"Silence is golden," according to the proverb, but the stillness in the paintings of Vilhelm Hammershøi is distinctly white, charcoal, and every shade of grey in between. However, there's nothing dull about the Dane's restricted palette, as we were able to appreciate, not for the first time, in Hammershøi: The Eye that Listens at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid. His subject matter -- so often sparsely decorated rooms in which the doors, windows and light sources become focal points -- is mesmerising. This picture -- Sunbeams or Sunlight. Dust Motes Dancing in the Sunbeams. Strandgade 30 -- is so very typical. Apparently empty, lacking any subject matter -- just one wall of a room with a door, panelling and a window. Yet you are captivated by the illumination, and the space. Look how Hammershøi has depicted the light coming in through the window and on the frames round the panes. See how it casts a shadow on the jambs and follow th...
While we're sitting here in Britain waiting for any indications of an easing in the coronavirus lockdown that might allow museums and galleries to reopen, some countries on the European mainland are moving, albeit cautiously, towards letting the public back in. So yes, if you're in the right place, you may be able to get out to enjoy an exhibition in May. And that's important, because however much art you might be able to access online, it's never going to be the same as getting up close to the real thing. Austria and Germany look to be leading the way. In Vienna, there's a last chance at the Belvedere from May 15 to June 1 to catch Into the Night , a look at the role played by clubs and cabarets around the world in the story of modern art -- the antithesis of social distancing. Late 19th-century Paris, Harlem in the 1920s, Weimar-era Berlin: It's a great subject, and there's some fascinating art on show (especially Toulouse-Lautrec's almost abstract...