I confess: initially I was in two minds about even attending this exhibition. The hook, for the record, is that 2026 marks Marilyn Monroe’s centenary year. Even so, i was a little sceptical about why – outside its being a surefire hot ticket – the gallery would shine a spotlight on surely one of the…
Category: portraiture
Personal space: Lee Miller, Tate Modern, London
This fascinating exhibition, offering a detailed, thoughtfully-assembled overview of Miller’s career, leaves the visitor in no doubt that she was one of the finest, most important artists to have picked up a camera. I was fortunate enough to go in the show’s final weeks, and for those of you unable to get there, I hope…
Male gaze: Francis Bacon, ‘Human Presence’, National Portrait Gallery, London
This collection of more than 50 portraits painted by Francis Bacon is certainly intense – although perhaps not for the reasons one might have expected. Some of Bacon’s most famous and celebrated canvases show extremes of violence and distortion: the full-on body horror of the early figures at the crucifixion, or the melting abyss of…
Crown prints: ‘Royal Portraits’, The King’s Gallery, London
Subtitled ‘A Century of Photography’, this is an absolute crowd-pleaser of an exhibition, precision-tooled to draw in the fascinated tourist alongside the domestic royal-watcher. However, whatever your views on the monarchy (which, I can assure you, it won’t change in any way), I still think it deserves your attention. This is a show equally concerned…
Dress code: ‘Sargent and Fashion’, Tate Britain, London
Anyone with an interest in portraiture will want to see this exhibition – a glorious opportunity to see more than 50 of John Singer Sargent’s paintings gathered in one place. The fashion theme provides a fascinating through-line, a starting point to appreciate the skill and complexity of Sargent’s compositions. But there are multiple layers to…
Moving images: ‘Yevonde – Life and Colour’, National Portrait Gallery, London
‘Madame Yevonde’ (born Yevonde Philone Cumbers) was a professional photographer whose versatile, pioneering career – lasting some 60 years until her death in 1975 at the age of 82 – reflected the relentless pace of change during the twentieth century. When visiting this major exhibition devoted to her work, it feels like walking through several…
Narrative threads: ‘Africa Fashion’, V&A, London
This was one of the most purely exciting exhibitions I’ve seen in a long time. So vibrant and visually assured, it stimulates one’s sight in the same way a complex gourmet meal explodes in multiple flavours across the taste buds. Seasoned visitors to the V&A might not be surprised by this. Quick note for those…
Over the Top with Everything They’d Got: British Baroque at Tate Britain
The new show at Tate Britain, British Baroque: Power and Illusion starts in another epoch when our relationship with Europe was a tad strained, let us say, and ends at the point when a German prince who spoke not a word of English was invited – if not begged – to take over the English throne. You’d almost think Tate Britain had timed this show deliberately.
‘Rembrandt’s Light’ lights up Dulwich
A new show has opened for autumn at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. It’s called Rembrandt’s Light. It’s intelligent, empathetic, surprising and at one point breathtaking, and I urge you all to go and see it as soon as possible. Dulwich, the UK’s earliest purpose-built public picture gallery (it was founded in 1811), was designed…
The Art of Recycling: THE ROYAL ACADEMY SUMMER EXHIBITION 2019
The RA Summer Exhibition, with its whiff of the London season, the cocktail party and the 19th-century Paris salon, is always a bit of an oddity, and all the better for it, IMHO.
ARTMUSELONDON 