The Easel

6th February 2024

CUTE is a delight for the senses but has a darker complexity

Pamela Buxton | The RIBA Journal | 22nd January 2024

Sex sells, and so too does cute – just think of the multitude of soft toys with imploring eyes. Stimulated by the Japanese cute/lovable aesthetic, cuteness has become a western cultural force. A big part of its appeal is that, not being easy to define, it accommodates almost unlimited interpretations. Says a curator, it is a “mechanism for [young] people to find themselves. I think cuteness will only get stronger and stronger.” One down-to-earth writer quips, “this [show] is catnip for TikTok”.

30th January 2024

600 years late, a forgotten Italian artist gets his first show — and it’s remarkable

Waldemar Januszczak | Waldemar.tv | 16th December 2023

If an artist is forgotten for 600 years, shouldn’t art history just move on? In the case of Pesellino, the answer is no. In his short life he won patronage from Florence’s Medici and Rome’s papal court. His few works are small but masterpieces of narrative clarity, finely drafted details and spatial clarity. So, why forgotten? Perhaps simply because his output was small – and often misattributed – and because he liked to collaborate. Says a London critic “the loveliest winter exhibition in years”. More images are here.

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