The Ugly Duchess at the National Gallery is a shockingly good display. The highlight is undoubtedly the reunion of Quinten Massys’ An Old Woman with its pendant pair An Old Man (private collection). But the latter is also joined for the first time with its smaller oil-on-paper version (Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris), made either as aContinue reading “REVIEW | The Ugly Duchess: Beauty and Satire in the Renaissance – National Gallery, London”
Category Archives: Art
REVIEW | Drawing on Arabian Nights – Courtauld Gallery, London
An easy display to miss, Drawing on Arabian Nights at the Courtauld Gallery is a thrilling analysis of Europe’s obsession with Orientalism and the impact of the folk tales in Edward Lane’s translation of One Thousand and One Nights (ألف ليلة و ليلة) on 19th-century artists. An illustrated edition of the Arabian Nights executed byContinue reading “REVIEW | Drawing on Arabian Nights – Courtauld Gallery, London”
THE BIG REVIEW | Vermeer – Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
In its current iteration, the world’s most sold-out Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum will never happen again. The unprecedented loan of three works from the Frick Collection makes this a fact. This ambitious gathering of 28 paintings from the elusive artist’s 37 known works is triumphant yet humble. Embracing Vermeer’s powers of observation, descriptive captionsContinue reading “THE BIG REVIEW | Vermeer – Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam”
REVIEW | Rembrandt and his Contemporaries: History Paintings from The Leiden Collection – Hermitage Amsterdam
For the longest time, I’ve always wanted to see the proper extent of the New York-based The Leiden Collection, the largest private collection of works by Rembrandt and Dutch Golden Age artists. Celebrating 20 years of collecting this year, it’s a collection I’ve admired greatly for its devotion to making private collections accessible to all.Continue reading “REVIEW | Rembrandt and his Contemporaries: History Paintings from The Leiden Collection – Hermitage Amsterdam”
REVIEW | Peter Doig – Courtauld Gallery, London
Peter Doig at the Courtauld Gallery, London, is a short and sweet presentation of new works from the artist, many of which were begun in Trinidad and reworked in his London studio years later. Underpinning these works are the memories and observations from Doig’s experiences as an Edinburgh-born artist who lived for many years inContinue reading “REVIEW | Peter Doig – Courtauld Gallery, London”
REVIEW | Choosing Vincent – Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
I didn’t expect very much from the Van Gogh Museum’s Choosing Vincent: Portrait of a Family History exhibition, but it quickly became one of my Amsterdam highlights. The exhibition takes us on a whistle-stop tour through the lives of four key members of the Van Gogh family: the artist Vincent, his brother Theo, sister-in-law JohannaContinue reading “REVIEW | Choosing Vincent – Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam”
REVIEW | Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance – Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is an eloquently considered exhibition that wondrously conveys the atmosphere and decor of a living, breathing Renaissance city. From monumental public sculptures and fountain pieces to devotional reliefs lined wall to wall, it offers a surprisingly immersive experience conducive to understanding the functions ofContinue reading “REVIEW | Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance – Victoria and Albert Museum, London”
REVIEW | Magdalena Abakanowicz – Tate Modern, London
Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope at Tate Modern, London, is a brief but powerful overview of the Polish artist’s category-defying woven sculptures known as Abakans, which she created in the 1960s and 70s. Made of thread and rope, their large-scale appearance envelops the viewer in a powerful forest of entities in theContinue reading “REVIEW | Magdalena Abakanowicz – Tate Modern, London”
REVIEW | Spain and the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library – Royal Academy of Arts, London
I haven’t seen the Royal Academy of Arts presented in such a magnificent fashion in a long time, and Spain and the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library is a triumph in those large rooms. Highlighting thousands of years’ worth of human history in the Hispanic Society of America’s collection, almostContinue reading “REVIEW | Spain and the Hispanic World: Treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library – Royal Academy of Arts, London”
REVIEW | Leighton House Museum and Sambourne House, London
Sambourne House was the first historic house I ever volunteered at. Practically no one had ever heard of it, but it remains to my knowledge one of the best preserved Victorian interiors in London. Revisiting the place some six years later following a major re-brand, barely a thing has changed and the house remains justContinue reading “REVIEW | Leighton House Museum and Sambourne House, London”
Nigel Ip | Visual Arts Writer & Art Historian 