Friday afternoon I went to see the Zoffany exhibition at the Royal Academy. The show closes today, so I only just managed to see it. Previously to the Royal Academy the exhibition had been at the Yale Center (Centre) of British Art in America.
It was a fabulous show, not just for the number and quality of the paintings but also for the insights Zoffany gives you on how to look at the world. Great art is all about noticing the details that illuminate the central narrative. Society Observed not only told you how Zoffany looked at 18th century society, it also gave you a template on how to look at society today.
Excellent 300-page guidebook.
Paintings I particularly liked (from notes I made as I went round):
David and Goliath - the severed head of Goliath looks alive, a baleful eye watching the exhibition-goers.
Venus Marina - in the middle of all the knowing titillation is the erotic delicacy of a red twig of coral.
Allegory of Time Clipping the Wings of Love.
Mr and Mrs Garrick by the Shakespeare Temple at Hampton - serene and lovely Thames with a boatload of hay.
A porter with a hare - the hare is magnificent.
The Dutton family - I could look at this painting for hours, there is so much truth and life in the characters, the expressions are so compelling.
The Tribuna of the Uffizi - you might think an over-familiar work like this would seem banal, but the impact of the original artwork is tremendous, especially his depiction of Raphael's St John the Baptist.
Archduke Francis - the pale blue eyes are both fascinating and unsettling.
The Impey Family - indifferent to the Indian exoticism around them.
The Auriol and Dashwood Families - this tells you everything you need to know about the English abroad.
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