The Easel

13th February 2018

12 Masterful Portraits Leave Their Castle For The First Time

Wendy Moonan | 1stdibs | 29th January 2018

Velazquez was the greater painter but, still, Zurbarán was a star of the Spanish Baroque. Velazquez went off to the royal court but devout Zurbarán painted for churches and monasteries. Probably intended for churches in the New World these monumental portraits instead ended up in rural England, scarcely to be seen in 250 years. Zurbarán, it seems, “is about to be rediscovered yet again”. A discussion of the paintings is here.

6th February 2018

Philip Pearlstein: Paintings 1990 – 2017

Emily Spicer | Studio International | 30th January 2018

His friendship with Warhol is marketing catnip but far from the most interesting thing about Pearlstein. He championed realism when it was not popular to do so. Further his paintings feature nudes which are posed, factual and remote – almost the opposite of the erotic pin-up. This is strange art leaving the viewer to wonder – focus on the bodies, the objects around them or the “rules” that give rise to such a deliberate tableau?

Down with blockbusters! James Bradburne on the art of running a museum

Richard Holledge | ft.com | 22nd January 2018

A reforming museum director bemoans the scarcity of passion about art and wants museums to change this. Excluding temporary exhibitions “permanent collections are, in fact, losing business. [Don’t] confuse an excellent collection with an excellent museum. We need a Copernican revolution in which you put the museum at the heart of the community and visitors at the centre of the museum.” (You may have to click on “Skip Survey” to bypass the FT paywall)

Older links
Newer links