The next day it was my (almost) free day. Absolutely necessary, specially for those who are not used to long flights and big time zone differences. Not my case, but I’m still glad I had that day off… specially in Japan!
So I got up early, dealt with my emails as quickly as I could, had tradicional Japanese breakfast, I met my friend and client Komaki-san, and after the meeting I left the hotel.
It is quite a privilege to be able to take your son to the British Museum every week for his homeschooling history class. And that’s what we did Friday October 9, but this time I also took my wife and the in-laws.
Visiting a museum on a regular basis allows for much deeper analysis and engagement, gaining on the depth the exhibits have and most tourist don’t have the time to enjoy.
It had been quite a long time since I was last at the National Gallery, but Tuesday October 6 I took my family there. While my in-laws were visiting, for my home-schooled son was Art class time. I enjoyed tremendously discussing with him the differences between early and late Renaissance visual art.
Even if was only for the proximity to some of the world’s best museums, living in London is great.
This summer London became the setting for more than 20 giant sculptures inspired by the DNA double helix by some of the biggest names in the world of art and design, including Ai Weiwei, Aston Martin, or Zaha Hadid. Last Wednesday my wife and I were invited to the auction of those pieces at legendary art auction house Christie’s.
I was surprised, or rather “appalled”, to see that Ai Weiwei’s sculptures went for only around £20,000 each (he made two).
On Friday I attended the 20/21 British Art Fair at the Royal College of Art, in London.
Usually I love art fairs, and find many exciting works of art. I particularly love the creative energy you can feel at contemporary art fairs.
This one was not an exciting fair. Perhaps because it is modern and contemporary, perhaps because it is limited to British artists, or perhaps because this year’s selection was not that interesting.
On Friday I acquired two very different works of Japanese fine art.
One was a very rare and wonderful find: an original Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), whose “Great Wave off Kanagawa” is one of the best-known works of Japanese art, titled “Wavy shadow of Mount Fuji” from the “One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji, Vol. 2” Series, created in 1835. The “One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji” series was featured by the British Museum in 2001 and is part of the MET Museum collection in New York.
Today we went to the Affordable Art Fair Hampstead. With over 100 galleries, it was a real pleasure. We saw some artists that we like and have seen in quite a few shows before, and discovered many new ones that were quite interesting.
In no particular order, my non-comprehensive list would include many artists, like:
Adele Moreau Max Naylor Edvardas Racevicius Andy Wilx, etc And the whole selection of Galleries like:
