Anna-Lise in her studio in Cromer.

 

Our second Home Curator has downsized to a farmhouse, and in her collection large paintings jostle for space with smaller works.  She chose to borrow a painting by Anna-Lise Horseley, a wildly prolific and prolifically wild painter from Cromer.

TAP HOME CURATOR INTERVIEW

  • • How many paintings do you own? Somewhere between 30 and 40
    • Which of your paintings would you save from a fire? A large Mughal embroidered cloth we brought back from a trip in Inda
    • Abstract or figurative? Abstract
    • Rothko or Picasso? Picasso
    • Which one painting do you remember from your childhood?  Degas’ ballet pictures – the dancer, specially
    • What’s your favourite way to hang paintings – cluster, line, random? We’re in a rented house at the moment so – anywhere that fits!
    • What was the first artwork you ever bought? Papageno by Joanna Price
    • What’s the most you’ve paid for a painting? £800
    • Which one painting would you take to your desert island? A Holbein drawing
    • If you could time and space travel, whose studio would you visit? Holbein’s
    • Did the painting you chose make you happy? I was disturbed by the hair!
    • How did you decide where to hang it? There was a hook
    • Did your feelings about it change over the time period? I was intrigued by the hairy bit
    • Would you buy the work or another work by the same artist? Possibly
    Any comments? Part-payment might be interesting – and another time I’d prefer to choose which painting I have.

 

TAp Home Curator interview #1: Alison

Which of your paintings would you save from a fire?            My husband’s painting

How many paintings do you own?          50

Abstract or figurative?       Splodgy but recognisable

Which one painting do you remember from your childhood?         Not a painting but wallpaper like Elizabeth’s, abstract but geometric

What’s your favourite way to hang paintings?              Depends on the room

What was the first artwork you ever bought?              Edward Bawden

Rothko or Picasso?             Rothko

Which one painting would you take to a desert island?         Any Ivor Hutchins

If you could time travel, whose studio would you visit?        Matisse’s

Did the painting you chose make you feel happy?                    Yes

How did you decide where to hang it?   I’d already allocated two possible spaces

Did your feelings about it change over time?    I got to understand and love it more

Would you buy this or another work by this artist?               Yes, another work

Any comments?                  I loved the fun and surprise of TAp Home Curator! I want to do it again!

print, paint
‘The White Vase’ in situ
Five surprise paintings hung in five Collections – so what did our Home Curators think about them?

Our first Home Curator worked as a film producer and director and now lives in the green bosom of the Norfolk countryside. She describes her home as ‘somewhere between bohemian and romantic-eccentric. Every window-sill, table-top, fire-surround is set-dressed according to whim and season.’   She approached the problem of hanging the heavy painting on thin ancient walls creatively, by posing the painting on a bookcase with a striking plant that complimented the colours of the art.

 

How had she enjoyed her experience of Home Curator? ‘It was really very exciting to be part of this project. And not just the arrival of new work into the home – there were many other unexpected benefits. It was searching the list that provided unexpected excitement; I thought I’d arrived at a place where my taste and judgement were pretty well established. And then came the list – selected by others.

 

‘It was the process of visiting and revisiting the work of artists unfamiliar to me that was the source of such satisfaction and excitement… as a result there are some artists’ studios that I want to visit as soon as it’s safe to do so.

 

‘One of the artists I did know was Elizabeth Merriman and buying one of her paintings was definitely on my ‘to do ‘ list. The mixed media piece that arrived was a still life of flowers in a vase, a traditional subject but the treatment was far from traditional.

 

‘I shall certainly be buying an Elizabeth Merriman in the future, and it would be wonderful if this scheme could continue as there are so many paintings and drawings I would love to see in situ. It was all very well organised and great fun. A little sad to say goodbye to something you have grown fond of, but an exciting opportunity for further visual adventures.’