MAKING MODERNISM AND LUNCH

11am - 12pm visit of the Exhibition

12:30pm Optional lunch at the Lansdowne Club - Courtyard

The Royal Academy of Arts presents Making Modernism, the first major UK exhibition devoted to women artists working in Germany in the early 20th century. 

It includes 67 paintings and works on paper primarily by Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter and Marianne Werefkin, with additional works by Erma Bossi, Ottilie Reylaender and Jacoba van Heemskerck. Most of these artworks have never been exhibited in this country before. Although less familiar than their male counterparts, these artists were central to the development and dissemination of modernism. Seen through the lens of its female practitioners, key themes of modernism such as self-portraiture, still-life and urban and rural scenes are re-evaluated, and attention is focussed on the female body, childhood and maternal experience. 

The opening section, Ourselves and Others features self-portraits and portraits, showing the increasing participation of women artists in public life and revealing their crucial role in creating and sustaining the networks that supported various aspects of emergent modernism in Germany.  Through the making and exhibiting of their artwork, these artists challenged prevailing ideals of feminine roles as confined to the home, and through their searching portraiture, questioned how they saw themselves and others. 

The second section, The Century of the Child, titled after Swedish writer Ellen Key’s influential 1900 publication, explores how each of the artists depicted children. Although domestic themes were part of an established genre, modernist treatments of such subjects depart from sentimental works in which children symbolised simplicity, joy, hope and innocence, to explore melancholy, tension, curiosity and unfulfilled desire. Artworks depict babies, girls and boys as sites of complicated emotion and conflict, reflecting the fact that women artists’ desire to work was frequently tested by the pull of social expectation that demanded they marry and devote themselves to producing a family. 

Building on the previous section, Sites of Intimacy delves into the inner lives of Modersohn- Becker and Kollwitz, further exploring maternal instinct as well as the female body, intimate relationships and eroticism. 

A section entitled City and Country: Journeys and Migrations presents paintings of urban life and explores changing roles for women in a variety of contexts; at leisure, at work, while rural subjects reveal the need to take refuge away from the metropolis to produce art that celebrated the natural beauty of the countryside. 

The final part of the exhibition considers the important role of still life in the work of these artists. The concept of ‘still lives’ brings to mind quiet moments of reflection and meditation recorded by the artists in their letters, diaries and journals. 

Photo credit: Gabriele Münter, Self-portrait, c. 1908. Oil on cardboard, 49 x 33.6 cm. Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid. © DACS 2022

6.00pm for 6:15pm Guided tour of the Museum
7.30pm Concert by The Alkyona Quartet 

We are sorry to announce that first violin, Emma Purslow, is unavailable for the concert and will be replaced by David Lopez. Therefore the programme will also change. 

David Lopez violin
Marike Kruup violin
Claire Newton viola
Jobine Siekman cello

Programme:
Felix Mendelssohn - Capriccio from Four Pieces for String Quartet, Op.81
Alexander Borodin - String Quartet No.2 in D major

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Maurice Ravel - String Quartet in F major

This concert takes place in one of the most amazing venues in London

The Alkyona Quartet
The Alkyona Quartet, ensemble in residence at Leighton House, is well known for its warm connection to audiences and vivacious performances, and its members are ‘as vibrant and memorable as their ‘Kingfisher’ namesake’. They released their debut album, “Intimate Letters’ in 2020. This concert continues KCMS’s association with the Royal College of Music.

This event is presented by The Kensington and Chelsea Music Society (KCMS) as part of its 2022-2023 Programme.   Founded in 1960, the Kensington and Chelsea Music Society aims to support exciting new talents  and young classical musicians. Over the years, they have been privileged with performances from  internationally acclaimed musicians. They are delighted to hold its 61st season at Leighton House  

5:45pm for 6pm for visit of the Fair

8pm Optional Dinner (tbc)

The fair boasts a good mix of disciplines courtesy of members of The British Antique Dealers’ Association and LAPADA The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers, who have signed up to exhibit. The fair has a magnificent international following including interior designers, collectors and, with its central location, lures overseas visitors to London, as well as people seeking unique pieces for their interiors. 

January’s fair promises many different disciplines from specialist dealers, including clocks from Antiques Roadshow expert Richard Price, vintage watches from Timewise, ceramics from Carolyn Stoddart-Scott and Chinese porcelain from Santos London, amongst which is a superb pair of Chinese export porcelain chargers decorated in rich enamels from the famille rose ( ) palette enamels with two horses and peonies, Yongzheng reign, Qing dynasty, circa 1730, POA. Hickmet Fine Arts and Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts both return with their comprehensive collection of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and mid-century sculpture, glass and accessories. 19th century European and contemporary bronzes come from Garret & Hurst Sculpture. Glass specialists Mark J West and M&D Moir stand again, the latter bringing European art glass. Jewellery specialists AG Antiques, Plaza and Wimpole Antiques supply glamour and daintier pieces. From Plaza comes a vintage amethyst, diamond and gold leopard pendant/brooch with emerald eyes, circa 1980s, £6,750. 

There are oil and water colour paintings for sale, from differing eras right up to today, to cater for most tastes from Burlington, Paul Mayhew Fine Art, John Robertson, Kaye Michie Fine Art and Granta Fine Art of Cambridge with 20th and 21st century British art. Recent acquisitions from Cambridge Fine Art include A Relaxing Afternoon a charming oil on canvas by Francis Sydney Muschamp (1851-1929) £4,950 and a rural oil on canvas Haymaking by the Thames signed by Henry Hillier Parker (1858-1930) £8,250. Haynes Fine Art brings Four Dancers Evolving by Edgar Degas (French 1834-1917), charcoal on tracing paper, POA and Pivoines signed by Marcel Dyf (French, 1899-1985), oil on canvas with an asking price of £19,500. 

Above: 'The Tea Party' by Delphin Enjoulras (1857-1951), oil on canvas, signed, 231⁄2 x 281⁄2 inches

Below:: Chinese export porcelain chargers decorated in rich enamels from the famille rose (fencai) palette with two horses and peonies, 39 cm (151⁄4 inches) diameter, circa 1730, Yongzheng reign, Qing dynasty