As always, Frieze Masters was an elegant affair. Each stand
was carefully curated and painted in delicate hues of charcoal, dove grey and
white. Despite the regulated colour palettes of the walls, the fair couldn’t be
accused of monotony given the juxtaposition of both classical and contemporary
works composed before the millennium. With immersive installations like Gallery
Hyundai’s Untitled (TV and Stone) and
Helly Nahmad’s Mental Asylum imbued
with opera music, there was an unexpected spotlight on conceptuality. I was
particularly impressed by the efforts of multiple galleries to make their
artwork multi-sensory as they combined both visual and aural experience. Inevitably
we immersed ourselves in the curiosities of Frieze London too, but Frieze Masters
was arguably more distinguished in terms of both caliber and aesthetic
experience. Although, perhaps as intriguing as the works themselves were the swathes
of art world glitterati, wandering its aisles in ceaseless black as if fashion
week had never ended.
Given my fascination with the representation of female
sexuality in art, I was captivated by Tom Wesselmann’s Great American Nude 31 at the Aquavella Gallery. With the symbolic Mona
Lisa juxtaposing the erotic figure in the foreground, Wesselmann entwined
elements of both classical and modern art in his celebration of the female nude.
Illustrating the eclectic nature of Frieze Masters, this provocation was
followed by a stroll in Netherlandish fields as we visited the Dutch Old Master
dealer Johnny Van Haeften. Our host challenged the boundaries of the Old
Masters by consolidating visual and aural stimulation within the music he commissioned
to accompany Van Cleve’s Wedding
Procession. As with the National Gallery’s offbeat Soundscapes exhibition, the audience stood hypnotized by the charm
of the church bells, blowing wind and laughter. I was also taken with the Dutch
painter Simon Pieterz Verelst’s kaleidoscopic Still Life of Flowers in a Case, reminiscent of the Fitzwilliam,
Cambridge’s wildly romantic flower room.
As a fierce defender of Egon Schiele and his violent contortions,
I was besotted with the collection of his works exhibited by the Richard Nagy
gallery. As if we’d strolled into an ancient schloss, they’d adorned the walls
of a makeshift Austrian dining room with the painter’s perverse studies of the
female form. Continuing the figurative theme, we crossed into Marlborough Fine
Art’s beautifully curated stand, which reminded us that the wonder of Frieze is
the proximity of so many of the world’s leading galleries. Their intimate
collection of Frank Auerbach’s expressionistic portraits aligned with Tate
Britain’s critically acclaimed exhibition, almost challenging it. Having spent
the morning inside the Elephant Hotel studio of the young British artists Jack
Penny and Hugo Hamper Potts - both influenced by Auerbach’s aesthetic - I was
all the more captivated by the intensity of his heavy brushstrokes. Evocative
as ever, his melancholic portrait of Charlotte
Porto, 1982 caught my attention along with J.Y.M seated II, 1996, which was somewhat reminiscent of a serene
Richard Diebenkorn landscape.
Reflecting the abstraction we experienced at Connaught
Brown’s compelling Afro Barsadella show a few days ago, I was moved by the
Hungarian artist Simon Hantai’s Tabula,
1980 at Mayfair’s beloved Timothy Taylor Gallery. It was a simple, but emotive
piece, bursting with energy and colour. As we wandered into Axel Vervoordt’s Belgian
gallery, we were bewitched by the dynamism of the Japanese painter Kazuo
Shiraga’s Seiku Sacred Dog. Painted by the artist’s feet as he hung suspended above
the canvas, you could visibly see the movement, which he’d pushed into the
paint. As Florentine potter Jenny Min and I progressed towards the Hellenic sculptures
from antiquity at the Cahn gallery, we were distracted by the sentimental paintings
of porcelains hiding amongst the old masters, which took us back to Tuscany. Although
many people would question my preference for Frieze Masters, I must say that as
we paused in the reading room amongst the art magazines and catalogues, I felt so
appreciative of the relaxed atmosphere of this side of the fair. The subtlety
of its splendor is something that competitors like Art Basel, Maastricht or
Masterpiece can only dream of achieving.
Our contributing writer is Flora Alexandra Ogilvy, a London-based art journalist
and founder of the www.arteviste.com.
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