By Anthony Fawcett, the esteemed art critic and historian, once served as John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s personal curator. His illustrious career includes introducing Man Ray to London, collaborating with icons like Andy Warhol, and assuming pivotal roles in leading art institutions. Fawcett is renowned for his 80 historical interviews with legends such as Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Jean Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Julian Schnabel, Gilbert & George and many others.

“ Let the bird of loudest day
On the sole Arabian tree,
Herald sad and trumpet be,
To whose sound chaste wings obey ………
And thou treble-dated crow,
That thy sable gender mak’st
With the breath thou giv’st and tak’st,
‘Mongst our mourners shalt thou go. “ ( William Shakespeare, ‘ The Phœnix and the Turtle ‘. )

When I look at the paintings and drawings of the artist Art Liard I often think of Shakespeare ~ her oeuvre is brimming with stories and folk tales, scenes set in magical forests. A good example is her painting “ The Guard of the Forest Mystery “, which was recently exhibited at the Boomer Gallery in London. The centerpiece of this ‘ tour de force ’ is an exquisitely painted crow, or raven, resplendent in his glossy inky black and blue plumage. In this simple but evocative still life he is surrounded by a wooden pestle and mortar, two luscious mushrooms with “ velvety caps “, and two glowing deep red forest berries. Painted with broad confident brushstrokes, this small work would have made Cézanne proud. The raven, or crow, features in many of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, and also in the poems of Ted Hughes, the former ‘ Poet Laureate ’. The raven has a hoarse cry, feeds off carrion, and descends from the genus ‘ Corvus ’. Art Liard notes that “ It’s a raven, a keeper of secrets, a storyteller, and a prankster at the same time. “

Like Cézanne, Art Liard likes to draw and sketch ‘ en plein air ’ (the French term for ‘ open air ’). In another of my favorite paintings, “ Beetles and the Riddle of Lost Time “ (also exhibited at the Boomer Gallery), the drawing depicts a scene from the life of insects. Two beetles dominate the foreground as they vie for attention. One of them is large, with a smooth blue-violet shell, shimmering with multi-coloured brushstrokes, and a striped red and yellow body. In the background is a meadow with delicately painted wispy slender flowers gently blowing in the wind.

Another drawing, entitled “ Silence by the Window “, is so simple but exquisitely rendered ~ a large round ceramic jar with thin protruding branches. A mug sits peacefully on a thick well-read book.

In “ The Scarf “, Art Liard gives us a beautifully painted large red scarf hanging against an azure blue background. The wide thick brushstrokes add to the magisterial tour de force of her oeuvre.

Again, it’s interesting to compare Art Liard with the great grandfather of Modern Art, Cézanne. “ The mountain to his eye, was like minute life revealed through a microscope, the gigantic, visible revelations of nature’s rhythms and structures. After this vision, Cézanne could see in a humble tablecloth a smaller symbol of the same life-pattern; the folds of a napkin in one of his still lifes have the grandeur of Mont Sainte-Victoire.

Art Liard is an accomplished writer and storyteller, and I intuit that this ability has woven its way into her paintings and drawings. About her work she has written: “ Each viewer will see something of their own - a feeling, a memory, a quiet thought. Art is more than just beauty, it is a gentle force that brings light, warmth, and happiness into people’s lives. “ I couldn’t agree more.

“ The eye of the spectator travels and recognizes within the lines of any great still life, portrait, or landscape the eternal movement that it subconsciously seeks, and is satisfied. The painting possessed with the rhythms of nature itself becomes a part of creation, an object of nature. “ ( Alexander Lieberman, ‘ The Artist in his Studio ’, Viking Press, 1960. )

It has been so rewarding to study in depth and get to follow Art Liard’s journey through her art, and I look forward to the next chapter!

-Anthony Fawcett