The James McNeill Whistler exhibition at Tate Britain is big, probably a bit too big, but it's packed with beautiful pictures and it's not in the least bit boring. That's not surprising as Whistler led a colourful life, never shying from controversy and confrontation -- notably pursuing a high-profile libel case against John Ruskin -- and he produced art that was groundbreaking, hugely influential and enormously atmospheric. Including, of course, probably one of the most recognisable paintings in art history, that of his mother in profile, dressed in black. It's in this show, and we'll be taking a look at it shortly. But we start in Whistler's studio, where the artist has painted himself at work, palette and brush in his hands, and looking out directly at us, the viewers. This is the first picture you see in the show, and we're told that for Whistler, the studio was a place for public performance, as well as making art. So here he is, making a statemen...
If you were asked to name the influences on Vincent van Gogh, you'd undoubtedly mention Paul Gauguin, the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists, and Japanese woodcuts and prints. But the novels of Charles Dickens and the foggy streets of Victorian London? Get along to the Van Gogh and Britain exhibition at Tate Britain and you will indeed find that the three years Vincent spent in England from 1873 had a big impact on his taste in art and the style and subject matter of his paintings and drawings, though maybe not quite as much as the curators seem to want you to think. Van Gogh developed those writhing brushstrokes and that hugely expressive use of colour in the south of France, not south of the Thames. Van Gogh was 20 when he arrived in London to work in an art dealer's office in Covent Garden, where he stayed for two years, crossing the river each day from lodgings in Stockwell and the Oval. He later tried to earn his living from teaching and preaching before leavin...