Art
The Secret Universe of William Blake’s Art
William Blake’s Universe feels a little hugger-mugger, as if part of its job is to offer up its secrets to like-minded enthusiasts.
Michael Glover
Art
When Shakespeare Lured Soldiers to Battle
Beloved by kings and generals, Shakespeare’s lines have always found their way into powerful hands — and been employed to violent ends.
Art
Was John Singer Sargent an Insufferable Snob?
Sargent’s sitters were all rich enough to employ him — the nouveau riches or (less often) the aristocratic, though it hardly matters.
Art
Frank Auerbach Wrests Light From the Darkness
We can almost breathe the atmosphere of the sad London of the 1950s in Auerbach’s suite of charcoal portraits from the 1950s and 1960s.
Art
Of Chairs and Pomeranians
What do Vincent van Gogh, Barbara Kruger, Prince Albert, and fluffy dogs have in common?
Art
When Museums Become Instagram Bait
Many of the works in When Forms Come Alive are irredeemably superficial, as colorfully lightweight as they come.
Art
The Resounding Talents of a Quiet Renaissance Master
Perhaps Pesellino lacked a certain ferocity of ambition — those who choose not to shout from the rooftops often fail to get heard.
Art
Leon Kossoff’s Battles
Art can be, and often is, a species of combat, a fight to the death.
Art
How the Impressionists Captured Life on Paper
While painting on canvas often slows life right down, paper works were frequently the stuff of sketchbooks, not necessarily labored over in some studio.
Art
Is Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall a Good Place to Show Art?
From Louise Bourgeois in 2000 to El Anatsui in 2023, countless artists have wrestled with the London exhibition space’s (im)possibilities.
Art
Marina Abramović, a Shaman of Late Capitalism
Is the Royal Academy’s Marina Abramović retrospective spirituality or its monetization? You toss the coin.
Art
How R.B. Kitaj Kept It All Together
In Kitaj’s work, the whole is an extravagant layering of several images into one.