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Showing posts from August, 2021

Rembrandt & van Hoogstraten: The Art of Illusion

It takes a split second these days to create an image, and how many millions are recorded daily on mobile phones, possibly never to be looked at again? You can see it all happening in the palatial surroundings of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, definitely one of those tick-off destinations on many travellers' bucket lists, where those in search of instant pictorial satisfaction throng the imposing statue-lined staircase for a selfie or pout for a photo in the café under the spectacular cupola. But we're not in Vienna for a quick fix, we're at the KHM to admire something more enduring in the shape of art produced almost 500 years ago by Rembrandt and his pupil Samuel van Hoogstraten that was intended to mislead your eyes into seeing the real in the unreal. Artistic deception is the story at the centre of  Rembrandt--Hoogstraten: Colour and Illusion , one of the most engrossing and best-staged exhibitions we've seen this year. And, somewhat surprisingly, a show wi...
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Opening and Closing in September

There are lots and lots of new exhibitions starting in September right across Europe. The big offering on our radar in London is at the Wallace Collection in the shape of Frans Hals: The Male Portrait . The Wallace's own  The Laughing Cavalier  will be joined by over a dozen of the Dutch painter's works from galleries in Britain, Europe and the US in the first ever show to focus on Hals's depictions of solo male sitters. On from September 22 to January 30.  One of the world's most recognisable artworks,  The Great Wave , by Katsushika Hokusai, will of course be part of an exhibition of work by this Japanese artist and printmaker starting on September 30 at the British Museum, but for once it's not the focus.  Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything , which is on until January 30, puts on display for the first time ever 103 drawings he made in the early 19th century for an encyclopedia that was never published. The works were recently acquired by the m...
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Great Art, not a Great Exhibition

There are some stunning paintings to behold in Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace at the Queen's Gallery in London, particularly from the Dutch Golden Age. They've taken 65 works off the walls of the Picture Gallery next door in Buck House, which in normal times is only accessible to the public during the summer opening of the palace and is in any case currently being " reserviced ".  Instead of being hung in two rows, some above settees and fireplaces, the paintings are all at eye level for you to examine and admire close up. The curators invite you to linger and to consider what actually makes a masterpiece.  There's Rembrandt, Vermeer, Rubens, Van Dyck and Canaletto. Some great art from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries from one of the world's greatest art collections, so we'll talk about the paintings first. Later on, we'll tell you why, in spite of the masterpieces on show, we found it a somewhat underwhelming exhibition, given the high standard...
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Up Close with Grinling Gibbons

Grinling Gibbons: indisputably Britain's most outstanding woodcarver. Petworth House in West Sussex has one of the greatest examples of his work in its Carved Room , but while that's a breathtaking ensemble of wall decorations and elaborate picture frames, it's not necessarily always so easy to pick out the fine detail of a carving several feet above your head in the subdued lighting of a National Trust stately home.  That's the reason why Centuries in the Making at Bonhams in London is such an eye-opener. Here you encounter Gibbons' extraordinary skills up really close, the intricacies and the subtleties of the carving highlighted and spotlit. This exhibition, part of a year of events to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Gibbons' death, is only on in the West End free of charge for a few weeks this August, but it will be heading to Compton Verney in Warwickshire in the autumn for an extended run. This is one of the smallest objects in this exhibition, but...
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Beside the Seaside, Beside the Sea

Who could resist a trip to the seaside? Especially when you're tempted by this glamorous bathing beauty, luring you into the warm waters of the North Sea. Cromer, Cleethorpes, Scarborough or Skegness, so seductive in the 1920s and 30s, especially when you could travel there in comfort and speed on the London and North Eastern Railway.  In our case, we took a rather more workaday Southern Railway train to Hastings, for Seaside Modern: Art and Life on the Beach at Hastings Contemporary. It's the perfect venue for an exhibition about the art of the seaside, right down on the front by the fishing boats and those black wooden sheds for fishermen's nets that it's built to blend in with. Fish and chips, ice cream and seagulls are all around. Oh, and the miniature railway runs right past the gallery. It was hot and sunny, it really was. Because it always is at the seaside, apparently. These railway posters from between the wars are your introduction to this fun show. As curato...
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Opening in August

August tends to be a relatively thin month for exhibition openings, but we do have a couple of events to tell you about in London, as well as three in and around Berlin.   August 3 marks the 300th anniversary of the death of Grinling Gibbons, Britain's greatest ever woodcarver, and appropriately it's the opening day of a touring exhibition to celebrate his legacy. Grinling Gibbons: Centuries in the Making will run until August 27 at Bonhams in London's New Bond Street, featuring some of Gibbons' finest Baroque works, including his astonishing imitation-lace cravat . Entry is free. The show can then be seen at Compton Verney in Warwickshire from September 25 to January 30.  Just before this year's (or should it be last year's?) Olympics close in Tokyo, an exhibition opens looking back to how the previous games in the city brought Japan into the modern era with innovations such as the Shinkansen bullet train.  Tokyo 1964: Designing Tomorrow  at Japan House Londo...
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