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Sylvia Plath Exhibit Opens in London

The Mayor Gallery exhibit of "Sylvia Plath's Drawings" opens today at their space at 22A Cork Street in London. Containing 44 drawings, this is the first British exhibition of Plath's artwork.  In the "Current" section of their website, it is possible to view all 44 drawings. Bravo!

In 2002 at the Sylvia Plath 70th Year Symposium held at Indiana University, many of Plath's creations were exhibited from the collections of both Smith College and Indiana University.

Yesterday, Matilda Battersby of the Indpendent wrote "Unseen Sylvia Plath Drawings Go on Show." The page containing the article has been loading painfully slowly, so your patience is I'm sure appreciated.
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  1. Julia Gordon-Bramer02 November, 2011 10:13

    Thanks for the link to all 44! That's wonderful!

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  2. Peter K Steinberg02 November, 2011 10:15

    You're welcome, but I totally lied as there are only 43 online. The first one in the last row on the first page isn't a Plath image. Probably a mistake.

    THE DRAWINGS ARE ALL FOR SALE! Most have sold already, no surprise.

    pks

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  3. Kristina Zimbakova02 November, 2011 11:02

    Sorry for being outrageously rude but Frieda is out of her mind to sell those pieces.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kristina Zimbakova02 November, 2011 11:04

    P.S. Understandably, unless Smith or Lily Library or any uni has purchased them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Peter K Steinberg02 November, 2011 11:45

    It is doubtful they'll end up directly from this gallery sale into the archives. Probably collectors and book/arts dealers are largely those that can afford these precious items. It'll be interesting when the exhibit goes down in December to see which ones do appear on the market for sale. So, anyone lucky enough to see the exhibit: take it in! It's likely the only time these will ever be assembled together in one place!

    There is a catalogue for sale.

    pks

    ReplyDelete
  6. Melanie Smith02 November, 2011 17:00

    I wonder what the price range is for remaining pieces? Have sent an enquiry.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Annika03 November, 2011 04:48

    I'm hope I'll be able to visit this exhibition tomorrow, very excited!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous03 November, 2011 07:23

    I'm surprised, too, that the drawings are for sale and think it's a real shame that Frieda didn't bequeath them or sell them to an archive (e.g. at Smith College, Emory Uni or Cambridge Uni) where researchers and the interested public could still view them and where they could have been be used within the scope of further research into Plath.

    This way, they'll probably disappear into private collections and scatter around the globe.

    ~VC

    ReplyDelete
  9. Peter K Steinberg03 November, 2011 08:18

    Annika! How's Oxford? Do let us know how you find the exhibit!

    ~VC, my fear is the book dealers, many of whom I admire, will price these well out of consideration for libraries and archives to obtain them. That's the way it works though. I think it would be very important to see these, to be redundant to my previous comment, as it is likely the only time they'll be displayed together ever. Sounds dramatic...but it's true.

    pks

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous05 November, 2011 20:24

    I will post some of my previous comments about the sale of Plath's art work. I went to the gallery on Friday, I live in London, and was shocked to see them nearly all sold. They could have gone on tour as a collection or they could have been sold to Smith College, or the Lilly Library. Plath's drawings are utterly amazing and reveal so much about her creative process; her fine attention to detail and the way that a simple object, like an umbrella, can become something full of nuance with each crease and shade subtly integrated for a seamless effect.

    Previous postings: I went to the gallery today and unfortunately and tragically this unique collection of Plath's wonderful drawings are being sold off, it appears to separate bidders. Most have already sold for about £4000 each. This is not a public gallery, it is a private one that earns commission for selling artwork. Instead of Plath's detailed and beautifully rendered drawings being kept as a whole collection as they should be, they are being splintered apart, just as her first collection of Ariel was, and probably will not be seen again by the public. I can't understand why her daughter chose to sell her mother's drawings at all, they could have toured many public galleries and the interest would have been acute. And why not at least give first refusal to Smith College or Lilly Library which hold extensive archives on Plath? This is really a terrible loss both for the academic world and to all of Plath's fans. Her artwork gives great insight to how she creates an artistic piece, bit it visual or poetic, the detail, the shading, the focus and subtlety are all aspects of her perceptual process. There are two drawings left, if anyone wants to buy them before they disappear for good. AL

    I also went to Frieda Hughes's readings/presentation at the Cambridge Ideas Festival on Saturday 29th October in which slides of her large canvases were shown whilst she read her poems. The point of the multi-media presentation was that art and poems are complementary, so why she has chosen to sever the tie between her mother's artwork and poetry is a very poignant question. It seems unnecessary from a financial point of view, as she receives regular Royalties from book sales and has had grant money of significant amounts to carry out her own commissioned projects. The fragmentation of Plath's art work is a huge loss to the artistic and literary communities and it makes one question how much control a single family member should have over a world renowned artist's work and documents. AL

    ReplyDelete
  11. Peter K Steinberg06 November, 2011 06:51

    Thank you AL for cross posting your comments, I hope that visitors to this blog who may have missed them in the other post find them here.

    pks

    ReplyDelete

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