A fascinating exhibition covering the whole of Velasquez's working life from 1616 through until his death in 1660.   The guy was obviously an extremely clever artist.  The very first picture in this exhibition - The three musicians - was painted when he was only sixteen or seventeen.  The examples displayed show how his mastery grew rapidly, first in painting still life and liquids, and then being able to present space around his subjects - initially foreground and eventually background.  
It is noticeable that his paintings of friends are significantly more vibrant than the formal portraits of the Hapsburg court where he spent most of his career.  The piéce-de-resistance of the exhibition is the amazing The Toilet of Venus - known locally as The Rokeby Venus.  This is a classic example of his ability to paint quickly and loosely for a subject which was not a formal portrait;  and to display his understanding of both compositional balance and his understanding of the human psyche.  The reflection is purposefully blurred so that every viewer can picture at least some aspects of his or her ideal companion - and it is also a great example of Velasquez's other amazing technique - "impressionism".  Two hundred and twenty years before it was "discovered" in France he had worked out what certain types of brushwork and patterning looked like when viewed from a distance and applied these techniques to his work.

I'm not deeply into sculpture, but if I was then August Rodin would be my favourite.  I have revelled over The Kiss when it used to sit in the Tate National (now banished to the Tate Modern), and loved the hard lines of The Thinker when that has been on display in London.  I have also appreciated his work at The D'Orsay in Paris, and at his own museum just down the street from the Eiffel Tower.

My first taste of this exhibition had been a couple of weeks previous when Jacky and I had skipped into the courtyard on our way to another gallery just to appreciate The Gates of Hell - which stand thirty feet or more high in the courtyard.  Jacky had commented that it just seemed like a lot of fornication going on - but it didn't look to me as if it was very pleasant fornication. Nobody was smiling, and most were sinking into quicksands.  Very moving.  In fact some of his seminal works - including The Thinker - were originally prepared for this massive work.

When I eventually managed to view the whole exhibition I was intrigued at the painstaking research and practice which Rodin put into his works.  There were sketches, small models, larger models and then the final work.  The number of models and pre-works which make up the Burghers of Calais occupies an impressive square footage of the exhibition.  Another factor which fascinated me is that he used a technique I have always associated with portrait painters, in that he often worked from nude models and then "clothed" the resulting works before rendering them as sculptures.    My favourite items - apart from The Kiss of course - were the white marble works he made of society ladies in the early twentieth century. 

Amadeo's main work was - of course - portraiture, which is perhaps why I like it.  Among the works were six of his "Grand Nudes" including the Seated Nude from the Courtauld Gallery, which was one of my first lessons in appreciating art.  When I worked at Euston in the late nineteen eighties I used to take my sandwiches to the old site of the Courtauld and sit in front of the picture for an hour - amazed at all the new things you could see if you looked long and properly.

one of the "Grand Nudes" on show

This year took a quantum leap and I found that liked about 10% at first sight !  Firstly, there are some excellent sculptures ranging from small bronzes through to eight foot tall women made out of tiles (the same artist who did "Dominatrix" last year.)   Next, there are my old favourites,  Ken Howard, John Ward, Elizabeth Blackadder and Allen Jones - I like most of their stuff and there seemed to be more of that sort of style about this year.  Then there are the "gems" - new artists who do something really eye-catching, but not so avante garde as to be outrageous.  There seemed to be a lot more "pleasing" art this year. Finally there is the architecture section, which has been slowly working its way into my zone of interest for the last twenty years. This year I found myself positively enjoying it, and even laughing at some of the designs.

Then of course there is the other ninety percent. The smears and scrawls. The pretentious "art for arts sake", rubbing shoulders with the "new respect" artists (whom I don't respect !) like Damien Hirst.  His current work is professionally finished and on the surface has some classical dimensions - but actually the main drive is to shock rather than to please. I don't believe that art should do that.