Picking up on point my tutor made in my Assignment 1 feedback that it would help me to look at art asking the question 'how did the artist do that' rather than observe art as a connoisseur, yesterday I made my first visit to the Tate Modern (London). Whilst I have seen the outside of this magnificent building many a time as I've trotted up and down the Thames on many a river cruise with the grand-children, I've never seen the inside. I was lucky enough to go with a friend who is an artist and she guided me through.
First of all we saw the Ai Weiwei Sunflower seeds installation- all 100 million of them! The installation itself did nothing for me until I saw the accompanying film which put the whole thing into context and explained how each seed had been individually sculpted and painted by specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen. Quite something.
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Sunflower Seeds in the Tate Modern
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I had prepared for the visit by making a list of artists that had been mentioned so far in the course literature and noting which ones had works being exhibited in the Tate. I was able to see quite a lot of works from Picasso to Matisse from Max Ernst to Juan Gris and it was a huge revelation to view art as my tutor had suggested. Seeing for example the Frottage pieces of Max Ernst (The Entire City - oil on paper laid on canvas and Dadaville - Painted plaster and cork laid on canvas) was extremely enlightening and I learnt the difference between seeing art for real and as an online display.
Sadly there were only a few drawings on display but there was one by Picasso (
Faun Revealing a Sleeping Woman - Etching and aquatint on paper). Although I appreciated the techniques that had gone into creating this masterpiece, I'm afraid it did nothing for me - probably because I just didn't like the subject - a faun.
But we did get to see Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust painting which was sold at Christie's in New York last May for a world record price of $106.5 million (£65.5 million) and is only on temporary loan to the Tate by its private owner. It of course makes you realise that when great masterpieces, particularly ones in private collections are on show, you need to grab the chance to see them.
All in all, I had a great day out. It was a great learning experience and has whetted my appetite to see more. below is a collage of photos I took of artwork that caught my eye.
