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”
Tag Archives: history of art
THE BIG REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London
For a concise review of The Credit Suisse Exhibition: RAPHAEL, please click here. The Early Umbrian Years Opening the National Gallery show is an elusive, faintly drawn portrait of a young boy whose features are generally believed to be that of a 15/16-year-old Raphael (British Museum, London). His eyes show an ambition and determination thatContinue reading “THE BIG REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London”
REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London
The Credit Suisse Exhibition: RAPHAEL at the National Gallery, London, is not your typical survey of the artist’s works. Instead, it is a silver sampling dish featuring every aspect of Raphael’s artistic personality. Consisting of a rigorously selected portion of autograph works, the exhibition succeeds in balancing some of the highlights of his career withContinue reading “REVIEW | Raphael – National Gallery, London”
Encountering the Past
In a chapter of Cynthia Freedland’s book, Portraits & Persons, the philosopher proposes that portraits are images of persons that fulfil one or more of the following features: Likenesses Psychological characterisations Proofs of presence or ‘contact’ Manifestations of a person’s ‘essence’ or ‘air’ Such criteria may seem obvious but, in practice, they are particularly difficultContinue reading “Encountering the Past”
#WhyArtHistoryMatters
The recent news concerning the axing of Art History at A-Level has received widespread criticism from teachers, students, and members of the general public alike. Each has made an attempt to defend the status of art history in education and its prosperous capability to help us understand society today. Here is my attempt.
Louvre Abu Dhabi – a new collection awaits
The art world is about to get a little bit more exciting as the Louvre opens the doors to a new museum in Abu Dhabi in December 2015. The Louvre Abu Dhabi seeks to be a universal museum, embracing cross-cultural similarities instead of differences with its newly-bought collection. The Musée du Louvre’s Louvre Abu Dhabi:Continue reading “Louvre Abu Dhabi – a new collection awaits”
East meets West – Chinese Painting at the V&A
Being inherently of Chinese origin, one might assume that I would have a certain attraction to the paintings of the East. In fact, my upbringing in Western society has actually steered me towards Western European art, leaving me almost ignorant to the understanding of a tradition of art that has become part of my heritageContinue reading “East meets West – Chinese Painting at the V&A”
Nigel Ip | Visual Arts Writer & Art Historian 