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Royal Academy of Arts Magazine Number 133 WINTER 2016 america after the fall revolution: russian art 1917–1932

Royal Academy of Arts Magazine No. 133 / wiNter 2016 / £4.95

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George Fullard Sculpture and Survival 7th November - 16th December Exhibition and launch of a specially commissioned monograph

by Michael Bird Near and Far

GALLERY PANGOLIN CHALFORD - GLOS - GL6 8NT 01453 889765 gallery@pangolin-editions.com www.gallery-pangolin.com

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ALL THE CAGES HAVE OPEN DOORS 2 NOVEMBER - 23 DECEMBER An exhibition of sculpture and works on paper spanning all four decades of Christopher’s oeuvre including new sculptures and a series of drawings inspired by the West Coast of Ireland.

CHRISTMAS SHOW SCULPTORS’ PRINTS & JEWELLERY 1 - 23 DECEMBER The perfect opportunity to find that extra special gift this Christmas. This exhibition will show selected works at Kings Place with further works available to view online. Including both established Royal Academicians and emerging artists, prices begin at £200.

PANGOLIN LONDON Sculpture Gallery, Kings Place, N1 9AG T: 020 7520 1480 www.pangolinlondon.com

IMAGES: Ann Christopher RA, The Edge of Memory, 2013, Bronze; Peter Randall-Page RA, Walnut Earrings, 2014, Sterling silver

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PANGOLIN

ANN CHRISTOPHER RA

LONDON

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Richard Cartwright All the Dreams We Had

8 February – 4 March 2017

John Martin Gallery 38 Albemarle Street London, W1S 4 JG

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T +44 (0)20 7499 1314 info@jmlondon.com

www.jmlondon.com catalogue on request

Richard Cartwright, The Balcony, 2016, pastel, 119 x 127 cms, 47 x 50 ins

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The World According To

PAUL PETER PIECH (born Brooklyn, NY, 1920- died Cardiff 1996)

An exhibition of over 60 linocut prints

22 Nov - 17 Dec 2016 Piech’s graphic work reflects his interest in highlighting social inequality and the abuse of political power. As a patriotic American living in the UK he was as critical of Nixon as he was appreciative of JFK (the work opposite was produced at the time of the Watergate scandal). He also produced a prodigious number of prints on religious, literary, musical and visual art themes. His prints, often unique impressions, consist of combinations of powerful graphic work and hand cut lettering that convey an expressionist verve and sense of urgency. Despite many of the prints being over 40 years old the themes are eerily prescient. Although in some respects an outsider to the art establishment, the V&A in London hold a significant collection of his work and published a monograph on the artist in 2013. Our exhibition is a rare chance to acquire his remarkable imagery.

WATERHOUSE & DODD 47 Albemarle Street 020 7734 7800 / info@waterhousedodd.com www.waterhousedodd.com/piech Illustrated: USA! (circa 1974) linocut 84 x 59 cm

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DEBORAH BELL CIRCA Gallery 80 Fulham Road London SW3 6HR www.circagallerylondon.com +44 (0)20 7590 9991 Modern and contemporary art from Southern Africa

Dreams of Immortality: Blood and Gold 18 November – 17 December 2016 Deborah Bell Return of the Gods: The Ancient Ones bronze edition of 6 tallest 280 cm

Owners of works

by Ken Howard OBE RA who are interested in having them registered and included in a future catalogue raisonné contact info@tkhf.co.uk or visit our website.

