We wanted to see both the Don McCullin and the Van Gogh exhibitions, so we booked out an afternoon soon after the latter opened. It timed well also with the Middlesex County Cricket Club AGM that evening.
As Janie commented afterwards, being a member of the Tate is no longer a great advantage viz-a-viz getting to see major exhibitions at a quiet time…unless you take advantage of the “early Sunday morning” option.
Still, I think mid afternoon on a Monday was about as good as it is going to get with the Van Gogh, certainly for the early weeks of its run, as he is such a popular artist and this is such a major retrospective on him.
Last featured at the Tate in 1947 (I’ll guess that my dad will have gone to that one as he was studying art at that time), Van Gogh returns to Tate Britain after all these years in a show designed to illustrate how much Van Gogh was influenced by British artists of the late 19th century and how much he in turn influenced British artists of the 20th century.
Janie and I found some of the connections a little tenuous and felt that there were rather too many second rate British works on show. I guess the curators want the exhibition to look big and perhaps they want to show the Van Gogh works for what they are – truly exceptional examples.
Janie and I are also blessed with having had the opportunity to see a great many Van Gogh works around the place; not only those that reside in London but also in New York, Paris and Amsterdam. I shall be writing up my 1989 culture-vulturedom in Amsterdam quite soon, as we approach the 30th anniversary of that visit; the Van Gogh Museum was for sure on of the highlights then. Many works from that venue are on show in London at the moment.
Here is another link to the Van Gogh materials on the Tate site (the Van Gogh picture also has the link).
I had been especially excited about seeing the Don McCullin since I first read about it; I have long admired his photography but never seen a whole load of it assembled in one place.
This exhibition, a major retrospective on his life’s work, is quite exceptional. McCullin’s early work documents the grimier side of North and east London in the 1950s. Even from those early photographs McCullin’s extraordinary talent for framing and use of light in black and white photography shines through.
He is best known for his international photography, documenting wars and natural disasters, mostly in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of the works are harrowing but they are always respectful of their subjects and informative rather than judgemental.
Some of his later work is quite brilliant too. Janie and I especially enjoyed seeing his photos from the South Omo valley in Ethiopia, which McCullin visited only a year or so before we did. I’m sure I recognised one of the Karo tribesman McCullin had photographed as one of the young men who welcomed us at a Karo village.
Here is another copy of the link to the Don McCullin exhibition resources on the Tate site.
After the Tate, Janie and I went on to Lord’s for the Middlesex AGM and a very pleasant drinks part afterwards, rounding off a thoroughly enjoyable day.
Message to art lovers though – both of these exhibitions, Van Gogh and Don McCullin, are top notch. Well worth a visit to Tate Britain for either or especially both.
