The Week UK - 03.08.2019

30 ARTS

Athree-metre-

high sculpture

that was

deemed “too

popular” for

its original

site, on the

North Yorkshire

Moors, has

been officially

unveiled at its

new home. Sean

Henry’s painted

bronze,Seated

Figure,was

installed on the

top of Castleton Rigg in June 2017. It was

scheduled to remain there, looking out over

Westerdale, for five years, but owing to

concerns that hordes of art-lovers trekking up to

see it were causing soil erosion, leaving behind

litter and parking their cars on verges, it was

removed in April, and now sits, overlooking a

valley, inaquiet corner of the 500-acre

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield. The

sculptor, whose other works includeWalking

Manin London’s Holland Park, andSeated Man

at Woking station, said he had designed the

figure for the Yorkshire landscape, and hoped

people would still go in search of it.

THE WEEK3August 2019

Art

In her native Finland, the painter

Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946) is

ahousehold name, said Rachel

Campbell-Johnston in The Times.

Indeed, so “widely fêted” is she

amongst her compatriots that fans

“flock” to see her paintings in

Helsinki galleries, and in Tammisaari

–acoastal town where she spent her

later years–“amuseum,astreet and

acafé, not to mentionacake, are

named after her”. Here in Britain,

however, “she is barely known” –

astate of affairs that this revelatory

new retrospective sets out to correct.

The show is the first solo exhibition

of her work to be held in this

country, and it is not to be missed.

Bringing together around 65

paintings dating from every stage of

Schjerfbeck’s long and varied career,

it tells the story of an artist who

worked in “an improbable mixture

of subjects and styles”, painting

everything from commercially-driven

“Victorian sentimentality” to bolder

experiments with expressionism and

Cézanne-esque still life. Anyone

unfamiliar with Schjerfbeck’s

dazzling work is “in for a

wonderfully striking surprise”.

Schjerfbeck’s early, realist work

displayed abundant “ability”, said

Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. Her 1884 portrait of Helena

Westermarck, for example, isa“moving and memorable”

depiction ofawoman “who can’t bear to look at us directly”.

Better still isClothes Drying(1883),

a“strangely fascinating” image of

laundry laid out on grass. And

1884’sThe Dooris an equally

mysterious vision of sunlight

streaming throughachurch

interior. Alas, the purple patch

was short-lived. As Schjerfbeck

began experimenting with voguish

modernist ideas, the quality of

her work tookanosedive. Take

the paintings of her neighbours

and relatives in which she imagines

them “as 1920s flappers and

dandies”: works like 1916’sCircus

Girland 1933’sThe Motorist.These

are very bad paintings–“technically

and intellectually inadequate”. For

the most part,Iregret to say, this

show is “a cold shower of second-

rate art”.

True, not everything here is great

art, said Mark Hudson in The Daily

Telegraph. 1888’sThe Convalescent

–Schjerfbeck’s most famous

painting–isa“grossly sentimental”

depiction ofayoung child gazing at

aflower: and some of her later,

Modigliani-influenced portraits are

merely “decorative”. Nevertheless,

these duds are eclipsed by highlights

including the series of 17 “scarily

intense self-portraits” depicting

herself at every stage of her life–from fresh-faced ingénue to

“cancer-ridden near-cadaver”. Although “intermittently

perplexing”, this isafascinating exhibition full of great paintings.

Exhibition of the week Helene Schjerfbeck

Royal Academy, London W1 (020-7300 8090, royalacademy.org.uk). Until 27 October

Bohemian Grove is an ultra-exclusive

retreat in northern California frequented

by top politicians and business leaders.

Such is its almost mythological

reputation for secrecy, conspiracy

theorists have devoted considerable

energy attempting to “expose” the

supposedly shadowy goings-on inside.

Alex Jones, the far-right conspiracy

theorist who runs the websiteInfowars,

made his name after breaking into the

site’s grounds in 2000. In this exhibition

–titledParliament of Owls–

photographer Jack Latham has created

an intriguing body of work exploring

the often outlandish theories around

Bohemian Grove, and the strange

conclusions suspicious people come to

when confronted by blanket secrecy.

His black and white photographs take

in images of deserted car parks, isolated

figures in grotesque masks, the vast

redwood forests that surround the area

and numerous portraits of owls–the

retreat’s emblem. They may not satisfy

the conspiracy theorists, but their

spooky, cinematic quality is captivating.

Prices range from £550 to £2,380.

59 Riding House Street, London W1

(020-7729 6591). Until 17 August.

The Family Heirloom (1915-16): part ofastriking exhibition

Where to buy...

The Week reviews an

exhibition inaprivate gallery

Jack Latham

at TJ Boulting

The Phantom Patriot, Nevada (2018)

New home for Seated Man

©F

INNISH NATIONAL GALLERY, ATENEUM ART MUSEUM, PHOTO YEHIA EWEIS