chriswoodartist

bad photo – good books ! or one thing leads to another ! 

I showed some linocuts at the Oxmarket Contemporary Art Gallery in Chichester, last year (2024) and met an old friend at the private view.  We were standing around catching up on old times and a stranger bounced up and yelled . . .”ah the man with a Blue Scarf” – the context of which was completely lost on me.

It transpired that the pair had both read, the art critic, Martin Gayford’s book, “Man with a Blue Scarf – on sitting for a portrait by Lucian Freud” and guess what my art teacher, companion was wearing ? Yes you got it – a large blue silk scarf. I had a book on Lucian Freud but not the one in question – so when I got home, I looked up the title online and found a cheap second hand copy and before I had sat down, I clicked purchase. A couple of days later I was avidly thumbing through it and I am happy to report that it offers brilliant insight into the experience of sitting for Freud, together with lots of anecdotes that only someone who knew him really well, would know. Lucian Freud and Martin Gayford had known each other for years and used to regularly dine together. It would seem that eating, drinking and painting are inextricably linked – who knew it ! 

I have taught life drawing for over thirty years and often wondered what went on in a models head, how they coped with the very demanding process of keeping still and what’s more, it must be much worse sitting for a portrait as the pose never alters ! This book not only eloquently  answered my questions but it is an excellent read too ! As luck would have it as soon as I finished it I had the good fortune to come across “Modernists and Mavericks” in a local charity shop. This too is a good read and whilst I had come across Gayfords writing in the Telegraph, it was only recently that I became hooked on his writing. The other thing that I like about both of these books is that they are hardbacks and the LF book has a blue ribbon book mark, which is a nice touch. There’s something about a hardback book – I don’t know whether it’s a generational thing or what, as a child paperbacks were cheap novels and all non fiction were hardback.

Most of my art books are paperback and so too is “The Yellow House” that has been lent to me by a fellow artist/friend and I am looking forward to having the time to unearth “nine turbulent weeks in Arles”. Van Gough and Paul Gauguin have captured my imagination since I was a schoolboy and this book is crying out to be read !

Another charity shop find, HRH The Prince of Wales Watercolours – or should I say King Charles’s evocative Watercolours, is a delight – not least because it is a gazeteer of his travels. As someone who rarely goes abroad, I can take vicarious pleasure from his extensive travels. His personal style of painting has evolved over the years and is now sophisticated and atmospheric. I’m not sure how much time Charles is able to devote to painting but it must provide a very pleasant escape from his duties.

Another pile of art books tomorrow !