On the
occasion of the BP Portrait of the Year I went to the front desk. It is
upstairs or up lift (elevator) and got further directions. I wandered around and liked a few portraits
and went back to the start and asked one of the attendants for some help. Sarah and Peter took me round and we
discussed several paintings. As usual
the subject of titanium dioxide came up in some very bright pictures. Peter also paints and we discussed Zinc Oxide
and Lead Oxide. The bookshops are also
helpful in finding the occasional postcard and even a book.
The last
Thursday of the month is the date for the NPG “Visualisation” for visually
impaired people. (http://www.npg.org.uk/learning/outreach/visualising-portraits.php)
It is also a chance to meet other people.
We tend to gather across from the information desk. You can always ask to be taken to the
painting in advance to see what you can make of it and the neighbouring
pictures. Often a reference is made to
some other portraits in the vicinity.
Esther
Collins organises much of the activity and is a mine of information as is the
NPG website. (http://www.npg.org.uk/learning/digital/sen/picture-descriptions.php)
The subject
for the September talk was McClintock, an Arctic explorer. (http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait.php?search=ap&npgno=1211)
He is portrayed in the kit of an Arctic explorer of the day, though painted in
a studio. Examples of other McClintock
portraits were passed round (he is in Naval uniform and the NPG has a reserve
copy) There is also a photograph of this Victorian gentleman. (This picture is almost opposite from the
Kitchener described in my post http://profwhitestick.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/earl-kitchener-of-khartoum-by-von.html
) In place of military accessories such as sword, belt, pips and epaulettes we
have all sorts of gadgets on display.
There is
quite a story behind McClintock and his search for Franklyn who went
missing. The painting itself is quite
stylised and reflects the almost photographic detail at the time. Having heard Sir Ranulph Fiennes speak at a
lunch before about his state of being frostbitten and exhaustion on some of
these expeditions, this McClintock portrait resembles more a renaissance ideal
of the “Victorian Arctic Explorer”. The
race for the Arctic and Antarctic was underway and was often between Norwegian explorers
such as Amundsen and Nansen and the British explorers. With global warming and the disappearance of
some of the Arctic ice does this painting represent a scientific record at all? Did the gadgets arrayed around McClintock
provide any scientific data at all?
Fascinating topics for discussion.
A portrait can direct so much interest.
25th
October
The October
portrait was that of King James VI/I as painted by the Flemish painter Daniel
Mytens. King James is sandwiched between
his son Charles (later King Charles) and his daughter Elizabeth (later Queen of
Bohemia). Our describer was Marion Cole,
who reminded me that we had met before at the description of Ayuba Suleiman
Diallo by William Hoare. (http://profwhitestick.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/stamp-collecting-connects-hoare-with.html)
This portrait
of King James is rather motionless and illustrates the King’s show of
power. He is seated in his chair of
estate and is in the dress of a Knight of the Garter with all the associated
regalia. Marion said that the pose
resembled that of Pope Julius II and King James had maintained his position in
the Church of England while setting in train a divine right theology which
proved a disaster for his son Charles.
The Garter star can just about be made out and the King is shown with the garter on his left leg. King James is shown with almost platform shoes to increase his height appearance. Marion described the portrait geometry with the colours of red and white dominating the king, and a blue frame of the inside lining of his Garter mantle.
I asked about the rapier and it is described as jewelled. Marion could not identify the clasp like object and I wondered if it could have been a dagger hilt. We had a discussion about some diamond described as black. A passing guide remarked that diamonds have no shining effect until the facets are cut, so this diamond may have been a precious stone left unset, though we wondered how a glittering diamond would have been portrayed.
Currently the
National Portrait Gallery has an exhibition on Prince Henry Stuart. He is the sister of Elizabeth Stuart (I am
photographed with the Robert Peake portrait of Elizabeth Stuart the Winter
Queen of Bohemia). Prince Henry died
quite young and some treasures have been put together. The exhibition is interesting as it reflects
Jacobean history. King James I/VI has a
mixed reputation, the “Wisest fool in Christendom” springs to mind.
27th
October
My visit to
the Lost Prince exhibition is covered in a separate post relating to the
exhibition itself with references to the portraits in the Stuart family both
here in London and some of those from Scotland. The link is:
