portraits
Eyewitness: Hungarian Photography in the 20th Century, Royal AcademyThursday, 30 June 2011
A subtly haunting and brilliantly composed photograph by André Kertész lives on as a wistfully memorable image of exile: in Lost Cloud, 1937, a small, isolated cloud drifts we know not where next to a New York skyscraper. Kertész is one of the... Read more... |
Toulouse-Lautrec and Jane Avril: Beyond the Moulin Rouge, Courtauld GalleryThursday, 23 June 2011
As one of the stars of the Moulin Rouge, she was variously known by the nicknames "La Mélinite", "Jane la Folle", and "L’Etrange". The first was after a brand of explosive, the other two attesting to a little craziness. Jane Avril’s eccentric dance... Read more... |
Burke + Norfolk: Photographs From the War in Afghanistan, Tate ModernThursday, 12 May 2011
How easy is it to stage a dialogue between two artists when they are, in fact, separated by over a century? And is it really an artistic conversation that takes place or merely an imposition of values by the living over the dead? This pertinent... Read more... |
Ida Kar: Bohemian Photographer, National Portrait GalleryMonday, 14 March 2011
What ever happened to Ida Kar? If the question is not quite on the level of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, perhaps the answer is more interesting, if less melodramatic. Ida Kar - born Ida Karamian in Russia of Armenian parents, resident of Cairo... Read more... |
Picasso in Paris 1900-1907, Van Gogh Museum, AmsterdamThursday, 10 March 2011
An artist as inventive and as protean as Picasso, and one who ceaselessly absorbed influences throughout his life, will inevitably present an ever-changing face to the world. Hence, we have an apparently inexhaustible supply of exhibitions devoted... Read more... |
Judge of major art prize in intimate relationship with winnerThursday, 17 February 2011
We usually leave art award controversies to the Turner Prize at Tate Britain. So it’s a surprise to hear that the National Portrait Gallery has stepped up to the plate with their annual Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. And if you’ve... Read more... |
Watercolour, Tate BritainTuesday, 15 February 2011
Does watercolour painting suffer from an image problem? Do you think of the wild, vaporous seascapes of Turner, or Victorian ladies at their sketchbooks dabbing daintily at wishy-washy flower paintings? Do you associate the medium with radical... Read more... |
Photo Gallery: The Best View of Heaven is From HellSaturday, 29 January 2011
"There's a similarity between being a soldier and a photographer. They are both looking intensely for the moment." Bran Symondson would know. He served with the British Army in Afghanistan before returning to document the world of the Afghan... Read more... |
Cindy Sherman, Sprüth Magers LondonFriday, 14 January 2011
One of the best things about a Cindy Sherman show is you never know what you’re going to get. And in this exhibition, of a new series of "Untitled" images, what you get is very surprising indeed. Sherman's photographs are not about her, but they... Read more... |
Year Out/Year In: Art's Giants in Close-UpMonday, 03 January 2011
Last year gave us three giants of Post-Impressionism. The Royal Academy promised to unveil the real Van Gogh by showing us the man of letters; Tate Modern delivered a sumptuous survey of Gauguin; and a significantly smaller but nonetheless... Read more... |
Photo Gallery: Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010Thursday, 11 November 2010
The winner of the National Portrait Gallery’s Taylor Wessing Prize was announced yesterday, and as with most prizes you know there must be an element of compromise when it comes to selecting the shortlist. David Chancellor’s winning portrait of a 14... Read more... |
Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2010, National Portrait GalleryThursday, 11 November 2010
The National Portrait Gallery was early in picking up on the momentum gathering around photography in 2003, and committed itself then to an annual prize for portraiture. Today it’s one of the most anticipated competition exhibitions in the UK, and... Read more... |
