Simple beauty is never simple || Sir John Lavery - exhibition in Ulster Museum, Belfast

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Tastes are not to be discussed. And they change.

I know this fact from autopsy. When I was a teenager - almost every kind of creative work, from the Lascaux cave paintings to the Cubists to the Bauhaus - captivated me. You could say that as a youngster I had no taste at all. I just absorbed whatever came along. Every book had to be devoured immediately. And this didn't just apply to books with reproductions - poetry, drama or prose, it didn't matter. Just wanted more! When I was finishing primary school, one of my favourite publishers ‘Taschen’ started promoting collections of ‘great masters of painting’. Every fortnight, thin, softcover books dedicated to one artist arrived. In addition to good quality reproductions, there were titbits about the artist and an extensive biographical note. ![podwojne pioro zlote gradient.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/strega.azure/23swkfAAtct97uqKxZxRSywcKbWqSf13XMMrzae4hpgUAeT9YLJxMbEddC9Kwu4o4eK1x.png) I read these booklets from cover to cover, every day, until the next parcel, with new album arrived, and I could delve into the next biography. Leonardo da Vinci, M. Caravaggio, S. Botticelli, Titian, P. Picasso, V. van Gogh, M. C. Esher, g. Klimt, F. Goya, E. Hopper, O. Boznanska, M. Chagall, J. Vermeer, F. Kahlo, H. Bosch, P. Bruegel, A. Mucha, HG Giger, Z. Beksinski, E. Schiele, F. Bacon, J. Matejko, S. Dali, E. Degas, A. Renoir, C. Monet...and so on - and so book after book I delved into the mad adventures of these restless souls. ![gold gradient pojedyncze pioro.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/strega.azure/23uEqfzE9Z7MFqho8LcgJYRhQkZMuWLL28MWqpAsPT6KzYYYYqpNTfqJHXcSVU68ZDCCf.png) My interest in painting and art in general grew with each new album, but it began to form and move in a particular direction. I quickly abandoned the Impressionists for the Expressionists. I was bored with the Academists and attracted to the Cubists. Old art started to become even more distant. Classical painting simply bored me. Modern art, led by Surrealism, became my mantra and joy. Searching for ‘techniques of my own’, using paint in the strangest possible ways or mixing styles - it seemed to me the only ‘proper way’ to experience art. ![podwojne pioro zlote gradient.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/strega.azure/23swkfAAtct97uqKxZxRSywcKbWqSf13XMMrzae4hpgUAeT9YLJxMbEddC9Kwu4o4eK1x.png) But then I got to university, and I began to understand why there was so much love for classical art in artists and art-enthusiast. To mix a paint colour so perfectly that it reflects the colour of the object/body you are painting - is infinitely satisfying. Layering blue and yellow flecks close together to see the green from a distance. With one long brushstroke, mark the outline of the figure. Turning a diluted remnant of Prussian Blue into a sky full of clouds by turning the broad brush several times over the canvas. ---- The joy of searching for the familiar. Simple does not always mean banal. The everyday does not have to be monotonous! ![podwojne pioro zlote gradient.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/strega.azure/23swkfAAtct97uqKxZxRSywcKbWqSf13XMMrzae4hpgUAeT9YLJxMbEddC9Kwu4o4eK1x.png) Today I have for you images of Sir John Lavery's solo exhibition. For one more month you can see his work in such excellent numbers at the Ulster Museum in Belfast. I invite you to come along most warmly as there is much to see. Lavery's paintings are mainly impressionism. I won't tire you with his biography, but if you are interested in knowing a bit more about this artist - here is a very good website with his bio and artwork. [about Sir John Lavery](https://gallerythane.com/blogs/news/john-lavery-a-pioneering-brushstroke-in-irish-art) ![podwojne pioro zlote gradient.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/strega.azure/23swkfAAtct97uqKxZxRSywcKbWqSf13XMMrzae4hpgUAeT9YLJxMbEddC9Kwu4o4eK1x.png) I do, however, have some interesting facts from his life for you: -He taught Churchhill how to paint(!!) -His first creative job was retouching photographs (adding colour to black & white) -Lavery was part of ‘The Glasgow Boys’(The Glasgow Boys were a loose group of young artists that represented the beginnings of modernism in Scottish painting. In the early 1880s) -He studied in his craft in Paris -Towards the end of his life he was given the Freemason of the city award in both Belfast and Dublin

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I wish you lovely week! Yours, Strega Azure

sources:
Sir John Lavery in Ulster Museum
John Lavery - bio

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A Grey Summer's Day, Grez, 1883, oil on canvas private collection

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The Return of Goats, Fontainebleau, 1884, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Ireland

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The Intruders, 1885, oil on canvas

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Dawn after the Battle of Langside, 14 May 1568, 1886 - 88, oil on canvas, private collection

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On the Bridge at Grez, 1884, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Ireland

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Played!!, 1885, oil on panel, private collection

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Tennis Match, 1885, oil on canvas, private collection

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On the Loing; An Afternoon Chat(Under the Cherry Tree), 1884, oil on canvas, Ulster Museum, National Museums NI

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8. On the Loing; An Afternoon Chat(Under the Cherry Tree), 1884, oil on canvas, Ulster Museum, National Museums NI_2.jpg

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The Cigar Seller at the Glasgow Exhibition, 1888, oil on canvas, Collection Scobie Ward Esq

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The Indian Waiter, 1888, oil on canvas, Collection Scobie Ward Esq

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The Glasgow International Exhibition, Twilight, 1888, oil on canavas, Glasgow Museum

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The Blue Hungarians, 1888, oil on canvas, The Fleming Collection

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