SUMMER ARTWORKS

This decorated 5.5cm gold-foil disc was found in 1669 at Ballyshannon, Ireland, by men looking for a place described in an old Irish song where 'a man of a gigantick stature' was buried with gold ornaments. The disc is made of a thin sheet of beaten gold, and has raised decoration (repoussé) of a cross-shape surrounded by circles and geometric patterns.

Objects such as this are known as 'sun-discs' and are one of the earliest forms of sheet gold-work found in Britain and Ireland, dating to around 2500-2100 BC in the Early Bronze Age. Sun-discs may have been worn on clothing. They are often found singly or in pairs in burials.

On display in the European Prehistory gallery.

The Pharaoh Amenhotep IV (about 1345–1335 BC), shortly after becoming king of Egypt, broke with the religious and political tradition to focus worship on the sun as a creative force called the Aten.

Changing his name to Akhenaten, ‘He who is beneficial to the Aten’, the king built a new capital city called Akhetaten, ‘The horizon of the Aten’ (now known as Tell el-Amarna), where he lived with his queen, Nefertiti, and their six daughters, who all followed in the devotion of the sun.

The informal theme of palace life at Akhetaten is beautifully conveyed in the so-called ‘Princesses fresco’. This fragment of wall painting is the lower part of a scene depicting Akhenaten and Nefertiti relaxing with their daughters, two of which are sitting casually on floor cushions in the foreground (shown above).

The painting was applied to mud plaster on a brick wall. It was excavated by William Flinders Petrie in the 1890s.

You can see the fresco in the Ancient Egypt gallery.

This imposing and stoic statue was built by King Taharqa, conqueror of Egypt. The Ram represents the powerful god of sun and air Amun-Re, with Taharqa standing below. King Taharqa was the third in the line of Kushite rulers whose power extended from their native Nubia (northern Sudan) to the whole of Egypt, which they ruled as the pharaohs of the 25th Dynasty. Throughout his reign of Egypt Taharqa used the symbolic imagery of Amun-Re to evoke power and strength.

Many depictions of King Taharqa show him with the ram’s head and sun disc, symbolic of Amun-Re, worn as earrings or an amulet around his neck.

The statue usually sits in the Egyptian and Sudan galleries outside the Shrine of King Taharqa in the Ashmolean, the same position it was originally found in.

Chen Fen, the artist of this fan painting, was a specialist in bird-and-flower painting from Panyu, Guangdong province. He was a prominent pupil of the leading Guangdong painter Ju Lian (1828–1904), whose gongbi ‘fine-brush’ painting style is evident here.

Hand-held fans have long been used to keep people cool in Asia. Used particularly in the hot summer months, the paintings on many fans depict summery scenes: plants, insects and water creatures. Rigid fans were used in China from the 2nd century BC, but folding fans made of folded paper braced by thin bamboo sticks are thought to have been developed in Japan and Korea around the 8th century.

Fans were carried by men as well as women, and were used to represent status and social identity. Different types of fans were made for different purposes, whether for court use, for dancing, or for the tea ceremony. With so much significance attached to the fan in Asia, great attention was paid to its decoration. 

Samuel Palmer's idyllic, pastoral summer scene is inspired by Psalm 65, and the composition is characteristic of Palmer's belief in the munificence of God's bounty. It's one of six sepia drawings made in 1825 – the earliest and most individual expressions of Palmer's unique genius. These visionary works were forgotten until the 1920s, when Palmer's early landscape drawings became the crucial influence for English Neo-Romantics.

The dream-like atmosphere of this haunting drawing is emphasised by the absence of perspective and such details as the disproportionate size of the ears of grain in the foreground.

A talented artist, Samuel Palmer (1805–1881) was exhibiting his work at the Royal Academy when only 14. As a young man he met and became inspired by William Blake’s powerful imagery, derived from the Bible, Milton and Dante. Palmer began to work in the 'visionary' style that was to characterise his art for the next ten years.

This drawing can be seen in the Western Art Print Room, by appointment.

Get closer to Palmer's masterpiece with Dr Caroline Palmer in this mindfulness video

People crossing the large bridge are caught in a summer rainstorm in this atmospheric print, one of the most famous of Hiroshige’s images and which was copied in oils by Vincent van Gogh.

The effect of the driving rain is created by using two separate woodblocks to overlay fine lines of slightly different greys in slightly different directions. This work is from Hiroshige’s final series of prints called Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. Hiroshige designed the series in large, vertical format, allowing him to demonstrate bold composition skills, in particular his fondness for balancing foreground elements with landscape backgrounds.

A prolific artist, Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858) is thought to have created between 4,000 and 5,000 print designs during a career that lasted almost 50 years.

EAX.4740
Japanese prints on demand

Towards the end of his life, Renoir (1841–1919) painted a large number of still lifes of flowers. These included a series of roses in round bowls. They were painted quickly in oil on canvas, and show the artist making bold experiments with colour and tone, within the confines of a modest composition. 

Renoir was one of the leading painters of the Impressionist group. He evolved a technique of broken brushstrokes and used bold combinations of pure complementary colours to capture the light and movement of his landscapes and figure subjects. Following a visit to Italy in 1881 his style changed, becoming more linear and classical. 

Aside from being one of the nation's favourite flowers, with blooms that dominate the summer months, the rose has inspired many artists and makers throughout history. If one symbol represents love, power, royalty, beauty, sensuality and mysticism, it's the rose. 

On display in the Pissarro gallery.

The contemporary Chinese ink master Li Jin is best known for his playful and witty depictions of the sensory pleasure of the ordinaries, which subvert the classical themes of an ideal, elegant, and serene life in Chinese literati painting. Li Jin often accompanies his artworks with calligraphy of Buddhist texts.

In this sensual work 'Amongst flowers and butterflies' we see summery flowers in full bloom and brightly-coloured figures in their zizai {existing on one's own moment). This state refers to ease and freedom in Buddhism and the painting embodies the characteristic aesthetic of xianhuo (aliveness) in Li Jin's art.

This and other works by Li Jin are currently on show in the artist's Simple Pleasures exhibition at the Ashmolean, alongside correspondence and artwork by the British caricaturist Roger Law - both artists have been friends from many years.

On display in Simple Pleasures: Li Jin with Roger Law
Chinese Paintings Gallery 11, Level 0
Free exhibition open until 17 Nov 2024