RA Mag Half page horizontal landscape Size: 200mm (w) x 131mm (h)

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SIR GEORGE CLAUSEN The Bird’s Nest Estimate £150,000–200,000 To be sold in Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art 15 December

British and Irish Art London Auctions Winter 2016

Scottish Art 22 November Lord & Lady Attenborough: A Life in Art The Celebrated Private Collection of Picasso Ceramics 22 November Modern & Post-War British Art 22 & 23 November A Painter’s Paradise: Julian Trevelyan & Mary Fedden at Durham Wharf 23 November Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite & British Impressionist Art 15 December

TO BOOK YOUR COMPLIMENTARY AND CONFIDENTIAL VALUATION PLEASE CONTACT VICTORIAN, IRISH & SCOTTISH ART +44 (0)20 7293 5718 BRITT.ROBERTS@SOTHEBYS.COM MODERN BRITISH ART +44 (0)20 7293 6424 RACHEL.DAVIS@SOTHEBYS.COM

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Alexander Bogomazov 1880-1930 Portrait of the Artist’s Daughter, Yaroslava, 1928 Oil on board, 59 x 59 cm

34 Ravenscourt Road, London W6 OUG tel +44 (0)20 8748 7320 james@jamesbutterwick.com

W W W. J A M E S B U T T E R W I C K . C O M

Royal Academy of Arts Magazine / No. 133 / Winter 2016

Contents 36

In the studio ‘An architectural project may take six to ten years and it is exposed to unforeseen forces, most of which can lead to new ideas’ farshid moussavi ra

Features

44 Back in the USSR

Martin Sixsmith presents the historical backdrop to the Academy’s monumental show of Soviet art

54 AbEx now

Two artists from different generations, Basil Beattie RA and Aimée Parrott, discuss the significance of Abstract Expressionism

58 Master and student

Debra N. Mancoff charts the influence of the leading Depression Era painter, Thomas Hart Benton, on Jackson Pollock

63 Painting like a dream

p h oto gr a p h b en ja m i n m cm a h o n . S tat e Russ i a n M us eu m / P h oto © 2016 , S tat e Russ i a n M us eu m , S t. P e t ers b u r g .

M u. Z EE , O os t en d e / P h oto M uZee © w w w. lu k as w eb . b e – A r t i n F l a n d ers v z w. P h oto gr a p h y: H u go M a er t ens/© DAC S 2016

Timothy Hyman RA reflects on James Ensor as a visionary figurative artist

44

Back in the USSR ‘The watchwords were novelty and invention, with pre-revolutionary forms raucously jettisoned from the steamship of modernity’ martin sixsmith

Regulars 10 Editorial 12 Contributors & Competition 09 15 RA 250 20 Preview UK

including artists’ self-portraits at the Queen’s Gallery; Piers Gough RA on London’s new Design Museum; rising star Rachel Maclean; and Simon Wilson on Robert Rauschenberg

31 Preview International

Claudia Pritchard on how Florence has coped 50 years on from the disaster of the floods

34 Preview Books

Bob and Roberta Smith RA selects the best children’s books for a merry Christmas

36 Academy Artists

63

Painting like a dream ‘Ensor railed against the ‘art of cold calculation… dry and repellant’ timothy hyman ra

Inside Farshid Moussavi RA’s studio; Eva Rothschild RA’s new sculpture; Anne Desmet RA’s sketches of Italy; Anthony Green RA’s Academy display; artists in print on show

66 Short Story

‘The Longer View’ by Deborah Levy

68 Debate

Ian Ritchie RA and Hugh Pearman debate: are utopian ideas good for architecture?; Paul Nash’s changing viewpoint; Abstract Expressionism’s earliest commentators

74 Academy News

Forty years of the Friends; RA Schools interim show; John Partridge RA tribute

81 Listings 92 Readers’ Offers 98 What’s On at the RA

Events and lectures at the Academy

106 RA Exhibition Diary

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Introducing this issue

Editorial

Art history must not become a thing of the past On 19 October, a letter written by artists from the Royal Academy of Arts was published in The Times: We are profoundly disappointed at the decision by the examining board AQA to drop A-level art history from 2018.

As with the English baccalaureate’s narrow focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics at the expense of the creative arts and most humanities, this short-sighted decision denies the value of art and its appreciation both to the economic and cultural life of the nation, and to the individual.

Far from being a ‘soft’ subject, art history teaches rigorous analytical skills and requires students to engage not only with art but with history, literature, politics, languages and the sciences...

