THE ARCHITECTURAL GALLERY IN KENSINGTON
19 Kensington Court Place
London W8 5BJ
Phone: 020 7937 7222
Email: info@gallery19.com
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March 7, 2018

THE PERFECT SUNDAY MORNING IN KENSINGTON


June 1, 2016

Leighton House on Holland Park Road was the purpose-built home and studio of the painter Frederic Leighton. The house was the architect George Aitchison's first domestic building (his practice was primarily concerned with vast building projects such as wharves, warehouses and railway works. Aitchison's friendship with Leighton was rooted in their shared experiences in Rome. They built the house together, "every stone, every brick – even mortar and the cement – no less than all the wood and metal passed directly under (Leighton's) observation" and no other architect (than Aitchison) is recorded as having input into the house throughout its many extensions and redecorations". 

From the front Leighton House is another grand orangey-red-brick building – stikingly plain and devoid of any stylistic references. Leighton deliberately avoided giving his houseany historical style…

…inside is marvelousness itself: the Sicilio-Norman inspired Arab Hall with its original tiles, golden mosaic frieze and rectangular pool beneath a domed ceiling; the tiled corridor – or Narcissus Hall – connecting the Arab Hall to the original house and leading off to the Library and the Drawing Room; and the Studio where "…your mind travels back in the imagination to the studio of one of the princely artists of Italy, to be brought back, however to these modern days by a touch of ninetenth century colour or some latterday device of Comfort".

The garden is now open to the public but it needs some love (and landscaping).

 

Stafford Terrace is a 10 minute walk from Leighton House and "lies at the back of the busy whirl of Kensignton High Road". 18 Stafford Terrace was the home of cartoonist Edward Linley Sambourne and survives largely intact, managing to be both a typical middle-class home of a late Victorian family and a highly personal and idiosyncratic artistic environment.

Your visit to 19 Stafford Terrace begins in the basement with a 10 minute film about the house and its owners; then you ascend the stairs, entering room after room (two or three to a floor) layered with decoration – tiles, carpets, wallpapers, stained glass windows – quality furniture and fabrics, collections of objects, books and papers. It's a great space to photograph – the light is romantic and every room is stuffed full of things. The staff are both nice and knowledgable (very much like the attendant-Hogarth-experts at the Soane). The house is extemely dreamy! Look…

End the perfect Sunday morning with lunch at Babylon – or "the garden in the sky" – ontop of the old Barker's building.

48 HOURS IN BOLOGNA


March 9, 2016

 

Last weekend Gallery 19 director Sandra French and manager Alex French flew to Bologna for the FAMA ART show. This is FAMA ART's second year back in Bologna after – unsuccessfully – trying to merge the show with larger home and art shows in Rome and Milan. This is great news! FAMA ART deals exclusively with picture framing and Bologna is such a fantastic city. Sandra and Alex spent the weekend in Bologna and here are a few of their recommendations.

Head straight for Piazza Maggiore, the heart of Bologna, and visit the church of Saint Petronio and the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte in the Palazzo Communale. Alex is currently writing her MA disertation on the Baroque painter Artemisia Gentilschi and visited the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte rather than the Pinacoteca because the only painting by Artemisia Gentileschi in Bologna hangs there. The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna has a fantastic collection and is definately worth a look in. Tamburini - a gourmet deli and self-service restaurant on Via Caprarie – is a fantastic place for lunch. Pop into San Domenico and window shop in Galleria Cavour. Then shop along the Via dell'Indipendenza and a tiny artisan market where Alex bought a hand-stitched tobacco pouch and Sandra bought a purse made out of a tennis ball. Visit the Abbazia di Santo Stefano which is seven churches in one (make sure to buy some honey or holywater from the shop where everything has been made in monasteries). Have a coffee and pistachio gelato from GROM as you take your evening passeggiata along Via d'Azegio. Eat somewhere in the Mercato di Mezzo, a maze of medieval alleys made up of Via Drapperie, Via Clavature, Via degli Orefici and Via del Pratello among others. We had a superb meal at Zerocinquantello on Via Pescherie Vecchie (as picture framers we appreciated the ornate gold frames filled with whole parma hams)!!

Bologna e una citta bellissima – enjoy!!!

