1 March 09
Sir Anthony van Dyck, Self-portrait 1640A 'Celebrity' artist for the early 1600's and the darling of the rich and powerful.
Tate Britain introduces this show with the words: "This sumptuous exhibition brings together some of the most magnificent paintings by Belgian-born painter Sir Anthony van Dyck, startlingly portraying many of the leading characters of the Stuart period".
...BUT... The wonderful Brian Sewell states: "Van Dyck and Britain demonstrates how bad a painter he could be and swamps the few masterpieces with paintings that are curate’s eggs, flawed in drawing and construction, more than faintly ridiculous in conception, and by workshop hacks as much as by himself".
So... who are we to believe?... Well, after spending a leisurely 45 minutes amongst Van Dyck's 'Gentry and Royals' - we unfortunately have to side with Mr Sewell... You can't fault Tate Britain's hanging and layout, (even though the choice of wall colour in a couple of the galleries was a little alarming)... Each room was considered and yes, the pictures are beautiful... But in places the faces are monotonous and far from inspiring. (I suppose you can't love it all ;-)...
Unfortunately - this has not been the best Tate Britain show we have visited. As great as it was to see the impressive portraits, this show lost it's momentum quite early on... Luckily we used our Tate membership card on entry... this is a really brilliant way to enjoy the Tate, and you can't help but save money! On this trip alone - we saved a very impressive £12.20 each. Bargain!
Charles I on Horseback with M. de St Antoine 1633