Yet another Warhol show! A few critics are enthused but this writer’s verdict, a “jerky driftospective”, is hardly surprising. The diversity of Warhol’s output – photography, printmaking, painting, film – poses a curatorial challenge. Still, its hard not to agree that we need a “a deep and proper assessment of Warhol’s achievements, mounted with wisdom. A just released virtual tour of the exhibition (6 min) is here.
Italian Futurists worshiped speed, and the machines that produced it. They dreamed of an Italy driven by technology, and it showed in their art. These ideas were influential in Europe and at home won a key admirer – Mussolini. With their imagery of “masculine military power”, were they complicit in the “aestheticization of war”? Only some, but enough to hinder recognition of Italy’s most influential art movement.
Gentileschi’s profile has risen abruptly as major institutions redress their neglect of female artists and many find that her life story resonates with #metoo. Stylistically influenced by both her father and Caravaggio, the celebrated psychological intensity of Gentileschi’s works is uniquely hers. They “pulsate with honesty, meticulous observation and a sense of what it is to be a woman” – the Baroque’s first proto feminist.
A set of seven paintings commissioned from Titian by Philip II of Spain have been reunited for the first time in centuries. A decade in the making, they are a Renaissance masterpiece. Titian’s taste for erotic fleshy nudes is on display but so too is his ability to convey emotion and psychological depth. Collectively they are a “supremely assured” narration of classical themes – power, passion, death – and “can’t be beaten.” All images are here.