The Easel

13th October 2020

Robert Kobayashi at Susan Inglett Gallery

Kobayashi was a charming figure in New York’s art world. After trying painting, he began using strips of tin and nails to make portraits, still lifes and sculptures. The results were somewhat akin to pointillist paintings. Kobayashi avoided gallery representation and attention from critics was therefore sporadic. He put his whimsical works in a shopfront of his studio building; the neighbours complained if new pieces were slow to appear.

6th October 2020

David Hockney’s Paintings Are World Renowned, But He Never Lost His Desire to Draw

While there may be some unevenness in Hockney’s overall output, when it comes to drawing he is a “master”. What jumps out from this current New York show is his variety – pencil, charcoal, Polaroid, iPad – the emotion he is able to convey about those he sketches, and an allegiance to the truth.  Enthuses one writer “the intensity of Hockney’s self-inspection, fag in mouth, bears comparison with Rembrandt.” Images are here.

The Later Work of Dorothea Tanning

Art history’s coverage of Tanning is rather one dimensional. Recognition came more from her marriage to Max Ernst than her own “almost photo-realistic” surrealism. Beyond that, not much is said. In fact, she left surrealism behind. Her later works were “unprecedented creations as much about the paint itself as about what she painted. [She] accomplishes everything the abstract expressionists set out to do.” A recent biography is covered here.