My Peruvian Adventure- Andahuaylas and Pacucha

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Andahuaylas is not the most charming town I ever went to. I was attacked by a pack of dogs (though not bitten) when I got there at 3 am? There are dogs all over the place in Peru and many are unpleasant. But the area around nearby Lake Pacucha is nice. You can have trout for lunch and stroll along the lakeside.

There are ruins at Sóndor, at the far end of the lake, which are not uninteresting and from where are excellent views. 

Pacucha, oil on card 18.2 x 16.5 cm - available

Pacucha, fields, oil on card, 22 x 17.2 cm

 This one, above, is the one of the best from this trip: it's energetic, crisp, with interesting colour combinations and it describes the sensation of distance effectively. It has a bit of Gillies in it.

Pacucho by the lake, oil on card, 152 x 18.4 cm  - available

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My Peruvian Adventure: The Lima Art Museum (MALI): some highlights

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A selection - rather a miscellany - of things I found diverting at Lima's beautiful Fine Arts museum.

As in Brazil, the tradition of painting is either religious, or sustained by arrivals of immigrants after which it appears to suddenly die. Judging from these paintings, there seems to have been a vigorous bohemian culture in Lima up to the 50s, when it must have been a most charming city (an impression reinforced by reading Llosa`s Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. My impression of the city since then is that the middle classes moved en masse to live in Miraflores, leaving the old town to crumble.

Ricardo Grau, Portrait of Ana Pizarro, oil on canvas, 1938

Julia Codesido, India Huanca, oil on canvas, 1932 

Jorge Reinoso, Tantahuasi, oil on canvas, 1929

Jose Dieguez, Camilio Blas, oil on canvas, 1927 

Víctor Morey Peña, Yo no soy, ink on paper, 1924

Franciso Laso, Road between hills, oil on canvas, 1850-60

Cuzco school, oil on canvas, 1700-1750

Cusco school,

 Allegory with Indian patron, oil on canvas, 1770 - 1800

There is a delightful room with some wonderful photos including the following-

Juan Manuel Figueroa Aznar 

  Historia de amor y desengaño

ca. 1907

Tienda en Morocochaca, 1928 - 1940 Sebastián Rodríguez

Estudio Vargas Hermanos, Ferretería, 1927

Costumbrismo

This amusing observational style flourished in the early 19th Century in hispanic countries. There is an excellent collection here. there are elements of caricature, they document clothing styles and some appear to tell stories. 

Attributed to Francsco Cortes, Seated woman smoking,

 watercolour and tempera on paper, 1827- 38

Attributed to Francsco Cortes, Plumed Dancer

 watercolour and tempera on paper, 1827-39

Francisco ¬Pancho¬ Lima, Mercedarian friar dancing the zamacueca,  

watercolour on paper, 10 May 1836

Francisco ¬Pancho¬ Lima, Street fight, watercolour on paper, 1834-41

Francisco ¬Pancho¬ Lima, Announcement for a cock fight

 watercolour on paper, 1834-41

A bee

There is also an array of pins including this charming  bee-

Anonymous,Tupu, Silver cast, hammered, laminated

chiseled and incised, 1830 -1900

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My Peruvian Adventure: The Amano Pre-Columbian Textile Museum

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Here are some photos from the excellent Amano Museum in Miraflores, Lima. 

Their website is http://eng.museoamano.org/amano/

My apologies for not identifying all the samples.

 Textile catalogue in camelid and cotton fibre, 1100-1450 AD, Chancay textilemaker

 Wari mantle with Andean cross, 700-1200 AD, Wari Artisans

Mocha Textile bag 

Karwa mantle of staffed god, 1000 BC to 200 BC byt Chavin artisans

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My Peruvian Adventure- Ayacucho Part Two: outskirts

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Ayacucho, near the university, oil on card, 16 x 19 cm  damaged

Ayacucho, cathedral, oil on card, 21.5 x 16.2 cm - unavailable

Ayacucho, road north, oil on card, 22 x 16.7 cm  AVAILABLE

Ayacucho: a view across a gully, oil on card, 21.7 x 17.7 cm - available

I am fond of this picture (above) which is lively in design yet with soft sad colours..

