The Easel

7th February 2023

Giorgio Morandi review – sublime still lives shimmer with mystery and joy

Jonathan Jones | The Guardian | 7th January 2023

Cezanne’s many studies of apples greatly inspired Morandi. Yet it is the Italian, this writer claims, who made the still life genre a “20th century art form”. How did Morandi do that?  Many critics note the intensity of focus he brought to his modest collections of vases, bottles and dishes. It reflects his respect for life in Bologna, as well as a personal humility. His carefully arranged bottles, so precisely observed, thus come to have a poetic quality – this is art that “aches with humanity and love”.

Dame Vivienne Westwood – the godmother of punk

Staff | bbc.com | 30th December 2022

Westwood was one of the few fashion designers to become a cultural force. She was made so by her irreverent punk and new wave designs that changed “how clothing could be used to express social and political norms”. One obituary described her designs as “rooted in the English tradition of pastiche and irony and satire”. Westwood’s own view was somewhat related: “It’s not about fashion. For me, it’s about the story. It’s about ideas”. More images are here.

A history of Spain in 150 objects

Michael Prodger | The New Statesman | 21st January 2023

New York’s Hispanic Society has loaned out some of its spectacular collection to help pay for renovations. In London the tapestries and ceramics of Spain’s Islamic period impress, but then Velazquez and Goya appear and their paintings carry the show. Critics tip toe carefully around Spain’s brutal colonial record, suggesting that a full reckoning is some way off. Is there a unifying theme to this “four millennia worth of artifacts”? One critic suggests “a sense of Spanish pride”.

Soul is the goal for Killip and Smith

Colin Pantall | Blind | 3rd February 2023

Thatcher’s tough economic policies in the 1980’s still remain divisive in parts of Britain. Chris Killip and Graham Smith, leading photographers of that period, captured the impact of those policies on the impoverished communities of northern England, many of which were ill-equipped to cope. This is documentary photography at its most powerful. More images are here.

Philip Pearlstein Painted the Naked Truth

Samantha Baskind | Smithsonian Magazine | 9th January 2023

Abstract expressionism in post-war New York indoctrinated the art world that the picture is a flat plane, without depth. Pearlstein’s realist paintings – with illusionistic depth – which he began in the 1960’s, thus came as a shock. Often, he painted nudes, seeing the body as “a kind of complex still-life object”. These were works concerned with form and perspective. And that is the calling card of realism, a style that Pearlstein revitalized in American art. A video (27 min) is here.

20th December 2022

Holidays

This is the year’s last regular newsletter. Next Tuesday, and the Tuesday after, we will highlight the year’s most popular stories among Easel subscribers. After a break of a few weeks, The Easel will resume on Tuesday February 7, 2023.

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 Season’s greetings,
Andrew

Staying Gold

Gabriel Almeida | Art and Antiques | 30th November 2022

In Klimt’s day, some critics viewed him as an “educated provincial”. History sees him otherwise. His “golden phase” portraits, for which he is most famous, have a “delicacy [and] dignified splendour” that he absorbed from Whistler. Later landscapes show a “refined version” of the “expressive use of colour” pioneered by Impressionism and van Gogh. In short, Klimt was “a painter’s painter … an artist ensnared in the currents of his time” Images are here.

Shōji Hamada: A Japanese Potter in Ditchling

Beth Williamson | Studio International | 14th December 2022

Bernard Leach is acclaimed for helping revitalize British studio pottery.  He owed much to Hamada, who worked with Leach in rural England in the early 1920’s. Hamada contributed technical knowledge of kilns and glazes and a ‘wabi-sabi’ mindset – the philosophical acceptance of imperfection. Back in Japan he copied Leach’s idea of integrating surroundings and creativity by preferring local glazes and clay. In 1955, Hamada was the first craftsperson to be crowned a Japanese National Living Treasure.

What is an artist-muse relationship really like?

Ruth Millington | ruthmillington.co.uk | 15th December 2022

In ancient Greece, the muses were divine sisters who inspired art. Today, muse has a less elevated meaning – “icons of idealised and sexualised beauty”. Perhaps though, we should not assume this when looking at paintings of scantily clad women. Muses to many famous artists – Klimt, Picasso, Man Ray and more – actually had “great” power. And how does David Hockney and his male muses fit the traditional picture? History shows that muses have “left an indelible mark upon the makers who have immortalised them.”

Best of 2022: The biggest art stories mattered more than soup thrown on a Van Gogh

Christopher Knight | LA Times | 7th December 2022

A bare bones summary of art world trends in 2022, as seen from Los Angeles. First and foremost is the effort to mount more solo shows of female artists and lift their representation in institutional collections. Museums face pressures to conduct scholarly research, be prodigious fund raisers and resist commercial pressure. Oh, and also protect their art from climate change protesters, even while signaling sympathy for such views. Who would be a museum director?

Christie’s Racks Up $8.4. B. in 2022, An All-Time High for An Auction House

Daniel Cassady | ARTnews | 19th December 2022

Company results make for dull reading, but let’s pause for a moment. Christie’s has just announced that it generated $8.4 billion in sales over 2022.  Taking out $1bn for luxury goods, that means $7.4bn was spent on art. Wow! The big ticket items were all 20th and 21st century works, many of which came from the sale of large private collections. Said Christie’s CEO “We are sometimes in the art market dancing on the volcano”. Notable sales are detailed here.

The top art books of 2022

Gareth Harris | The Art Newspaper | 7th December 2022

For gift giving or to stock up on holiday reading, there is a wealth of books on the market. Female artists are the theme of the year (no surprise) but street art, public spaces, Ukraine, fashion and (inevitably) Beeple all get examined. Five Books are always a thoughtful arbiter of what’s worth reading while the Christie’s list is both insightful and tone perfect. Good general lists are here (with a UK slant) here and here (with a US slant).

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