
Nitin Sawhney
Photo by Suki Dhanda
Nitin Sawhney
11 artworks | 9:47 minutes
Nitin Sawhney is an award-winning composer and musician who works across dance, film, radio, television, theatre and video games, in addition to releasing solo albums and performing worldwide.
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John Gibson RA, Achilles and Penthesileia, c.1850.
Part of the RA Collectionpen and brown ink on buff laid paper. 173 mm x 128 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
John Gibson RA
Achilles and Penthesileia , c.1850
I love it when I see sketches that really show form. I work a lot with choreography and this feels like a choreographed pose... something about it is quite powerful and emotional.
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1. John Gibson's drawing of a standing warrior
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Solomon Alexander Hart RA, Study of an interior with an open door, Windsor.
Part of the RA Collectionwatercolour and pencil on cream wove paper (some scratched out to produce white highlights). 294 mm x 155 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Solomon Alexander Hart RA
Although it is just a study of a door, it’s a very interesting door and it makes me feel invited into the painting.
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2. William Solomon Hart's study of a doorway
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Sir George Clausen RA, Study for 'The Thresher', ca. 1889.
Part of the RA CollectionPastel on laid paper. 311 mm x 239 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Sir George Clausen RA
Study for 'The Thresher' , ca. 1889
This drawing feels like a work-in-progress. You feel like you’re in the mind of the artist and you’re looking at how they’re approaching a particular idea.
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4. George Clausen's study
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Edwin Long RA, Nouzhatoul-âouadat, 1881.
Part of the RA CollectionOil on canvas. 733 mm x 600 mm x 23 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: John Hammond.
Edwin Long RA
Nouzhatoul-âouadat , 1881
This painting made me want to know more about her; how this painter had discovered her and what her story was. It reminds me of an old Indian painting that we used to have in our house.
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5. Edwin Long's portrait of a woman
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Henry Hugh Armstead RA, A seated male figure, for carvings at Llandaff Cathedral.
Part of the RA Collectionpen and ink over pencil on cream wove paper. 173 mm x 102 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Henry Hugh Armstead RA
I love the effortless way in which this drawing is sketched out. There’s not much in this, it looks very simple, but it gets across material in a really good way.
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6. Henry Hugh Armstead's drawing
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James Hunkin, Albert Irvin R.A., 1999.
Part of the RA Collectionsilver gelatin print, Kodak Ektalure paper. 352 mm x 278 mm. © Royal Academy of Arts. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
James Hunkin
Albert Irvin R.A. , 1999
I really like this lighting in this particular photograph. It’s the way the exposure makes the light bleed into the subject’s arm and into the wall, it has a real softness.
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7. James Hunkin's photograph of Albert Irvin RA
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Antony Gormley RA, Plant, 2002.
Part of the RA Collectioncast iron. 1950 mm x 570 mm x 420 mm. © Sir Antony Gormley RA. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Antony Gormley RA
Plant , 2002
This sculpture is fantastic... almost everything you see of Antony’s work is directly looking at the human form, so it’s quite unusual to see something that is a remnant of a human form.
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8. Antony Gormley's sculpture
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Lord Leighton PRA, Head and shoulders of a man, possibly relating to 'Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna'.
Part of the RA Collectionwatercolour and gouache over black chalk on blue wove paper. 250 mm x 193 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London. Photographer: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited.
Lord Leighton PRA
Head and shoulders of a man, possibly relating to 'Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna'
You feel like you’re seeing a human being formed from the ether, or from the air around them. There’s such beautiful, although simple, detail in this drawing.
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10. Lord Leighton's drawing of a man
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Henry Hugh Armstead RA, Compositional study for an illustration to Tennyson's Godiva.
Part of the RA Collectionpen and ink with wash over pencil on cream wove paper. 135 mm x 64 mm. © Photo: Royal Academy of Arts, London.
Henry Hugh Armstead RA
Compositional study for an illustration to Tennyson's Godiva
The sketch looks almost cartoon-like to me... you get a real sense of the horse being exhausted from the journey, and Lady Godiva looking quite worried about where she’s about to end up!
Now playing
11. Henry Hugh Armstead's study of Lady Godiva
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Nitin Sawhney’s career spans decades of solo albums, film scoring, video game soundtracks, work for dance and theatre, commissions for leading orchestras, television soundtracks, radio broadcasting and live performances around the world. Nitin has received an Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award, a BAFTA, a MOBO, a Mercury Prize nomination, a South Bank Show Award, two BBC Radio 3 world music awards, a New York Bessie, an RTS award, six honorary doctorates, two fellowships and 15 other major national and international awards.
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