Victor Hugo, The Cheerful Castle, c. 1847. Maisons de Victor Hugo Paris/Guernsey. This week – Monday 2 June at 6pm, to be precise – I am looking forward to talking about the truly astonishing drawings by Victor Hugo in the Royal Academy’s aptly named exhibition Astonishing Things. If I’m honest, I went to see itContinue reading “250 – What’s in a name?”
Category Archives: Titles
236 – Rubens, before Constable
Peter Paul Rubens, A View of Het Steen in the Early Morning, probably 1636. The National Gallery, London. After five weeks talking about the Italian Renaissance I’m going to take a break and head forward to the 19th Century. There is a direct line to be drawn, I think, from Constable, via Monet, to VanContinue reading “236 – Rubens, before Constable”
223 – FLY
Yoko Ono, FLY, 1996. Richmond, Virginia. As I post this I’m on my way home, having talked to a group of Tate sponsors – a well-established firm of lawyers – about the exhibition Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind. I will repeat this talk for a potentially more discerning group (you) this Monday 27 JuneContinue reading “223 – FLY”
197 – Lavinia, Mary and Margaret
Lavinia Fontana, The Holy Family with Saints Margaret and Francis, 1578. Davis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. It is very rare that a museum can present an exhibition of the work of an artist who is not only very good, but also relatively unknown – especially when they lived in the 16th Century. ButContinue reading “197 – Lavinia, Mary and Margaret”
194 – Visionary, too
Hilma af Klint, Tree of Knowledge, No. 1, 1913-15. Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland. Tate is currently hosting a remarkable exhibition, Hilma af Klint & Piet Mondrian, about which I will be talking this Monday, 8 May at 6.00pm. It is remarkable, I think, in that it combines two artists who never met, and who, inContinue reading “194 – Visionary, too”
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”
151 – Mommie dearest
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1, 1871. Musée d’Orsay, Paris. This coming Monday’s talk, White: Whistler’s Woman… is an introduction to the Royal Academy’s exhibition entitled Whistler’s Woman in White. This does not refer to one specific painting, though, but to a person, as the subtitle of the exhibition makesContinue reading “151 – Mommie dearest”
139 – Cavalier attitudes
Judith Leyster, The Last Drop (The Gay Cavalier), c. 1629. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA. Famously, Frans Hals’ painting, The Laughing Cavalier, is neither laughing, nor a cavalier – I will talk about what he is and who he might be this coming Monday, 25 October at 6pm in the context of the WallaceContinue reading “139 – Cavalier attitudes”
Day 100 – A New Life
Giotto, The Raising of Lazarus, c. 1305 Scrovegni Chapel, Padua. We looked at The Raising of Lazarus a few days ago, in the dark and mysterious painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner in the Musée d’Orsay (Picture Of The Day 95). Admittedly his work is titled ‘Resurrection’ rather than ‘Raising’, but that might be a result of translation fromContinue reading “Day 100 – A New Life”
Day 77 – Sofonisba Anguissola
Sofonisba Anguissola, Bernardino Campi painting Sofonisba Anguissola, late 1550s, Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena. Who could not love this artist given her name? Quite apart from her talent, of course. I will come back to her very soon to explore her life and her work in more depth. But for now, I want to look at a paintingContinue reading “Day 77 – Sofonisba Anguissola”
dr richard stemp 