drrichardstemp

Looking back across the sea

Barbara Hepworth, Pelagos, 1946. Tate. Yes, another re-post! Basically, I’m having a break from writing over the summer… but I’ll have to write a new entry next week. This is a good one to look back to, though, as the sculpture Pelagos, which takes its name from πέλαγος – an Ancient Greek word for theContinue reading “Looking back across the sea”

Clara Peeters: Second Breakfast

Clara Peeters, Stil Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels, c. 1615, Mauritshuis, The Hague. You may be familiar with the concept of ‘second breakfast’ from the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien – he popularised the idea by suggesting that it was popular with Hobbits. However, even before Tolkien took it to Middle-earth, the second breakfast was standard practiceContinue reading “Clara Peeters: Second Breakfast”

Looking again at the Leading Star

Judith Leyster, Self Portrait, c. 1630, National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. Greetings from Shetland! I still have a few days here, but will be back in plenty of time for my talk this Monday, 3 August at 6pm which will be the first of two about the superb exhibition I saw in Ghent back inContinue reading “Looking again at the Leading Star”

280 – “Amo” I love!

Edward Robert Hughes, Study for a Picture: Fra Lippo Lippi, 1893. Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead. I am only just starting to get to know the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum in Birkenhead. It’s a little bit out of the way for me, on the Wirral, but only 20 minutes to drive… However, IContinue reading “280 – “Amo” I love!”

Hockney, retrospective

David Hockney, My Parents and Myself, 1976. The David Hockney Foundation. I first posted today’s blog just under two years ago, when the National Gallery was showing a closely related work in a rather wonderful 3-painting display. It seems apt to repost it today, though, as I look forward to this week’s talk (at 6.00pmContinue reading “Hockney, retrospective”

279 – Honeysuckle A and B

May Morris, Design for Honeysuckle wallpaper, about 1879-83. The William Morris Society. I spent the weekend with a very slow WiFi connection trying to get my laptop back up to running order. If you’re reading this now, I have clearly succeeded. However, the whole process has given me plenty of time to look at myContinue reading “279 – Honeysuckle A and B”

278 – Heading for a Fall

Henri Matisse, The Fall of Icarus, 1943. Private collection. You know when someone says, ‘I’m having one of those weeks’? Well, that’s me. For a while I even thought I would have to postpone Monday’s talk, Matisse because on Tuesday night (well, Wednesday morning) at about 12:30am my laptop locked me out. However, I gotContinue reading “278 – Heading for a Fall”

277 – How do you know that?

Francisco de Zurbarán, A Cup of Water and a Rose, about 1630. The National Gallery, London. Zurbarán at the National Gallery has been open for some time, but I’m only just getting round to talking about it this Monday, 15 June at 6pm. There are various reasons for that, not least of which was preparingContinue reading “277 – How do you know that?”

276 – Looking beyond

Matthias Grünewald, The Resurrection from The Isenheim Altarpiece, 1512-16. Musée Unterlinden, Colmar. This Monday, 1 June, at 6pm, I will give a talk about Mathis Gothart Nithart, who is better known to us as Matthias Grünewald. This isn’t related to an exhibition – more’s the pity – but to my visit to Colmar with ArtemisiaContinue reading “276 – Looking beyond”

Another visit to Whistler’s Mother

James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, 1871. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. I’m re-posting an essay from 2022 to celebrate the opening – today – of the exhibition James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain. I’ll be talking about it this coming Monday, 25 May at 6pm… so I’d better get to work!Continue reading “Another visit to Whistler’s Mother”