Ayacucho, view from Mirador de Acuchimay, oil on card, 21.5 x 15.5 cm  - available

Ayacucho, from Barrio la Liberdad, 15.3 x 16.5 cm, oil on card - available

Ayacucho- a view of some lots, oil on card, 18 x 16.5 cm - available 

the painting above was damaged at it edge by the framer

This is a nice, somewhat Bonnard-ish picture, with that flattened perspective and "tapestry effect". 

I found the light in upper Peru delicate and often a little sad. I don`t think the people of Peru are sad though. They seem to get on with life perfectly well.

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My Peruvian Adventure- Ayacucho Part One: in town

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My Peruvian Adventure began in Ayacucho, that elegant city of thirty-three churches and my paintings from there divide into two groups: views from the town, and specific buildings.

My original idea was to go from Ayacucho to Huancavelica but this was impossible as the road was blocked because of a landslide. After a few days of becoming increasingly frustrated and being misonformed, and suffering the tedium of two day general strike, in which the entire city shut down,  I changed plan and instead went to Andahuaylas, from where I knew I could fly to Lima.

As places to be stuck in, Ayacucho is by no means the worst but somehow the plan of the city, and it`s narrow streets makes it feel quite claustrophobic.

Ayacucho, a view from a hotel, oil on card, 16.5 x 19.3 cm  available

Ayacucho - a building in a park, oil on card, 14 x 17.2 cm - arch

Ayacucho, Arch, oil on card, 14 x 17.2 cm -available

Ayacucho, a street in the centre, oil on card, 14.5 x 18 cm - unavailable

Ayacucho, buildings in a neighborhood of workshops  - available
 oil on card, 15 x 17.5 cm

This picture (above) seems rather the "odd one out" and is reminiscent of pictures I did down in Puno in 2016. I rate it as one of the best of this year's set.

 These sorts of neighborhoods, with workshops and simple buildings are often very atmospheric, and inspire good pictures. One regret I have from the 2016 trip is that I didn't stop in Juliaca,  just north of Puno and has an abundance of such utilitarian architecture where they fix cars, sell construction materials and so forth.

Chucrh, Ayacucho, oil on card, 17 x 15.5 cm  available

Little Deco church and woman, oil on card, 17 x 18 cm  available

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Four recent sales from the V.A.S. & Society of Scottish Artists show at the Royal Scottish Academy

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  Wiltshire, a view near Bruton, oil on card, 17 x 24 cm  SOLD

  New York, two bridges, oil on card, 17 x 17 cm  SOLD

 Anitapolis- late in the afternoon, oil on card, 14 x 18 cm  SOLD

Two Brazilians walk along a highway, a dog forages, oil on card, 12.5 x 14.5 cm   SOLD

Four recent sales from the exhibition at the Royal Scottish Acaemy in Edinburgh.

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Places to visit (revised)

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Places to visit 

This is an updated list. Places with an R after would be re-visitations. Re-visiting places is a very enriching experience, allowing one to make discoveries about the places revisited as well as about oneself and how one might have changed. One could write a lengthy Proustian piece on this subject.

 Some places have been taken off, others added, largely on account of whether it would be good for painting. The Spanish cities are a major addition. My ignorance about Spain is quite shameful.

Spain R

Cádiz
Seville
Valencia
Granada

UK R

West Coast of Scotland and the Western Isles R
Galashiels
Hawick
Selkirk
New Forest R
North Wales R
Portmeiron
Glasgow R

Finland

Sweden

Norway R

USA
Paterson, New Jersey
Chicago
Northern California
Montana
Idaho
New York R
Washington State

Italy R
Turin R
Milan R
Ferrara
Mantua

Latin America
Rio R
Mexico City
Ecuador
Patagonia
Rio Grande de Sul R
La Serena,  Chile

Turkey R
Istanbul R

Poland R
Masuria

Japan 

France R
Paris R
Bordeaux
Brittany
Nimes
Lyons

Switzerland R

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