 

 

 

THE FRIENDS OF HOLLAND PARK ART EXHIBITION 2015


April 1, 2015

A ROMAN CHURCH IN THE ROYAL BOROUGH: A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE BROMPTON ORATORY


March 1, 2015

 

The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is a neo-classical Roman Catholic Church on Brompton Road in South Kensington. For this reason, and the fact the church was founded by Oratorians, it is known as the Brompton Oratory. Deliberately Italianite, you could be forgiven for mistaken the Oratory with the Chiesa Nuova in Rome until you look closer and see the facade is carved of Portland stone not travertine. The present church was constructed in 1880-4 to a design by Herbert Gribble. The interior is a treasure-trove of coloured marbles and important copies of artworks found in Italian Cathedrals.  

 

Baptistry

The eastern tower forms the Baptistery. The font is a half-scale reproduction of the one in Orvieto's Duomo. The basin is African Breccia marble supported by a stem of Derbyshire alabaster on a base of Carrara marble with eight white lions. The figure surmounting it is a reproduction of an angel by Donatello in the church of San Giovanni in Siena.

Chapel of S. Patrick

The walls of this chapel are made of Irish marble. The altar itself is Neapolitan (much added to by H.Gribble). The central picture is of St. Patrick with St. Columba and St. Bridgid on either side - all by Pietro Pezzati - a 19th century Florentine artist. Attributed to the Flemish painter Frans Floris (1517-70) are the two paintings on either side of the altar. On the left is the 'Circumcision of Our Lord' (now a copy since the original was stolen from the church in 1983) and, on the right, is 'Our Lord in the arms of St. Simeon'. The small picture of the Assumption on the Tabernacle door was painted on copper by a Spanish priest in 1715. Snakes and shamrocks adorn the communion rails. The snakes remind us that St. Patrick banished all snakes from Ireland while the shamrock alludes to his preaching the Trinity. 

The War Memorial

This consists of a white marble Pieta, resting on a bronze sarcophagus. Above are the arms of Great Britain surrounded by military insignia in burnished bronze. Four white marble tablet scrolls record the names of 250 Catholic servicemen who died in World War I.

Chapel of Mary Magdalen

Designed by H. Gribble, the altar is of Devonshire marble, with columns of Derbyshire alabaster. The altarpiece of St. Mary Magdalene is by Codina Langlin. The mosaic panels on either side of the altar by A. Capello of Chelsea,  1883-4. The floor is Languedoc, Paonazzo and Siena marbles. The statues in the niches are of St. Teresa of Avila (left) and St. Camillus of Lellis (right), founder of the Servants of the Sick. They are reproductions of those in St. Peter's in Rome. The Relics of St. Eutropius, brought here from the catacombs in Rome, lie in a sarcophagus beneath this altar. The two confessionals are the most striking examples in the church: they are modelled on those in Antwerp, where much excellent Renaissance work was executed during the Spanish occupation of the Low Countries. The 'keys' and the 'sponge with the slate' in the hands of the angels, symbolize the power of the Sacrament of Penance both to forgive and wipe away sins.

Chapel of Blessed John Henry Newman and The Calvary

In 2010, following the beatification of Blessed John Henry (Cardinal) Newman a new altar and reredos was installed underneath the Organ Gallery designed by the architect Russell Taylor. The sculptures of Christ on the Cross, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Evangelist, are the work of Spanish sculptor Dario Fernandez of Seville. The background scene of Jerusalem is by the muralist, Alan Dodd. These were installed in 2012.

The Lady Altar

Two panels at the ends of the altar bear the inscription: "This altar was erected by the Confraternity to the Great and Good God, and to the Virgin of the Rosary, in the year 1693" (left); "It was consecrated by Francis Corbarelli and his sons Dominic and Anthony" (right). Designed by Thomas Ruer, it originally stood in the Dominican church in Brescia, North Italy. The great altarpiece is 21ft wide and 40ft high and is composed of the finest Italian marbles with inlays of lapis lazuli, rock crystal, agate, mother of pearl, amethyst and red cornelian. The prophets Elias and Jeremias repose on the superstructure. The statue of Our Lady of Victories dates back to the original London Oratory in King William Street. On her left is a statue of St. Rose of Lima, the Flower of the New World and the first canonized saint of South America. On the right is St. Pius V, St Philip's contemporary and friend. Both these statues are by Orazio Marinali. The rest of the figure sculpture, including the statues of St. Dominic and St. Catherineof Siena, now moved from the altar to niches in the side walls of the chapel, are by T. Ruer. The four bronze candelabra at the communion-rails are copies from those by the altar of St. Ignatius in the church of the Gesu in Rome.

