My Favourite Paintings: Old Classics

A look back through an old favourite book, 'The Story of Painting', and rediscovering the classics.

Hi, hello, how are you? It’s been another quick week - Thursday has become my Substack-writing day. I’m not usually too strict about dividing my time very rigidly, but my time-management skills have always been a bit lacking. So, maybe it is a good idea to try and be a bit more structured and dedicate certain days to particular tasks. I’ve been looking forward to sitting down on a Thursday afternoon to write. Anyway, that’s not what I plan on talking about today… I’m going to do something a bit different and dive into an old favourite book of mine, The Story of Painting by Sister Wendy Beckett.

I have had this book for years. I think my mum gave it to me as a birthday gift when I was about 14 or 15 (over 20 years ago!). I spent many evenings sitting on my bedroom floor poring over all the images of paintings through the ages, and Sister Wendy Beckett’s concise yet eloquent insights. I learned so much from this book; very much a potted-History-of-Art, it really informed my sensibilities as a young artist, having never seen a lot of these artworks before.

It sometimes feels a bit sheepish sharing things like this. I’m a professional artist with an art degree - shouldn’t I be talking about more advanced books, or have more in-depth knowledge to share? The answer is, not really. I think art should be accessible to all, and this book is exactly that. Maybe that’s why I loved it so much as a teenager. It felt like it gave me all I needed to know, and I could pick out my favourite artists and go on to learn more about them.

I can’t actually remember the last time I opened this book, but it’s been a permanent fixture on my bookshelf for many years. It feels like an old friend. This afternoon I sat down to have a flip through it and find my old favourites. Past-me had indeed folded down the pages at some point (yes, I admit I am a page-folder, sorry!) so it was easy to find them.

As I’m making (very slow) progress on new personal work, I thought it would be interesting to go back and have a look at the paintings that inspired younger-me, and see if they still make me feel inspired. And yes, they mostly certainly did.

Here are four of my favourites…

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J.M.W. Turner, Mortlake Terrace, c. 1826

Image Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

This is one of my all-time favourite paintings. I remember the first time I saw it, sure enough in The Story of Painting, I fell in love with it. Of course, it has trees and a dog, two of my favourite things, but what struck me about it was the atmosphere. The colour. That glorious light. You can almost feel that hazy sun on your face, hear the trees gently rustling, smell that warm summer air. Just beautiful.

This piece doesn’t quite have the intense drama of some of Turner’s other works, such as Steamboat in a Snowstorm, but I think its stillness and subtlety is what makes it so special. Sister Wendy says of Mortlake Terrace;

‘Nothing really happens, yet the drama is as vibrant as ever. It is light that is the artist's preoccupation; all is a pretext for his enamoured rendering of this delicacy of sunlight.’

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Edgar Degas, Four Dancers, c. 1899

Image Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

I have a vague memory of writing about this painting in an essay at school. I’ve no idea what I said about it, but I have always loved Degas’ work. In this piece I really admire the sense of movement, the delicate use of line, and the glowing light. What I love most about it is the softness. It has a dream-like quality to it.

Degas’ lightness of touch, and the way he layers the paint to create such gorgeous texture and movement is so beautiful. Sister Wendy observes;

‘…his genius for line combined with a rich colour sense to produce work which will always ravish the viewer.’

Couldn’t agree more.

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Claude Monet, Woman with a Parasol, 1875

Image Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

I can’t help but love Monet. This piece is just so full of life; you can just imagine the scent of the flowers and the grass, the feeling of the cool breeze against the warmth of the sun. The colour is so evocative, with perfectly balanced light and shade.

I remember going to see the Monet exhibition in Edinburgh way back in 2003. It was totally mobbed, but it was still really special to see his paintings in person, despite the crowds. I don’t think this particular piece was there, but looking at it really reminded me of seeing his work in the flesh. The textures really jumping off the canvas, the dancing light and the vivid colour transporting you to a summer’s day in France. Monet’s world is beautiful.

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Alfred Sisley, Meadow, 1875

Image Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

The last piece I’m going to talk about is one that I don’t really remember noticing when I was younger. Flipping through the pages of the book today though it jumped out at me. I was instantly drawn to the muted colours and gentle brushstrokes in this piece. The particular shade of green in the grasses is gorgeous, and the quiet warmth of this piece is so inviting.

Again I can’t put it much better than Sister Wendy;

‘It is a scene which is easy to look at, a strip of field and a humble fence, yet Sisley has seen that it is alive all over with the intensity of being. The miracle is that the intensity is so completely without tension; Sisley seems to dream in paint.’

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So there we have it! I really loved delving back into The Story of Painting. It can be so easy to forget to look at the old classics, or old favourites, especially in the age of social media where we are bombarded with hundreds of images every day. Or, when you feel a certain pressure to know everything about art or what’s currenly ‘on trend’, constantly up to speed with something that’s ever-changing. It felt so nice to slow down and take time over looking at a physical book. I should really do this more often.

It was also really interesting to go back and look at the paintings I loved as a teenager. I still love them as much as I did back then; I’m still inspired by the same things. Looking at these paintings as I’m in the early stages new phase of work has been so helpful, reminding me of what I love about art, and what to focus on incorporating into my practice. From the four paintings I’ve discussed, I think that’s pretty clear.

Softness, subtlety, movement, light, warmth.

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Thanks for reading Notes from my Desk! Just a wee reminder that paid subscriptions are coming in March! All posts are currently free, and this one is an example of what a paid post is likely to contain. At least one post per month will always be free.

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