Monday 2 January 2017

Paul Nash

Totes Meer (Dead Sea) 1940-1
One of my Christmas presents this year was a year's membership to the Tate Galleries.  Our major art galleries have free entry except for the special exhibitions for which there is quite a high admission charge unless you are a member. Determined to make the most of this welcome present, today, I visited the Tate Britain  to see an exhibition of the work of Paul Nash. He is a well known 20th cent British artist but I doubt he has much of a following abroad.
It was in 1967 that I first came across Paul Nash. I was on a school trip from Manchester visiting the galleries and Museums of London when I saw this painting in the Tate. For some reason the image stayed with me, possibly because we were studying the war poets at the time.  I would never have imagined looking at that painting fifty years ago that it would be a turning point in my life. After that school trip I decided I wanted to study in London and have access to its numerous art galleries. I didn't study art as originally planned but trained to be a Physical Education teacher. However, I still very much enjoy visiting London's art galleries.


15 comments:

  1. Happy New Year! What an unusual painting.
    We are taking advantage of Dan's retirement to do a driving vacation in the south. On the 5th we fly to Memphis, TN then will drive along the Mississippi to New Orleans and then east along the Gulf coast to Tampa, FL. It's mostly unplanned as to stopping over places except for the start and the end. Thought I'd be able to post from the iPad but haven't figure out how to get the photos plugged in. Must be some app I'm not aware of.
    I'll catch up with you when we return.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A city like London is unsurpassed for access to fine arts - my relatively small city (less than 500,000 people) in the middle of the country doesn't have as much. Although it's surprising what we do have, including a good quality full symphony orchestra that gets major stars to perform with them - this year's guests include Barry Douglas and Yo-Yo Ma.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Here in Tulsa, USA we have a couple nice art museums and a membership to one. I go there frequently. I think paintings need to be seen more than once to be appreciated. I envy you your Tate membership. Such a treat to see their treasures whenever one feels like it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great present for you ~ I loved the Tate museum and got to see Paul Strand photography exhibit that was wonderful ~ I like the painting ~ ^_^

    Wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year ~ ^_^

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's a wonderful present! I hope you'll share for us what you see when you visit.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is wonderful gift! Congratulations :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. That's a great gift. The Tate is my Son in Law's favourite gallery. He was asked to compose the music for an exhibition there some time ago.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations on becoming a member.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Art does need supporting but I really don't like some of the modern stuff that they pass off as art. Never knew you were a PT teacher

    ReplyDelete
  10. That is a very nice gift, the fees for special exhibits are not that high here, only a few euros. I have a Museum membercard for almost every museum in the Netherlands. I love to visit all kind of museums, not only arty ones.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That is definitely an unusual painting. I enlarged it and studied it for awhile and can see why it stuck with you. Thanks for sharing it with me. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Isn't it funny how some events really change the way you live your life.

    I once visited the Tate Modern and I must admit: it was a bit much for me. Not really my style at all. But fortunately we don't all like the same thing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's a wonderful Christmas gift. I know you will put it to good use! Interesting how you thought you would study art and ended up in physical education. I took lots of art classes in college but never considered it for a career. I guess I thought education was more practical and would provide a better income.

    ReplyDelete
  14. An interesting glimpse into how this painting signified a turning point in your life! We were so impressed at all the free museums and galleries and weren't there long enough (darn it) to realize that there were special exhibitions at extra cost. That was a great Christmas gift -- someone knows you very wel!

    ReplyDelete

Thank-you for reading my blog. I would love to read your comments.