The Lure of the East

Last year I joined a fantastic charity called The Art Fund who are an independent source of funding for UK galleries, museums, and historic houses. In return for funding to buy pieces for their collections the 'establishment' then offers Art Fund members something in return, usually in the form of discounted or free entry to their exhibitions or collections. Brilliant! So I get to contribute towards a little piece of heritage for the UK's galleries, museums or historic houses and I get discounted entry to most of the major exhibitions within London and the 'establishments' get their much needed funding.

Being an Art Fund member has meant that I have been to see a lot more exhibitions than I would have gone to had I just been a member at one gallery as I am not tied to one gallery. This morning I headed off to see The Lure of the East at Tate Britain. I was not sure what to expect so it was a very pleasant surprise!

The exhibition covers work by British artists from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries who were responding to the sights of the Near East, including Turkey, Egypt and Palestine. It is a very opulent exhibition, full of rich colour and texture making it perfect for anyone interested in textiles and colour combination.

These are my three favourite paintings:

An Arab Interior by Arthur Melville



Leila by Frank Dicksee



Edward Wortby Montagu in Oriental Costume by George Romney



They are not my usual 'cup of tea' but I am so captivated by the colours I can already feel a second visit coming on...

Movement

I finally made it to the Tate Modern to see the Duchamp, Manray, Picabia exhibition and didn't leave disappointed as I finally got to see one of my favourite paintings in the flesh (no pun intended)


This is the amazing Nude Descending a Staircase by Marcel Duchamp and it got me thinking about movement in patterns and how stitches can me used to give the effect of movement. Repeat stitch patterns are described as 'travelling' and give a line through a piece of knitted fabric and cable work in particular can be used to incredible effect. I still find the Bloody Stupid Johnson hat a mean feat of cable work and it literally runs around the wearers head! Another good example would be Gust by Anne Hanson which has a lovely rhythm running through it and is similar to my current 'bus knitting' wip, the Hypoteneuse Scarf by the same designer.


I hope you can see where I am coming from? Now I am on this train of thought it will keep popping up and I am sure to find more examples. The Hypoteneuse is nearly finished, just another 3 repeats to do and it apparently requires a 'stern blocking'...watch this space!