Liz Bird UK
The Age of Neo-Classicism Re-visited
Original book title: The Age of Neo-Classicism London Arts Council 1972
I chose this book because I had the paper back edition on my bookshelves, from which I concluded that I must have visited the exhibition in 1972. I had no memory of it. At the time I was living in Glasgow so must have made a special visit to London. I cannot imagine why I was attracted to the exhibition, over 1900 exhibits from a period (late eighteenth century) and style which I find quite unattractive.

Since I became an artist, my practice is to draw in a small sketchbook when visiting exhibitions. I decided to re-visit this exhibition as though I had recorded it at the time. The sketch book inside the book also re-visits Glasgow and the work I was doing in 1972, attending sale rooms to track down obscure Scottish painters: cows in the front of the book, and some stags at the end, typical of the vanished works that turned up. Drawing the neo-classical works did nothing to bring back my memory, but I enjoyed it and became a bit less dismissive of the style, maybe.

e.bird@bristol.ac.uk