EDITORIAL Publisher Nick Tite Editor Sam Phillips Assistant Editor Anna Coatman Design and Art Direction Design by S-T Sub-Editor Gill Crabbe What’s On Editor Zoe Smith Editorial Intern Alice Primrose Editorial Advisers May Calil,

Richard Cork, Anne Desmet RA, Tom Holland, Fiona Maddocks, Mali Morris RA, Eric Parry RA, Greg Sanderson, Charles Saumarez Smith and Giles Waterfield Digital content Harriet Baker, Louise Cohen and Amy Macpherson To comment on RA Magazine

reply.ramagazine@royalacademy.org.uk Follow us online

Twitter @RA_Mag @royalacademy Facebook /royalacademy royalacademy.org.uk EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES

020 7300 5820 ramagazine@royalacademy.org.uk ADVERTISING AND PRODUCTION Advertising Manager

Jane Grylls 020 7300 5661 jane.grylls@royalacademy.org.uk Business Manager

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Production Manager & Listings Editor

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Charlotte Burgess 020 7300 5675 charlotte.burgess@royalacademy.org.uk SUBSCRIPTIONS

RA Magazine is published quarterly in March, May, September and November and mailed to Friends of the Royal Academy of Arts as part of their Friends membership

To become a Friend

£107 Standard Friends (£97 Direct Debit) £150 Joint Friends (£140 Direct Debit) £50 Young Friends (aged between 16 & 25; £45 direct debit) Friends enquiries 020 7300 5664 friend.enquiries@royalacademy.org.uk royalacademy.org.uk/friends To subscribe to RA Magazine

£20 for one year in UK (£30 outside UK) Magazine subscriptions: 0800 634 6341 (UK only) 0044 20 7300 5841 (outside UK) mailorder@royalacademy.org.uk Colour reproduction by Wings. Printed by Wyndeham Group. Published 14 November 2016. © 2016 Royal Academy of Arts ISSN 0956-9332 The opinions in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the RA. All reasonable attempts have been made to clear copyright before publication

S tat e Russ i a n M us eu m / P h oto © 2016 , S tat e Russ i a n M us eu m , S t. P e t ers b u r g

Head of a Peasant, 1928–29, by Kazimir Malevich

The RA’s coming exhibition could not better prove this point.

Opening in the centenary year of the Russian Revolution, ‘Revolution: Russian Art 1917–1932’ shows how closely art was entwined with politics, economics, social policy and technology during one of the most significant periods in modern history. Painters, sculptors, architects, filmmakers and designers were the crack troops of the revolution, encouraging a new order from both the streets and the studio.

‘It was 1917, with its promise of brave new worlds and liberation from the past, that set all the arts aflame,’ writes Martin Sixsmith in an article in this issue that explores the sheer breadth of artistic innovation that emerged, and the crackdown that followed from the mid-1920s, when experimentation was ‘deemed un-Soviet’ (page 44).

‘To further the cause of the revolution culture must be comprehensible by the masses; anything more complicated, innovative or original was by definition useless and potentially dangerous.’ Under Stalin, artists were forced to embrace Socialist Realism or face the horrors of the gulag.

This history is crystallised in the painting on our cover, Head of a Peasant (1928–29, above) by Kazimir Malevich. The geometry reminds us of Malevich’s earlier Suprematist works, which were entirely abstract paintings characterised by simple, colourful shapes. Forced to abandon abstraction, he has here returned to figurative painting, representing a suitable subject encouraged by the Soviet state – the heroism of the Russian peasantry. The peasant’s face fills the frame in the manner of a religious Russian icon. But the image is ambiguous, painted at a time when peasants who opposed collectivisation were either deported or killed. Does the absence of a mouth suggest the peasant is silenced?

The art of post-revolutionary Russia charts a journey of individual expression, collective aspiration and subsequent subjugation by the state. If we want to understand such stories, in all their complexity, then we need art history.

