Over the years, watching TV programmes have been some of the best inspiration. Time Team and Digging for Britain = archaeology obsession. Sewing Bee = sewing obsession. Bake Off = baking obsession. Fake or Fortune = art obsession. Yes, the last of these. A remarkably good programme. The premise of it is simple \u2013 someone sends in an application of an artwork that they think could be by a famous artist, and the enormous BBC team tackles documents, pigment analysis, provenance, old photographs, technical details, and many other elements of the painting and the artist\u2019s life. The professionals then send their evidence \u2013 either a certain, well-assembled file of conclusive proof or an incredibly sketchy and slightly hole-ridden list of conjectures with which to persuade the official body of experts who consult each and every artwork to determine whether it is genuine. Many times the attempt fails \u2013 the work is a fake, or authentic but not by the master artist in question. But there are also times when it is a lost treasure, which people have been missing for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired by the program, I have been on the hunt for art. It still seems incredible there are quite so many lost masterpieces hanging around on people\u2019s walls, but nevertheless there are a good number in public galleries. This means you can go and visit them, and two locations in London that are both referred to as good places to look are the Cortauld Institute and the National Gallery. I strenuously urge a visit, to both, but perhaps not on the same day. After wandering around looking at paintings all morning and afternoon, you need to go back to your Youth Hostel and have a rest before dinner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the type of art, specifically painting, that I like best \u2013 well, it\u2019s a bit like music. Most modern art is, to put it tastefully, abstract<\/em>, undefined, and uncertain<\/em>. This means the best art (in my opinion \u2013 art is subjective of course) is probably before the mid-20th<\/sup> century. However, on the earlier end of the spectrum, I think much of the best art is after the Renaissance. It is probably overly simplistic and grossly offensive of me, but it seems almost all art pre-about 1700 is either of old men or religious scenes, and in large doses this is quite a lot of old religious gentlemen. I admire the precise, photographesque exactitude of old art, but consider that almost too perfect and much rather the more relaxed styles of the later periods. However, the opposite, where the artist has stopped caring about any relation to reality, is also less appealing to me. Perhaps my favourite period is the impressionist movement, but I\u2019m not sure. What I am certain of is that I can\u2019t paint half as well as any of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was a nice trip to London, with some fantastic art, and I sincerely hope there will be more like it in future!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the years, watching TV programmes have been some of the best inspiration. Time Team and Digging for Britain = archaeology obsession. Sewing Bee = sewing obsession. Bake Off = baking obsession. Fake or Fortune = art obsession. Yes, the last of these. A remarkably good programme. The premise of it is simple \u2013 someone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-ed-in-a-shed-2"],"yoast_head":"\n