Art
Goya and Dix Just Needed a Rainbow
The problem with a show in Venice on war is the insistence that there had to be a bit of hope too — and the hopeful element of this show is feeble, if not schmalzy.
Michael Glover
Michael Glover is a Sheffield-born, Cambridge-educated, London-based poet, art critic, and poetry editor of The Tablet. He has written regularly for the Independent, the Financial Times, and the Economist, and was a London correspondent for ARTNews.
Art
Willem de Kooning’s Italy
Paintings from the late 1950s and on prove that de Kooning had sat at the feet of, and learnt much from, such old Italian masters as Titian and Tintoretto.
Art
The Sartorial Rivals of Waterloo
The 1st Duke of Wellington was always very particular about the way he turned himself out — as was his nemesis Napoleon, of course.
Art
A Thoroughly Modern Baroque Master
A suite of paintings by Italian Baroque master Guercino at England’s Waddesdon Manor seems to herald the coming of Christ and a modern future.
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.
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.