— sam phillips, editor

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ANTHONY FROST Luminous Tracks 17 November - 17 December 2016

Beaux Arts London_with bleed.indd 1

Beaux Arts London 48 Maddox Street London W1S 1AY

info@beauxartslondon.uk www.beauxartslondon.uk

Tel +44 (0)2074931155 Mon-Sat, 11am - 6pm

05/10/2016 09:42

Who’s who in this issue

Contributors WILL ALSOP RA is an architect and artist. His practice aLL Design’s projects include the Neuron Pod for Queen Mary University, London.

piers gough ra is an architect. His practice CZWG has designed the New Arts Complex, Southampton, which is due to open this winter.

MARTIN BAILEY is the editor of Anthony Green:

ALISON HISSEY is a writer and Project Editor

Painting Life (RA Publications) and author of Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence (Frances Lincoln), both published this winter.

at RA Publications.

CHRISTOPHER BAKER is Director of the

Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

TIMOTHY HYMAN RA is a painter, writer and

academic. His past books include Bonnard and Sienese Painting (both Thames & Hudson).

leonie bos is an illustrator. Her work has

BENEDICT JOHNSON is a photographer whose clients include the Courtauld and the Serpentine.

been featured in magazines including Monocle, Wallpaper and the Wall Street Journal.

DEBORAH LEVY has written six novels,

BASIL BEATTIE RA is a painter. His work is

included in national public collections such as Tate and the Arts Council Collection.

RICHARD DAVEY is the author of the monograph Anthony Whishaw (RA Publications).

RICHARD dawson is a portrait photographer whose clients include GQ and ShortList.

including the Man Booker-nominated Hot Milk (Hamish Hamilton). Her short story collection, Black Vodka, was shortlisted for the BBC International Short Story Award.

FIONA MADDOCKS is a journalist, broadcaster and Classical Music Critic for the Observer. Her new book, Music for Life: 100 Works to Carry You Through (Faber & Faber), is just published.

include Habitat and Random House.

DEBRA N. MANCOFF is author of 50 American Artists You Should Know (Prestel). She is Scholar in Residence at Newberry Library, Chicago.

EDITH DEVANEY is co-curator of the Royal Academy’s show ‘Abstract Expressionism’.

BENJAMIN MCMAHON is a photographer who has worked for Vogue, Art Review and FT Weekend.

Bobby Evans is an illustrator whose clients

NAME THE ARTIST COMPETITION 09

Architect will alsop ra describes one of his favourite buildings (below).

Name who designed it and you could win two RA exhibition catalogues A church is often a place that creates a sense of awe, passion and peace, irrespective of an individual’s religious conviction. My chosen church is on the outskirts of a capital city.

It tends not to celebrate its existence to the tourist, but is well known by local people.

It was not designed by an architect, but by an artist who was primarily a sculptor.

Its bold and simple construction comes from a very direct way of working, which was maintained right through to realisation.

This directness, I believe, came from the artist’s discipline working in three dimensions. It is what it was intended to be, although its completion was carried out by another, but with huge respect for that

original aim – unlike the recent completion of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, where few of Gaudi’s drawings existed, meaning its execution is a very beautiful and wellintentioned interpretation.

AIMEE PARROTT is a painter. Her exhibition at Breese Little, London, is on view until 26 Nov. HUGH PEARMAN is an architecture critic and Editor of the RIBA Journal.

CLAUDIA PRITCHARD is an arts journalist, and classical music and opera editor of Culture Whisper.

IAN RITCHIE RA is an architect. His memoirs and selected writings are collected in Being: an Architect (RA Publications).

PETER SCHMItT is a former Surveyor to the Fabric at the Royal Academy of Arts.

MARTIN SIXSMITH is a former Moscow correspondent for BBC TV who has written extensively about Russian history and culture.

His new book, Ayesha’s Gift: A Daughter’s Search for the Truth about her Father, is published by Simon & Schuster in 2017.

