginning of the century, the Neoclassical style prevailed: we will explore how artists like Gericault and Delacroix broke free from conventions and experimented with both subject matter and style. Realism and politics in the art of Millet, Courbet and Manet also challenged the more traditional art world and arguably helped to pave the way for the generations of more experimental painters who would follow, such as Degas and Cézanne. The idea of the avant-garde artist will be discussed - both the origins of the term and the relevance of its application to artists in this period.
WORKSHOP - Talk and... Draw from Life
Saturday September 23, free lunchtime talk: 1pm Room 8 followed by a life drawing workshop: 2-3.30pm, Education Centre Rooms 2 and 3.
Workshop leader: Ansel Krut
This event combines a free lunchtime talk in the Gallery (open to the general public) with a practical life drawing workshop. Sebastiano del Piombo's The Raising of Lazarus is an ambitious composition of monumental figures in dramatic poses. An artist whose practice was rooted in life drawing, Sebastiano also used designs provided by Michelangelo for this work: Christ's commanding action and the reclining Lazarus recall the figures of God and Adam in the Sistine ceiling. After a talk on the painting, Ansel Krut will lead a life drawing workshop to further explore the expressive power of gesture. Places at the workshop are limited, so advance booking is recommended. All materials are provided, and the workshop is suitable for all levels of experience.
Film Season - Portrait of an Artist
September 23 - November 11, 2006, Saturdays, 2.30pm, Sainsbury Wing Theatre.
To accompany Velázquez (October 18 - January 14 2007)
'The greatest tableaux are portraits. Velázquez, for instance. A painter who tries to render a face only renders the outside of people; and yet something else is revealed. It's very mysterious. It's an adventure' (Jean-Luc Godard - Godard on Godard, 1988)
To reflect Velázquez's eminence as a portraitist, this National Gallery film season concentrates upon the portrait in cinema; from the inward intensity of performance, to the self as an essentially unknowable entity.
September 23: East of Eden(Elia Kazan, 1955) colour, PG, 118 mins
September 30: The Spirit of the Beehive(Victor Erice, 1973) colour, PG, 93 mins
October 7: Persona(Ingmar Bergman, 1966) B&W, 15, 83 mins
October 14: Triple Agent(Eric Rohmer, 2003) colour, U, 115 mins
October 21: Vivre Sa Vie(Jean-Luc Godard, 1962) colour, 15, 85 mins
October 28: A Street Car Named Desire(Elia Kazan, 1951) B&W, 15, 119 mins
November 4: Solas(Benito Zambrano, 1999) colour, 15, 97 mins
November 11: The Life of Oharu(Kenji Mitzoguchi, 1952) B&W, PG, 130 mins
Free Events for Children and Families
Half-term Events
Weekend Activities
WEEKEND GALLERY TALKS
Every Saturday and Sunday, 11.30am, Meet in the Education Centre Foyer
Join us and seek out some Glittering Jewels in September. These themed children's tours of paintings last one hour. For families with children aged 5 to 11. All children must be accompanied.
SECOND WEEKEND DRAWING EVENT - Bedecked and bejewelled
Saturday and Sunday September 9 and 10 2006, 11.30am, repeated 2.30pm. Meet in Room 59
Be dazzled by amazing decorations and discover delicious fruits in this gallery-based drawing workshop led by artist Felicity Powell. Workshops take place on the second weekend of each month and last one hour. Sessions include a lively talk and drawing activity based on a different theme each month. All materials are provided and participants receive a free souvenir pencil. For families with children aged 5 to 11. All children must be accompanied.
Regular Free EventsIn addition to the courses, workshops, lectures and other events detailed in this booklet, the National Gallery has free talks and tours every day.
Guided tours - every day at 11.30am and 2.30pm, plus 6pm and 6.30pm on Wednesdays, 12.30pm and 3.30pm on Saturdays.
Lunchtime talks - Tuesday to Saturday each week at 1pm, plus special lectures and films on some Mondays. On Fridays, you can join in an interactive talk, hear a debate or get creative in the 'Talk and Draw' activities for adults.
Ten-Minute Talks - a quick insight into one painting, Monday to Friday at 4pm.
Picture in Focus - 25-minute talk on one painting, every Wednesday evening at 6pm.
Painting of the Month - a range of free talks at different times on one painting.
Art through Words - session for visitors with a visual impairment, last Saturday of the month, 11.30am.
British Sign Language-interpreted events take place on the first Saturday of every month.
For more information on any of the events listed above visit www.nationalgallery.org.uk.
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