Painted Lovers Series by Zoe James-Williams featuring Romeo and Juliet

Celebrating #PaintedLovers with The National Gallery in the run up to Valentines Day

I am posting one of my paintings featuring lovers from the world  of ballet

Xander Parish and Viktoria Tereshkina of The Mariinsky Ballet dancing Romeo and Juliet

Watercolour

Rembrandt, His Late Works at The National Gallery, London until January

One of my favourite all time works of art is surprisingly a simple brown ink drawing of a sleeping woman by Rembrandt. Imagine my delight that it is one of the pieces to be shown in the latest must see exhibition in The National Gallery. Rembrandt, The Late Works spotlight a delightful mix of his paintings, drawings and prints. 
Only a master of his craft can make something look this effortlessly beautiful. The drawing flows like a symphony and satisfies like a lullaby. If you go please don't miss this simple of sketches. Sometimes its the simplest things that can give the most satisfaction.



Rembrandt’s later years were turbulent and marked with controversy, but they also produced some of his most soulful, deeply moving and strikingly modern works.Having already suffered the early loss of his wife and three of their children, Rembrandt’s later years were burdened with bankruptcy, acrimonious legal proceedings with a former lover, and the loss of his common-law wife and only remaining son. However, far from diminishing as he aged, Rembrandt’s creativity gathered new energy.

From the 1650s until his death in 1669, Rembrandt pursued an artistic style that was expressive and radical. His bold manipulation of printing and painting techniques and progressive interpretations of traditional subjects inspired generations of artists, earning him a reputation as the greatest master of the Dutch Golden Age.

Through famous masterpieces and rare drawings and prints, ‘The Late Works’ examines the themes that preoccupied Rembrandt as he grew older: self-scrutiny, experimentation, light, observation of everyday life and even other artists’ works; as well as expressions of intimacy, contemplation, conflict and reconciliation. 

“Even three-and-a-half centuries after his death, Rembrandt continues to astonish and amaze. His technical inventions, and his profound insight into human emotions, are as fresh and relevant today as they were in the 17th century.”

‘Rembrandt: The Late Works’, organised by the National Gallery, London and the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, offers you an opportunity to experience the passion, emotion and innovation of the great master.

If you want to see an interesting documentary go to iplayer for a passionate interpretation of his late works. Schama On Rembrandt

Klimt and The Beauty of Line

A lovely short documentary about the drawings of Gustav Klimt. Some of his paintings can be seen in The National Gallery in London in the exhibition Facing The Modern until Jan 12th 2014.
Well worth the visit, click the link below for more details.

Facing The Modern Exhibition, National Gallery

Facing the Modern: The Portrait In Vienna

Facing the Modern: The Portrait In Vienna
1900 at The National Gallery, London Oct 9-Jan 12th.
A major exhibition for the National Gallery including paintings from Klimt and Schiele. I cannot wait. The last time I saw an exhibition of these artists all togeter was when I was on a school trip. It was to see an Impressionist exhibition. It was so busy you couldn't get near the paitings to see them. Also with impressionist paitnings your really need to stand back. Not possible at all at this time. My friend and I got so fed up we went to explore the rest of the gallery and found a Klimt and schiele exhibition on with no many people in it!! I was in love. AMAZING pictures. Some surprisingly large and quite overwhelming. Two different styles but superb technicians and a belief in their unique visions. I have been a fan ever since and an't wait to go and see this. Don't miss it if you can.
Description
During the great flourishing of modern art in fin-de-siecle Vienna, artists of that city focused on images of individuals. Their portraits depict artists, patrons, families, friends, intellectual allies, and society
celebrities from the upwardly mobile middle classes. Viewed as a whole, the images allow us to reconstruct the subjects' shifting identities as the Austro-Hungarian Empire underwent dramatic political changes, from the 1867 Ausgleich (Compromise) to the end of World War I. This is viewed as a time when
the avant-garde overthrew the academy, yet Facing the Modern tells a more
complex story, through thought-provoking texts by leading art historians. The exhibition examine paintings by innovative artists such as Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele alongside most of their predecessors, blurring the conventionally-held distinctions between 19th-century and early-20th-century
art, and revealing surprising continuities in the production and consumption of
portraits.