New York’s Met is focused on the historical but wants the crowds that contemporary art attracts. A current show combines the two. One critic is appalled – “politics by other means … indifference to distinctions of high and low art.” More, however, side with the writer: “a marvel … it’s disarmingly appealing to indulge in a show that is so rooted in pure aesthetic”.
WWII brought a change in Magritte’s style. Some think of the period that followed as his “bad years of painting”. This seems harsh, because Magritte was exploring deep questions about how we see: “instead of trying to convince us that something unreal is real, he makes us question our vision and suspect the “real” of being unreal.” More images are here.
It is hard to look at 1930’s German art without searching for hints of the disaster to come. Yet there is little sign of prophesy in these works. The prevailing style – “New Objectivity – was rooted in the politics of the day, if not the ghosts of WWI. One commented later that catastrophe was not suddenly visible; it revealed itself slowly through the details of ordinary life.
When it comes to Soutine the real attention grabber is his use of paint. One critic described it as trying to “turn the substance of the world into thick, squidgy, excited paint”. Thoroughly modern, but not easily categorised, Soutine is widely influential among artists but lacks public recognition. Hold the art theory suggests the writer, “only look”. More images are here
Catholicism, says an archbishop, is as much about beauty as goodness. This rationale has inspired an immense show tracing the influence of church regalia on contemporary fashion. The show is careful, respectful – “these designers are sometimes rule breakers [but] not apostates”. The current Pope’s aversion to ostentation goes unremarked. A video (5 min) is here.