Abstract ah um

In an idle moment, probably in the early hours whilst trying to get baby Betsy to sleep, I was pondering what the first work of abstract art that I remember seeing was, and in a flash it came to me: the cover artwork of my father's copy of Time Out by the Dave Brubeck Quartet (left).

In fact, further pondering led me to the conclusion that my recent series of Jazz inspired prints have their ultimate roots in this very piece of work. Further investigation revealed that the man responsible for this whole chain of events is a S. Neil Fujita.

It seems that Fujita got the gig of producing the cover art through being the Director of Design and Packaging at Columbia Records between 1952 and 1957 (Time Out was released in 1959). Fujita is also responsible for the cover art of Mingus Ah Um, (also released 1959), (right). Incidentally, Fujita also designed the original 1969 cover for The Godfather by Mario Puzo, a typeface that is reflected in the design for his own autobiography, Mouth of Reddish Water. Read an excellent interview with the man himself at Waxing Chromatic.

Ancient Landscapes / Pastoral Visions at the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath

What's this? Another exhibition on the neo-romantics? Relatively hot-the-heels of the Pallant House exhibition Poets in the Landscape, the Victoria Gallery in Bath is putting on Ancient Landscapes / Pastoral Visions in two parts, with part one starting on July 26 and part two on 13 September. Despite a pretty atrocious title (do we need that ugly 'slash'?) the show looks to be a thorough overview of the romantic landscape painters from Palmer through to the Brotherhood of Ruralists. In fact it is worth a visit if only to see Nash's Landscape of the Megaliths (left).

Ben Nicholson at Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal

Now here's an exhibition worth getting a wee bit excited about (although not so excited that I am willing to travel the length of the country), A Continuous Line: Ben Nicholson in England, just opened at the Abbot Hall Gallery in Kendal, Cumbria. As the site states, this is the first major Nicholson exhibition in the UK for 14 years, and will focus on his years in Britain from 1922 to 1958 (after which he decamped to Switzerland).
However, if you can't make it to Kendal you can catch the show at the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, and then at Tate St. Ives in 2009.