An old photograph leads Worm to go poking around an old scrapyard in search of the possible inspiration for a twentieth century masterpiece... Last week I happened upon this photograph of WW2 Blitz wreckage (click on it to enlarge - it's from this terrific set of photos), and immediately wondered if ... Read More...
Painting
Continuing from last week's post, which looked at three great paintings with dark backgrounds, Malty expands, taking in Richter, understrappers and the meaning of art... There is another dimension to these three paintings, in that they reside in what must be their natural setting. Mrs Ionides, from an era when the 'if ... Read More...
A real treat for art-lovers here, as the inimitable Malty takes us on a tour of three great paintings that make effective use of dark backgrounds. Part two will follow next week... A darkened backdrop in the right setting can be very effective, witness Gmail's latest inbox offering, very sexy, looks ... Read More...
Continuing our occasional series featuring some of the finest pictures in London's National Gallery, Gaw looks at a crucifixion scene that's unusually troubling even for this genre... The current work-in-progress of Mark Alexander, a painter and friend of The Dabbler, is inspired by Christ Mocked (The Crowning by Thorns) by Hieronymus Bosch. He ... Read More...
In a post that originally kicked off our National Treasures series, Brit looks at an infamous nativity scene... Pieter van Bruegel the Elder is best known for his large, peasant-filled landscapes, so this scene of the Magi offering their gifts to the infant Christ is a rare ‘close-up’. For something painted in ... Read More...
Continuing our occasional series featuring some of the finest pictures in London's National Gallery, Nige looks at an under-appreciated Venetian master... These days restfulness and sheer undemanding beauty are not qualities we value very highly in the art of the past, preferring emotion and drama - hence our preference for Caravaggio ... Read More...
Above is Lawrence Alma-Tadema's innocently titled painting The Tepidarium. And the question you ask yourself is - how did those Victorians get away with it? Alma-Tadema, a Dutchman who became a giant of the high Victorian art scene, features largely in Victorian Olympus, part of William Gaunt's trilogy on Victorian painters (The ... Read More...
For me, it was Rembrandt's Portrait of His Mother (the one in the Royal Collection), in a black-and-white reproduction in an encyclopaedia. I was 9 or 10 at the time, and this was the first picture I saw that moved me, and gave me an inkling of what a painting ... Read More...
Continuing our series looking at great paintings housed in London's National Gallery... Dating from around 1540, this arresting painting depicts an unlovely pair of taxmen, evidently just as popular in 16th century Zeeland (in the Netherlands) as they are everywhere today. It is agreed to be unlikely that Marinus painted from a ... Read More...
Yesterday, I had a glimpse into another world. It was afforded by a handful of remarkable works by Zoran Mušič in the Estorick Collection's latest exhibition (Double Portrait: Ida Barbarigo and Zoran Mušič, to 12th June). Large, figurative oil paintings, including portraits of the artist and his wife (above), they were executed ... Read More...
