Estorick Collection – On the Move Visualising Action

Estorick Collection – On the Move Visualising Action (January 13 – April 18 2010)
5 out of 5

A gem of an art gallery focused on modern Italian art, the Estorick Collection can do no wrong. The collection is set in a beautiful house with whimsical furniture and includes an excellent permanent collection that include the likes of Modigliani and a personal favourite Zoran Music. The current show is no exception to this quality offering and explores movement in art. Presenting a mix of photography, paintings, sculpture and other objects, the exhibition includes some wonderful works.

The photography of the late 1800s is especially strong. The exhibition highlights the fascinating photo series by Eadweard Muybridge who focused on movement in people and animals. Despite being done in 1887, the photographs do not feel dated and still exude sensuality and fascination. It’s a joy to linger over these relatively small scale photographic series seeing how movement is captured sequentially. We then move on to the work of Etienne-Jules Marey who achieves a magical and dreamlike effect of motion through overlapping images. The blurring of movement works to excellent effect. A good showing by modern artists, include some quite wonderful photos by Idris Khan. But the spectacular work of Thomas Eakins takes the crown with his athlete series that achieve a stunning visual effect and look like x-rays of human movement.

Overall a great show that is well complemented by the excellent permanent collection on display. The Estorick Collection is definitely one of the more charming venues for art lovers in London.