An artist sits in a wheelchair, a large pair of scissors in one hand, the other holding on to a large sheet of orange paper. Aided by his studio assistant, the Russian-born Lydia Delectorskaya, the great Henri Matisse swiftly and rapidly cuts the piece of paper into a wavy, algae-like form. Similar shapes are thenContinue reading “From colourful cut-outs to stained glass windows – Henri Matisse at Tate”
Tag Archives: retrospective
Mapplethorpe in Paris
For the first time in the history of France, a major retrospective of Robert Mapplethorpe has landed in the Grand Palais in Paris. The show features 250 works by the American photographer ranging from his highly sculptural nudes to his controversial images of sexuality and eroticism, BDSM and sadomasochism. Robert Mapplethorpe, Sonia Resika, 1988.
2 Weeks in Paris – Day 4: Crea-tea-vity
The history of art has always been littered with controversy. Perhaps the most famous set of all are those related to representations of female nudes in which Titian’s Venus of Urbino (1538) and Manet’s Olympia (1863) take centre-stage. But art, in many cases, seems to have progressed because of these controversies – Picasso’s Les DemoisellesContinue reading “2 Weeks in Paris – Day 4: Crea-tea-vity”
“This is not painting, it is magic that casts a spell on people who see it” – Veronese at the National Gallery
If there was only one word to describe the works in this exhibition, it would be this: big. The National Gallery’s Veronese: Magnificence in Renaissance Venice brings together 50 paintings by the wonderful Paolo Veronese in the UK’s first ever monographic exhibition of the artist. And boy, did they do an impressive job! Unfaithfulness andContinue reading ““This is not painting, it is magic that casts a spell on people who see it” – Veronese at the National Gallery”
“Colour and I are one. I am a painter” – Paul Klee retrospective at Tate
Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible. The above is the opening sentence to Paul Klee’s Creative Confessions, a critical text written in 1920 that reflects on the artist’s thinking and creative processes. He sees the visual piece as a record of movement, a journey through unploughed fields, rivers, fog, a “flashContinue reading ““Colour and I are one. I am a painter” – Paul Klee retrospective at Tate”
Lowry and the Working Class
They are symbols of my mood, they are myself. – L. S. Lowry Tate Britain’s recently opened Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life exhibition is a wonderful display of the works of the Lancashire-born artist. The retrospective, his first at Tate, features around 90 paintings alongside various sketches, most of which feature his distinctiveContinue reading “Lowry and the Working Class”
Roy Lichtenstein and his Ben-Days
In 1964, the Tate Gallery of Modern Art saw the arrival of Roy Lichtenstein, the first American artist to exhibit at the Tate. The reactions of the British public were far from impressed. Now, 49 years later, his legendary works drawing on 1960s American pop culture are once again reunited in a blockbuster retrospective inContinue reading “Roy Lichtenstein and his Ben-Days”
Nigel Ip | Visual Arts Writer & Art Historian 