The Easel

Archives: Craig Raine

6th June 2015

How the Impressionists found a new way of capturing the remarkable in everyday life

The Impressionist exhibition at the National Gallery in London has been referenced previously. Here is an entirely different perspective, one that focuses on tell-tale details in the paintings that illustrate what the impressionists were really about. “In the contemporary popular mind the impressionists are primarily thought to be pretty – the painterly equivalent of easy listening. Which is a big mistake.”

Hollywood Hokum: Rubens only shone when he showed restraint

Great writing – and a bucketful of opinion about Rubens. A contrast is drawn between the repetitive, bombastic style of his paintings as against the honesty and interest displayed by his drawings. Of a key painting in this exhibition -“The whole thing is so hyper, so ADHD, that you think Rubens might need a tab of Ritilin”.