The Master of the Aachen Altarpiece, The Crucifixion, about 1490-5. The National Gallery, London. I’m really enjoying getting to know the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool – it has a fantastic collection, with some real gems – and am looking forward to starting my online stroll around the museum this Monday, 12 February with aContinue reading “216 – Between Earth and Heaven”
Category Archives: Landscape
213 – With Berthe in the Bois de Boulogne
Berthe Morisot, A Horse and Carriage in the Bois de Boulogne, after 1883. The Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford. If you want an exhibition to help you cope with the stress of Christmas, or to get you going – gently – in the New Year, you could do worse than heading to Impressionists on PaperContinue reading “213 – With Berthe in the Bois de Boulogne”
Day 54 – Psyche V: ‘Reawakening’
Anthony van Dyck, Cupid and Psyche, 1639-40, Royal Collection Trust. This is another re-post, but somehow, and I really don’t know how, I managed to delete the original quite a long time ago. I was probably on a train with dodgy WiFi, and maybe even using my phone, all of which would generally result inContinue reading “Day 54 – Psyche V: ‘Reawakening’”
189 – Vermeer… of Delft
Johannes Vermeer, View of Delft, c. 1660-61. Mauritshuis, The Hague. As I start writing, I am on the verge of flying to Amsterdam. By the time you read this, though, I will have spent the day in Delft, visiting the viewpoint from which Vermeer saw his native city, seeing the streets he lived and workedContinue reading “189 – Vermeer… of Delft”
175 – Solid and durable
Paul Cézanne, Mont Sainte-Victoire, 1886-87. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Mont Sainte-Victoire was undoubtedly Paul Cézanne’s favourite landscape motif. He painted it over 80 times, but, to keep a handle on things, today I’m just going to look at one. However, my next talk, on Monday, 24 October at 6pm, will be an introduction toContinue reading “175 – Solid and durable”
166 – From C- to Sea
Barbara Hepworth, Pelagos, 1946. Tate. As so often, things have turned out to be more complicated than I expected – and that refers not just to today’s post, but also to what, exactly, I’m going to be doing in September. This much is settled: on Monday 22 August I will be giving a talk entitledContinue reading “166 – From C- to Sea”
Return to the Rainbow
John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, 1830-31. Tate Britain, London. I’ve been meaning to come back to this painting for a long time, having originally written about it in May 2020 as Picture of the Day 47, and now is the time to do it, given that I will be talking about the Royal Academy’sContinue reading “Return to the Rainbow”
136 – At Home with Uncle Gianni
Bernardo Bellotto, Venice: Upper Reaches of the Grand Canal facing Santa Croce, about 1738. National Gallery, London. This Monday, 20 September, I will be putting the National Gallery’s small but perfectly formed exhibition Bellotto: The Königstein Views Reunited into context with a lecture I have entitled Bellotto – The Journey to Dresden, so today IContinue reading “136 – At Home with Uncle Gianni”
Lent 4
Well, it’s not all bad! After yesterday’s lowering clouds, the bright blue sky couldn’t be more welcome. The sun is shining, casting shadows on the pale green grass – although I’m not entirely convinced they are being cast in the right direction, given that, judging by the light on the different facets of the buildings,Continue reading “Lent 4”
Day 94 – Narcissus
Claude, Landscape with Narcissus and Echo, 1644, National Gallery, London. I last talked about Claude, one of the great innovators of landscape painting, when we were exploring the story of Psyche, and if you want to more about him, and why I think this artist who produced all his work in Italy was not really French,Continue reading “Day 94 – Narcissus”