A few Saturdays ago, I went to two photography exhibitions. When you see two shows more or less together like this – even though they are nothing to do with each other – it’s hard to stop unlooked-for, and occasionally revelatory, connections popping into your head and affecting how you perceive the work. Both the…
Category: Art
Walter Sickert Unsettles and Enchants at Tate Britain Retrospective
Walter Sickert is a bit of an enigma. Brilliant certainly, rather weird, probably. Author, Patricia Cornwell, wrote a book about him, claiming that he was the Jack the Ripper. She is not the first writer to associate Sickert with the infamous murderer. Other writers postulate that Sickert was the Ripper’s assistant. What is undeniable, is that Sickert…
Field work: Zadok Ben-David, ‘Natural Reserve’ at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Art emergency! If you are planning – or even vaguely considering – a visit to Kew Gardens over the next week or so, make sure you take in its current exhibition: ‘Natural Reserve’, the latest show from Zadok Ben-David. I first came across Ben-David’s art through being a Peter Gabriel fan. Even since his early…
Poussin and the Dance at the National Gallery, London
Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) A thought-provoking exhibition which offers a different view of Poussin’s early work in Rome and displays his paintings in a sympathetic and joyous environment. Guest review by Sarah Mulvey Detail from a Bacchanalian Revel Before a Term, ca.1632-33, London, National Gallery I am spellbound before Poussin’s painting of the Adoration of the Golden Calf in the…
Misery and Hope Through Motion | Visual Musings of William Blake’s ‘The Whirlwind of Lovers’
Guest post by Justin Pennington Simply called the Commedia, Dante Alighieri’s fourteenth-century magnum opus has fascinated scholars since its conception. It has produced many artistic, literary, and psycho-analytical examinations of its concern with eschatology. For those unfamiliar with the poem’s structure, it is the Inferno, with the pilgrim’s journey through Hell, and the powerful visual…
The Christmas Story in Art
Guest post by Dr Chris Davies Paintings of The Feast of the Nativity, The Adoration of the Shepherds and The Adoration of the Magi The Feast of the Nativity The most challenging task for any artist seeking to represent Christ is how to depict his dual nature, human yet fully divine. Christian art is above…
The Making of an artist’s career
Guest article by Dr Chris Davies With museums and galleries still restricted by the effects of the pandemic, Dr Christopher Davies explores the making of an artist’s career. The approach is Socratic, provocative, inviting debate Introduction Why one artist succeeds whilst others fail has long intrigued art historians. It raises a number of questions: Are…
Concrete jungle: ‘Among the Trees’, Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre
At a time when the outside world desperately needs to recognise the importance of the arts, it’s fitting to see an entire exhibition of art on a mission to engage directly with the outside world. ‘Among the Trees’ includes pieces from 37 artists (based worldwide), working in a range of media: as we wander through…
Venice with Turner
Like Canaletto before him, and Monet after him, J M W Turner (1775-1851) was intrigued and beguiled by Venice – the magical play of light and water, glimmering reflections of wedding cake palaces in the waters of the canals and the lagoon, the crumbling majesty of the buildings, the backstreets and alleys
French Impressions at the British Museum
The British Museum’s new French Impressions show was several floors up in room 90, around the back of the museum. I’ve become quite accustomed to coming here for the BM’s print shows, for, for one thing, the BM benefits from an impressive print archive – admired the world over. The last exhibition I attended here,…
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