CATHERINE SLESSOR is an architectural critic and former Editor of the Architectural Review.

BOB AND ROBERTA SMITH RA is an artist.

He is a patron of The Big Draw and the National Society of Educators in Art and Design.

SIMON WILSON is an art historian.

Internally, the experience is on a par with Van der Laan’s Abbey at Mamelis, near Vaals, in the Netherlands, where one can sit for hours absorbed in the ambience of changing light. My chosen example has similarities and is just as beautiful.

To enter

Send the name of the artist to reply.ramagazine@ royalacademy.org.uk or: RA Magazine, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BD,

by Friday 2 Dec 2016. Please include your contact details. Three correct entries chosen at random receive the books that accompany the RA shows ‘Abstract Expressionism’ and ‘Intrigue: James Ensor by Luc Tuymans’. For full terms and conditions, visit http://roy.ac/catcomp

COMPETITION 08

For Competition 08, published in the last issue of RA Magazine, Terry Setch RA chose the painting Portrait of a Girl (1898) by Antonio Mancini.

Congratulations to the three winning entrants who have each received their prizes.

12 ra magazine | winter 2016

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RA AD SEPTEMBER 2016.qxp_Layout 1 18/10/2016 09:59 Page 1

CHRIS BEETLES GALLERY www.chrisbeetles.com

ANTHONY GREEN RA Retrospective Exhibition 31 January – 4 March 2017 Chris Beetles Gallery is delighted to announce a retropective show of Anthony Green RA, to accompany the Royal Academy exhibition and launch of his official biography. Our exhibition catalogue is available to purchase on request.

THE ILLUSTRATORS

Anthony Green (born 1939) Passion IV

Paul Mak (1891-1967) Protecting the Princess

The British Art of Illustration 1900 – 2016 19 November – 7 January 2017

Our annual exhibition, the biggest event worldwide for cartoon and illustration collectors, features over 800 works from across three centuries. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, focussing on the period 1900-2016, which is available from the gallery at £15 (+ £5 p&p UK).

CHRIS BEETLES GALLERY 8 & 10 Ryder Street St James’s London SW1Y 6QB 020 7839 7551 • gallery@chrisbeetles.com • www.chrisbeetles.com

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PJ CROOK 7 th –23 rd decemBER 2016 pa n t e r & h a l l 11–12 PALL MALL • LONDON • SW1Y5lu +44 (0)20 7399 9999• enquiries@panterandhall.com The exhibition can be viewed online at www.panterandhall.com

The Royal Academy’s major redevelopment project

RA 250

P u b l is h ed by I l lus t r at ed N e ws/ F r o m: T h e I l lus t r at ed Lo n d o n N e ws , M ay 1870/©R oya l Aca d em y o f A r ts , Lo n d o n . dav i d ch i pp er f i el d a r ch i t ects . © f r a n cis wa r e

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Building work begins on the lecture theatre In 2018, the RA’s 250th anniversary, the Academy is reinstating a grand lecture theatre in Burlington Gardens, creating a hub for artistic debate 1. The original template

No 6 Burlington Gardens, which is now part of the Royal Academy, was designed by James Pennethorne and built for the University of London between 1867 and 1870. The original building featured a grand lecture theatre for the university’s students, which in later years was decommissioned and converted into two rooms on separate floors.

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2. The new design

David Chipperfield RA’s redevelopment plan for the Academy site includes the restoration of this space to its former glory, enabling an ambitious programme of lectures, debates, screenings and concerts. The room will be double-height once again, with semi-circular seating hosting more than 260 people. The original clerestory windows will fill the space with daylight.

3. Work in progress

Construction work on the new lecture theatre is now underway. Demolition began in March 2016 and both the floors, plus the basement, have now been removed. The ground-floor and first-floor slabs have been poured and the first mechanical and engineering installation is taking place.

To see how the work is progressing in an online image gallery, visit http://roy.ac/250

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