I have been lucky to visit several venues this year which had wonderful art on show, Firstly there was the touring exhbition from the Victoria and Albert Museum which came to the Wilson Gallery in Cheltenham in March. It was called Pop Art in Print and featured one off prints by many iconic artists of the 1950s and 1960s. Pop art was a term largely coined to refer to 1960s art which was daring and new and was featured in graphic design as well as in cultural references of the era. Obviously, the exhibition had to feature Roy Liechtenstein with his nostalgic prints redolent of mid century comics, and Andy Warhol who epitomised the 1960s modern scene. It was forbidden to photograph individual pictures in this exhibition because of copyright restrictions but it was allowable to take distance shots, three of which can be seen below.
Then this summer, during a holiday in Edinburgh, we visited the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in the outskirts of the city at West Deane village. The Gallery has a main site and then over the road has a more recently acquired building, originally containing many works by Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi but which at this time featured a touring exhibition. The main gallery had superb offerings by Roy Liechtenstein, Andy Warhol, Stanley Spencer and William Nicholson to mention but a few.
It may be that original art may be out of reach for some, but do consider collecting lesser known artists or drawings and prints by those better known which are not usually so costly. Of course prints, whether open or limited edition, offer a good option for adding a focus to an interior wall but a DIY approach utilising book plates and home framing can give the right effect at a budget price. Most galleries sell prints and posters and vintage shops may have old reproduction prints in their original mid century frames. To get a flavour visit your local art gallery to help you to decide which artists and styles you like best. Most cities will have galleries representing modern art and a website featuring some examples, if you can't get there yourself. Modern art postcards can be a good starting point, either new or secondhand via Ebay where such cards an often be bought in bulk lots.