Chapel of St. Wilfrid

This chapel was built in memory of Fath er Faber whose body is laid in a vault in front of St Wilfrid's altar. Originally the altar was the central portion of the High Altar of "Goote Kerke", the ancient Cathedral of St. Servatius, Maestricht, and was constructed about 1700. Above the door to the Sacristy on the left, is a painting of the death of St. Bede; opposite, above the confessional, a painting of the martrydom of St. Thomas Becket. To the right is the altar and picture of Our Lady of Good Counsel, a copy of the miraculous picture at her shrine of Genazzano near Rome. Opposite is the shrine of St. Cecilia with a replica in Carrara marble of Stefano Maderno's figure in the church of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Rome. The large painting above the shrine is a copy of Raphael's picture of St. Cecila and her companion martyr's, now in Bologna. Nearer the door are two altars erected in 1938. The one on the left is dedicated to St Therese of Lisieux and has a marble bas-relief of the saint by Arthur Pollen. On the right is the altar to the English Martyrs. The paintings on the altar are by Rex Whistler and were his only religious work. Sadly the originals were stolen in 1983 and are replaced by photgraphic copies. Above the main door to the chapel is a painting by Graham Rust in memory of Father Michael Napier, for many years Superior of this Oratory.

The High Altar

The Sanctuary floor is composed of inlaid woods – cinnamon, tofip, pear, mahogany, walnut and oak. The altapiece, a copy of one by Conca in the Turin Oratory, represents St. Philip blessing the students of the English College in Rome with the greeting, "Salvete Flores Martyrum" (Hail, Flowers of Martyrs) before they went off to martyrdom. The picture on the right represents the Capuchin's Vision of St. Philip conducting his disciples to Paradise. All three were painted by Pozzi between 1924 and 1926. Above the altar is a gilt heart surrounded by the rays which represnt the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The twin seven-branched sanctuary lamps (or Menorah) designed by William Burges and presented by the 3rd Marquess of Bute in 1879, were copied from the Arch of Titus in Rome, which shows the sanctuary lamps from the Temple being carried through Rome after the sacking of Jerusalem in 70AD. They are placed here to remind us of the fulfilment of the Old Testament by the New; the Sacrifice of the Mass being the perfection of the Temple Worship. The Canopy over the high altar was copied from the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua.

Altar of Blessed Sebastian Valfre

The altar is of Languedoc and Siena marbles with twisted columns and a pediment of black marble. The picture is of Blessed Sebastian Valfre, 1629-1710, who was co-founder of the Oratory in Turin. He was the very first Oratorian to be beatified.

Chapel of St Philip Neri

Designed by H.Gribble and composed of Italian marbles, this altar is dedicated to the Founder of the Oratory. The altar was paid for by the Duke of Norfolk at that time and so bears his arms. The altarpiece is a very good 19th century copy of the portrait of the saint by Guido Reni. Within the pediment in high relief is "The Death of St. Philip". Underneath the mensa, often hidden by the frontal, is a wax figure of the saint clad in vestments and containing a relic of his body. The scroll he holds bears the names of those killed during the Second World War.

Chapel of the Seven Dolores

The altarpiece by Codina Langlin shows the Mater Dolorosa of Mother of Sorrows with the seven swords piercing her heart (each sword represents one of the seven sorrows of Our Lady: The Prophecy of Simeon, The Flight into Egypt, The Loss of Jesus in the Temple, Mary meets Jesus Carrying the Cross, the Crucifixion, Mary Recieves the Dead Body of Her Son, The Burial of Her Son and The Closing of the Tomb. The lunette above is filled with a copy of Francia's "Entombment", now in the National Gallery. This chapel is often used for small funerals.

Chapel of St. Joseph

The altar was designed by J.J. Scoles, architect of the Oratory House. In 2005, due to the generosity of an anonymous benefactor, the architects Carden & Godfrey clothed the apse in red marble and added a Doric screen of six Sienna marble columns curving around and behind the altar, with two 17th century Italian Baroque marble angels surmounting it – originally part of the Lady altar. The 19th century statue of St. Joseph, Patron and Protector of the Universal Church and every Christians home, in white marble, is by a Belgian artist.

Chapel of the Sacred Heart

The altar is a replica of that in the chapel of the Scuola di San Giovanni, Venice. The central niche contains a beautiful statue in Carrara marble of the Sacred Heart and on either side are angels holding the Crown of Thorns and the Lance of the Passion. Nearby stands a life size stone statue of this popular saint.

