The Easel

16th May 2017

The profound thrill of being spooked – Alberto Giacometti, Tate Modern

Alastair Sooke | The Telegraph | 8th May 2017

Giacometti’s emaciated bronze figures are so famous they almost obliterate everything else about the artist. A London show tries to remedy this. His early Surrealist works “[crackle] with violence and dark eroticism”. The big revelation of the show is his “scuffed and vulnerable plaster sculptures”. They “de-familiarise” his work and give it “the atavistic magic it once had”. An excellent video (4 min) is here.

David Hepher – Grain of Concrete

Matthew Rudman | Studio International | 20th April 2017

Many think London’s monolithic council flats are a cause of social dysfunction. For David Hepher they are simply the “landscapes of urban life”. His paintings of these buildings have gradually become more abstract -and often include graffiti. Graffiti suggests “the human side of these buildings. I also liked the idea of the staining and things … It’s a bit like painting an old person’s face”. More images are here.

Image: Flowers Gallery London

Revisiting Florine Stettheimer’s Place in Art History

Peter Schjeldahl | The New Yorker | 15th May 2017

Being wealthy, Stettheimer could please herself. So rather than pursue commercial success she seems to have put her effort into being independent-minded, and painting. Her works portrayed feminism, sexuality and race with humour and a modern eye. As the curator of the show observes, Stettheimer’s “ability to paint in a satirical and caricaturist way is really … unmatched in the 20th century”. More images are here.

Adiós Utopia: Dreams and Deceptions in Cuban Art Since 1950: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Patricia Restrepo | Terremoto | 13th May 2017

A landmark survey of contemporary Cuban art bristles with interesting questions. “What’s it like to live in a country ossified for six decades under a sort of zombie Stalinism?” Can individuals build a personal utopia “even as the big utopian project seems to be going off the rails?” Most importantly, what is the art like? The last question is easily answered: vibrant and sophisticated.  Some political issues are outlined here.

Has art ended again?

Owen Hulatt | Aeon | 11th May 2017

Chewy, but interesting. Hegel wrote in 1835 that art had completed its great task of developing techniques to depict objects in a lifelike fashion. Danto, in the 1960’s said art’s great task was to answer the conceptual question ‘what can art be?’ He felt Warhol’s Brillo boxes answered that – art can range anywhere from highbrow to the day-to-day. ‘Progress’ thus awaits art world agreement about a new great task.

The forgotten father of Abstract Expressionism

Rob Weinberg | Apollo | 12th May 2017

It was easy to get into Clement Greenberg’s bad books.  The critic had a narrow, purist view of abstraction and Mark Tobey’s interest in Asian art and philosophies didn’t fit that mold. In contrast, Jackson Pollock was taken by Tobey’s “all over” compositions and major accolades also came from Europe. But Greenberg was the art world’s biggest voice and Tobey gradually slipped out of the limelight. An interesting video (3 min) is here

Van Gogh and the Seasons

John McDonald | Sydney Morning Herald | 6th May 2017

Before turning to art full time van Gogh had been a preacher. His change of occupation did not mean any loss of faith in God. Rather he used the innovations of the Impressionists – especially colour – to express his belief in a “higher force inherent in the eternal cycle of life”. This brought great intensity to his work. And with that he gave a clear signpost to the development of twentieth century art.

9th May 2017

On show: Prix Pictet ‘Space’ at the V&A

Tom Seymour | British Journal of Photography | 26th April 2017

Irish photographer Richard Mosse has won the Pictet Prize for photography. Using a military-grade thermal imaging camera he has produced ghostly images of refugees flooding into Europe.  He admits to “a very ambivalent relationship to [photography] … there’s something predatory about the camera lens.” An interview (1 min) with the artist is here and more images here.

A.R. Penck, German Neo-Expressionist of Cold-War Era, Dies at 77

William Grimes | The New York Times | 7th May 2017

Ralf Winkler had a problem – the popularity of his art in West Germany brought unwanted attention from the Stasi. Using pseudonyms like A R Penck didn’t help much and he left for West Berlin in 1980. With a bigger audience for his distinctive stick figure imagery, he became a leader of German Neo-Expressionism. Penck apparently never regretted the move. Besides, it facilitated his other passion – jazz drumming.

Botticelli in Boston: MFA celebrates Florentine master

Jodie Feinberg | Wicked Local | 7th May 2017

When the austere monk Savonarola ruled Florence he twice conducted ‘bonfires of the vanities’, destroying books and artworks. Botticelli likely burned some of his own works and largely stopped painting secular “goddesses”. Those that survive define a concept of beauty that ”speaks to us today more than 500 years later”. Indeed, they enjoyed that great modern accolade – being featured in The Simpsons. More images are here.

Image: MFA Boston

Spotlight: I.M. Pei

Rory Stott | Archdaily | 26th April 2017

The Bauhaus casts a long shadow. A young Pei was feeling skeptical about architecture but somehow ended up studying under Walter Gropius, architect founder of the Bauhaus. Thus inspired, Pei went on to champion modernist architecture throughout an illustrious career. His glass pyramid entrance to the French Renaissance-styled Louvre created uproar when first proposed but is now an architectural icon.

Modern Art is Not Rubbish

Matthew Collings | Spiked Review | 7th May 2017

Collings pushes a few hot buttons. Understanding the artist’s intentions? – “intention is complicated because … artists don’t always know what their intentions are – also, artists lie.” Has art become a free-for-all? – “[Yes] but … chaos is monotonous”. Damian Hirst? – A “finance fiend” but “capable of great effective artistic ideas”. The importance of art criticism? – “Without a critical mind … there’s no real point to art.”

“Alexei Jawlensky” at The Neue Galerie

Mario Naves | Too Much Art | 1st May 2017

A review full of faint praise. Jawlensky hung out with impressive friends and his use of colour was “striking”. “[Y]ou call feel his overpowering desire to … join Marc, Kandinsky and Klee in synthesising observation and spirit.” But it seems he never really got there. Consequently this retrospective has the feel of giving the artist “due diligence without having him overstay his welcome.”

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