Johannes Vermeer, The Love Letter, about 1669-70. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. My next two talks are dedicated to single works by two artists who had a lot in common – and yet were completely different: Vermeer and Caravaggio. They both worked in the 17th century painting religious subject matter and genre scenes, and both produced relatively fewContinue reading “263 – Vermeer, playing with your imagination”
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262 – Stand well back
Joseph Wright of Derby, The Annual Girandola at the Castel Sant’Angelo, 1775-76. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool. Wright of Derby: From the Shadows – the exhibition at The National Gallery which I will be talking about this Monday, 24 November at 6pm – is one of those exhibitions which takes a small slice of an artist’sContinue reading “262 – Stand well back”
251 – Heaven brought down to earth
Cimabue, The Virgin and Child with Two Angels, about 1280-85. The National Gallery, London. I confess that I have always been slightly dubious about the status of ‘Cimabue’ in the History of Art. After all, only one of his works is documented, and that is a mosaic: how can you establish an artist’s oeuvre onContinue reading “251 – Heaven brought down to earth”
239 – Saint Christina of Bolsena!
Luca Signorelli, Virgin and Child with Saints, 1515. The National Gallery, London. This Monday, 13 January I will be talking about the National Gallery’s superb, small-scale exhibition Parmigianino: The Vision of Saint Jerome, expanding on what is on display with reference to the superb and thoroughly researched catalogue. Earlier this week, while talking about theContinue reading “239 – Saint Christina of Bolsena!”
229 – Wise Men, Kings, Saints…
Jacopo di Cione and workshop, The Adoration of the Kings, 1370-71. The National Gallery, London. I know, there are still 118 days to go before Christmas, but even so I have decided to look at a painting of the Three Wise Men. I’ve chosen this painting because the protagonists feature in Jacopo di Cione’s magisterialContinue reading “229 – Wise Men, Kings, Saints…”
212 – A yellow book
Ramon Casas I Carbó, Jove decadent. Després del ball, 1899. Museu de Montserrat, Spain. Don’t be fooled by fame and celebrity – there are some wonderful works of art by artists who only make it to the footnotes of art history, of whom you may never have heard. The ‘poster girl’ for the Ashmolean Museum’sContinue reading “212 – A yellow book”
198 – Looking beneath the surface
Johannes Vermeer, Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid, c. 1670. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin. Today’s painting was my real ‘discovery’ of the Rijksmuseum’s Vermeer, a painting I hardly knew, and might not even have seen before. I think I had been to the National Gallery of Ireland twice, very briefly, before my recentContinue reading “198 – Looking beneath the surface”
191 – In the driving seat
Jan Gossaert, An Elderly Couple, about 1520. National Gallery, London. Today’s painting is one that I have loved for years, but rarely get to speak about, so it was a great pleasure to see it in the National Gallery’s exhibition The Ugly Duchess, about which I will be talking this Monday, 17 April at 6pm.Continue reading “191 – In the driving seat”
172 – Incisive
Winslow Homer, The Army of the Potomac – A Sharp-Shooter On Picket Duty, 1862. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Today I want to look at an engraving as a way of introducing the work of a great painter: Winslow Homer. This is, of course, by way of an introduction my talk this Monday, 3Continue reading “172 – Incisive”
167 – Looking back, moving on
Tom Hunter, Woman Reading a Possession Order, 1997. Victoria and Albert Museum, London. I don’t think I’ve written about a photograph before (correct me if I’m wrong), but this one is rather beautiful, and featured in the Dulwich Picture Gallery’s exhibition Reframed: The Woman in the Window to which I will be returning this Monday,Continue reading “167 – Looking back, moving on”
dr richard stemp 