Titian (active circa 1506-76), Portrait of a Lady (La Schiavona) (circa 1510-12). Oil. © The National Gallery, London
Exhibition: Sculpture in Painting, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, until January 10 2010
The visitor's book of an exhibition is often an interesting mix of, among other things, constructive comments, praise for the collection, and, at times, the observations of someone who seems to be in the wrong place.
The comment "not enough dinosaurs", while original, appears to belong to the latter, and does not give the praise the Sculptures in Painting exhibition at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds really deserves.
A collection of works from the 1500s to the present day, the exhibition explores the dialogue between two and three-dimensional art. Its purpose is not to compare the disciplines of sculpture and painting, but to show how figurative and abstract painters have depicted sculpture in different ways.
Visitors can see paintings by influential artists including Hogarth, Vuillard and Henning. In addition, Titian's La Schiavona – on loan from The National Gallery – can be seen outside London for the first time since the 1940s here.
Lemuel Francis Abbott (1760-1802), Joseph Nollekens (circa 1797). National Portrait Gallery, London
Instead of using obvious sculpture-related works, the show offers a daring attempt to bring together a varied range of works which lend themselves to the three different sections of the exhibition.
The first part explores the coming together of the inanimate sculpture and the "living" human subject.
Visitors find themselves faced by Lemuel Francis Abbott's portrait of Joseph Nollekens, in which the sculptor is resting a hand on one of his works. Is Abbott implying his human subject is in some way superior to the lifeless sculpture, or merely depicting a sense of pride in Nollekens?
The second room is the biggest of the three, and it contains perhaps the most impressive collection of the exhibition. It is almost impossible not to be drawn to Leon Bonnat's Justice, which dominates with its sheer size.
But your eye is also drawn by the illusion of a three-dimensional frieze created by the artist. The monochrome of Bonnat's work provides a striking contrast to that of Henning's Blumenstilleben No 180, a combination of vivid colours and bold curves which creates a more abstract manifestation of sculpture in painting.
Tim Braden, Looking at Sculpture (2006). The artist. Courtesy Timothy Taylor Gallery, London
A final room brings together a collection of what the curators are calling "portraits of sculpture", such as Tim Braden's Looking at Sculpture, which depicts two small figures within a glass cabinet.
The reflection of the glass and the accompanying title cards are a distraction, but at least they invite us to consider how the ways in which an object is displayed can affect our interpretation of it.
This is a brave exhibition tackling an interesting theme, although I would recommend reading the accompanying book, which gives a detailed explanation of the narrative underlying the collection. It can be found sitting next to the visitor's book, which is an interesting read in itself.
Open 10am-5.30pm (9pm Wednesday). Admission free, call 0113 246 7467 or visit the Institute online.
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