A picture paints a thousand words

Sue and Phil read sonnets at a private viewing of a fascinating exhibition open from Monday 24 August until Sunday 6 September 2009 at The Rodd, Presteigne.

In 1963 Nolan painted a remarkable series of works representing William Shakespeare’s Sonnets. He was inspired to tackle this seemingly impossible task by his great friend Benjamin Britten who had set one of the Sonnets (No 43) to music. The Sidney Nolan Trust are showing a significant collection of the Sonnet paintings, including several works that were painted later, when Nolan revisited the theme. The exhibition has been timed to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the publication of the Sonnets and is open from 10.30am - 5.30pm.

Sue and Phil, accompanied by Charlotte Moncrieff, read 30 sonnets during the viewing, while standing next to the appropriate painting. It was particularly rewarding for us to repay the kindness shown by the Sidney Nolan Trust when they lent us eight of the sonnet paintings for our own sonnet festival back in June. In the photo below you can see Sue and Charlotte (on the left) with Lady Mary Nolan on the right.