The Easel

22nd November 2022

A thrilling female perspective on sex, self, birth and death

A Royal Academy group show of early twentieth century female artists is an “essay in rediscovery”.  Kollwitz – the best known – is especially accomplished though many critics also note Modersohn-Becker’s “singular brilliance”. While stylistically diverse, they were collectively “central” to the emergence of German expressionism. Further, in contrast to the “masculinised gaze” of Gauguin and Picasso, this is “art rooted in the body, in feeling … a woman’s perspective”.

15th November 2022

Edouard Manet, the man who shocked France with nudity, executions and everyday life

A profile. Manet could be difficult – ambitious, petty, provocative, “never shy of the unorthodox”. When sentimental pastoral vistas were popular, he painted life in Paris. Rejected by the 1867 Exposition, he simply hired a venue and exhibited himself. So what? Besides, his own innovative (but misunderstood) painting, Manet mentored “young rebels” such as the Impressionists and was prophetic in his challenge to the art establishment to accept the radical art arriving on its doorstep.