The Nave

On the right, under the Choir gallery, is an enthroned statue of St. Peter, an exact copy of that in St. Peter's in Rome. The Carrara statues of the twelve Apostles were carved in the late 17th century by Mazzuoli, a pupil of Bernini, and stood for two hundred years in the Duomo in Siena. The Stations of the Cross are in high relief, whilst the twelve recumbent figures over the arches of the Nave represent the principal virtues. Central groups of cherubs carry the Coat of Arms of Popes connected with the Congregation of the Oratory. Decorating the frieze of the main cornice is a Latin inscription in gold relief letters which says: "I have chosen and have sanctified this place that my name may be there and my heart may remain there perpetually: I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house, and the place where they glory dwelleth". Mosaic panels flank the windows of the nave, which contain figures of saints, contemporaries of St. Philip. On the arches ceiling, large panels in mosaic and gold backgrounds, represent angels carrying emplems of the Passion of our Lord. The four spandrels under the dome are decorated with figures in mosaic representing the four Evangelists and around the frieze of the drum of the dome runs a gold inscription: the beginning of the Gloria. The large pulpit, typical of Oratorian Churches, was completed in the 1930s by C.T.G. Formelli.

The Organ

Completed in 1954 by J.W. Walker & Sons, it replaces that destroyed by fire in 1950. It was built to the specifications of the organist, Ralph Downes.

Exterior of the Oratory

The dome was erected in 1896, from the designs by G. Sherrin. Its framework is steel, faced with sixty tons of lead. Apart from this, the whole church was designed by H. Gribble. A statue of Our Blessed Lady crowns the Oratory facade.

(Description of the Oratory interior from the pamphlet, "A walk around the Church of the London Oratory", published by Brompton Publications  

 

 

 

MOUNTING ON ALUMINIUM & DIASEC


February 1, 2015

Aluminium is considered by some photographers and picture framers to be the best way to mount a quality photograph. Aluminium is archival and the material gives a perfectly smooth, flat surface on which to mount the thickest gauge, high or super gloss prints, over a vast area with no ripples or cockling. Once mounted onto aluminium the photograph can be hung staright on the wall, face-mounted with Diasec acrylic or framed conventionally.

The Gallery 19 team can advise you on alumiumium and Diasec mounting and obtain quotes for your artwork so come in and see us about this exciting new technology.

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM VENICE


January 1, 2015

CHRISTMAS AT GALLERY 19


December 1, 2014

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Painting by Anna Mazzotta

 

GALLERY 19 CHRISTMAS CARD NOW ON SALE


November 1, 2014

 

The Gallery 19 Christmas card – featuring the Orangery in Kensington Gardens by Alessia – is now on sale! Available individually or in packs of 10 [envelopes included]

WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF ANNA MAZZOTTA


October 1, 2014

 

 

 

Anna trained at the Wimbledon School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Her artworks feature in many public and private collections, most notably in those of Robert & Susan Kasen Summer and the Royal photographer John Hedgecoe. Anna was one of the youngest winners of the prestigious Jerwood Drawing Prize [formerly the Cheltenham Prize]; her other awards include the Susan Kassan Summer Fellowship, the Daler Rowney Award, the Henderson & Parkinson Travel Award and the Stephenson Harwood Award. Anna’s work is also featured in the book An American Passion: The Susan Kasen Summer and Robert D. Summer Collection of Contemporary British Painting.

 

 

Anna’s paintings are larger than life – often depicting women in boldly coloured interiors with a typical sized canvas measuring 1.5m x 1.2m. Painted from memory, recalling childhood tales filled with mysterious characters and playful possibilities, Anna paints an intimate world of whispers, giggles and long-lashed looks, where elements of caricature and burlesque theatricality give light relief to a serious representation of European matriarchy. 

 

 

Anna also specializes in charcoal drawing and in 1999 she won the Jerwood Drawing Prize. Anna’s drawing reflects her fascination with the silent film era when actors and actresses had to communicate expression and compensate visually for the lack of sound.   

 

“My painting is a way of seeing the world, thinking – feeling, showing sensations, not just the mechanics of a scene, but instead emphasising energy, life and letting the inner innocence of the characters come forth” [MAZZOTTA]

 

In 1997 Anna Mazzotta held her first solo exhibition at Gallery 19 and we are delighted to have her exhibiting with us again, seventeen years later. The art of Anna Mazzotta has been described as a cross between Beryl Cook and Paula Rego, with its own highly distinctive and provocative style. Welcome to the world of Anna Mazzotta.

 

ANNA MAZZOTTA

PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS

20-30 November 2014