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!”
Author Archives: drrichardstemp
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”
275 – Then Mary gathered cherries
Workshop of Martin Schongauer, The Virgin and Child in a Garden, 1470s or early 1480s. The National Gallery, London. Martin Schongauer, who I will be talking about this Monday, 18 May at 6pm, is most renowned for his engravings, of which many have survived. As one of a family of goldsmiths, working metal would haveContinue reading “275 – Then Mary gathered cherries”
Michelangelo, and the still-lost Love
Alessandro Algardi, Sleep, 1635-6. Museo Borghese, Rome. Yes, you’re right, this is not a sculpture by Michelangelo. Nor is it, for that matter, ‘Love’. You might have realised that already from the photograph – or for that matter, simply by reading the caption. But I do love this work – and after Bernini’s flashy showpiecesContinue reading “Michelangelo, and the still-lost Love”
274 – Feeling blue
Konrad Mägi, Saaremaa Motif, 1913. Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn. After last week’s delicate, subtle drawings by ten wonderful women from the 18th to the 19th centuries, today I’m looking forward to the rich colour and bold brushstrokes of Konrad Mägi, who I will talk about this Monday, 4 May at 6pm. I’m hoping thatContinue reading “274 – Feeling blue”
