The Easel

26th November 2024

Islamic art and the sumptuous Victorian designs of William Morris

Weronika Strzyżyńska | Hyphen | 11th November 2024

William Morris was a quintessentially English designer, and his wallpapers and fabrics celebrated the flora and fauna of the English countryside. Yet behind his designs was a profound influence from Islamic arts. He was an active collector of Middle Eastern carpets and decorative tiling, and their flower motifs and geometric patterns were reflected in his wallpaper designs. Said he, “Persia has become holy land, for there in the process of time our art was perfected”. An essay by a curator is here.

Should we open our hearts to Vanessa Bell?

Waldemar Januszczak | Waldemar.tv | 18th November 2024

Some critics think Bell’s art deserves more acclaim. She picked up on early modernism, not just in painting but also in ceramics, furniture and illustration. From one perspective, “openness to experimentation” is a good thing. Yet it feeds the criticism that her work is derivative. “[She was influenced] by the post-impressionists. “Which ones?” you may be wondering. All of them! Cézanne, Seurat, Gauguin, Van Gogh, [all have] an impact. In 1912 alone she attempted a dozen approaches …” 

19th November 2024

Remembering Frank Auerbach, one of the leading artists of his generation, who has died aged 93

Matthew Holman | The Art Newspaper | 12th November 2024

Auerbach was intense, perhaps a consequence of his tragic last-minute departure from Nazi Germany. He had just a few subjects – his favourite sitters and the urban activity around his London home. From quite early, his paintings showed a characteristic style – densely applied paint (“trowelled on”), distorted images that “connect to the materiality of the subject”, and a feeling of never being carefree. His “contribution to portraiture and landscape painting had no equal during his long lifetime“.

Discover Constable is a chance to see one of Britain’s most beloved paintings up close

Florence Hallett | iNews | 17th October 2024

Constable’s The Hay Wain is so beloved that it’s on British biscuit tins. Yet its cosy familiarity obscures the fact that it was “radical” for a landscape painting. With hindsight it looks “less like a landscape painting and more like an actual landscape”. That was Constable the “naturalist”. His preparatory studies were made outdoors, showing the landscape under the bright midday sun. Such choices were an “act of rebellion” and anticipated the imminent invention of photography.

Painting the town: Florence in 1504

Sarah Dunant | RA Magazine | 15th November 2024

A familiar tale but rarely told with such detail and panache. By 1500, Florence was struggling to meet the challenge of rival city states. Michelangelo’s statue of David had been a “stunning piece of civic propaganda … a symbol of a city defiant in the face of her enemies.” Michelangelo and da Vinci were both soon bid away by more powerful patrons, but not before they overlapped with the precocious Raphael. His early paintings show him learning quickly from them. Still, his work was “already his own”.

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