Previous Posts: September 2024

The exhibition unfolds across time, from the 15th to the 19th century, with a foray into the 20th century. Each stage holds surprises: admire a sketch on canvas by Jacques Jordaens, a model by Alexander Calder, a watercolor by Anne Bonnet, or an oil painting by Delacroix. Preparatory drawings by Rik Wouters stand alongside Fernand Khnopff's decorative projects for the Stoclet House, while the high-reliefs and statuettes by Constantin Meunier and the plein-air sketches by Gustave Courbet or Ferdinand De Braekeleer will captivate you.

Through a thematic scenography, discover rare works, sometimes never exhibited before , alongside the famous bustling sketches of Peter Paul Rubens.

This unique exhibition, built around the exceptional collections of Fine Arts of Belgium, also marks the result of a vast restoration campaign carried out over nearly two years by the Museum's teams. Don't miss this opportunity to delve into the secret world of artistic creation and rediscover masterpieces in a new light.

The Standard’s interim chief executive, Paul Kanareck, said the edition would have multiple features on AI and London’s role as a hub for the technology. “The London Standard is a bold and disruptive new publication,” he said. “It includes an experimental AI review by our legendary critic Brian Sewell, and his estate are delighted.” [...]

The Standard did not confirm how it would recreate Sewell’s distinctive style – he once wrote that Banksy “should have been put down at birth” – but chatbots can be prompted to produce work in the style of different writers. When prompted by the Guardian on Wednesday, the ChatGPT chatbot produced a faux-article on Vincent van Gogh written in a rough approximation of Sewell’s style.

Born just fourteen months apart, one in London and the other in rural Suffolk, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable went on to change the face of British art.

The two men have routinely been seen as polar opposites, not least by their peers. Differing in temperament, background, beliefs and vision, they created images as dissimilar as their personalities.

Yet in many ways they were fellow travellers. As children of the late 18 th century, both faced the same challenges and opportunities. Above all, they shared common cause as champions of a distinctively British art. Through their work, they fought for the recognition and appreciation of landscape painting – and in doing so ensured their reputations were forever intertwined and interlinked.

Nicola Moorby offers us a fresh perspective on two extraordinary artists, uncovering the layers of fiction that have embellished and disguised their greatest achievements. For Turner & Constable is not just a tale of two artists; it is also the story of the triumph of landscape painting.

With a comprehensive exhibition spanning several epochs, the Hamburger Kunsthalle will shed light on the diverse facets of the theme of illusion in art, from the Old Masters to today. Ever since antiquity, artists everywhere have been making use of the “trompe-l’oeil” technique, and it was particularly popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The desire for illusionistic renderings then waned during the Romantic period, but this type of art never completely disappeared from the repertoire and it continues to fascinate artists to this day. The exhibition will show how illusion means far more than merely deceiving the eye. It is manifested in the (illusionistic) self-love of Narcissus as well as in spatial illusions in architecture, in the play of concealing and revealing via the pictorial motifs of the curtain and the mask, in the meaning of the open or closed window to the world, and in depictions of visions and dreams. Based on some 150 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, installations and video works, the show traces the many different forms taken by hyperrealism, reality, fiction, dream, transformation and deception. Among the exhibits are major works from the Hamburger Kunsthalle as well as loans from national and international collections.

Fred Kudjo Kuwornu is an Italian Afro- descendant filmmaker and activist currently living in New York. His early training was in the field of political science. We Were Here (2024), the film made by Kuwornu for the exhibition, is part of the journey that began with Inside Buffalo (2010) and continued with 18 Ius Soli (2012) and BlaxploItalian (2016). At the heart of these films is the intention to give visibility to the vicissitudes of Afro-descendants in Western societies: from historical events – such as the contribution of the 92nd Buffalo Soldiers regiment, which fought in Italy in World War II – to the micro-stories of second-generation immigrants engaged in the recognition of Italian citizenship, to the claim of Black identity in the world of creative industries and the arts. If BlaxploItalian investigates the processes of Blackness in the portrayal of the Black community in the media, We Were Here focuses on the history of art and the representation of Black Africans in European visual culture since the Renaissance. The journey is accompanied by the voice of the author, whose presence aims to create an empathic connection with the viewer.

JMW Turner and changing visions of landscape is a major new exhibition exploring artists' approaches to landscape from the 17th century to the present day. It commences the celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the birth of JMW Turner, one of the most influential artists in the history of western art.

The exhibition explores the evolution of landscape art, centring on Turner's influence, whose landscapes conveyed a full range of artistic, historical and emotional meanings. Featuring seven oil paintings and nine works on paper by Turner, it compares his visionary approach with those who influenced him, like Claude Lorrain, Ruisdael and Canaletto, and those he inspired, from John Sell Cotman to Govinda Sah. Renowned twentieth-century artists like Paul Nash and contemporary figures such as Ibrahim Mahama, Emma Stibbon, and Henna Nadeem demonstrate the ongoing relevance of landscape in art.

From the magnificent gardens created by Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst to a striking self-portrait by Angelica Kauffman; from elegant, mass-produced ceramics by Susie Cooper, to a model of a Palmyran temple by lady’s maid Betty Ratcliffe – this beautifully illustrated book takes a closer look at the women whose creativity has shaped the National Trust’s collections and, often, the experience of visitors to its places.

Spanning six centuries, the book explores the lives and work of women artists and designers across a range of disciplines, including garden and interior design, photography, illustration, industrial design, fine art, studio pottery and textiles. The selection features both talented amateur artists and professionals who have shaped the art-historical canon (such as Eileen Agar, Élisabeth Vigée le Brun, Rosalba Carriera and Barbara Hepworth), focussing on their unique contributions and achievements.

The Leonard A. Lauder Research Center for Modern Art invites applications for grants supporting publications in the field of modern art and theory, and modern visual culture.

We use the term ‘modern art’ inclusively to refer to architecture, drawing, design (including exhibition, graphic, interior and stage design), film, painting, performance, photography, printmaking, sculpture, and textiles in the period from the last third of the nineteenth century through to the 1960s, from any country region or culture.

Up to six grants per year typically between $4,000 and $7,000, with no single grant more than $12,000 to be awarded.

After selling her company, with a renewed sense of time and energy, she turned her focus to family, philanthropy and collecting. Informed by countless family visits to galleries, museums and auctions, Miller built the foundations of the extraordinary collection to follow. Alongside her pursuit of fine art, Miller also began collecting design. Her initial focus in these formative years was on iconic French eighteenth-century furniture and European design, particularly the French Art Deco period of the 1920s and 1930s. Guided by her impeccable eye for beauty and craftsmanship, she sought out pieces that captured the elegance and refinement of that era. Over time, Miller’s collecting interests broadened to include not only historic masterpieces but also daring contemporary Design works. She began integrating modern and post-war design into her collection, acquiring pieces by such celebrated designers as François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne, and – as her passion for decorative arts and design evolved – she showed increasing interest in works by emerging Contemporary designers, including Robert Goosens, David Wiseman, Joseph Walsh and others. What distinguished Miller as a collector is how she lived with these works – fine art and design were not separate categories but coexisted harmoniously in her spaces. Throughout her pioneering career, her self-avowed aim was always to promote “individual expression and creativity”, and this aesthetic is at the heart of her collection.