The Easel

23rd December 2025

Playing with Fire: Edmund de Waal and Axel Salto

Beth Williamson | Studio International | 8th December 2025

Accomplished in multiple artforms, Salto is now regarded as a great ceramicist. He spent time in Paris in the 1920’s before returning to Denmark to make the highly expressive stoneware that revolutionised “the idea of the vessel”. These works have “budding, sprouting, and fluted surface textures that appear to ripple and burst with life”. Rather enigmatically, Salto talked about ‘the burning now”, the moment of transformation. Said he “I have always preferred burning mistakes to tepid accuracies”. A video (4 min) is here.

Mrinalini Mukherjee and the giants of Indian art

Laura Cumming | The Observer | 1st November 2025

India’s burgeoning economic status is reflected in a growing number of international exhibitions that showcase its art and the story of Indian modernism. The most recent is “dazzlingly diverse”, though dominated by the surreal sculptures of Mukherjee. Made from tightly woven coloured fibre, they display both her interest in the natural world and India’s richly illustrated spiritual world. Mukherjee was a pioneering modernist making art that was “international, not local.”, states one writer. “A revelation.”

16th December 2025

Remembering Martin Parr (1952–2025)

Staff | Magnum Photos | 10th December 2025

After getting married, Martin Parr increasing directed his photography toward capturing the mundane aspects of British life. His seminal work, The Last Resort, featured seaside holiday makers in situations where “hope and promise don’t quite match reality”. While some praised his “pin-sharp satirical genius” others called him a “cynical smart-arse”. He seemed untroubled by the furore, responding that his work was “social documentary. I make serious photographs disguised as entertainment.”

Bridget Riley and the pleasure of looking

Lily Le Brun | The Observer | 22nd November 2025

At the venerable age of 94, Riley is still painting. An “elegant” survey demonstrates she is still coming up with eye-deceiving abstractions that add to an already large “alphabet” of such work. Yet this prompts the question is this new work really new? Riley’s response is that she is trying to replicate the feeling of looking at nature. One work, consisting of triangles, evokes the sensation of waves lapping on the shore. How does she do that asks one writer? “I can’t stop looking”.

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