 David Crossman 1942-2023My darling Dad sadly died in early April so I have been involved in family business rather than art business over the past month. I painted this portrait of him for his 80th birthday last Summer. He is sitting at the kitchen table, looking out to the garden with the crossword and setting the world to rights. This is how I shall remember him. |
 After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art is the big new show at the National Gallery explaining how the art world exploded from Paris across Europe between 1886 and WW1. I saw this on my only afternoon for exhibitions in the past month; I was looking for something nourishing and inspiring and this ticked both of those boxes. Definitely go. National Gallery until 13 Aug Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian is the new Tate blockbuster which brings together two artists who are quite different. They never met, but were both theosophists and followers of Madame Blavatsky, a highly fraudulent yet very influential spiritualist. As far as I’m aware, there weren’t hallucinogenics involved but the results are somewhat trippy. And rather beautiful. A new take on Mondrian, that’s for sure. Tate Modern until 3 Sep Ai Weiwei: Making Sense is a mixture of recent works and commissioned pieces. As one of the most important artists working today, Ai Weiwei is known for his powerful art and activism against the Chinese government. His work crosses disciplines; design, film, curation and architecture. As we’re in the Design Museum, most work here is design-led. The biggest being the 15ft lego interpretation of Monet’s waterlilies with its ‘dark portal’ representing the dugout the artist hid in with his exiled father in the 1960s. Powerful stuff. Design Museum until 30 July I am organising this exhibition which opens next month at Cannizaro House, it is a lovely space and we are really excited about putting this on. If you would like an invitation to the private view, let me know katharine@katharinerowe.com Wimbledon Blossoms 33x55cm unframedWith the time I did manage to be in the studio in the past few weeks I managed the therapeutic painting of these blossom oil sketches. It is something of an annual ritual for me; surreptitiously snipping a couple of small branches off (pavement) blossom filled trees to paint and herald the start of Spring. |
I am sorry for your loss. That’s a wonderful painting of your father – so full of love. xxx