-
Shelley’s Art Musings: Spotlight on Vincent Van Gogh
The world is a pretty glum place at the moment, isn’t it? COVID-19, social distancing, self-isolation and a media frenzy, which is enough to send the sanest of us to a brink of depression, which is probably making you look at things a little different. Appreciating smaller things, like the fact that spring is on the way and the first signs of life rejuvenation are in the air, or perhaps you are belated to wake up and the mornings are a little lighter. Depression was a common state for Van Gogh, which is very hard for anyone to understand the depths of another’s mental state, but as it is his birthday,…
-
Whistler & Nature
Whistler & Nature casts a new light on the work of the great late-Victorian master, James McNeill Whistler. Born in America, but living in the UK for most of his life, he was known as an artist with a bold personality and a revolutionary attitude towards the natural world. Whistler suddenly shot to fame like a meteor at a crucial moment in the history of art, a field in which he was a pioneer. It was not by chance that the painter settled in London. Europe was, at the time, the greatest artistic and aesthetic battleground and this artist had a suitably combative temperament. Like the Impressionists, with whom he sided,…
-
Pierre Bonnard – The colour of history
In October 1947, the Musée de l’Orangerie arranged a large posthumous exhibition of Bonnard’s work. Towards the close of the year, an article devoted to this exhibition appeared on the first page of the latest issue of the authoritative periodical Cahiers d’Art. The publisher, Christian Zervos, gave his short article the title “Pierre Bonnard, est-il un grand peintre?” (Is Pierre Bonnard a Great Artist?) In the opening paragraph Zervos remarked on the scope of the exhibition, since previously Bonnard’s work could be judged only from a small number of minor exhibitions. But, he went on, the exhibition had disappointed him: the achievements of this artist were not sufficient for a…









You must be logged in to post a comment.