A PANORAMIC VIEW A talk by Fay Blanchard, Head of Exhibitions at Milton Keynes Gallery.
What a treat for those of us who were present at the talk given by the Curator of this exhibition on the sunny afternoon of the 30th April. It was a veritable ‘marriage of true minds’; a colourful exposition of her mammoth task of showing, what turned out to be, a definite display of the work of Dame Laura Knight. Fay gave a skillful and entertaining account of the many steps which it took to bring this exhibition to fruition.
It was, in fact, a marriage of Art and Craft, and a timely reminder of how the one depended on the other in order to achieve a positive and satisfying outcome.
We were given a step-by-step account of the process, one which took about three years – the pandemic intruding. We were told of the help offered by John Croft, the patron of the Society who released to her a list of privately owned paintings and of the dates of the last exhibitions. There had been four, the last at the R.A. in 2019 though not one had been an overview of her work. The Art U.K. web-site had helped with information which aided the curator in her selection. These two gave a base platform from which to start hurdle jumping. The first hurdle was to discover what works were on permanent display. This involved hours of writing, phoning and Zooming. Some galleries would not release their work, one of these was The Imperial War Museum which hung on to the War Crimes Trial painting. Then came the need to check venue spread in order not to compete. Many more hours were spent Zooming, largely to Penlee and Nottingham and with Galleries and dealers to discover owners of paintings who could be approached. All of the responses had to be collated and fitted together like pieces of a jigsaw.
When all the selections had been made, photographs were taken so that these could be spread across Fay’s floor to be shuffled around in the process of grouping into themes.
There was a catalogue to design, forewords to be written, images to choose and the production of a work which did justice to the exhibition balanced by the need to keep it affordable.
Once the themed groups were decided, then the rooms – size, shape, orientation – to house them were decorated in order to present the work in the best light. The colours chosen enhanced the experience – a renewed appreciation perhaps, of the works – blue for the War paintings, a discreet pale shade for the Ballet paintings and a strong background colour for the Circus and the Gypsies.
And at the end of the labours of the Curator and her team – ‘that looks on tempest and is never shaken’, (we started with W.S.’s sonnet 16 so will finish, – apt words to illustrate the journey), the show was ready.
Throughout the talk we were shown images, many old friends by now, one or two a delightful first sighting of the work of Laura Knight. The themed grouping in the Gallery, so well lit and displayed, brought a renewal of interest in aspects of the artist’s work and an opportunity to see again those paintings we admired.
The experience of our visit to the Gallery, which prompted us to ask Fay to come and talk to us, was enhanced by the welcome we received from the front of house staff there and the professional approach of the volunteer guides.
The last question from the audience, at the end of our speaker’s talk, queried the purpose of such a comprehensive exhibition. Fay Blanchard’s response was, ‘just to present the narrative’. It was truly achieved. G.Klee