Last Monday I had the pleasure of visiting this super exhibition and I hope you will enjoy my report even though I have travelled once more outside my usual beat of the City.
The exhibition is described as follows: ‘Art and money have much in common. Both influence who and what we think of as valuable. It can be surprising to think of money, so functional in form, starting its life as drawing or sculpture. The current Money Talks exhibition at the Ashmolean explores the place of money in our world through art, highlighting a multitude of global perspectives across time. Works on show range from rare monetary portraits and historic depictions of wealth to contemporary activist Money Art, alongside more unusual examples from some of the best-known artists including Rembrandt and Warhol. Together, they expose the tension between the power of money and the playfulness of art’.
Here are some of my favourite exhibits.
The exhibition entrance, with a dollar sign by Andy Warhol …
There is the fascinating story of the design for the coinage of Edward VIII who chose to abdicate before any came into circulation. I like the ‘warning’ on this box: NOT TO BE OPENED EXCEPT IN THE PRESENCE OF TWO SENIOR OFFICERS OF THE ROYAL MINT …
What it contained …
Edward proved rather difficult because he wanted the coins to incorporate his ‘best’ profile …
‘Cubist’ designs submitted for the reverse of Edward’s coinage. They were rejected, with the Mint Advisory Committe declaring that they ‘could not be taken seriously’ …
They probably had a point.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II …
The slightly disconcerting hologram …
An enormous tapestry ‘Comfort Blanket’ by Sir Grayson Perry is based on the design of a very familiar monetary object – the £10 banknote. In Sir Grayson’s own words, it is ‘a portrait of Britain to wrap yourself up in, a giant banknote; things we love, and love to hate’
The two defining artistic movements of Art Nouveau and Art Deco left their imprint in monetary art, much as architecture, jewellery and furniture. ‘Jugendstil’ or German Art Nouveau in money can be best exemplified through the works of the Viennese ‘Avant Garde’ artists like Gustav Klimt, Franz Matsch and Koloman Moser. This is Moser’s draft artwork for 50-crown note for the Austro-Hungarian Bank …
The Inflation Display – some crazy high value notes …
Artists have always highlighted and reflected on wealth, power and money. But the contrasting way in which money is depicted and treated in Eastern and Western traditions of art is interesting in itself. Perhaps owing to the bad press money gets in the Bible and the Christian world view, money is often depicted in negative ways in Western Art.
Greedy usurers and tax collectors, miserly men, conniving and hoarding women are often the subjects associated with money. The ‘crookedness’ of money is also physiognomic: these subjects are often shown with grotesque features, unkempt appearances and unsavoury expressions.
Two Tax Gathererers, 1540s, Workshop of Marius van Reymerseale, an artist known for his satirical paintings of greed and corruption …
Tax collectors were paid percentages of the revenues they collected and would extort every last penny from taxpayers.
The Miser, 1780s, by Thomas Barker of Bath …
His unwillingness to part with money is underlined by the poor quality of his clothing and a generally unkempt look.
The man with the moneybag and his flatterers, Johnnnes Wierix, around 1620 …
This crude composition based on a Flemish proverb uses toilet humour to allude to the power of wealth. A defecating rich man scatters coins from a sack and ‘ass-kissers’ and ‘brownnosers’ scuttle up his humongous behind.
On the contrary, in the Eastern traditions, money is celebrated as an agent of fulfilment, plenitude and fertility.
This shift in attitude prompts Eastern artistic engagement with money to be far more positive and fun. It celebrates money’s agency in bringing prosperity, wealth and happiness. Here we see representations of gods and goddesses, symbolisms and happy cultural associations with money …
A seated figure of Kubera, Buddhist god of wealth, Tibet, 18th–19th century.
Lakshmi, Hindu goddess of wealth …
Humour, satire, irony and wit are often deployed as critical tools by artists to playfully poke fun or shine a light on different social and political topics. These include many of the enduring questions and issues facing society, from the pressures of inflation to the intersections between gender, celebrity and status.
James Gillray lampoons a belching and farting prime minister …
Pitt the Younger, depicted as Midas, Transmuting All into Paper, 1797.
Another Gillray. Political Ravishment, or the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in Danger, 1797 …
Prime Minister Wlliam Pitt, the young man, is shown trying to woo an old lady, the Bank of England, as he slips his hand into her pocket.
Bringing us up to date, a rather careworn looking King Charles III …
The final exhibit, Susan Stockwell’s sculpture ‘Money Dress’ is an excellent example of a ‘feminist’ intervention using money as medium. Shaped like an impressive Victorian gown, it is dedicated to the early 20th-century explorer and anthropologist Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) …
The exhibition is open until 5th January 2025 – highly recommended.
Finally, some images from the streets.
Last Saturday I was feeling a bit grumpy as I went to buy a paper when I met this lovely man pushing his beautiful Christmas dust cart …
We shook hands, wished one another a Happy Christmas, and I didn’t stop smiling for ages!
Obviously many people cycle to Oxford Station to catch the train. How do they get to their bike if it’s in the middle of this lot …
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