Date published: 2006/06/10
The Royal Academy's annual Summer Show opens to the public on Monday (12 June) but has already been open a couple of days to members and "serious" buyers. A fair fraction of the work was already sold, which is good news for the Academy and the artists.
The Academy forecourt normally has a few works on display. This year it was dominated by a large bronze ("The Virgin Mother") by Damien Hirst. Hirst is vastly overrated but this was a pretty good piece. (And it was "not for sale" but it must be six or seven figures.) Alongside was a large (but small in comparison with the bronze) sculpted granite work by Peter Randall-Page, a mere snip at £94000. (And one other work, but that is not worth a mention.)
The most interesting sale rooms are normally the large and small Weston Rooms, and this year was no exception. Mark Clark has three pieces (the maximum number for a non-Academician) here, all nudes (that seems to be what he does), with the best one being the first ("Standing Nude (Torso)"). Perhaps a future Academician. And there was a wonderful portrait by Nicola Jarvis ("The Metamorphosis of Nikki Jarvis") in graphite, which incredibly had not yet sold (although only £295).
Other work worth mentioning is "Rock Study II, The Isles of Scilly" by John Howard (also in graphite) and "Richmond Park" by Charles Sanderson (in pencil). Amongst the Academicians, Donald Hamilton Fraser stands out as usual.
Most years the architecture room is the best thing about the show, and this year is no exception. There was a part model of a bridge in Bergen (presumably Norway), by Spence Associates/Techniker, which was quite good. And there was an interesting shop on the Ginza in Tokyo, by Toyo Ito and Associates. But stealing the show again this year was Eva Jiricna, with a wonderful private residence in Prague.
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