My Life in Art - Natalie Nowell
Natalie Nowell is Head of English and an Assistant Headteacher at Chenderit School and has kindly chosen five artworks which represent her life and explained what they mean to her. She has a BA in English Literature and History of Art and MA in History of Art (with Literature and History) from the University of York. Thank you, Natalie, for sharing your life in art with us!
Open Window, Collioure by Henri Matisse (1905)
Henri Matisse, Open Window, Collioure, 1905, oil on canvas, 55.3 x 46 cm (National Gallery of Art, Washington)
Natalie: Whilst I was studying for my GCSEs, we were encouraged to copy artists’ work and explore art history. My mum was a huge fan of this painting, so I got myself a huge A1 and had a go at recreating it for her birthday. It still hangs on her wall to this day! I love Matisse’s use of explosive Mediterranean colour and the visible broad brushstrokes. In 2002, my friend Hannah bought me tickets to the Matisse Picasso exhibition at the Tate Modern. We jumped on the train and whilst we were there, we compared and contrasted Matisse’s expressive use of colour alongside Picasso’s stylistic technical skill. I remember lugging the exhibition catalogue home in my purple Tate bag.
Movement in Squares by Bridget Riley (1961)
Bridget Riley, Movement in Squares, 1961, tempera on hardboard, 123.2 x 121.2 cm (Arts Council Collection, London)
Natalie: Once I had completed my A Levels in 2003, before going off to university, I went to Tate Britain to explore the Bridget Riley exhibition. I had a Tate Gallery card at this point and I was keen to absorb as much art as possible. I really enjoyed looking at the drafts of her work; I was fascinated to see the visible lines and have an appreciation for how her op art creations came into being. Op artists put shapes, patterns and colour together in clever ways to create an optical illusion. This can make an image look like its moving! The viewer finds themselves in the middle of the experience.
Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum by Frank Lloyd Wright (1959)
Frank Lloyd Wright, Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, 1959
Natalie: On my 22nd birthday, I flew to New York under the guise of needing to see some Japanese kabuki prints to support my dissertation research. The university kindly contributed to my flight costs! Whilst there I soaked up as much art as I could… I visited the MoMA, the Guggenheim Museum, the Frick Collection and the Met. I loved it. I was blown away by the architecture of the gallery with its use of space and the spiral ramp leading to a domed skylight. It is the perfect space for exhibiting contemporary art and I lapped up every moment.
Maman by Louise Bourgeois (1999)
Louise Bourgeois, Maman, 1999 (Tokyo version)
Natalie: I visited Japan in 2007 and whilst in the Roppongi Hills district of Tokyo I encountered Bourgeois’ Maman sculpture, first exhibited at the Tate Modern in 2000 in the Turbine Hall. I do not like spiders and if you stand underneath the sculpture you can see a cluster of marble eggs held within an abdomen… stuff of my worst nightmares but you get the sense of the close bonds between mother and child. Bourgeois represented her mother: “Why the spider? because my best friend was my mother and she was deliberate, clever, patient, soothing, reasonable, dainty, subtle, indispensable, neat, and as useful as a spider. She could also defend herself, and me, by refusing to answer ‘stupid’, inquisitive, embarrassing, personal questions. I shall never tire of representing her.”
Balloon Venus (Magenta) by Jeff Koons (2019)
Jeff Koons, Balloon Venus, 2019, stainless steel, 259.1 x 121.9 x 127 cm
Natalie: Before the pandemic hit, my husband and I would regularly take our children to local exhibitions. We visited The Ashmolean in Oxford to see the Jeff Koons exhibition and we went to the Natural History Museum and Pitt Rivers. The girls liked looking at the ‘Gazing balls’ and seeing their reflections move and change shape. We’re off to the Banbury Museum at the weekend to see Portrayals: David Hockney, Lucien Freud and Paula Rego. I love their honesty with their reactions (or lack of reactions) to famous art works. They are totally free to express their thoughts.
Why do you #LOVEArt?
“Artists and art need to be valued - it is so important to see the world from different perspectives. Art has the power to educate people.”