Posts by venue: Laing Art Gallery

Sketched in the landscape – Constable’s ‘Dedham Lock and Mill’ 1817

One of the treats for me of the Laing’s current exhibition of Sketching from Nature is Constable’s large oil study of Dedham Lock and Mill. It has such vibrancy and immediacy – we can feel that we’re looking through the artist’s… Read more

JMW Turner : The Thames Near Walton Bridges, 1805

Fresh, vivid, spontaneous – this is one of Turner’s most attractive oil sketches, I think. He’s responding to the visual sensations of this spot on the River Thames – the colours and shapes of the landscape, and the light flooding… Read more

The A.I.A. and Art For Everyman

And your starter for ten this week is ….  What do the following British 20th Century artists all have in common? – Clifford Rowe, James Boswell, Carel Weight, James Holland, Edward Ardizzone, Pearl Binder, Eric Gill, Victor Pasmore and Ben Nicholson?… Read more

John Constable : Hampstead Heath with the House Called ‘The Salt Box’, about 1819

A bright patch of colour – a man wearing a red waistcoat – pulls our eyes out to the far right of this picture, ensuring that we don’t miss the full width of this airy panorama. It shows the view… Read more

Here Comes the Sun – part 2

A guest post by Caroline Whitehead Read Caroline’s first blog post about the parasol collection at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums here. Caring for your parasol Parasols were fragile – the silk split quite easily due to the fact… Read more