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It will be a busy autumn for the Mall Galleries, with Tribal Art London and the 20/21 British Art Fair
THE Mall Galleries in London will have a busy autumn, so it is probably just as well that no ceremonial events are scheduled to take place outside during September. As well as a crowded programme of artists’ workshops and social events, the space will host two art fairs before the Royal Society of Miniaturists annual show from September 20 to October 1. The first fair is Tribal Art London, from September 6 to 9, and the second the 20/21 British Art Fair from September 13 to 17.
Recently, I visited the newly rearranged National Army Museum and, for the most part, I was very impressed by what I saw. It is laid out in five galleries, of which the Army Gallery ‘addresses fundamental questions such as Why do we have an army? It expthe lores the origins of the army in the chaos of the British Civil Wars, its major role in the political development of the country and its impact on global history.’ This it does through displays of objects and interactive panels. Almost no details are given beside the objects; one is presumably expected to rely on the screens.
With other things in one case is a Mahdist tunic or jibbeh described no more fully than that. A pity, I felt, as it still carries a half-hidden little label, presumably affixed by whoever ‘liberated’ it, saying that it had belonged to ’Abd al-rahman Wad al-nujumi, who was the most capable of the Mahdi’s emirs and supreme commander of the forces that captured Khartoum and killed Gordon. Some details might have brought this to life. It is like showing a black Isis turban without mentioning that it belonged to Abu Bakr al-baghdadi.
That jibbeh looks as if it had seen action, and the characteristic woollen patches applied to the cotton are faded and stained. By contrast, an example that will be shown by Adam Prout Ethnographic Art at Tribal Art London appears almost in parade-ground condition (Fig 1). Mr Prout, who is based in Gloucestershire not too far from Stroud, believes the red patches to be Stroud cloth, probably taken by a senior comm-
ander as trophies from British uniforms about the time of the fall of Khartoum. They were intended to represent poverty and humility and the little pocket was for a charm wrapped in pages of the Koran. This evocative relic is priced at £17,000.
A much older relic comes from the Nazca culture that flourished in the arid valleys of southern Peru between about 100bc and ad800 and was known for complex textiles and sophisticated pottery as well as the mysterious Nazca Lines. The offering with the Joss Graham Gallery of London, however, is not strictly a textile, being a colourful feather skirt (Fig 2). Feathers, like painted decoration and embroidery, no doubt indicate high status.
The 23 exhibitors include dealers from Belgium, the Netherlands and South Africa and this annual event, if not yet on a level with Brussels, Paris or San Francisco, has more than earned its place in the calendar.
Africa is well represented. With the Brussels dealers Marc- uson and Hall is an impressive 19th century deeply carved wooden prestige vessel from KwaZulu (Fig 4). Such things were the preserve of chiefs and might be given to visitors such as missionaries. With its abstract, hatched patterns, it could appeal to a modern artist and it is priced in the region of £13,500.
Half a continent away in the Ashanti kingdoms of what was once known as the Gold Coast, brass weights to weigh gold were naturally items of great importance. At £750, Bryan Reeves/tribal Gathering has a splendid 18th- or 19th-century weight modelled as a hunter with a leopard on his back (Fig 3).
After a year’s hiatus, the 20/21 British Art Fair is at the Mall Galleries for the first time and, although smaller than in the past, the 34 exhibitors seem happy with the venue and some impressive names, such as Richard Green, have returned. For some time, this gallery has been championing Bridget Riley, beyond her early Op Art period. Here will be the vibrant 26in by 131 ⁄3in May 19, Bassacs, ’94 (Fig 6), Les Bassacs being the village in the Lubéron where Miss Riley has long had a studio. It is explained by her remark: ‘I love Rilke’s comment on the “good conscience of these reds, these blues” in a Cézanne painting, meaning that each of them had most scrupulously been put in the right place and at the right pitch.’
Earlier this year, the William Morris Gallery, Walthamstow, showed colour woodcuts by Sir Frank Brangwyn in collaboration with the Japanese printmaker Yoshijiro Urushibara (1888–1953), who lived in London for 30 years. Several of these joint works, including, at £900, their 65⁄8in by 8½in In the Docks (Fig 5) from an edition of 50 will be shown by Hilary Chapman of London.
She will also offer solo prints by Urushibara, such as Anemones in a Black Vase at £550.
Next week Further fairs in Paris and London