As well as the events listed here, the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2019 opens to the public on Monday, June 10 – a great way to see some of the newest and most controversially staged art in the capital.
Miss Batty at Abbott and Holder
In 1820 a collection of engravings was published after the drawings Elizabeth Frances Batty (1791-1875) made on a trip to Italy with her father. Completed as Europe was re-opening to British travellers after the Napoleonic wars, the scenes were valuable for those eager to experience the continent. Indeed they were so popular they inspired the design on a line of porcelain dishes by Enoch Wood.
Forty-four of the original drawings form an exhibition at Abbott and Holder in Bloomsbury. Many have already been purchased, though a select few are still available.
Batty married and though many in her family were of an artistic bent – including her son, the painter Robert Braithwaite Martineau – she is not known to have produced any more works.
Firsts: London’s Rare Books Fair
For something a little different, Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair offers visitors a wealth of art both in and outside the volumes it features. Running from June 7-9, the event in Battersea Park brings together 150 dealers in antiquarian and modern books. As well as thousands of examples of books, maps and ephemera there are exhibitions of Shakespearean texts (including the First Folio) and rare bibles.
Rembrandt Bugatti at Sladmore
Talented and tragic, the sculptor Rembrandt Bugatti (1884-1916) is the subject of a recently-translated Italian novel The Animal Gazer. To celebrate its London publication, Sladmore Gallery, which specialises in his works, has assembled a group of 16 sculptures together, including those of big cats and anteaters. Works are offered for prices starting at £55,000 and the show runs until June 21.
Donald Sultan at Huxley Parlour
Dark Objects: Works 1977-2019 at Huxley-Parlour Gallery on Swallow Street is first retrospective of US artist Donald Sultan. Running until June 29 it includes three of his monumental Disaster Paintings from the 1980s, which were inspired by disastrous industrial or urban events such as warehouse fires or freight train derailments. Images were based on newspaper photographs.
